Technical Analysis Question Bank

Most important of cycles in the studying the relationship between cycles of different lengths? Phase 3. Translation Is best described as useful in checking where the trend direction Is headed or If It Is changing. 4. Elliot Wave cycle Is composed of 8 sub waves. 5. 5-wave Elliot upward motive Impulse wave, the longest and most dynamic Is the third wave. 6. Long-term price movements with volatility – logarithmic 7. Not a continuation pattern – broadening formation 8. According to DOD theory, secondary corrections can most likely be replaced by a line 9.Least important when analyzing a trend – distance from current price 10. What is most likely indicated when Bollixing Bands narrow? A stocks volatility has decreased 1 1 . Which of the following is NOT true about gaps? Gaps are always filled 12. Which of the following does NOT represent a sell signal confirmation for DOD theory? The DOD Jones Industrials and the DOD Jones Transportation indexes peak simultaneously. 13. DOD Theory uses closing prices 14. Point and figure charts are LEAST likely suited for Identifying areas of accumulation or dilutions. 5. Which of the following Is a Fibonacci ratio use In treatment? 50% 16. Using MA to signal buy/sell decisions can result In a number of whipsaws in sideways trending markets 17. Point-and-figure 18. Which of the following is usually associated with major market tops? Ascending triangles Broadening formation 19. In DOD Theory, the length of secondary trend is most likely three weeks to three months 20. As a general rule, in rectangle, triangle, flag and pennant patterns, volume most likely decreases as the pattern nears completion. 21 .Which of the following types of gaps is LEAST likely to be filled when it occurs with high volume? Breakaway 22. Trends are more likely to persist than reverse in all markets 23. Which of the following is NOT an Important use for an oscillator? Providing a method for evaluating the performance of a security relativ e to another security or Index. 24. Which of the following Is characteristic of trends? Any trend Is Influenced by Its next longer and next shorter trend 25. Directional Movement Indicator 26. Regarding trend, which one is NOT correct? Breakouts from support/resistance are usually a change in trend.The longer the trend, the more difficult it is to identify its reversal. 27. To increase the sensitivity of a ex. point and figure chart, one would decrease the box size. 28. Point and figure 29. Which of the following patterns are found on point and figure charts? Doll Head and shoulders 30. Point and figure 31 . Point and figure 32. Which of the following Is characteristic of a log scale for a chart? They are typically used In Antiradar charts. They are preferred over arithmetic scaling for long-term trend analysis 33. Point and figure 34. An Inverse head and shoulders pattern Is a reversal pattern 35.Which of the following is NOT an advantage of trading futures contracts relative to tr ading stocks? Theology used to construct the S&P 500 Index 37. Symmetrical triangles are also called coils 38. The simple moving average gives equal weight to each period's price 39. Not true? Moving averages lead market action 40. The most commonly used price to calculate a MA is the close 41 . Not correct? Long-term MA give fewer buy and sell signals than shorter SAM. Are better at giving signals at major tops than Smash. 42. ***A moving average is a smoothing device 43. When compared to long term Mass, SMASH produce more trades 44.Volume in a head and shoulders pattern is usually highest during the formation of the left holder 45. Symmetrical triangle price patterns should generally be accompanied by a gradual decline in volume until the breakout 46. Open interest is the number of future contracts outstanding at any one time in each delivery month 47. A candlestick with identical, or nearly identical, opening and closing prices is a doll 48. The primary use of a candlestick patte rn is to identify indications of both reversal and continuation patterns 49. Not a momentum oscillator – advance/decline line 50.Which of the following can be used in conjunction with candlestick analysis to improve results? Using western techniques to confirm a candle pattern. 51 . Which is correct? Triangles do not appear in long-term charts because of their very short nature The proper order to follow in chart analysis is to begin with the long range and gradually work to the near term in order to gain perspective 52. For a futures contract, daily volume refers to the number of contracts traded during the day 53. The objective of the DOD theory is to determine the primary direction of the stock market. 54.Point and figure ignores time and volume 55. The concept of RSI measures the relationship between two securities 56. The resistance level of a price trend refers to the level where selling interest is sufficiently strong to overcome buying pressure 57. Advance-decline lin e 58. Considerate Wave extends for a period of 54 years 59. The target for a rectangle can be calculated by adding the height of the formation to the breakout price 60. MA crossovers can be used to indicate buy and sell signals 61 . Not considered a sentiment indicator? Specialist short sales ratio advance decline line 62.Not correct regarding speed resistance lines? 63. ***An exhaustion gap is associated with the beginning state of a bear market 64. Statements that is right regarding point and figure charts and bar charts is correct? A new plot on a point and figure chart is made only when the price changes by a given amount. 65. Point and figure charts display sequential reversals of price in unit increments 66. Point and figure chart, a new entry is added only when the price has moved by equal to or more than the specified box size 67. Point and figure 68. RSI between a stock and the market? Line 69.Candlestick displays opening price and closing price 70. A shaded real body candl estick means the closing price is lower than the opening price 71 . An important use of a trend line is to identify a price target for the extent of the price movement provide a signal of a reversal in trend 72. TA believes the more times a trend line has been successfully tested, the greater the significance of its violation 73. In a head and shoulders, volume generally is heaviest during the and phase 75. A SAM is often criticized because equal weight is given to each point included in the calculation 76.An exponentially smooth MA gives more weight to more recent observations 77. A sell signal is normally given when a shorter length moving average crosses a long length MA from above. 8. Oscillators are used to alert the analyst to overbought or oversold conditions 79. Oscillators are most useful when prices are in a trading range 80. Violated support levels typically become support levels as prices fall lower become resistance levels on price bounces 81 . As with trend lines, spee d resistance lines must be confirmed with volume reverse roles once they are violated 82.A rising RSI line for a stock in a falling market indicates that the stock is underperforming outperforming the market 83. Which indicators would be most helpful in analyzing a trading range? Oscillators 84. Not used to measure arrest breadth? Plurality index sell/buy ratio 85. RSI indicates positive price momentum the security is performing better than the market or the entity being compared 86. Not an assumption of TA? Investors act rationally 87. *** When Bollixing Bands contract it means that volatility has decreased 88. Least useful chart pattern? Broadening formations 89.Not a characteristic of a doc? It is an effective pattern based upon percent winners 90. Not correct about gaps? The most profitable gaps are opening gaps 91 . Continuation pattern? Flag 92. An extreme overbought reading on a momentum indicator in the early stages of a ally shows that the market is ready to correct indicat es that the rally is strong and will probably carry further 93. Chart establishes price targets based on a horizontal measurement point and figure charts 94. Contrary investing 95. Most comprehensive index? S 500 Composite Index Wilshire 5000 Equity Index 96.The longest term cycle recognized in TA is the Considerate cycle 97. The January effect refers to a seasonal tendency in which return for the year tend to be positive when January returns are positive Small cap stocks outperform lar cap stocks in January 98. Not a sentiment indicator? Brokerage firm hiring Relative Strength Index 99. Equivocal 100. Not a characteristic of on-balance volume (BOB)? It is interpreted by comparing it to the price divergences, trending breaks and price patterns to point out underlying strength or weakness. It is plotted on a bar chart 101 .Not correct regarding point and figure? Due to complexity in their creation, it has only come into common usage since the advent of computers 109. CEO sells 10,000 shares of his company shares? Informed market 110. Not a consideration for money management? Trend following strategies 1 1 1 . Risk is defined s variability of returns loss of capital 112. Important aspect of money management is diversification determining the optimum position size 113. 114. True regarding short sales except the trade does not need to be closed 1 15. Methods to measure RSI except beta method 116.Not included in CASSINI stock screening method? Annual sales increase 117. 120. The original Intent of Charles DOD was to use the interplay of his Industrial and Railroad averages as economic indicators 121 . DOD theory – the averages discount primary reversals and can create confusion 123. Volume goes with the trend – primary trend and secondary trend 124. Not a tool of Federal Reserve monetary policy? Changing the federal funds rate 125. A rising FIX means increasing implied volatility 126. A bullish sign for the stock market is high levels pessimism of Wal l Street strategists 131 .Three steps and a stumble is a market indicator based upon three consecutive increases in either the federal funds target rate, margin requirements or reverse requirements 134. Bar chart typically contain all prices except opening 135. Which price is common to both line and bar charts? Close Question Bank 2 13. The body of the candlestick line displays the relationship between the current rower than the open. 15. Which Western technical tools can be used on candle charts trend lines, moving averages, and Fibonacci retrenchments 16. A trend line is helpful in determining when a price reversal has taken place. 7. The basic concept behind the use of a trend line is that a trend in motion will remain in notion until it reverses. 18. Technical analysts GENERALLY believe a price close beyond the trend line is more significant than an intra-day penetration. 19. In general, market technicians believe that the more times a trend line has been successfully tester, th e greater the significance violation. 20. In a head and shoulders pattern, volume usually decreases with each successive peak. 21 . The characteristics of a cycle are amplitude, period and phase 22. A moving average smooth out data fluctuations 23.Moving averages are MOST often used to signal a reversal in price trend 24. A simple moving average is often criticized because equal weight is given to each point included in the calculation. 25. An exponentially smoothed MA gives more weight to more recent observations 26. A sell signal is when a shorter MA crosses a longer MA from above 27. Oscillators are used to alert the analyst to volume divergences overbought or oversold price conditions 28. All the following are momentum oscillators except relative strength index (RSI) advance/decline line 29.Most oscillators are constructed on a semi-logarithmic scale to highlight momentum so that the mid-point goes through zero 30. Oscillators are most helpful to gauge price behavior in sharply rising markets non-trending markets where price fluctuate in a well defined trading range 31 . Oscillators are most valuable when their value reaches an extreme reading near the upper or lower end of their boundaries. 32. ** Using an oscillator, one most often observes an acceleration in price momentum prior to a major market bottom a peak in momentum in a bull market before a peak in the price trend 33.A typical momentum index is constructed by plotting the difference in volume between the daily high price and the daily low price plotting the change in price between the beginning and end of time interval 34. In gauging the importance of a potential support or resistance level, the analyst must consider: all the above 35. Violated support levels typically become support levels as prices fall lower become resistance levels on price bounces 36. As with trend lines, speed resistance lines must be confirmed with volume reverse roles once they are broken 37.The minimum downside projectio n from a head and shoulders top pattern is derived by measuring the distance from the penetration of the neckline by the left shoulder to the penetration of the neckline by the right shoulder and extending down from the point of penetration of the right shoulder by projecting downward from the neckline the vertical distance from the top of the head to the neckline 38. Answer: identifying areas of accumulation and distribution. 39. Oscillator most used in analyzing rending markets? Stochastic MAC 40.A rising relative strength line for a stock in a falling market indicates that the stock is performing better than the market 41 . Most helpful in analyzing trading range markets? Moving averages. Oscillators 42. If one is studying a cycle of 8 weeks the assumption is that the next longest cycle is 16 weeks. 43. The dead cat bounce usually occurs at market bottoms 44. Presidential cycle realizes best returns during election and pre-election 45. The idea that all price movement is the addi tion of all active cycles is the basis for the all of the above 47.Relative strength is usually calculated by dividing the price of a security by the price of another security, index or subgroup. 48. Rising relative strength indicates the security is performing better than the market or the entity being compared. 49. RSI analysis is useful in identifying declining volume trends Industry group rotation 50. To spot weakness in an uptrend, volume should be falling 51 . **Which is not an assumption oft? The consensus is always wrong 52. When Bollixing Bands contract is means volatility has decreased 53. Point and figure charts are most useful in identifying areas of support and resistance 54.Which would not considered a means of identifying a trend regression lines / moving averages relative strength lines 55. Does not describe standard deviation lines: a buy is generated when prices crosses the -1 standard deviation line from above 56. Candlestick charts can be used to identify all of the above 57. Not considered a factor in determining the significance off trend line? Distance from price 58. MA – simple 59. Which is the least significant penetration of a rising trend line? Two successive antiradar penetrations of trend line 60. Which are considered important in determining the validity of a trend line break?All the above 61 . None of the above. Using a weighted moving average 62. Not considered a support level? Previous high, previous low, and trading range all of the above are considered as potential support levels 63. What is meant by the statement â€Å"volume precedes price†? Changes in supply and demand are often apparent in volume before price 64. A complete Elliot wave is made up of five motive impulse waves and three corrective waves 65. A descending triangle that forms in a downtrend would probably be considered a reversal pattern a continuation pattern 66. Least reliable? Broadening formations 67.Not true about volume? Both price and volu me can fall off sharply after a buying climax A rally that occurs on rising volume points to a probable trend reversal 68. Least true about a doc? A continuation pattern 69. Not true about gaps? Gaps are always almost filled 70. Most likely a continuation pattern? Flag 71 . Risk can be defined as amount loss per trade all of the above 72. The ratio would be positive 73. An extreme overbought reading on a momentum indicator in the early states of a will probably carry further 74. True of an up-trending market? B and C 75. Sentiment indicator most useful to traders?Put/call ratios 76. **Best suited for establishing price targets based on a horizontal measurement? Line charts point and figure charts 77. Contrary opinion is a useful investment because it is at turning points where people are wrong 78. Not one of the â€Å"essential areas† of TA? Market structure indicators business cycle analysis 79. Longest term trend in the market is the primary secular 80. In the DOD theory, m ost important price is the close 81 . Most popular types of market indexes include all of the following except: logarithmic weighted 82. Most comprehensive (all-inclusive) index is Wilshire 5000Equity Index 83. Most important in identifying a head and shoulders top pattern? A shoulder must decrease substantially from previous rallies 84. The longest-term cycle is the Considerate cycle 85. The January effect refers small cap stocks outperform large cap stocks 86. Not a sentiment indicator? Relative strength 92. A simple moving average is slower to respond to price changes than a weighted moving average 93. One reason why price oscillators are useful is because price tends to lead momentum momentum tends to lead price 94. A secondary cycle can be used to determine the major trend of the market – false 95.The trend of each cycle is most strongly influenced by the trend of the next longest cycle – true 96. Divergence and failure swings are most useful on an RSI indicator w hen they occur below the 80 70 and above the 30 lines. 98. Describes BOB – a breadth momentum oscillator on days when prices close higher, it is assumed that all volume is represented by buyers 99. Not true about point and figure charting? Due to the complexity in creating these charts, it has only come into common usage with the advent of computers. 100. What s the relevance of the box size in point and figure charting?Box size is the amount the price must change before a new column is created box size determines the sensitivity of frequency of trading 101 . Open interest? The total number of outstanding long or short contracts 102. Difference between point and figure charts and bar charts? Point and figure charts provide clearer trading signals 103. Comparison of candlestick charts to bar charts? Candlestick allow for easier visual interpretation 104. In candlestick charts, what is considered the essence of the price movement? Real body 105. What additional interpretation i s possible with candlestick charts compared to bar charts?Support levels. Relative strength between bulls and bears Question 3 1 . Cycles are measure low to low 2. This cycle principle states, as stocks go through similar cycles the size and magnitude will differ – variation 3. Most useful aspect of studying cycles of different lengths? Phase 4. In regards to cycles, translation useful in checking where the trend direction is headed or if it is changing 5. Elliot wave cycle is 8 waves 6. 5-wave Elliot wave, longest is expected to be the 3rd 7. When analyzing long-term price movements, it could be helpful to use which type of chart?Logarithmic chart 8. Least likely a continuation pattern – inverse head and shoulders broadening formation 9. Not considered a support level? All of the above are considered to be support levels 10. According to DOD Theory, secondary corrections can be replaced by a line 11. Least important factor in determining the significance of a trend li ne? Distance from price 12. For a breakout or breakdown from a triangle to be considered valid it should no more than three-quarters of the distance to the apex from the beginning of the pattern 13. Bollixing Bands narrow – volatility has decreased 14.Not true about gaps? Gaps are always filled 15. Best characterizes continuation pattern? There is sideways price action 16. 17. In order for the DOD theory sell signal to be confirmed – b and c 18. The DOD theory uses only closing prices 19. 20. Point and figure charts are least suited to identifying breakouts areas of accumulation or distribution 21 . In a doll candlestick supply and demand are in balance 22. Fibonacci rater? 23. MA crossovers sell signal when the fast falls below the slow 24. MA are of least use in generating buy or sell signals in a sideways trend 25. 0 points there would be no count 26. Usually associated with major market tops? Broadening formations 27. On balance volume is used to all the above 28. Common filters used to confirm a trend line break include all the above 29. The length of a minor trend is about 6 weeks 30. Rectangle, triangle, flag and so on, volume decreases as the pattern develops 31 . Gap least likely to be filled when it occurs with high volume? Breakaway 32. Trends are more likely to persist than reverse in all markets 33. One of the greatest strengths of TA is its flexibility 34.Trend lines should always generally be redrawn to accommodate an accelerating rend 35. Which of the following is not an important use for an oscillator? Provides a method of evaluating the performance of a security relative to another security or index 36. Percentage parameters not widely recognized percentage retrenchments? 45% 37. 39. 41. 42. 43. 45. Inter market analysis? Study of the interrelationships between the various independent financial markets 46. The secondary trend is measured in weeks or months and the intermediate trend is measured in weeks or months 47.A characteri stic of a trend? Any trend is influenced by its next larger and smaller trend 48. The directional indicator can be defined as two lines tracking higher highs and lower lows to determine trend 49. Which is false? Breakouts from support and resistance is usually a change in trend the longer the trend, the less significant the breakout 50. A descending triangle has a falling resistance line and a horizontal support line 51 . How would you use relative strength analysis when comparing sectors? Divide the price of one sector by an industry benchmark and compare 52.To increases sensitivity in a point and figure, decrease the box size 53. Point and figure – one box reversal chart 54. In what charting technique will trend lines be drawn at 45 degrees? Point and figure 55. Not found in P? Bullish engulfing pattern antiradar XIX P, which breakout is most significant? A breakout from a 15 column congestion zone 58. O price movement 59. Characteristic of a logarithmic scale? Preferred ov er arithmetic scaling for long- term trend analysis 60. P are named according to their box and reversal size 61 . O movement 62.Cycles are measured from through to through 63. 10 day cycles are best timed with 5 day oscillators 64. Not true? Normality is the principle that relates cycles of different lengths cause they are rarely identical principle of proportionality states that a cycle of similar duration exists everywhere in the market 65. Not common of reversal patterns? The larger the pattern, the greater the subsequent move tops usually take longer to form than bottoms 66. An inverse head and shoulders pattern is a reversal pattern 67. The MAX objective of reversal pattern is 100% retrenchment 68. False 69.Futures do not require an optic to short 70. True about double tops? They often occur at market bottoms height is often used as a measuring objective 71 . Not correct regarding reversal patterns? 2 and 4 2. Equally WA? Is the way the DOD Jones Industrial Average is calculate d an investor invests that same dollar amount in each security 73. A reasonable price objective once a stock has completed a head and shoulders pattern is equivalent to the distance between the head and the neckline 74. A continuation pattern is all of the above 75. A symmetrical triangle is all of the above 76.The apex of a triangular pattern is all of the above 77. True 78. The breakout from a triangle formation all of the above 79. Descending triangle considered a bullish pattern B and C 80. Flag and pennants are not reversal patterns 81 . The measuring technique for most continuation patterns implies that a price objective from the breakout point is equal to the height of the pattern at its broadest point 82. The reversal pattern that can also appear as a continuation pattern is head and shoulders. 83. Best describes continuation patterns? They are represented by sideways price action 84.Stock traders rely heavily on 50 and 200 day moving averages and 30 to 40 weeks moving avera ges 85. The simple moving average gives equal weigh to each periods price 86. A channel breakout system works extremely well in a and c 87. The moving average is all of the above 8. The crossover method refers to a buy or sell signal generated when a shorter moving average crosses a longer moving average 89. The most used price to calculate the moving average is the close 90. In a 10-day simple moving average, each days price is assigned a weighting of 10% 91 .Which moving average assigns greater weight to the most recent data? Exponential or weighted 92. Longer term moving averages A and C 93. A moving average is a smoothing device 94. Shorter moving averages produce more trades 95. To help confirm a price trend, volume should expand in the direction of the trend 6. Volume divergence occurs when a new high in an uptrend takes place on active light volume 98. Volume in a head and shoulders pattern is usually highest where? During the left shoulder 99. Triangle price patterns should be accompanied by a gradual drop-off in volume until the breakout 100.Technicians believe that volume matters most during breakouts volume precedes price 101 . A selling climax typically occurs at a market bottom 102. Open interest is the number of outstanding in a given day 103. A candlestick with equal opening and closing is a doll 104. The primary use of a candlestick tatter is to determine if you are in a bull market or bear market strengthen the possibility off reversal or continuation off price trend 105. All of the following are momentum oscillators except relative strength index advance/decline line 106.

Great Gatsby Essay, Character Corruption Essay

Throughout the novel of The Great Gatsby corruption is a prevalent and reoccurring theme and lies within most characters. They become overwhelmed with their own self desires and goal to gain material possession that it blocks their true vision of innocence and morality. Daisy for example is introduced into the book as an innocent dedicated wife to Tom but as the book progresses there is an evident change in her character as she becomes increasingly corrupt. By the end of the book Daisy is selfish, destructive and careless as she handles the situation between her husband, Tom, and her ex lover, Gatsby. For example of her being careless, she lets Gatsby take the blame for her killing of Myrtle Wilson which eventually leads to Gatsby’s death which she seems to show no concern. She is destructive by cheating on her husband while having no real intentions of leaving him for Gatsby. Tom from the beginning of the novel was always seen as corrupt when he has an ongoing affair with Myrtle to satisfy his own needs and leave those needs and feelings of Daisy behind him. He focuses more on monetary value of things and his own self appearance than to the care which Daisy requires out of him as a husband. Tom is also a hypocrite in a way when he catches Daisy and realizes what she has been doing behind his back, he becomes fierce and angry with her while at the same time he has been doing the same behind her back for years. Jordan Baker is also extremely corrupt because of her dishonesty and her need to gossip. She is a social climber who will cling to anyone who means anything or has money for her to grasp onto. She will do whatever it takes to win or get her way, as shown when she cheats in her round of golf to win the tournament. Everything she does is for show and has no regard for other people or their feelings. She goes to Gatsby’s parties with no real concern for who he is while showing no gratitude or thanks for having the party. She is constantly looking out for herself and only herself trying to figure out ways in which she can be seen and become popular in the West and East Egg community. When Daisy was having her affair with Gatsby, Jordan supported her and was behind her during the whole thing, another example of corruption within Jordan. The people of West and East Egg are also all corrupt and consumed with themselves. This is shown when Gatsby dies because only two people show up to his funeral Nick and his father. These people attending his parties have no care for him or his house while they’re there and cannot even pay respect to a man that has died and has given every one of them more then he needed to. Gatsby himself is also a corrupt character in the book yet not nearly as blatantly as the others. Gatsby is corrupted by love and his dream to be with Daisy. Everything he’s ever done in his life such as the money he’s made and the parties he throws are for the slightest chance of him becoming reacquainted with his lost love, Daisy. He is constantly being used by everyone in West and East Egg as an outlet to their everyday lives. They have no regard for who he is and nor do they care. The people come and go as if it is routine for these parties and show no thanks to Gatsby. He has no true friends besides Nick in Egg. Gatsby, over the time of becoming rich has become overwhelmed and brought into the world of expensive material things all to impress Daisy, who previously could not be with him because he was not wealthy. All he can do is show that off so that in the slight chance she comes to one of his parties he can show her is wealth and what he has become. Gatsby is so drawn into and brain-washed over Daisy that she is all he can think about and all he sees is that green light across the bay, dreaming of the time when he and Daisy can finally be together again. This dream is crushed though because he cannot compete with Tom. Tom being categorized under ‘old money’ while Gatsby is categorized under ‘new money’ and big distinction in the communities of West and East Egg. He has devoted his life to becoming an exclusive member to the ‘old money’ people in Long Island but will never be able to reach that goal which corresponds to his goal of end up with Daisy. Corruption is an over arching theme throughout The Great Gatsby and all characters seem to reveal it in their own way with the exception of Nick who stays true to his midwest routes. Nick is never consumed in the material world or has the desire for anything greater than which he already has while all the other characters are always greedy and have desire for more things. They are all absorbed in their own world and worries that they have no time to see what others are doing or how they feel which is an easy way to lead to a corrupted lifestyle.

Maple Leaf Foods Essay

In the summer of 2008 there was a widespread outbreak of listeriosis linked to deli meats produced in a Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. (Maple Leaf) plant in Toronto, Canada. The outbreak claimed over 20 lives and sickened hundreds. This reaction paper will take a deeper look at the crisis, analyze the company’s response, and address ethical issues related to the case such as responsibility, honesty, and transparency. Similar cases involving recalls made by Menu Foods, Tylenol and Mattel will be discussed as a contrast. Listeriosis is an infection caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is a common bacterium found in all sorts of food plants but is dangerous at high levels, especially for adults over fifty, pregnant women, newborns, and people with a weakened immune system. The listeria at Maple Leaf was found in two of its industrial sized slicers. The experts believe it was buried deep inside the machines where it couldn’t be cleaned during sanitation. Hospitals and retirement homes were providing the contaminated Maple Leaf meats to their patients and residents respectively. Seniors, vulnerable to the bacteria, became ill and some eventually died. Michael McCain, Maple Leaf’s CEO, offered a sincere apology immediately after the officials confirmed the link between the outbreak and Maple Leaf products. He described the crises as â€Å"the toughest situation we’ve faced in the 100 years of this company’s history.† He then, as a precaution, expanded the recall to include all 220 products produced at the Toronto plant. The costs were estimated at $20 million. So who was responsible? Obviously, the listeria was linked back to Maple Leaf, but what about the regulators? Shouldn’t they have set more stringent policies to prevent such occurrences? Or maybe situations like this can’t be avoided since listeria can’t be fully eliminated from food plants like Maple Leafs. Maybe the hospitals or retirement homes should be more careful with the food they provide to people with weak immune systems. Some of the points given might be stretching it but they are valid arguments, nevertheless. Maple Leaf had a choice to make; it could have tried to defend itself and divert responsibility by pointing fingers or it could have taken responsibility. Mr. McCain made the choice to take full responsibility. â€Å"We had a breach, and we took accountability† he says in an interview with Maclean’s magazine. He expanded the recall to include all 220 products produced at the plant, which cost an estimated $20 million. He committed to implementing safety standards that are amongst the most conservative in the world. Finally, he decided to handle lawsuits as promptly as possible by giving people what they wanted for the most part. The decisions that Mr. McCain made seem to be costly ones, at least in the short run. It can be argued that Maple Leaf, being a public company, has an obligation to maximize shareholder first and foremost. Increased costs could negatively impact shareholder value. So did Mr. McCain make the right choice? To answer this question we use Menu Foods, Tylenol, and Mattel as examples and summarize using Tucker’s five questions. In March 2007, Menu Foods, a manufacturer of over 90 brands of dog and cat food, recalled 60 million cans of pet food after it was discovered that the pet food contained wheat gluten tainted with melamine and cyanuric acid. The combination of the chemicals caused kidney failure and death in some cases. The source of the toxic chemical was traced back to Chinese pet food manufacturer, ChemNutra. The company did not handle the recall in a timely manner and it failed to assume full responsibility. Rather the CEO tried to portray the company as a victim. Ultimately, the recall cost Menu Foods an estimated $53.8 million and the company faced multiple lawsuits. The company’s stock price fell as much as 91% within a year of the recall and was eventually purchased by Simmons Pet Food in August 2010. In 1982, several people died as a result of taking Tylenol, which was contaminated with cyanide. After investigation it was discovered that the Tylenol were tampered with. Johnson and Johnson, the parent company, recalled all 31 million bottles and created a tamper-proof bottle. The recall and the new bottle design cost Johnson and Johnson over $100 million. It was a costly move for the company in the short-run but it was a smart and ethical strategy in the long-run as it helped rebuild costumer confidence in the company’s products. Similarly in August 2007, Mattel recalled 20 million Chinese manufactured toys that had potentially toxic lead paint and magnets that could be dislodged. Mattel’s CEO took personal responsibility and the company aggressively notified the public about the recall. Mattel handled the recall quite well and was able to maintain a good brand reputation. From the three examples provided above, the observation can be made that consumers react much more favourably to companies that take full responsibility when they make a mistake, work quickly to resolve the problem, compensate those affected fairly, and act in an honest and transparent manner. Tylenol and Mattel might have made costly decisions in the short run but were able to restore customer confidence and improve shareholder value in the long run. Tucker’s five questions is a useful way to assess Mr. McCain’s decision to take full responsibility and take costly measures to improve the safety program of Maple Leaf. First, was the decision profitable? In the short run no, but in the long run yes the decision was profitable as sales levels were maintained. Two, was it legal? Yes. Three, was it fair? Yes, for the most part it was fair. The people that lost family members will not get them back, but impacted individuals were compensated as fairly as possible. Furthermore, the consumers and shareholders were communicated to in an honest, genuine, and transparent manner. The fourth question asks, was it right? Yes, the right thing to do in a sensitive situation like this was to admit to the mistake and act in the most virtuous way possible to correct the wrong. The final question asks, was it sustainable? Maple leaf committed to making its safety standards among the most conservative in the world. This commitment was a long-term decision that has helped foster a culture of high standards that will enhance sustainability in the long run. In conclusion, Mr. McCain’s decision to take full responsibility and act in an honest and transparent manner was the right and ethical decision to make. He was able to restore customer confidence in the company and increase shareholder value in the long run.

Issues Faced by Oreedoo Telecommunications Essay

Issues Faced by Oreedoo Telecommunications - Essay Example This paper illustrates that although being one of the largest organizations in its domestic marketplace, Oreedoo Telecommunications is not the biggest market shareholder. The biggest competitor of Oreedo is Omantel. Omantel is also one of the most influential companies in its concerned marketplace. It has set up connections with various influential people and already developed a considerable customer base. Apart from competition, Oreedoo is also facing other challenges related to the regulations of the market and internal problems associated with their talent and employee management. Oreedoo is finding it hard to manage their human resource elements as the employee base is not steady and the employee turnover rate is high. Furthermore, although Oreedoo has acquired the resources for pursuing their strategic objectives, limited employee base in causing barriers to the process. As observed in the given case study of Oreedoo Telecommunications, the company is trying to establish itself in the communications industry of Oman but is facing some critical problems in doing so. The first issue noted was the immense competition faced by the established player such as Omantel. Being one of the early entrants in the communications segment of Oman, Omantel has been able to acquire a large consumer base and have also established relationships with influential and well-positioned individuals. This also focuses on another critical barrier for Oreedoo Telecommunications which is the underdeveloped legal and regulatory structure of the communications segment of Oman. Because of limited regulatory functions in the industry, the manipulation of the legal framework is high. It can be mentioned here that the telecommunications industry of Oman is yet underdeveloped and does not have an appropriate governing body.

The Command and Control or Top-Down Management Style Research Paper - 2

The Command and Control or Top-Down Management Style - Research Paper Example In addition, the whole team must agree on the course of action taken by the organization concerning diverse issues (Yee-Melichar, Boyle & Flores 2011, p. 159). This paper wishes to examine the top-down management approach in the management of organizational change. The top-down approach in managing change implies imposed change since the change plans come from senior levels. Top-down style involves implementing changes more quickly as well as dealing with problems if necessary. Thus, this style is effective in organizations in which employees tend to resist changes. However, the style has the potential of increasing resistance to change due to the failure of incorporating employees in the change process. The managers at senior levels require being very specific when spelling out the change expectations as those following such plans do not participate in the process of planning (Anderson, Ackerman-Anderson 2001, p. 100). Since employees are not incorporated in the decision-making course and are repeatedly only motivated via either incentives or fear, moral can turn out to be an issue but these are usually countered by strict organizational requirements for all employees. However, change management could is inadequate since the top management may ignore a substantial part of the organization irrespective of how effectively such top-level decisions are reached (Morgan 2000, Para 4). In recent years, the top-down style of management is perceived as less favorable compared to the other management styles. However, it is sometimes very essential towards the success of projects and organizational change as seen above. An organization’s style of management plays a crucial role in determining whether the organization will triumph or fail. In this case, an organization can adopt a top-down style of management or a participative/inclusive management style (Dogra 2000, Para 1). Now, this paper can only say that both means of management are good as some projects  and organizational change management processes may work differently with the different management styles.

Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Media - Essay Example Table of Contents Thesis Statement 2 Introduction 4 Astonishing Effects of Newspapers†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦4 Conclusion 5 References 7 Introduction A newspaper is a type of publication, which offers varied types of valuable news and information regarding varied aspects to its customers. It mainly attempts to offer real news to the viewers, so as to make them well aware about the facts and facets of the entire nation and world. On the basis of which, varied types of decisions are taken by the viewers, so as to improve their well-being, resulting in improvement of the country as well. Other than this, the segment of trade and commerce is resting over the economic conditions of the country. Along with this, the decisions of the buyers and shareholders are also entirely dependent over the daily news, advertised in printed hard copies or online website s. Moreover, all types of trade related decisions are always based upon information - that is accurate, substantial, and appropriate. It proves quite beneficial for those individuals, desiring to invest in varied shares and debentures of different companies (Price Water Cooper, â€Å"Moving into multiple business models†). This helps in fulfillment of the inner desires of the heart of most of the entrepreneurs, i.e. to become rich in a very short period of time. It can be possible only if, an individual or an entrepreneur remains aware and conscious about the facts and information, occurring in everyday life, so as to take the accurate planning’s and decisions. It acts as a mirror for all the viewers, providing a fair image of the entire world. Along with this, it also provides a facility to analyse the opinions of varied popular individuals, acting as an intermediary to exchange different ideas and thoughts. Astonishing Effects of Newspapers Just as the proverb, †˜Time and tide wait for none’, similarly good news also never waits for anyone. So, to remain updated with every sort of information or data, it is extremely essential to keep an eye on the online newspaper sites as well. Moreover, its craze increased with a remarkable speed due to the introduction of information technology. It gave an up-thirst to the online websites of newspaper, by enhancing the passion of the viewers over internet. This affected in an optimistic way, augmenting the internal spirits of the enthusiastic and energetic personnel’s to select journalism as their career in future times. Moreover, according to Cole &Harcup, â€Å"newspapers conquer a critical place in human world, acting as a realm of social life† (Cole, P & Harcup, T. â€Å"Newspaper Journalism†). This is because; it offers detail reports about the various places of the world, business opportunities, environment, sports, political scenario and various types of holiday sport s and the economy among others. With the help of this, an individual can attain a complete picture of the entire country, residing in far-away places. Therefore, it might facilitate a country to improve the economic condition of the country as compared to other players of the market. Other only this, it might also facilitate by increasing the number of customers, thereby improving their lifestyle. It is extremely essential for any developed country, to retain and enhance its portfolio day by day, among other countries. Moreover, as most of the

Journal assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Journal - Assignment Example One of the significant things I have learnt is the importance of nurses joining professional organizations. I have learnt that organizations play a major role in addressing issues of nurses as well as influencing of health policy. Moreover, such body’s helps in addressing issues related to the society in terms of health. I have also realized that an individual cannot be able to further nursing goals as compared to a group. Hence, joining such entity can help in shaping and achieve nursing goals. On the other hand, I have noted that advocacy by nurse and such bodies are crucial in addressing the needs of the patients. This plays a significant role in the provision of quality care. Moreover, I have realized that various ethical issues arise as nurse work in various environments. Some of the ethical issues are likely to put one in a dilemma. Some of these issues may affect the performance of the nurse. As a result, one has to learn of various initiatives that can help address such challenges. The other important thing I have learnt is the influence advocacy. I have realized that advocacy can play a significant role in the transformation of the nursing profession, society health and individual nurse. The advocacy may help in highlighting some of the challenges ailing the health sector as well as influencing politicians to come up with favorable health policies as they use lobbyist. Additionally, I have realized how understaffing affects the health care outcomes. This is because the staffs may be overworked that may lead to poor concentration. Moreover, such nurses may be stressed and hence be not able to communicate with the patient efficiently. I believe more effort is needed to advance on professional Knowledge development and Communication. I need to undertake various initiatives so that to assume active responsibility for continuing to master these skills. One of the initiatives is to ensure that I have up to date knowledge on emerging

Coca-Cola Company versus PepsiCo, Inc Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Coca-Cola Company versus PepsiCo, Inc - Essay Example In 2009, the companies work under the 401k pension plan which provides insurance advantage on the medical requirements of the employees. In Coca-Cola the contributory plan is done by both the employer and the employees where the employer enjoys the benefit of taxation for their employees. The pension plan of PepsiCo is based on the willingness of the employees as the benefits are availed by both the full-time and international employees. The rates used by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo for calculating the pension amounts are rate of return on assets, rate of compensation, and rate of discount. For the year 2008, the expense discount rate and the rate of return on planned assets for Coca-Cola was 5.8% and 7.75%. The medical benefits for the retiree were calculated based on the available rates. PepsiCo had a discount rate of 5.7% on all US beneficiaries and 5.2% on foreign workers. The expected rate of return for PepsiCo in 2008 was 7.7%. Retirement rewards calculated were often based on the co mpensation rate for employees. Recent events in corporate finance have depicted the importance of efficient administration. The need to fund corporate pension plans have made many executives to offers offer defined constitution plans as because of the recent changes in IFRS. Whereas Coca-Cola have rejected such approach and have preferred the plan of cash balance plan design as it offered risk-free benefits to the employees and made the employees secured. Coca-Cola was a part of multi-employer pension plans of US, but from 2012 the company opts to change the accounting methodology for determining the market related value of assets for the defined benefit pension plans. Coca-Cola sponsors to the pension plans covering all US employees and has made necessary assumptions to determine the pension expense and other related obligations. As per the assumption the discount rates would be related to the present value liabilities and the expected long-term rate would relate to planned assets. The company decided to periodically revise asset allocation so as to improve returns and manage risks. PepsiCo is one of those major employers who are still planning to offer their new employees a final salary pension. In 2012, PepsiCo decided to decrease the fair value of pension so as to reduce the future employee benefit costs. The company made certain changes in their US Pension plans, which stated that employees earning benefit under the pension plans as stated in IFRS, were not eligible for the company matching contributions on the 401k contributions. The annual pensions is to be calculated based on 4 components, i.e. the value of benefits earned by employees during their working hours, the increase in liability due to time , other gains and losses and the expected return on assets which was based on pension plan investment strategy and the long-term rates of return by asset class. These schemes were essential to plan a secure retirement for the employees and to meet the futu re expectation of the management. Answer 2. The Coca-Cola Company In 2012 the company’s total pension expense related to defined benefit plans were $251million. The company’s primary US plan in 2012 represented 59% and 64% of the Company’s consolidated pension benefit obligations and pension assets. The pension expense is expected to decrease by $60 million in 2013 by the management because of expected $640million of contributions to be made by the

Managing Employee Appraisals Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing Employee Appraisals - Research Paper Example These risks include but are not limited to high rate of employee turnover, and low quality of products or services that the organization offers to the clients. Management of performance appraisals is a fairly demanding task. The management in organizations is often too busy to consider such issues, and the amount of effort required to maintain a healthy, practicable, and fully functional performance management system makes it seem more of a hassle than a good practice, but the reality is otherwise. According to DeNisi and Pritchard (2006), the research surrounding the topic of performance appraisal has attracted a lot of criticism because of the overemphasis placed on the psychometric issues. It is equally important for the appraisal research to place emphasis on and explore the effective systems of performance appraisal that can inculcate the motivation in the employees to improve their performance. Some of the most important components of the effectiveness of employee appraisal inc lude the perceived level of accuracy, fairness, and satisfaction on the part of the employees because these perceived reactions of the employees can serve as the motivational factors to help them improve their performance. ... It is linked with a range of outcomes of employee appraisal like motivation of the employees and their satisfaction with the appraisal. Achievement of their satisfaction is extremely important for the management because employees can only be motivated to improve their performance once they have the confidence that their past performance has been judged fairly. In all cases, the more transparent the system of employee appraisal, the better it can be understood by the employees and their perceived reactions to it are likely to be more positive. Considering the importance of a well-developed, organized, and transparent system of employee appraisal, use of software for performance management is fairly common in a lot of industries ranging from healthcare to construction and schools. One such software that is suitable for use in the healthcare industry is HealthcareSource Performance Manager. This software makes the process of healthcare performance management quite simplified with the au tomation of the content and workflow for competencies, performance reporting, training, and performance appraisals. The software provides the management with a structure and an efficient reminder system that places emphasis on the achievement of goals and makes the documentation, chasing, and communication quite convenient for the management. Improvements made to the employee appraisal with the use of the HealthcareSource Performance Manager include improved on-time completion ratio of employee appraisal, improved communication in the organization, consistence between the goals of the organization and those of the employees, and minimized time

English - Cognitive Linguistics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English - Cognitive Linguistics - Research Paper Example 134). This is because there has been extremely inadequate attempt to provide an exposure analysis of cognitive linguistics in the recent past. Additionally, cognitive linguistic offers a definition of conceptual account of ideational purpose of language in which individual experiences is designed by construal operations (Liddell 2008, p. 314). Cognitive linguistic entails the entire structuring of affective classification and configuration of ideational ascribed to cognitive agents such as intention, volition, perspective and attention (Charteris-Black, 2004, p. 61). In regard to this, cognitive linguistic brings about concrete conception of language that portrays basic cognitive abilities. Some of the basic abilities reflected by cognitive linguistics are ability to build structured conceptualization in various organizational levels, ability to come up with proper interaction between different aspects of a structure, ability to take a situation at different categories of abstraction s, and the ability to observe a single situation in different dimensions (Lakoff and Nunez, 2000, p. 123). According to cognitive linguistic, the study of language entails analyzing its function in transmitting information. (Fairclough, 2009, p.9). Additionally, when using language in communication, communicator employs creative elaboration, transfer, and mapping (Kemmer and Arie, 2005, p. 115). All this is done to understand the meaning of the language. On the other hand, language does not bring about meaning. It depends entirely on cognitive resources and cultural models to make meaning. Grammar guides the language users by prompting them to perform complicated cognitive operations. In reference to cognitive linguistic, the meaning of a language depends on the context where it is used. Cognitive linguistic also rehabilitate and redeem some basic aspects of language such as metonymy and metaphor. These aspects form the rhetorical language periphery (Brugman, 200, p. 89). These aspe cts are also very powerful in mapping human thought. They have a definite role in the understanding of religion, poetry, philosophy mathematics, science, and everyday thinking and speaking. As observed from previous cognitive linguistic study, language encompasses various categories and processes (Wodak and Michael 2001, p 67). On the other hand, cognitive linguistic model describes the interrelationship between events and objects. This model describes the cognitive capability of an individual in getting the meaning of a language (Herskovits 2006, p. 78). As stipulated by cognitive linguistic, language and thought are embodied. Individual impartial structures and sensorimotor is also known to play a crucial role in shaping conceptual structure. In cognitive linguistic, conceptual structure is made of prototypes. As a result of this, grammar is a mere neutral system (Taylor 2002, p.9). On the other hand, in communication, the capabilities that organize language are always specific to the language used. Some basic capabilities that organize language include conceptual integration, recursion, analogy, view point and perception. The application of cognitive linguistic in critical disclosure analysis is based on various theories. The commonly known theories are metaphor theory and mental space theory (Kress and Robert 2002, p. 40). Metaphor theory has experienced consistent development over the last few years. According to the theory, metaphor forms the basis of all human

Business of Ford Pinto Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business of Ford Pinto - Essay Example For advocates of utilitarian ethics, an ethical doctrine that states that the decision or course of action that will yield the highest benefit (or utility) is the best and most morally upright, on the other hand, the continued production of Ford Pinto after knowing that it has a major safety flaw is unjustifiable. First looking at the benefit or the utility that Ford, itself, will receive out of releasing Pinto in the market, utilitarians may argue that production of this product knowing that it has a vital defect is itself unjustifiable. There is no good reason why Ford will endanger its reputation to the public. Though they may reap benefits in terms of profit in the short run, still it will not compensate the loss of trust that their risky move will engender. This marred reputation most probably will result in lower sales in the future. In terms of its responsibility to the society, Ford’s move for utilitarians is irresponsible and unacceptable. Though it may have computed the cost that they may incur once there compensate casualties because of their product, still that does not justify the loss of a human life because of their negligence and irresponsibility. In terms of computing financial costs, a human life and moral damages are incomparable to the figures that they released. Ford also know even before the launching of the car that additional parts and equipment might have saved the lives of their customers, yet still, they commenced the production without adding it.

Different Views on Ethical Perspectives Essay Example for Free

Different Views on Ethical Perspectives Essay We, as human beings are more often aware of our actions. Before we make decisions critical analysis comes with a great consideration. We are able to analyze these things because are considered as rational beings and we have the ability to think to the highest level we can. We opt to consider whether these things are good or not, if it’s right or wrong and if it’s really needed or not; this we often consider as ethics. Ethics is an issue of morality. There are things that we do that others consider wrong, but others may consider righteous. According to the society we should act as what it considers right; norms are one of the foundations of ethics and we should act accordingly. Norms can be a basis of what is morally right or wrong. There are four perspectives to be discussed in this paper, each of them having their own characteristics and each of them having their strong points and their weaknesses. The perspectives are universally known as the character or virtue, deontology or the perspective of obligation, the theory of utilitarianism and the equity or principle of relativism. The theory of utilitarianism points out two things; one thing is better than the other if we could gain more pleasure from it, and the other thing is not that good, or better yet to say evil, if we could only gain pain from it. This theory also states that we do things voluntarily, that one is considered as the pilot of his own decisions and that such consequences could have not taken place if only he did or did not do such actions. The amount or quantity of pleasure or pain takes into a great consideration in the concept of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is better understood as having the maximization quantity of benefit and less quantity of bad or the pain it can cause. A person would have two distinct choices, the first one is that if he does the action he would gain more pleasure or shall I say he can maximize the benefits of the action; the other is that if he does the action he would have to gain more risks and consequences. The first choice would be most favored because we, as human beings would not want to suffer from the choices we make, we do not want to be suffering from the consequences of our actions so what we do is do the thing that would give us the most favorable and maximum quantity of pleasure (Moore, 1912). Virtue is an ethical perspective that tackles about the actions that we make and the ideals we have in life that we should strive for and that these ideals help us in developing our highest potentials as human beings. This focuses on the traits or character that one has, the dispositions in life and the attitudes whether be it bad or good. Virtues are acquired through doing it everyday, they become a person’s characteristic when they are practiced for the longer time. There are a lot of characteristics and virtues a person can have; truthfulness, patience, honesty, and courteous are some of these. Virtue would help us in pursuing the ideals that we have in life (C. A. Manuel Velasquez, Thomas Shanks, S. J. , and Michael J. Meyer 1996). The theory of ethical relativism states that morality is based on the culture of a society. It singles out that one can either be wrong or right, bad or evil depending on the society the person belongs to; the society is the one concerned in creating its own culture. This theory is basically called relativism because being good or bad is relative of the kind of society a person belongs to; the society dictates whatever thing is perceived as good or bad. Every single society shares a common culture, this culture defines good and bad and the people should act with accordance to the standards of the society they belong. This theory is often argued because of the fact that every single society has its own culture and therefore has its own perception of bad or good. However, this theory is useful in exploring the reasons behind the differentiation of culture among societies (C. A. Manuel Velasquez, Thomas Shanks, S. J. , and Michael J. Meyer, 1992). Obligation perspective holds the golden rule â€Å"do not do unto others what you don’t want others do unto you†. It simply states that we should do what is only right and not what is wrong. It holds the principle of doing what is good because of the obligation. Say for example, a person should tell the truth because that person is bound to have an obligation to tell the truth because he doesn’t want other people not to trust him and because he upholds the value of truthfulness. This perspective is sometimes being pertained to utilitarianism, but it is totally different. While obligation is obligatory, utilitarianism is a voluntary act. After taking the ethical awareness test, I have known that what ethic perspective dominates in me is the obligation or the deontology. My perspective is based on my obligation or duty to do what is morally right. With this, I am to consider a thing as ethical if I choose how I act and what rules I am willing to oblige. It is also stated in my ethical perspective that the people should not be treated as a means to justify an end, simply stating â€Å"the end does not justify the means†. I also believe that every single individual should be given the respect that any man should have and therefore I won’t be able to comply with the policies and social traditions aimed at the best interest of the society as a whole. However, my approach to ethics requires legal and humane limits, I simply believe that people should be allowed to make their own choices and I advocate policies that have the intention to ensure equal opportunities for all as well as equal respect. My ethical perspective upholds the principle of doing things in accordance with the standards of right and wrong. However, though my ethical perspective aims to do what is morally right I am faced with numbers of dilemmas with regards to work. These problems would somehow cause me frustrations and may lead to a more devastated life in the future for it is not only concerned in the present but it also pertains to the future. One of the problems I am going to face with this perspective is that the people I work with might argue that some people within a society are not able to act in their own best interests. I may find this a fallacy because it was once used in the denying of the equitable treatment to women and the minorities. This somehow would result to frustration. The second problem I am to face with this perspective is that what I perceived to be morally right may not benefit most of the people. It doesn’t necessarily mean that if I have perceived a thing to be morally right it would maximize the good or pleasure. This would cause me another frustration because if I had made a decision which I perceived to be right and it didn’t work to be beneficial I may have doubts when I make a decision again. It might cause greater problems in the future. Another dilemma I am to face with this perspective is that defending this may end up in economic hardship; in worst cases I can be terminated. Say for example, in a working place several employees should be terminated because the company is having low production because these people are handicapped or they are simply not productive, the best action would be to terminate them but I, as a moralist would say that they should not be terminated because they have children. In the long run, if these people would be in the company and the company has still a low productivity the company would have losses and it may lead to closure because of the losses. Having things perceived as morally right may not be totally right; some may be beneficial but some can create more problems. We as human beings should act accordingly to whatever it is that we perceive because these choices are free of charge, because God created us with the opportunity of having what we call free will and should be practiced. We should not depend on what others may in making our decisions but we should also be ready for the consequences that accompany our decisions. Whatever action we do we should think of it twice, we should think that there are always two sides of a story. We should not be bounded by obligations because this might cause us greater frustrations in the future and this may lead to a very low self-esteem. We don’t want these to happen that’s why we should think critically and make decisions wisely because we are the pilot of our own lives.

How Monetary Policy Can Influence Stock Market

How Monetary Policy Can Influence Stock Market Rakesh Kumar Nair Table of Contents (Jump to) 1.0 Introduction Understanding Monetary Policy and Stock Market. 1.1 Monetary Policy. 1.2 Stock Markets. 1.3 Objectives and Methodology. 2.0 Literature Review. 3.0 Financial Markets Explained. 3.1 Need for Government Regulations 3.1.1 Regulations in the UK. 3.1.2 Monetary Policy and Regulations in the US. 4.0 Analysis of Interest Rates, Inflation and Stock Market. 4.1 Post – 1995 Trends in Inflation, Interest Rates and Stock Market. 4.1.1 Correlation between Inflation Rates and Interest Rates. 4.1.2. Influence of Inflation Rates and Interest Rates on FTSE 100 Index. 5.0 Conclusion. References. Tables Table One: Chapter 4, Chart I and II, FTSE Stock Index 1995/2005, and Bank of England Interest Rates. Table Two: Chapter 4, Chart III and IV, Comparison UK Interest Rates, Inflation Rate, and FTSE Stock Index (percentage change). Financial markets are an essential component of an economy. With the virtual disappearance of borders preventing free flow of capital across nations, its implications not only affect a country’s economic growth but also the country’s ability to raise capital to meet its investment requirements. Financial markets, in this respects, covers the whole range of financial assets, companies and their products. The market participants involved may include those dealing in the derivatives markets, venture capitalists, foreign exchange dealers, hedge funds, investment banks, stock brokers, and financial credit agencies. Considering this diversified interest groups, it is essential that we have certain control regime to regulate this complex markets. Unlike other sectors such as Service and Manufacturing, the financial markets are essentially more sensitive to market behaviour and trends. Note that this does not in any sense mean that service or manufacturing sector is any less influential than the financial sector on economic growth. In recent times, we have observed that trends in financial markets in one country can influence the behaviour of these markets elsewhere. This integration and interdependence of the world financial market has brought about increased necessity for interest rate parity to prevent capital from moving frantically from one economy or sector to another. Federal banks in conjunction with their respective governments introduce reforms and regulations to control capital movements in and out of the country. These reforms and regulations are introduced by the federal bank through its monetary policy. Monetary policy can be defined as an â€Å"Instruments of Control† that a federal bank, in agreement with its respective government policy, use to control (i) price stability, (ii) inflation, (iii) money supply, (iv) exchange rates, (v) unemployment and (vi) Sustainable output. Each of these components highlighted have drastic implications for the short term and long term economic growth rates. Taking into consideration the main area of this study, we aim to understand how monetary policy can influences stock markets. To do this, we first need to know why capital moves from one sector/economy to another. How does current short term and long term interest rates influence the demand for money? Interest rates are used to control inflationary pressure and to control flow of money into the economy. Excess demand and supply for money in the economy can create inflationary pressures. These inflationary pressures and demand and supply of money are controlled through monetary policy. 1.1 Monetary Policy. By applying macroeconomic principles we know that movement of capital takes place to profit from sudden and unexpected changes in market sentiments. Consider a situation wherein there has been a sudden drop in interest rates by the federal bank. A drop in interest rates has positive implications in the sense that borrowers would find it cheaper to raise capital from the market. But why would a private lender lend his capital in an economy when he can profit by lending his capital for higher returns in some other economy ? This may force the lender to take his capital out of the economy to some other profitable destination. Such movement of capital – in and out of the economy will put pressure on the exchange rate to change. By how much does this movement will affect the exchange rate would depend by how much the federal banks lending rates can offset the negative implications of capital transfer by the capital lender. Whether positive or negative, the federal bank would have to devise a strategy to meet the demand for money not only by domestic borrowers and lenders but also by foreign borrowers and lenders. Expansionary and restrictive monetary policy can both have inflationary pressures. Curbing money supply with higher interest rates would lead many borrowers of capital to transfer these additional costs on to their customers. On the other hand, expansionary monetary policy with lower interest rates would lead to excess spending as disposable income increases. This would cause the prices to increase beyond the sustainable level. In this case, the primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain prices at a sustainable level. Such economic trends would warrant a monetary policy that can pump and pull money out of circulation, keep the real interest rates level at an optimum level and ensure that the domestic currency’s external value is determined by the market forces of demand and supply.. 1.2 Stock Markets. Business establishment look at various sources to raise capital to meet its expenditure requirements. They do so by raising capital from the market by selling equity to shareholders. Shareholders invest in anticipation of higher dividends. Firms need to raise capital from the market to meet its short and long term obligations. Suppose that a firm is not able to raise capital at an affordable rate, it would be forced to transfer the additional costs of borrowing on to its customers. Such an action would make its output more expensive in the market and it can have consequences for its profits generation and dividend policies. Less profits and lower dividends can hamper shareholder interests and its equity prices may take a drop. How does monetary policy work towards bringing stability in the stock market prices ? Stock prices are among the most closely watched asset prices in the economy and are viewed as being highly sensitive to economic conditions. Stock prices have also been known to swing rather widely, leading to concerns about possible bubbles or other deviations of stock prices from fundamental values that may have adverse implications for the economy. Taking into considering what stated above, we shall therefore look at the ways monetary policy, given its first objective of maintaining price stability in the economy, influence stock prices. The next chapter looks at some existing literature review on this topic. 1.3 Objectives and Methodology. The objective of this study is to first looks at the basics of monetary policy as a macroeconomic stability instrument. There has been considerable debate over the implications of monetary policy over the stock markets. This has largely been due to the uncertainty associated with the stocks and its prices. These uncertainties seem to affect risk premiums added to stock prices more than stock market index and the stock dividends. Chapter 2 looks at the literature review of existing articles and discussions on the importance of monetary policy for regulating stock markets. These chapter analyses the argument that monetary policies do not necessary have large scale implications for the stock markets. In chapter 3, I look at the need for regulation in the stock market and the factors that contribute in the making of the monetary policy. I have reproduced a chart representation of the US Federal Reserve and the factors that contribute in its monetary policy. We shall also be looking at the trend pattern in the FTSE 100 stocks with the Bank of England interest rates since 1995/96. In the graphical representation to follow in the chapter 4, I have taken into consideration the statistical historical data pertaining to FTSE 100 stocks, inflation rate and the Bank of England interest rates. I shall also be looking at the correlation that may exist between the interest rates and inflation rates in the UK. In order to have a better understanding of the relationship I have taken into consideration a 10 year period split into two parts – 1996/00 and Jan 04/Oct 05. I have also produced one multiple variable regression model to look for variance in the percentage change in the FTSE 100 index due to the variance in the inflation rate and interest rates. While assessing any topic pertaining to financial markets, it is essential that we give due consideration to the uncertainty that governs this sector of the economy. As we have seen in the previous chapter, financial products, its demand and the variance in their values are highly sensitive to market sentiments. Some experts suggest that monetary policy have comparatively less impact on the stock markets index while some suggests it affects the risk premium associated with shares. There are no pure economic explanation that explains whether or not monetary policy have any clear cut explanation for the changes in the stock markets and vice versa. But we do know that investors do look at government policies to formulate their strategies towards investments and monetary policy is one of the many such influencing factors. Whatever the case, we know that government policies are essential for the smooth functioning of the market. Reilly et al (2003) states that â€Å"monetary and fiscal policy measures enacted by national governments, as well as changes in demographic, politics, and technology influence aggregate economies. The resulting economic conditions influence all industries and companies within the economies†.[1] Eichengreen and Tong (2003) argue that â€Å"having volatilities in the financial markets are not a bad thing in and of themselves.†[2] Unexpected changes in the prices of assets acts as a signal to investors about the changes in future outcomes and their implications for the resource allocation. The extent to which the volatility of asset prices varies reflects the volatility in the policy and higher volatility may be an indication of a deteriorating policy environment. There appears to be a two way interaction between the market forces influencing the movement in the stock markets and the policy formation by the central banks. An unanticipated change in monetary policy is likely to have implications for the stock markets because an anticipated change would logically be discounted by stock market investors and they are unlikely to affect equity prices at the time they are announced. Governor Ben Bernanke (2003) states that â€Å"unanticipated changes in monetary policy affect stock prices not so much by influencing expected dividends or the risk-free real interest rate, but rather by affecting the perceived risk associated with stocks†.[3] We can understand from this statement that any unanticipated change in monetary policy is likely to increase the risk premium associated with the stock more than the expected dividends. Higher risks always come with higher premiums to compensate for bearing the uncertainty over the expected returns. For example, a restrictive monetary policy will lead investors to view stocks as riskier investments and thus may demand higher returns to hold stock. In simple words, a restrictive money supply policy through higher interest rates would make stocks to be more risk borne for a given path of expected dividends as higher expected return can be achieved only by a fall in the current stock price. More so, tightening of monetary policy has a particularly strong impact on firms that are highly bank-dependent borrowers as banks reduce their overall supply of credit. Government policies play an essential role in terms of investor confidence. Consider a situation wherein the government on recommendation by the federal or central banks decides to raise the investment FDI cap for foreign investors by certain margin. Investing firm will look at domestic markets for funding besides their own capital sources to invest. This investor confidence building measures are likely to attract investor to invest their capital by buying shares. But the extent to which such reforms are likely to succeed would depend on the rate at which such capital are available, policies towards repatriation of profits, exchange rate policies, reforms and regulations that allow firms to raise capital from the market. If the investor expects the likely returns from stocks to be less, it would make more sense for him to look at other financial derivatives and products such as Bonds for investment. Unlike Shares, Bonds are far less risk prone as the returns and period of investment is well established. Bonds come with specific-guaranteed returns and the investment period is decided upon at the time of issuance and purchase. Risks may come in the form of interest rates charged on raising necessary capital from the market. Talking of risks, if the investor is risk averse, there are possibly only two things that can deter stock markets from operating under market conditions. Firstly, the news that affects investors forecasts of current or future tax-deducted dividends and secondly, the forecasts on the current and future short term interest rates. From the company accounting point of view, what most investors are concerned about is the company’s ability to pay back short term credit loans and the interest rates charged over it. So if the federal banks raise short term interest rates, it might deter companies from meeting its short term obligations to the markets and investors from investing because current higher interest rates would make future dividends to be less valuable. Similarly, if the short term interest rates for lending are higher than the tax-deducted dividends receivable from stocks, Investors would find it more reasonable to lend their capital elsewhere at a rate that at least equals the bank’s short term interest rates which is higher than the receivable dividends from the stocks. In support of my argument, I shall highlight a particular remark made by Governor Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve (2003), â€Å"to value future dividends, an investor must discount them back to the present; as higher interest rates make a given future dividend less valuable in today’s dollars. Higher interest rates reduce the value of a share of stock†. Given these circumstances and as stated earlier, an investor would find other financial products such as Bonds more profitable to invest. Another important aspect of monetary policy influence over stock markets is its ability to manage â€Å"Bubbles† or â€Å"Boom† in the index. According to Bernanke, it is often difficult to identify in advance the factors that cause these bubbles. It is also pointed that the difficulty in pointing out comes from the fact that some bubbles may be of certain asset class which may, at times, influences the bubbles in other asset classes. Therefore any attempt to bring down stock prices by a significant amount using monetary policy is likely to have highly deleterious and unwanted side effects on the broader economy. Moving on to risk in this sector, we know from our understanding of the financial markets that not all investors are risk averse. Some tend to profit by speculating market behaviour and trends forecast for the future. Sloman (1995) states that if the prices are currently rising, then people may speculate whether or not the prices will go up or down. Such speculations add to the risk factor which makes any financial securities expensive. Speculations tend to be self-fulfilling in the sense that every actions of those who speculate in the markets tend to come from sheer anticipation about market behaviour and the actions of those who influence such market behaviour. Stocks, when compared to other financial assets, are considered to be more risk prone and therefore command higher than average returns. In the US, a diversified portfolio of stocks has paid 5 to 6 percent points more per year on an average than other portfolio comprising government bonds.[4] Such speculations only add to the risk premiums on stocks which explain the extra compensation that investors demand to be willing to hold relatively more risky stocks. One study conducted by Roberto Rigobon and Brian Sack shows that it is difficult to estimate the policy reaction because of the simultaneous response of equity prices to interest rate changes. The results obtained in their study shows that â€Å"monetary policy reacts variedly to stock market movements, with a 5 percent rise (fall) in the SP 500 index increasing the likelihood of a 25 basis point tightening (easing) by about a half. This reaction is roughly of the magnitude that would be expected from estimates of the impact of stock market movements on aggregate demand. Thus, it appears that the Federal Reserve systematically responds to stock price movements only to the extent warranted by their impact on the macroeconomy†. They simplify the concept by showing that if the probability of a monetary easing were 30 percent under existing economic conditions, an unexpected 5 percent decline in stock prices would increase the probability of a cut in the Feds benchmark short-term interest rate to 80 percent. [5] To support this argument put forward by Rigobon and Sack, I shall highlight the point put forward by Bernanke who points out that â€Å"an unexpected change in the federal funds rate of 25 basis points leads, on average, to a movement of stock prices in the opposite direction of between quarter percentage point and one / one-half percentage points†. Participants in the stock markets monitor economic indicators such as employment, GDP, retail sales and personal income because these indicators may signal information about economic growth and therefore affect cash flows. In general unexpected favourable information about the economy tends to cause a favourable revision of a firms expected cash flows and therefore place upward pressure on the firm’s value. Therefore, an easing of monetary policy would provide for an increase in wealth as stock prices increase which would prompt higher consumer spending. From a corporate point of view, higher stock prices would effectively reduce the cost of capital for firms stimulating increased capital investment. On the other hand, an unanticipated monetary policy would lower stock prices but increase risk premium. Easing monetary policy would provide for increased savings largely due to the decrease in risk associated with stocks. Results for Bernanke’s study suggest that â€Å"easier monetary policies not only allow consumers to enjoy a capital gain in their stock portfolios today, but it also reduces the effective amount of economic and financial risk they must face†. Thus, a reduction in risk associated with an easing of monetary policy and the resulting reduction in savings for precautionary purposes may amplify the short-run impact of policy on the asset value [6] Issues such as Inflation act as an indicator for economic growth. Rising inflation in most cases are dealt by accommodating interest rates to control the flow of money. For instance, often inflation is caused by the presence of excess money in the economy. The government might decide that the best way to tackle this problem is by increasing the interest rates. Raising interest rates would cut excess expenditure, reduce excess consumer demand thereby bring an equilibrium between aggregate demand and supply. Raising prices can also be tackled by raising interest rate by curbing unwanted expenditure. Bernanke and Gertler (1999) argue that monetary policy that aims at flexible inflation must pay little attention to asset inflation because a proper setting of interest rates should be able to achieve a sustainable inflation rate.[7]Analysing this argument, and looking at the evidence put forward by Bernanke (2003), changes in the monetary policy do not bring about immediate changes in the stock markets behaviour but maintains inflation rate at sustainable level. In this section, we looked at arguments put forward by Bernanke (2003), Reilly et al, Bernanke and Gertler (1999) to understand the existing study on the likely impact of monetary policy on stock markets. Despite all these suggestions, there appears to be little agreement over the exact and precise impact of monetary policy in the stock market. In the next chapter I shall look at the basics of financial markets and look at the regulation policies followed by the US Federal Reserve. I have also reproduced a chart representation of factors that influence the US stock prices. Financial Markets play a prominent role in today’s economy. Though in the past during industrial-manufacturing era of the 1800s/1900s, it can be argued that role of finance was narrowed down to basic accounting purposes such as the cost of production. Today, with the advent of various financial products and the integration of world economy financial sector it requires constant regulatory procedures for its smooth functioning. The financial crisis witnessed in East Asian economies, Mexico, and Argentina has made financial regulation and reforms an essential component of any government’s economic policy. In their regulatory capacities, governments have greatly influenced the development and evolution of financial markets and institutions. Fabozzi et al (2002) points out that â€Å"it is not surprising to find that a market’s reaction to regulations often prompt a new response by the government, which can cause the institutions participating in a market to change their behaviour further and so on†.[8] It can be understood by this argument that at all times governments, markets, and institutions tend to behave interactively and to affect one another’s action in certain ways 3.1 Need for Government Regulations One very good and justifiable explanation for the need for regulation in any markets, not just in financial markets, is that when markets are left to it self, it tends to deviate from its basic objective of market efficiency. A short hand expression for this deviation from market efficiency is described in economic terminology as â€Å"market failure†. Some basic regulations followed by many governments can be categorized into 4 basic categories To prevent issuers of securities such as stocks, bonds, from concealing relevant information. To promote competition and fairness in the trading of financial securities. To promote the stability of financial institutions. To control and restrict activities of foreign institutions and concerns in domestic markets. 3.1.1 Regulations in the UK. One of the major regulatory procedures ever adopted by the British government was during the mid-1980s when it introduced the â€Å"Big Bang† disclosure of information by the securities markets. An Important part of that restructuring was the Financial Services Act of 1986. This law imposes a â€Å"general duty of disclosure† and applies to any foreign or domestic firm that issues debt or equity securities, whether or not the securities are to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Financial Services Act assigns responsibility for regulating financial activity to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). The DTI delegates much of the task to the Securities and Investment Board (SIB). The SIB is the primary agency that authorizes institutions to conduct investment business and monitors their dealings with the public and the adequacy of their funding.[9] The Bank of England now regulates most banking institutions in much the same way as the US Federal Reserve. Until the Big Bang of 1986, banks were not permitted to engage in many activities involving the sale of securities. Since then banks are not allowed to own subsidiaries that are members of the stock exchange, which offers investors many financial services linked to investing. Non-British firms are now allowed to be part of and even lead the groups of underwriting firms that sell to the public new issues of debt and equity denominated in pound sterling. 3.1.2 Monetary Policy and Regulations in the US. One of the major duties of US Federal Reserve is serving on the Federal Open Market Committee, the body that makes US Monetary Policy.[10] As we have seen earlier in the first chapter, the primary objective of monetary policy is to maintain the macroeconomic stability in terms of price levels, unemployment, exchange rates, and interest rates. Federal Banks, often, use interest rates as a means to control inflation. To what extent can the bank control interest rates is a matter of debate especially since most economies work on market economy principles. United States have brought extensive reviews and changes to its policies regarding domestic and foreign firm’s participation in the financial markets. In 1984, the federal government abolished the withholding tax on interest payments to non-resident holders of bonds issues by US firms. In 1987, US markets obtained permission to trade futures based on foreign government bonds This illustration shows the reasons and factors that influence the stock prices to change in the US.[11] According to Governor Bernanke the US Federal Reserve have little or no direct control or influence over the interest rates that matter most for the economy, such as mortgage rates, corporate bond rates or the rates on Treasury securities. In support of his argument, I shall point out similar policy constraints faced by the German government since joining the EMU. Fabozzi et al (2002) points out that â€Å"the European Central Bank replaced the central bank of 11 participating countries of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). ECB, since then, controls the money supply, availability of credit and short term interest rates for the EMU members and has also influenced the uniform currency of the EMU†. Given these regulatory frameworks how far are the bank’s monetary policies a determining factor in the stock exchange. The idea of this chapter was not to explain each and every regulatory technique the banks use but to have slim-shot view of the factors that influence bank’s monetary policy. The chart representation quite clearly shows the factors that contribute in the US Federal Reserve monetary policy. In the next chapter we shall look at some historical trends and then use those trends to arrive at some econometric models. Considering the fact that central banks are increasing looking at market forces to control interest rates, the role of financial regulatory bodies becomes complex. Broadly speaking, to have efficiency in the financial markets, it is essential that the bank is able to determine the degree of financial stimulus needed to push the economy to its optimal level. Monetary policy, in this situation, should strive to provide this stimulus. For example, lower mortgage rates promote increased spending on new homes and lower corporate bond yields and high stock prices generally induce firms to invest in new capital goods. Similar to these rates stated now, lower interest rates should act as an incentive for firms to borrow and invest in lucrative products. From the long term perspective, obtaining credits are comparatively less complicated. Short term credits are more essential as firms often have to meet its short obligations by borrowing. Firm’s ability to meet its short and long term obligations act as an indicator for shareholder to assess whether are not they should invest their capital. These short and long term obligations are determined by the interest rates. Failure of the markets to provide funds at affordable rates has consequences for economic growth. A r

Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for Education and Poverty

Millennium Development Goals (MDG) for Education and Poverty Wesley[LL1] Burkhart Education Development Education is essential in helping the lower developed countries strive [LL2]to catch up with the Western World. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of goals aimed at helping the world’s poorest, consists of eight goals that can be accomplished with the use of education. These goals were developed in 2000 and established after the Millennium Summit of the United Nations as a target for 2015. Not all of the goals were accomplished by 2015, but there has been a great amount of progress achieved. Education has had an extreme impact on some of these goals, and if it is used correctly will help to solve the problems of the world’s poorest places. My goal is to explain these issues and how they can be resolved with the use of education. The first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. This consists of a few sub-groups as well, but I will be more general with my explanation. Education promotes and inspires entrepreneurship, which helps to generate positive externalities like work, loans, businesses, ect. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) report that each additional year of schooling can increase an individual’s wages by 10% per year. This suggests after ten years an individual could be making one hundred times the amount they were a decade ago[LL3]! The use of education to teach the skills necessary to create complex markets has and will continue to help the less developed countries. The second goal, achieve universal primary education, obviously relates directly to education. This goal means children should go to school young and complete an appropriate amount of education, similar to what we do in the U.S. The UESCO reports, â€Å"Education provides knowledge and skills, encourages new behavior and increases individual and collective empowerment, education is at the center of social and economic development.† There are still over 50 million children out of school, but significant progress has been accomplished since 2000 when the number was much higher. Another important factor is reaching equity in education because over half of the 50 plus million children out of school are girls. Educating the children can help these future generations from making poor choices later in life, and it can serve as a gateway to better decision-making. Several factors, however, hinder the world from achieving this goal. Cultural differences inhibit many women from continui ng education because of lower marriage ages. Natural disasters also play a large part in preventing many places from providing education. It is critically important to solve this goal and help the poor â€Å"get on their feet.† The third goal is to promote gender equality and empower women. Equal schooling for boys and girls is probably the most effective policy for achieving all of the MDGs. The UNESCO reports, â€Å"Evidence shows a strong correlation between educating women and girls and an increase in women’searnings, improved child and family health and nutrition, an increase in school enrolment, protection against HIV infection, higher maternal and child life expectancy, reduced fertility rates and delayed marriage.† Increasing women’s earning can help to eliminate poverty. Improved health will help to prevent diseases, which is another MDG. Basically all the results from equal education of girls and boys directly impacts at least one aspect of every MDG. Goal four of the MDGs is to reduce child mortality. Research shows in numerous studies that education, specifically of women, significantly improves family health, nutrition, and reduces the number of children who die before the age of five. One study in the Philippines reveals that a mother with primary education lowers the child mortality rate by nearly fifty percent! Development is considered by many to be the key to solving all the problems. It is also said that reducing child fertility, by lowering child mortality, is the key to development, so one could say education is a key player in linking all of these factors together. Goal five focuses on improving maternal health. As mentioned previously, education is linked to improving maternal health. Educating the women is one of the best ways to prevent them from dying. The UNESCO reports, â€Å"The world’s most dangerous place to give birth is Niger, where women face a 1 in 7 chance in fatality.† Over half of a million women die each year in childbirth. Prenatal education can tremendously combat the chances of women dying in childbirth. This also improves the lives of the children and future generations. Goal six is to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. Diseases like HIV/AIDS are responsible for multiple millions of deaths per year in lower developed countries. Educating the population about the diseases can help to prevent the chances of getting a disease or at least spreading the disease once contaminated. The example of the mosquito nets to protect inhabitants of malaria-infested locations is a prime example of how education can prevent the spread of diseases. In America public schools teaching sex education to the children has also been proven to lower the spread of diseases. Clearly education is essential in completing the spread of disease. The seventh goal is to ensure environmental sustainability. This is often thought of as ensuring that the future generations have at least the same or better quality of life as we currently do. This goal has made significant progress over the recent years with the help of education. The United Nations website states, â€Å"Between 1990 and 2012, 2.3 billion people gained access to improved drinking water sources.† Educating countries on proper allocation of resources, environmental problems, positive regulations, and much more will contribute to accomplishing this goal. [LL4] Goal eight was implemented to develop global partnerships for development. The UNESCO reports, â€Å"Aid for basic education in the world’s poorest countries came to only US$2.7 billion in 2007, a far cry from the $US16 billion needed annually to reach education-related development goals. Developing countries can also do more – by making education a priority. If low-income countries spent 0.7% of their GDP on education, it could make about US$7 billion available per year for basic education.† The United Nations countries do contribute aid to the developing countries, but only a few make their actual quota or above. Perhaps if all the nations would contribute the correct amount to education and the lower developed countries would correctly allocate their funds, the world would be on a faster pace of development[LL5]. Education will be a main driver in the forward progression of our planet, and it is imperative to the advancements of lower developed countries. The educated and more developed countries have a moral obligation to share the information with those who are less fortunate. If the worlds countries can communicate globally and effectively, the education necessary to develop, the planet will become a more advanced, safe, productive place to live. Works Cited http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/education-for-all/education-and-the-mdgs/goal-8/ http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/global.shtml [LL1]Analysis is a bit short†¦ Had more room for critical/economic analysis of these solutions. A few minor grammatical issues. Organization is good. Missing discussion of alternative perspectives and costs†¦ Esp. worth discussing whether education along will be sufficient to propel developing nation’s economic growth upwards and whether this seems like a likely/practical solution to you (or other researchers). Another issue is that this appears to stem essentially from a single article and after reviewing that article this feels very much like a book report style of paper†¦ largely taking their ideas and reforming them†¦ without as much of your own critical analysis and/or competing ideas brought to bear. Grade: 78 [LL2]Help countries strive, or help countries increase economic growth? [LL3]Not sure about your math here†¦ maybe it’s just the way you worded it. Gains after 10 years of schooling? Would be more like 100% (or 2-times as much) if the data is accurate. [LL4]How to do this (how to education countries)? And what do you mean by these terms (e..g what is proper allocation of resrouces?)? [LL5]Good point/nice wording. But is this likely? Is there hope from any other avenue? Any other evidence that might suggest that growth will increase without this level of aid?