Essay The Forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ - 1122 Words

Only in the forest do women exercise power. How far do you agree with this statement? The forest in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ is used as a green space, a place where the social norms don’t apply. At the time of writing, Shakespearean England was ruled by a female monarch, Queen Elizabeth the 1st who was only the 2nd queen of England in their own right. This power held by a woman at the time was not the norm, women were subservient of men. Hermia has been promised to Demetrius by her father; however she is unwilling to marry him as she is in love with Lysander. We are introduced to this theme when they visit Thesus, the figure of authority in the play, who makes it clear that women are not to have their own identity, but instead are†¦show more content†¦Titania and her husband Oberon are shown arguing over ‘A lovely boy, stol’n from an Indian king –’ (II.i.22) who is her possession. As she is refusing to hand over this changeling child, Titania is showing Oberon, that they are equals, ‘am I not thy lord/Then I must be you lady;’ (II.i.63-64), she retaliates showing him that they are equals, which when Shakespeare was writing this was far from the social norm. During their argument in Act 2, Titania uses natural world imagery to argue her case, that she should keep the changeling child and for their argument to cease. She says that the winds, piping us in vain, /as in rev enge have suckd from the sea (II.i.87-88) which suggests that she is angrier than normal as a wind coming of the sea is more powerful than a normal wind. This use of natural metaphors tells us that the characters of Oberon and Titania are unpredictable and dangerous because of the power they have as King and Queen of the fairies. Titania is arguably the strongest women in the play; however she is still susceptible to the devious schemes of Oberon and Puck. She is tricked, by the use of a love-juice potion, into falling in love with Bottom who appears to have an ass’s head, â€Å"An ass’s nole I fixed on his head† (III.ii.17). This event leads to Oberon asking her for the changeling child â€Å"Which straight she gave to me,† (IV.i.58) showing that even strong woman can be tricked by men, which is stillShow MoreRelated The Role of the Forest in Midsummer Nights Dream and As You Like It1387 Words   |  6 Pages He explores this comparison through the role and purpose of the forests in Midsummer Nights Dream and As You Like It. Midsummer Nights Dream focuses on imagination and escape, while As You like It focuses on reality and self discovery. Imagination plays a key role in Midsummer Nights Dream. Puck, a fairy servant and friend of Oberon watches six Athenian men practice a play to be performed for Theseus wedding in the forest. Puck turns Nick Bottoms head into that of an ass. The other playersRead More A Midsummer Night’s Dream Essay: Importance of the Nighttime Forest1636 Words   |  7 PagesA Midsummer Nights Dream: The Importance of the Nighttime Forest  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Shakespeare’s play A Midsummer Nights Dream the dark forest is the center of the world, relegating Athens, center of the civilized Greek world, to the periphery. Day gives way to night, and mortal rulers leave the stage to be replaced by fairies. The special properties of night in a forest make it the perfect setting for the four lovers to set out on a project of self-discovery. Shakespeare implies that in darknessRead MoreFantasy vs. Reality in a Midsummer Nights Dream Essay1126 Words   |  5 Pagesand Reality in A Midsummer Night’s Dream In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare easily blurs the lines of reality by inviting the audience into a dream. He seamlessly toys with the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Among the patterns within the play, one is controlled and ordered by a series of contrasts: the conflict of the sleeping and waking states, the interchange of reality and illusion, and the mirrored worlds of Fairy and Human. A Midsummer Nights Dream gives us insightRead MoreThe Anatomy Of Criticism By Northrop Frye991 Words   |  4 Pagesstructuralist approach is crucial to analyzing Shakespeare s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream. One finds that the play revolves around many different pairs of oppositions, in particular that of the court and the forest. Analyzing the play with this structuralist point of view underscores the archetypal qualities of the court (the real world) and the forest and provides a deep contrast between both mythic locations. A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins in the real world: a world governed by the laws of the timeRead MoreWilliam Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream1474 Words   |  6 Pagesconsistent and underlying concept of romance in each of Shakespeare’s plays and related movies. For instance, one could look at the movies A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Shakespeare in Love. The latter follows the life of William Shakespeare himself, everything from his love affair with Viola de Lesseps to his creation of Romeo and Juliet. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, is one of the most famous plays of Shakespeare’s, revolving around the tumultuous relationships of four lovers, aided, and sometimes thwartedRead MoreA Midsummer Night s Dream1094 Words   |  5 PagesJeana Jago Theater History J. Robideau October,1st 2015 A Midsummer Night’s Dream In a Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare story about romantic desire. Theseus and Hippolyta, are about to be married; both of them are wonderful figures from classical mythology. (Greek Mythology) Theseus is a great warrior, a kinsman of Hercules; Hippolyta is an Amazon warrior-woman, defeated in battle by Theseus. (Theseus and Hippolyta) He was longing for the wedding day, and this is what opens the play and closingRead MoreThe Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare1563 Words   |  7 PagesThe Theme of Love in A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare In A Midsummer Nights Dream, Shakespeare presents us with multiple types of love by using numerous couples in various different situations. For example: Doting loves, the love induced by Oberons potion and in some aspects, Lysander and Hermias love for each other; there are true loves: Oberon and Titania, Lysander and Hermia (for the first half at least, as Lysanders love switches to Helena temporarily)Read MoreEssay on Analysis of Rationality In A Midsummer Nights Dream1058 Words   |  5 PagesWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is not simply a light-hearted comedy; it is a study of the abstract. Shakespeare shows that the divide between the dream world and reality is inconstant and oftentimes indefinable. Meanwhile, he writes about the power of the intangible emotions, jealousy and desire, to send the natural and supernatural worlds into chaos. Love and desire are the driving forces of this play’s plot, leaving the different characters and social classes to sort out the resultingRead More William Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream Essay935 Words   |  4 PagesWilliam Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream A Midsummer Night’s Dream could have easily been a light-hearted, whimsical comedy. Complete with a magic forest and a kingdom of fairies, it is an iconic setting for amorous escapades and scenes of lovers. But Shakespeare’s writing is never so shallow; through this romantic comedy, Shakespeare postulates an extremely cynical view of love. A Midsummer Night’s Dream becomes a commentary on the mystery of love, and lovers in general emerge shamedRead MoreA Midsummer Nights Dream Research Paper (with Cited)1161 Words   |  5 PagesThe play, A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare, is about four lovers and their dreamlike adventure through a fairy ruled forest. There are many different characters in this play and they each play their own individual role in how the play is performed and read. Three main characters that showed great characteristics are: Puck, Tom Bottom, and Helena. The play, A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare, uses characters and their conflicts to give meaning to this piece of literature

Discuss the interplay between conflict Free Essays

International trade is one of the most critical and complex process as it involves not only more than two parties to the contract but also different institutions including governments. It is because of this reason that it is often argued that the laws regulating the international trade should be such that they can easily facilitate the trade between different countries while keeping intact the different indigenous laws of the respective countries. In its essence, international trade is the exchange of goods, services and capital between the countries across the international borders. We will write a custom essay sample on Discuss the interplay between conflict or any similar topic only for you Order Now Due to its unique characteristic of involving cross border trade, it is also subject to different laws, regulations and rules. Uniform Commercial Law is the law which has been promulgated in order to harmonize the laws of sales between different countries. Such kind of uniform commercial laws include the UCP rules which govern the international trade and also the exchange of the financial services between the financial institutions. Since, one of the most important characteristics of the international trade is that it involves the interaction of financial institutions also besides between the seller and the buyer therefore the uniform commercial laws such as UCP govern the international trade. However, on the other hand, there are other international laws which area also governed the international trade by different countries according to their own requirements. The protectionist policies and laws and regulations adopted by the different governments of the organization create a deliberate conflict between the uniformed commercial law and the other international laws and regulations thus creating a conflicting situation for the different players working in the international environment. This essay will undertake to analyze and understand the interplay between conflict of laws/international law rules and uniform commercial law in the field of regulation of international trade. International Law The international liberalization of the trade as well as growing globalization has given rise to the need of having laws flexible enough to accommodate the needs of the different players in international trade. (Chirwa,2005). Many researchers also attempted to remove these regulatory anomalies by offering a new approach to resolve the conflict of laws in international trade. One such approach outlines the concept of constitutional uncertainty in international trade and present different models of international transactions in the wakes of different legal frameworks present. (Schmidtchen, Kirstein, Neunzig, 2004). These approaches are mostly suggesting the economic solution to the problem of the conflict between the international law and the uniform laws and suggest a transactional mode of international trade and attempt to bring down the law to accommodate such models into them so that this conflict can be overtaken. The increased globalization as well as the role of large multinationals in circumventing the rules and regulations in their favor, in countries where they have larger chances of profitability, indicates the eroding powers of state to ensure the compliance with the international laws besides ensuring that the local laws support the international regulations so that the international trade can swiftly take place. When we discuss about the international law and the conflicts between the different regulations, it always come down to analyze and trace the patterns of those conflicts in different kinds of transactions taking place internationally. One such example is that of the credit sales where UCP rules may suggest different approaches to governing the financial aspects of the transaction however, the existing rules and regulations such as restrictions on the foreign exchange repatriation, forward booking of foreign currencies due to pressures on the domestic currency may effectively create a situation where the uniformed commercial laws and the private laws can come into direct conflict. (Albert, Wade Instituut,1983). Another great example can be that of the WTO and the other related laws. WTO specifically advocates the removal of the different trade restrictions such as quotas on the international trade taking place between member countries however there are other deliberate attempts by different countries to discriminate against other member countries by promulgating rules and regulations which restricts even the capability of WTO to remove the conflict of laws and regulations between the countries. It is also often argued that the international trade has more become now a political issue and despite the trade liberalization, politicizing of the international trade have created a deliberate attempt to raise a conflict between different international/private laws and the uniform commercial laws. (Joerges, 2007). Such politicization of the process has not only created a deliberate drift between the laws but it also created a permanent source of conflict between the international institutions also. Conclusion It is also important to mention that the interplay of the different uniform as well as the international/ public laws, from a transactional perspective, can be removed because the laws and regulations will directed at creating a synergy between the different laws to assist the smooth operation of international trade. A deviation from the transactional mode of international trade therefore may create a direct conflict between the international and uniform commercial laws. 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Bathsheba and Gabriel

Bathsheba and Gabriel-Far from the Madding Crowd Essay Bathsheba did not fall in love with Gabriel at first sight as he did with her. In response to his visit, she pursues him in a tomboyish style and naively assures him that she has no other suitors, a relief to Gabriel who admits that since he was an everyday sort of man his only chance was in being the first comer.  She listens to his earnest promises of all things he could offer to her but Bathsheba was too romantically inclined to find them a reason to get married. She admitted the life he painted was something she would like but without the encumbrance of a husband!! She very honestly confesses that she did not love him to which he is willing to compromise and he says he would be content if she just liked him. Youd get to despise me, she says to which Oak asserts that NeverI shallkeep wanting you till I die.  He is honest to his words and as we see Gabriel did continue to love and protect her throughout though Bathsheba could only realize it much later when she was badly embittered in love and life.  Ironically she falls in love with a handsome flamboyant Troy who could stir up her romantic imagination but never  loved her truly. Later:  Strange circumstances in which Troy meets his death filled Bathsheba with wild grief. She puts the whole blame on herself and is filled with self-accusation. LIFE Gradually grief subsides and she leads a life of seclusion and retirement. She avoids people and remains indoors for most of the time.  Bathsheba had a tendency to take the devotion and attachment of Gabriel Oak as a matter of course without realizing it. She had taken it for granted that he would go on worshipping her and nursing his hopeless passion to the end of his life. Without being aware of it she had begun to be totally dependent on him. On receiving his notice of resignation she was shocked and the very thought of Gabriel leaving her grieved and wounded her emotionally.  She realized that over the years he had become indispensable to her and that without him life would become barren and empty. She took an unconventional decision to visit him and the conversation they had led them to reveal their true feelings for each other and ended with their decision to get married.  Their love had grown from a long working partnership, friendship and mutual respect. They are aware of each others rough sides and yet with maturity and subtlety let their romance grow amidst harsh prosaic reality. BATHSHEBA AND BOLDWOOD Boldwood was Bathshebas neighbour, a rich gentleman farmer and bachelor of forty. He was considered a celibate and indifferent to women. However on receiving Bathshebas fatal valentine he becomes obsessed with tropic intensity. He quickly falls in love and proposes to her offering Bathsheba a ladys life of leisure and luxury. Boldwoods passion was constant but becomes a mania and obsession with him. He imagines public mockery and envisages loss of his good name and standing by her rejection.  His unfulfilled and unrequited feelings become a mental torment and agony.  While Oak is able to exercise restraint on his feelings and keep himself busy at work Boldwood loses all interest in his farm and his peace of mind once he knows Bathsheba has married Troy. He becomes unbalanced and careless even forgetting to cover his ricks and protect them from damage by storm.  His skull like appearance unable to bear the truth shocks Gabriel.  Though Boldwood was a wealthy farmer and offered Bathsheba a rise in her social status she rejects him, as he was not able to stir any love or romance in her.  She sought love and not materialistic pleasure in marriage.

Family Secrets Review Essay Example

Family Secrets Review Paper Essay on Family Secrets Little Philip had always dreamed about the elder brother. This desire was so strong that one day he simply invented, even knowing that the brother really existed So begins the novel by the famous French psychoanalyst Philippe Grimbera family secret. This small volume book tells the tragic story of a Jewish family that had experienced horrors of the Holocaust. From the old and faithful family friends boy learns that once his father had another wife and son, who, unlike from it he was born strong and was proud of his father. Until one day tragedy struck. The ideal family history, created in the imagination of the boy mercilessly crashed against reality. But it makes it stronger. Turns from weak boy teenager in a real man. He begins to understand his father and mother better, trying to help them, took off their shoulders unbearable burden of secrecy. Only its too late. Father took upon himself the burden of guilt is too strong, and the mother suffered all these years. Every minute of waiting, they can return to the first wife and the son of her husband We will write a custom essay sample on Family Secrets Review specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Family Secrets Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Family Secrets Review specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The story is told brief but very succinct sentences. The novel is read in one breath and leaves a sea of ​​emotions. Probably not in vain psychoanalyst author of the work. He skillfully reveals the images and shows the feelings of all the characters, despite the fact that the volume of work, as I wrote, is quite small. Now really want to see the film based on this novel. Perhaps no book about World War II can not leave the reader indifferent. All your problems at once seem so small and insignificant compared to what people had to go through back then. Their courage is impossible not to admire. They gave us life and peaceful sky over your head for years to come. By reading these books, it is impossible not to think. With regard to the Holocaust is, I never could, and can not understand it. For me it does not matter what nationality people. We are all humans!

The Essay Expert’s Top 10 Lists of 2015

The Essay Expert’s Top 10 Lists of 2015 I started a tradition last year of compiling a list of some of my favorite lists at the end of the year. This year I’ve decided to alternate the items between subjects relevant to The Essay Expert’s favorite topics of discussion and those of more general or flighty interest. You’ll find lists here on topics from creating a powerful year ahead to brain teasers, LinkedIn statistics, CEO fiascos, and, yes, even cat videos. Have fun! Change Your Thinking, Change Your Results. This list of questions will give you a valuable baseline from which to start your year. You can ask these questions of yourself now, then in another 3 months, 6 months, etc. How do you rate yourself now? How do you want to rate yourself? And what will it take to get there? I’d recommend partnering with an accountability buddy on this one! Top 10 Visual Illusions. What can I say†¦ I love this stuff! My eyes were tricked by some of them! But I did find the baby in #10. 29 New Year’s Resolution Ideas – Make 2016 Your Best Year Ever. The resolutions on this list are as simple as â€Å"enjoy the little things† and are sure to improve your mental and physical well-being if you commit to them! They come along with links to sites that will support you in your goals. Choose one or two that speak to you and make 2016 truly your best year ever. The Worst CEO Screw-Ups of 2015. Susan Adams is one of my favorite bloggers and I recently discovered her yearly run-down of CEO screw-ups. From drug companies to auto companies to Yahoo, the egregious errors abound. By the Numbers: 125+ Amazing LinkedIn Statistics. This one is an encore from last year, updated for 2015! LinkedIn is up to 400 million users. Full disclosure: Most of the statistics here are from previous years, but I still like them anyway. 20 Alternative Uses For Common Household Items. Did you know that petroleum jelly can keep your car doors from freezing shut and that raw honey is an antibiotic? I am sharing this one again since I forgot half the tips since last year! Top 100 Best Places to Live. My city, Madison, WI, dropped from #1 to #3, but I still like this list!! Rochester, MN is #1 – who knew? If you’re considering a move in the next year, this list might inform your decision. Tips for â€Å"Beginning† Bloggers. I put â€Å"Beginning† in quotes because this list applies to all bloggers, no matter how long they’ve been blogging! Are you thinking of starting a blog, or feeling stuck with writing a current one? Either way, this list is for you. Top 10 Job Search Predictions for 2016. From predictions about millennials to trends in mobile and video recruitment, this article paints a picture of the job search landscape for the coming year. Funny Cats Compilation of 2015. Really, what would a top 10 list be without a cat video entry? I happen to find falling people and animals very funny, as long as no one gets hurt. So these got a good chuckle out of me! What’s your favorite list from 2015? Please share! And if you have candidates for the list as 2016 unfolds, please send them my way!

Bio-ecological systems theory

Bio-ecological systems theory Abstract This paper is about the Bio-Ecological Systems theory of Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenners’s Bio-Ecological Systems Theory concerns the environmental influences on a child’s development. He observed that these influences were comprised of relationships around the child and these relationships have layers of interaction between the child’s and the child’s environment. He called these layers ‘systems’. These events start with direct influence on the student and progress outward until the events have only minimal, indirect influence. Next it will discuss a minority population which is deafness. There are two main forms of hearing loss and five levels of severity. After the child’s hearing loss is identified the parents need to choose what technology they want their child to use. The next obstacle for parents is how and where to educate their child. Then it will discuss how the theory applies to a particular student of this min ority population. And lastly it will discuss the educational considerations and recommendations revealed from applying the theory to this student. It will also consider which educational theorists apply to this student. By considering the student more holistically, rather than only what happens presently in the classroom, it will help the instructor develop a teaching plan for this student to maximize his learning potential. Bronfenbrenner’s Bio- Ecological Systems Theory: As Applied to a Deaf Student Bronfenbrenners’s Bio-Ecological Systems Theory concerns the environmental influences on a child’s development. He observed that these influences were comprised of relationships around the child and these relationships have layers of interaction between the child’s and the child’s environment. He called these layers ‘systems’ and they consisted of five different levels of influence. These events start with direct influence on the student and progress outward until the events have only minimal, indirect influence. The five systems that were recognized by Bronfenbrenner are as follows: 1. Microsystems- the immediate environment of the child which has the most impact on the child’s development, for example the relationship between the child and his parents, the child and his peers, or the child and his school. 2. Mesosytems- the connections between the microsystems, where the systems overlap, these also have a direct impact on the child’s development; for example, the interaction between the child’s peers and the child’s parent or the interaction between the child’s parents and the child’s school. 3. Exosystems- the next level of events in the environment are further from the child but nevertheless have impact on the child’s development; for example, problems with the parents’ work (indirect events) which causes tension in the home (direct event) 4. Macrosystems- the larger cultural environment that the family lives in; for example the economy of the area the family lives which contributes to the work opportunities for the parents 5. Chronosystems- the transitional events in the child’s life as he grows up; for example the changes incurred by moving from middle school to high school. The â€Å"otheredness† of my student is deafness. I believe deafness is a minority condition because the â€Å"National Center for Health Statistics places the number of profoundly deaf in the U.S. at more than 400,000, while people classified as hard-of-hearing number over 20 million, or about 8 percent of the total population†. (Bacon, 2002) Even though deafness has received some attention through television shows and movies, there are still many misconceptions about deaf people and their social and educational needs.

Reaction paper 3 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Reaction paper 3 - Assignment Example Thus, showing how Lardo acquires new meaning as a result of the campaign as an exotic consumption item for the local and middle-class consumers (Alison 455). Therefore, the article explains the meaning of the movement in different areas. The entire article emphasizes on the impacts of the Slow Food Movement. In Italy, the movement succeeded in developing cultural space for a new consumer politics kind of performance. The article explains further that the Slow Food resists the easy categorization in any familiar political narratives terms. Though, it is evident that the promotion has penetrated to the politics process heart in societies of liberal democracy. Hence, the article explains the theory behind the food politics. Alison shows how the movement of Slow Food manifestos encourages the cultural diversity idea. The article explains that the movement urges consumers to purchase niche-marketed foods. Though, with the kind of promotional politics, there can be no guarantees of ideological outcomes. It is evident in the article that, the cultural marketing authenticity politics may have been unexpected results for the direct producers. The entire article explains the formation and impact of the European Union. The article explains the contribution of the union and community in making the world a better place in terms of economic fields, peacekeeping and climate changes. Thus, the main objective of the article is to define the European Union and determine its impact on the European nations in terms of development in economy. The article points out some of the factors that promoted economic development by the new community or union. It emphasizes that the political and economic unification of the involved nations paved way for the integrated economy. In addition the common market concept got extended in the mutual trade of the union; thus promoting the economic

Critical appraisal and evaluation evidence Research Paper

Critical appraisal and evaluation evidence - Research Paper Example This balances the energy consumption in the body thereby reducing significantly the amount of energy that the body requires for normal functioning. The body's energy requirement further influences the pressure of blood flow within the vessels. It regulates the heart beat thereby regulating the amount of blood flowing within the tissues. The reduced amount of blood in the vessels keeps the arteries open to accommodate the blood thus containing the condition. This is therefore the first step towards managing hypertension. Relaxation performs similarly actions to meditation only that the former includes other secondary body activities. Relaxation is a process in which the body calms down, this is a time in which the body minimizes its activities leaving the basic life sustenance activities such as breathing and little selective secondary activities (Wright &Musini, 2009). Relaxation is relative and different people relax differently, this therefore implies that different people use diff erent amount of energy during relaxation. While others take short walks in cool weather for relaxation, others derive such privileges from small talks with friends. Besides the energy that the body consumes to sustain breathing, the body consumes substantial amount of energy to sustain the talks or the walks that different people refer to as relaxation. ... Hypertension occurs in stages but is more prevalent in the elderly and the overweight whose arteries are thus constricted. Poor lifestyles results in an uncontrolled weight gain which is caused by increased underlying fat that the body reserves below the skin. As the fat piles, it narrows the blood vessels specifically the arteries. Narrowed arteries constrict the flow of blood thus causing higher pressure of the bold eventually bursting the blood vessels leading to internal bleedings. Hypertension is linked to shortened life expectancy and causes a number of other associated chronic conditions such as chronic kidney disease, heart failures and stroke among other opportunistic infections. Uncontrolled hypertension is a heightened level of the increased blood pressure that mainly occurs in adults. Being a lifestyle condition, hypertension requires a strict lifestyle regimen to control and manage. With effective management, it is possible to contain the condition or even treat it compl etely. The poor management results from heckles lifestyle which includes excessive consumption of alcohol and unregulated diet. Hypertension contributes to more than a thousand deaths annually in the United States of America alone. These deaths do not arise directly from the actual hypertension but from other related chronic conditions such as kidney infections and heart failures. Pharmacotherapy for mild hypertension Controlling the condition therefore requires one to engage in activities that lower blood pressure. One such activity is meditation. Therapeutic mediation begins with an effective understanding of oneself. This implies that one understands himself or herself and aware of the conditions he or she is suffering from. This

Compare the way Shakespeare presents Hamlets Essay Example for Free

Compare the way Shakespeare presents Hamlets Essay In this play, Hamlet, Shakespeare shows us the different ways that madness can be portrayed and the various ways that others surrounding the central characters can perceive it. From the beginning it is explained that Hamlet would put an antic disposition on and this signifies that Hamlets madness would just be an act, not something that is actually true. Hamlet confides in Horatio and asks him not to look knowingly if he sees Hamlet behaving oddly by saying some doubtful phrase that might be ambiguous in its meaning. This immediately reinforces the notion that Hamlet is only play acting his apparent madness and in actual fact, is sane. Shakespeare presents Hamlets antic disposition as a means for Hamlet to bide his time and figure out how to avenge his fathers murder by a brothers hand. Hamlets madness is not meant to be seen as madness by us, but as something that has a purpose i. e. it could enable Hamlet to kill Claudius and it could be perceived by others that the killing was unintentional and was because of Hamlets madness. However, in the case of Ophelia, Shakespeare presents her form of madness as something that is real and tangible. She has a reason to be mad; her father is dead and gone. Shakespeare enforces the idea that Ophelia really is mad by having her enter in Act 4 Scene 5 distracted and singing a song about the death of her father. Ophelias madness is supported by what the gentleman says to Gertrude at the beginning of Act 4 Scene 5 about Ophelias state of mind; that she winks and nods and gestures and that her speech is nothing, yet the unshaped use of it doth move the hearers to collection. Even Laertes is appalled by Ophelias madness and wonders ist possible a young maids wits should be as mortal as an old mans life? Ophelias actions and what she says causes those around her to doubt her sanity and believe that she really is mad. There are many words that are used by the main characters to describe Hamlets madness. He describes it as his antic disposition whereas Polonius calls it lunacy and Claudius calls it distemper and a transformation. Although everyone perceives Hamlet as mad, Polonius and Claudius at one point doubted that Hamlet in actual fact was indeed mad. Claudius had Rosencrantz and Guildenstern spy on Hamlet, whilst when Polonius spoke to Hamlet he thought that though this be madness, yet there is method int. This shows that madness within Hamlet is not really madness at all, but is just an act; a performance on Hamlets part. Shakespeare adds this doubt to Hamlets madness whereas in Ophelias case there is no doubt about her state of mind to those around her. It is believed that mad people have a tendency to have suicidal feelings. In Hamlets first soliloquy, he desires that his flesh would melt and would have killed himself had not his canon gainst self-slaughter. In his first soliloquy, he says to be or not to be, that is the question-in this line, Hamlet wonders whether or not to commit suicide. These suicidal feelings beg the question had Hamlet actually gone mad? I, like many others believe that Hamlet was not mad, as even though he displayed suicidal thoughts, he did not carry those thoughts out, signifying a sane state of mind. Ophelia however ended up committing suicide by drowning herself in a lake while she chanted snatches of old lauds as one incapable of her own distress. This seems to indicate how fragile her state of mind actually was and how she was driven to madness by her fathers death and Hamlets actions. The gravediggers in Act 5 Scene 1 thought that Ophelia committed suicide and if she had not been a gentlewoman, she should have been buried out o Christian burial as suicide is considered as an unholy crime. Shakespeare seems to want to show us that Ophelia really was mad by having her act, speak and behave in a way that was not seen as normal to Elizabethan society as well as society today. It also seems that Shakespeare, maybe unwittingly, shows us that women were weak-minded individuals whereas men were the stronger sex, mentally as well as physically. Even though Hamlet is knocked with strong emotional surprises, such as finding out that his stepfather killed his father, Claudius, Hamlet still remains strong in public. This is a very sharp contrast to how Ophelia behaved when she suffered acute trauma due to the sudden death of her father. Whilst Hamlet remains strong, Ophelia transcends towards madness as her fragile state of mind had shattered. Maybe, this was the way Shakespeare viewed both sexes or maybe those were the views of Elizabethan society as a whole. Shakespeare presents Hamlets antic disposition as something very different to how Ophelias madness is presented to us. Shakespeare presents Hamlet as a strong character who has the ability to deal with emotional trauma, whereas Ophelia was portrayed as weak and symbolised what Hamlet once remarked: Frailty, thy name is woman. Shakespeare presents Hamlet and Ophelia in contrasting ways to show us the differences between an antic disposition and actual madness. By using these contrasts, Shakespeare seems to be reflecting on the attitudes and views of Elizabethan society and also seems to be offering us his definition of madness.

Jane Eyre :: essays research papers

Passion and Responsibility In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her. â€Å"Will you have the goodness to send me the address of my niece, Jane Eyre, and to tell me how she is. It is my intention to write shortly and desire her to come to see me at Madeira†¦I wish to adopt her during my life, and bequeath her at my death whatever I may have to leave.† (252) Regretting many things in her life, Jane is put into a situation in which the answer lies in deterring to redress the wrong or to keep the past where it belongs and do what Jane believes is ethical and morally right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obligations arise as Jane is forced to stay with Mrs. Reed. With out being nurtured, Jane receives unnecessary abuse and still feels as if she is yet to find â€Å"home†. Frustration slowly builds up in Jane’s mind and she awaits the perfect chance to let it all out, â€Å"You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity† (33) With the anger and anguish built up inside of Jane, she finally finds a chance to move out, leaving behind a broken relationship with her aunt Mrs. Reed. Jane works towards living a better life, a more worthwhile life leaving what happened in the past, where it belongs. As Mrs. Reed becomes ill, she wishes to see Jane one last time before she passes away. This triggers the moral side of the Character Jane Eyre, and she is stumped on a decision she was to make, not realizing that her decisions will show her true character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. â€Å"Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.† (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs. Jane Eyre :: essays research papers Passion and Responsibility In the novel Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte uses Jane Eyre as her base to find out how a character confronts the demands of a private passion that conflicts with her responsibilities. . Mistreated abused and deprived of a normal childhood, Jane Eyre creates an enemy early in her childhood with her Aunt Mrs. Reed. Just as Mrs. Reeds life is coming to an end, she writes to Jane asking her for forgiveness, and one last visit from her. â€Å"Will you have the goodness to send me the address of my niece, Jane Eyre, and to tell me how she is. It is my intention to write shortly and desire her to come to see me at Madeira†¦I wish to adopt her during my life, and bequeath her at my death whatever I may have to leave.† (252) Regretting many things in her life, Jane is put into a situation in which the answer lies in deterring to redress the wrong or to keep the past where it belongs and do what Jane believes is ethical and morally right.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obligations arise as Jane is forced to stay with Mrs. Reed. With out being nurtured, Jane receives unnecessary abuse and still feels as if she is yet to find â€Å"home†. Frustration slowly builds up in Jane’s mind and she awaits the perfect chance to let it all out, â€Å"You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity† (33) With the anger and anguish built up inside of Jane, she finally finds a chance to move out, leaving behind a broken relationship with her aunt Mrs. Reed. Jane works towards living a better life, a more worthwhile life leaving what happened in the past, where it belongs. As Mrs. Reed becomes ill, she wishes to see Jane one last time before she passes away. This triggers the moral side of the Character Jane Eyre, and she is stumped on a decision she was to make, not realizing that her decisions will show her true character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Whether it is because of the obligation, out of love, pity or kindness, Jane believes she visit Mrs. Reed and fulfill her last wishes. â€Å"Forgive me for my passionate language; I was a child then; eight, nine years have passed since that day.† (253) Putting the hardships behind her Jane gives her full apologies to Mrs.

19th Century American Imperialism & 20th Century War Essay

Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan couldn’t have said it any better, â€Å"No nation had ever become great without control of foreign markets and access to the natural resources of foreign countries† (Kinzer 33). Throughout the years, America has had an astonishing obsession with the idea of global imperialism. One can’t help but ask the following question: what sparked this sudden obsession with global imperialism? Even though there are many different factors that helped spark this sudden movement, the biggest single factor was the industrialization of the world’s major industrialist societies, such as England, United States, Japan, and Germany. The sudden explosion of industrialization sparked a huge consumption of the earth’s natural resources, and initiated the need for expansion. Throughout the late 19th century up until today, America has approached global imperialism in a number of different ways. Methods such as deception, intimidation, fear, and violence have all been used throughout the American conquest in order to expand this imperialistic society. America had to start expanding and had to take over weaker countries. See more: Homelessness as a social problem Essay Americans had to look to faraway countries, weak countries, countries that had large markets and rich resources but had not yet fallen under the sway of any great power† (Kinzer 34). This paper will primarily focus on the reasoning provided by Kinzer’s book Overthrow. America has become the imperialistic society it is today because of the rapid 19th century industrialization and the constant American hunger for natural resources, territory, and global domination. â€Å"Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin to look outward. The growing production of the country demands it† (Kinzer 33). During the late 19th century, America enjoyed a successful conquest of Hawaii, Cuba, Philippines, and Nicaragua. Hawaii, which has always embraced a history of tradition and culture, was faced with the issue of modernization. Throughout the years, Hawaii had slowly started to fall under white control. Hawaii has always been a huge producer of sugar, with one problem. The major market for sugar was in the United States, but the Hawaiians could not export as much as they would like because of the high tariffs imposed on imported sugar in the States. When the reciprocity treaty as signed in the summer of 1876, Americans started installing military and commercial bases in Hawaii. The renewed treaty however was what really displayed that Hawaii was falling under white influence. The renewed treaty gave United States control of Pearl Harbor, an extremely fine natural port. On January 14th 1893, Queen Liliuokalani made a disturbing announcement to her cabinet. She proclaimed a new constitution which stated only Hawaiian citizens had the right to vote. This meant that the Hawaiian population of Americans would no longer be able to vote. This move gave Lorrin Thurston and John Colburn the reason they needed to initiate the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, which would mark America’s first overthrow of a foreign government. The alarmed Thurston quickly wrote a letter to John L. Stevens, requesting military assistance for the overthrow of the queen’s regime. Soon after, on July 4th 1894, the Republic of Hawaii was proclaimed. During the Spanish colonization of Cuba in 1897, William McKinley was sworn in as president of the United States. McKinley did not like the idea of the Spanish in Cuba. However when talking about McKinley, Kinzer states â€Å"William McKinley believed that a self-governed Cuba would pose an extreme threat to the United States, for they might not do Washington’s bidding† (Kinzer 35). After all, the revolutionary leaders in Cuba were already talking about the social reforms and land redistribution they wanted to initiate. This greatly alarmed many American businessmen, for over $50 million was invested primarily in Cuba’s agriculture. McKinley had finally had enough and had decided it was time to use military force to end the Spanish regime in Cuba. On April 25th 1898, the Spanish-American War had officially begun. After the Spanish surrender, America started to kill Cuba’s dream of independence. In the 1898 Treaty of Paris, Spain gave up all rights to Cuba, surrendered Puerto Rico and Guam, and sold Philippines for $20 million to the United States. The Platt Amendment gave the US some economic and military control of Cuba. McKinley initially only wanted to build a naval base at Manila, Philippines. Later however, he decided he would embark on a journey of Christianizing the country. This was unnecessary however, for most Filipinos were already Catholic. On June 2nd 1899, the official Philippine-American War started. The United States would win the war, and dissolute the First Philippine Republic. At this point, the United States had obtained, by force, full sovereignty over the Philippines. With Cuba, Hawaii, Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico under its belt, America now had access to a wide array of natural resources and an assortment of markets. However, the conquest would not end there. In order for one to understand the takeover of Nicaragua, one must understand Central America in the late 19th century. The late 19th century proved to be a strong idealistic era for Central America. Ideas of both social and political reforms were sweeping many Central nations, ideas inspired by European philosophers. These ideas were absolutely despised by the American government, for these ideas called for change. These ideas were admired by Central Americans because they all desired change. Jose Santos Zelaya became president of Nicaragua in 1893. He adopted many revolutionary changes, such as importing the automobile and legalizing civil marriage. He also had a very strong emphasis on building and expanding the country’s infrastructure. At first Zelaya and America were on good terms, for there have been talks of building a canal through Nicaragua. Later however, Panama was chosen as the building site, temporarily ending American interest in Nicaragua. As historian John Ellis wrote â€Å"To the State Department, Nicaragua was no longer a country that needed to be coddled or cared for in preparation for future usefulness, rather, it was not a country that needed to be watched carefully and kept in line† (Kinzer 60). A very strong nationalist, Zelaya was giving some of the American business based in his country trouble, which didn’t appeal to the United States secretary of state Philander Knox. What angered Knox even more was that Zelaya went to European banks to borrow money for his railroad project, not American banks. This showed the Taft administration that Nicaragua was trying not to depend on the States as much as they used to, which of course cause congressional panic. After much trouble from Knox, Zelaya finally resigned in 1909. After the brief command of Jose Madriz, Juan Jose Estrada took over the country, and the new conservative government was much admired and supported by the United States. Estrada’s coming to power marks the conquest of Nicaragua, because of America’s strong influence on Estrada’s regime. As demonstrated, the United States has always obtained a hostile approach regarding takeovers and conquest. The first overthrow took place in Hawaii where the queen was relieved of her position. Cuba was later obtained from Spain with the help of brute force and intimidation. Philippines and Puerto Rico were also obtained in the same fashion. Nicaragua’s government fell victim to an American sponsored coup, and their government was taken over by the Americans. It seems like there has always been a recurring pattern throughout American history. If you try to stand up to the US government, you will go down. If you operate your country in a way that doesn’t appeal to the US government, you’re going down. If you just happen to be doing good for your country, there’s still a good chance you’re still going down. America has always been that big bully that beats on the little kids at school, because they are just too weak to defend themselves. America throughout the 19th century was a product of a heavily industrialized society, a society that must rely on domination of other markets and other countries’ resources in order to keep expanding and thriving.

Conscience – personal creative writing

He was dressed in a sluggish grey-green coat with dull checks. It reflected his character like a murky pond and the story he was feeding me smelt the same. I didn't like his attitude. The way he leered at me with his nicotine yellow teeth and thin sharp lips. It made me feel really uncomfortable. Like I shouldn't be there. I'd forgotten, as usual that I wasn't invited. I noticed that as he repeated himself his gnarled fingers were ever whitening at the knuckles. His hair was greased back off his face as if he'd put a vat full of chip fat on it. It made him look slimy and manipulating. If he'd been a well dressed man with a polite attitude I would not have given a second thought to his wife's suicide. The man in front of me was showing no sign of remorse, not even the slightest bit of sadness. The emotions that float in the air catching normal people unawares must either bounce off his highly polished forehead or slide down the nape of his neck. The flat was quite large with a private elevator at the back. A desk sat in the middle of the room. It was an old solid oak desk with two top draws and ink stains on the blotting paper. The worn out typewriter had the last written words of Mrs. Harrison stuck in it and sat there like a smug omen. People from forensics were buzzing about dusting this and bagging up that. They made the place look like an ant colony. It is very distracting to have someone spying for the minutest thing out of the corner of your eye. I went to have a look round myself. All the furniture, as far as I could see was dating back to the late 1930's yet it was all in impeccable condition. Scattered on the shelves were objects and ornaments the couple had gathered from their short married life. China dogs, vulgar things, cluttered up the iron fire surround. On the mantelpiece slept two speakers, dusty with neglect. Something caught my eye. Two brass bookends. Neither of them particularly aesthetic yet that wasn't what drew me to them. One was brown with dirt and grime, however the other was clean as the day it as bought. I called over Pete, a friend of mine in the forensics team. We were at college together until I went ‘over to the dark side' as he would say. Pete is the type of guy you could quite easily fall in love with, if you allow yourself. His hair is tight and curly. The colour of midnight. Granted, his nose may be slightly out of proportion but the ocean blue colour of his eyes! Deep, full with care yet not deep enough to hide his soul. He told me he would take the bookends off for dusting and get back to me. I couldn't help but stare as he swaggered away in his own original style. The swagger that leaves all girls stranded†¦ Waking my self up I walked back to the beetle red settee where Mr Harrison was lounging. I was sitting on the arm of the chair, trying to spot an intelligent comment from the ones reflected in his mirror forehead. I persuaded him to tell me a bit about his wife appearance. According to him she was of medium height, hourglass figure and full it the face. He got out a photo of her. She was really pretty. Her hair was sandy and fly away with dark brown eyes and full lips. The complete opposite of her husband. That then began to arouse my suspicions of her playing away. I didn't address this issue straight away; I felt it wasn't wise but I did ask what the professional relationship was between he and his wife. At this comment his attitude got blacker once more. He spoke bitterly of how she was clever and outgoing. She had been working as his accountant when they met and ‘slowly weaved her way up to the executive managers position'. It was the way he said it that made your blood chill like an ice cube had just been shoved down your back on a freezing winter day. There was certainly some jealousy going on. I could not fathom why a pretty intelligent girl could want to end her life so suddenly and tragically. Couldn't she have just settled for divorce? Was he threatening her? One thing was for sure; this was no ordinary suicide. I had to find out what really happened earlier that night. I bid good day to Mr Harrison and went to the front elevator. As I waited I tried to heave the sense out of this scene like the heavy contraption heaving itself up to the 18th floor. With the bing of the lift the cold air hit my face once more. The streets of LA are awesome. Especially at night. The rain pattered down as it had been threatening to do all day making the pavement shine like liquid silver. The starlight filled the roadside trees with a magical light like a thousand faeries having a party. A newspaper tickled my feet then went on its way to the next obstacle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a crumpled heap, slumped in the doorway of a closed down chemists. It was partly illuminated by the street light. The other part shadowy and ghost like yet remarkably there. It churns my heart to see these things. From somewhere in amongst the churning it became clear that this fellow might know something. I strolled over as casually as I could muster in the below zero temperature and crouched down beside him. His face was like a canvas of war; his eyes hollow and lifeless. This guy didn't have a single dream or hope left to hang on to in the great pendulum of life. He'd let go just waiting for it to hit him on its inevitable return swing. He showed an utter disgust towards me once I'd told him I was a detective. It made my job really hard. I had started off with a gentle motherly tone but I soon lost it to the wind. What is the point in trying to give these people respect if they judge you on face value and smell of dustbins and public toilets. He assured me that he was awake at the time I quoted and heard no scream. I hurried away as quickly as I could leaving him to mutter under his breath.

Continental Drift Essays

Continental Drift Essays Continental Drift Paper Continental Drift Paper First proposed by Alfred Wegener the meteorologist, the theory of continental drift supports the belief that the Earths continents once were a single land mass. This land mass, which was named Pangaea, broke up, and its various parts drifted away from one another.  Centuries ago, trips around the world from travellers showed out lines from every continent around the world. Later on, early mapmakers wondered why these continents fit together so well. Early geologist thought at first that the continents had started off in their places they laid in the present day. However, a meteorologist constructed a theory that would change the way people would look at the world. The Theory of Continental Drift is a theory that proves that the continents were once joined together making only one single landmass. This theory was proposed by a meteorologist by the name of Alfred Wegener. His theory states that the continents were once one and have drifted apart. Wegener named this land mass â€Å"Pangaea†, which translates â€Å"All Lands† Then he gathered evidence from around the world from landforms, fossils, and climate. He then gathered his evidence and put it in a book titled â€Å"The Origin of Continents and Oceans† which was published in 1915. But Wegener’s theory was rejected because he could not provide evidence on the force that moved the continents. The Earth has a magnetic field that causes a compass needle to always point toward the North magnetic pole, currently located near the rotation pole. The Earths magnetic field is what would be expected if there were a large bar magnet located at the centre of the Earth. The magnetic field is composed of lines of force. Initial studies of the how the position of the Earths magnetic pole varied with time were conducted in Europe. These studies showed that the magnetic pole had apparently moved through time. When similar measurements were made on rocks of various ages in North America, however, a different path of the magnetic pole was found. This either suggested that (1) the Earth has had more than one magnetic pole at various times in the past (not likely), or (2) that the different continents have moved relative to each other over time. Studies of ancient pole positions for other continents confirmed the latter hypothesis, and seemed to confirm the theory of Continental Drift. Exploration of the seafloor had been in progress at a slow but gradually accelerating pace during the nineteenth century and the first four decades of this century. There was a rapid increase in geological and geophysical exploration of the seafloor after the Second World War. Hess suggested in 1958 that seafloor too may be in motion and, in fact, it may be carrying the continents with it. It turns out that the theory of continental drift provides a simple and consistent explanation for these paleomagnetic results. Hess’s idea explained neatly why the drifting continents did not leave any scars on the seafloor. It also shifted the spotlight from the mechanism of continental drift that had bothered Wegener greatly. In time, Hess’s geopoetry became known as the seafloor spreading hypothesis. A fossil is any evidence of ancient life. In the beginning of the 20th Century, fossil evidence was also found to support continental drift. Identical fossilized plant and animal species have been found in many different places, on different continents. It seems hard to believe that such similar organisms would exist so far away from each other, or that they could have swam from one continent to another. It is more likely that these life forms once lived all together on a single continent, as shown in the following image. An example of this would be that in places like South America and Africa the same animal fossils have been found which could only have happened if they were originally joined. Palaeoclimatology is the study of changes in climate taken on the scale of the entire history of Earth. Parts of all the continents in the Southern Hemisphere were covered by glaciers in their geological past. Glaciers grind and smooth the rocks across which they move, and leave grooves where rocks that were caught in the ice grated over the bottom rocks. When the ancient scour marks on the continents in the Southern Hemisphere are studied, it appears as if the ancient glaciers were formed in the oceans and moved towards the land. But no glacier we know of functions in this way. Glaciers usually form in high-lying regions and then move slowly downwards in the direction of the oceans. However, if we could move the continents back to recreate Gondwana, all ancient glacier parts would fit neatly into one another without being separated by oceans.

Exploring puzzle plots, their representation of events and complex Dissertation

Exploring puzzle plots, their representation of events and complex characters and the roles of each player the invisible story t - Dissertation Example These elements and entities could commonly be said to include storyline, characters, plot, audience, setting, and acting – and these could be said to compose of the soft side of filmmaking. At the hard side, elements and factors such as shooting, sound, lighting, editing, cinematography, effects and publicity also go on to get the film done. A combination of both the soft and hard sides of the film making process contribute to the determination of the success or otherwise of a film. As far as the present study is concerned, much attention shall go into the soft side of film making, which comprises of elements such as storyline, plot, setting, audience, narrative, and characters. These aspects are selected because of the singular influence that they have in determining what an end user looks out for in a good or bad movie (Krzysztof, 2001). Interestingly, how well a film producer is able to put together all these forms and motifs of films together goes a long way to determine w hat would later come to be known as the success or failure of the movie. In most cases, when film reviewers are movies, they do so based on most of these factors and so they will remain the focus of the dissertation. Having said this, it is important to point out that the end user of films is of prime importance in this study. This is because most of the efforts of the film maker are directed at giving the end user, who is the viewer, some level of satisfaction. Not long time ago, most filmmakers are said to have viewed the end user as someone who would want to perceive movies as a passive act and so did not expect the viewer to be so much involved in decoding the movie. Imperatively, film makers presented viewers with straight forward movies that were so easy to understand and comprehend from their beginning to their end. From the 1990s, there seemed to be a paradigm shift where most filmmakers started seeing the act of viewing movies as an active practice and so the need to make t he viewer play some kind of role in understanding what the whole movie was about. This is what in the opinion of many brought about the birth of quite unusual line of movies including what has come to be known as puzzle films. Generally, a puzzle film is one that gives the viewer a line of responsibility in puzzling out the plot of the movie, the solutions involved, as well as the general turn of events in the movie (Bordwell, 2002). Research Problem Several movie experts, students and teachers what has become a new trend in the presentation of the plots of movies whereby the viewer is given so many roles to play in the form of solving a puzzle of what the plot is about and how the general development of the movie unfolds. From this perspective, there are two major schools of thought that can be identified. First, there are those who hold the opinion that the fact that movie is an art should end with the movie maker and not the end user. Ultimately, these people believe that movies should be presented to the viewer as a finished product so that comprehension of the movie, its development and its value can come forth easily and without any mental stress (Borges,2002). These group of debaters therefore align themselves to the traditional way of constructing movie plots whereby the viewer visualizes the movie as a continuous linear process, just a it happens in out everyday type of narration of stories. But as much as the

Positive and negative impact of international institutions on Essay

Positive and negative impact of international institutions on developing countries - Essay Example Therefore, the paper will focus on how these institutions have contributed to development and how their influence has had negative impacts on developing nations. An overview of operations of international institution in Developing Countries Since the advent of globalisation, international organisations have increased their operations in developing countries. International trade has spread all over the world at a faster rate than experienced before this phenomenon. In their quest for economic, as well as social progress in the last four to five decades, developing countries have embraced policies that promote international trade. Consequently, their share of exports has increased to one third from one fourth during the 1960’s. The World Bank and UNCTAD have taken part in trade activities in regions such as Central America, East Asia, and Africa. The formation of these institutions aimed at enhancing global trade. With development loans offered by these institutions, developing nations have managed to carry out development projects (Young, 2000). While taking part in development activities, in developing countries, international institutions contend that an enabling international environment is of paramount importance. They argue that such an environment enables developing countries and other economies under transition to have successful integration into the economy of the world. International trade also allows developing countries to develop reliable capabilities of supply, which will be in line with the market demands, improve networking, promote development and transfer of technology, as well as increase productivity. International institutions emphasize that developing nations should promote growth and development by instituting policies, which will encourage international trade. As such, governments of developing countries should provide adequate resources, improve the capacity of institutions, enhance technological capacity, and improve infrastructur e. Positive and negative impact of World Bank and UNCTAD on developing countries The World Bank came to being after the end of the Second World War; the political climate present during the time of its formation was different from the current political climate in the world of today. The institutional structures of this organization were incorporated in Bretton Woods, at an international conference held in New Hampshire. The initial purpose of forming the World Bank was to provide aid in terms of loans to developing nations. The main targets included the countries facing a crisis of balance of payment deficits and immense difficulties in settling debts (Wantchekon 2002, p. 59). Originally, the purpose and focus of World Bank aimed at lending money to European government of the West in order to assist them in rebuilding their countries as a result of the war. However, the attention of the World Bank later focussed on giving loans to developing countries for development purposes. UNCTA D came into being during the early years of 1960s. During the early 1960s, there grew concerns about the place of developing countries in international trade. This made most of these nations to advocate for the convening of a conference devoted to dealing with problems

ENGH Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

ENGH - Essay Example imes, she would sit with my friends and I as we watched the other neighborhood kids turning on the fire hydrants and running underneath the water spray just to cool off. During those instances, she would ask us to each tell a story about what we thought the other kids were doing under the spray of water. While my friends and I made up stories about the scenes unfolding before us, grandmother would pull up her rocking chair and ask us to sit around her. This was often the signal for the game that she loved to play with us. She would ask a child to start the story and then point to another child to continue the story and we would go on like that for around an hour or so until she would say â€Å"last 4 kids need to help end the story.† That was how we whiled away our time during our youth. My grandmother encouraged us to let our imagination soar and get as creative as possible with the stories that we were chaining together. It was really sad that we could only practice the chain story telling when my grandmother was staying with us. Our parents did not have the time to play with us the same way that she did. As for me, I enjoyed the story telling activity so much that I wanted to keep doing it even while my grandmother was away. That is why I once asked my mother to buy me a notebook and some extra pens. I would sit on our front step and observe the people who passed me by. Then I would jot down something that I observed about that person and what I thought he or she was thinking as she walked past. Before I knew it, I had begun to write simple stories of the fictional kind. Maybe it was because of the constant repetition of the activity, it maybe it was the enjoyment that I got from releasing my imagination and allowing it to soar. But I discovered later on that I had a natural talent and love for fictional writing. My grandmother was my first ever editor and my biggest fan. She encouraged me to continue discovering my writing talent in a way that my parents

A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Essay

A Modest Proposal for preventing the children of poor people in Ireland, from being a burden on their parents or country, and for making them beneficial to the publick - Essay Example However, the statement to follow changed the mood established at the start. It says: â€Å"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasie, or a ragoust† (Swift, 2003). For me, this ending was a bit surprising because it shifted its proposed solution, from a very traditional perspective of allotting budget to solve poverty into a peculiar one, and that of selling the flesh of infants to reduce unemployment and economic crisis. Of course, Swift is not suggesting cannibalism or what. To reiterate, it just serves as a criticism to the authorities and citizens. This is clearly explained by this phrase, â€Å"Therefore I repeat, let no man talk to me of these and the like expedients, till he hath at least some glympse of hope, that there will ever be some hearty and sincere attempt to put them into practice† (Swift,

The Political Environment Of Business

The Political Environment Of Business Business environment consists of all those factors that have a bearing on the business, such as the strengths, weaknesses, internal power relations and orientations of the organization; government policies and regulations; nature of the economy and economic conditions; socio-cultural factors; demographic trends; natural factors; and, global trends and cross-border developments. Business Environment Interrelationship Any meaningful organization has certain mission, objectives and goals and a strategy to achieve them. Business environment has a bearing on the shaping of all these integral and interrelated elements. It is, therefore, only very appropriate that formulation of strategy is sometimes defined as establishing a proper firm environment fit. Indeed, the mission /objectives/goals themselves should be based on an assessment of the external environment and the organizational factors (i.e. the internal environment ). A SWOT analysis (analysis of the strength and weaknesses of the organization and opportunities and threats in the environment), therefore is one of the first steps in the strategic management process. Business dynamics , to a large extent , is a dependent factor it depends on , inter alia, the environmental dynamics . hence , the importance of environmental analysis . The external environment has , broadly , two components , i.e., business oppourtinities and threats to business . similarly , the organizational environment has two components : strengths and weaknesses of the organization .thus , strategy formulation is properly pitting th organizational factors (internal environment ) against the opportunities and threats in the external environment . In other words , business decisions are conditioned by two broad sets of factors , i.e., the internal environment and the external environment. Business Decision A SWOT analysis therefore is one of the first steps in strategic management process . business dynamics, to a large extent , is a dependent factor it depends on , inter alia , the environmental dynamics. Hence, there is a importance of environmental analysis . Types of environment On the basis of the extent of intimacy with the firm , the environmental factors may be classified in to different types or levels . as indicated above , there are , broadly two types of environment , the internal environment , i.e., factors internal to the firm and external environment , i.e., factors external to the firm which have relevance to it . The internal factors are generally regarded as controllable factors because the company has a control over these factors ; it can alter or modify such factors as its personnel , physical facilities , organization and functional means , such as marketing mix , to suit the environment . The external factors , on the other hand , are , by and large , beyond the control of a company. The external or environmental factors such as the economic factors , socio-cultural factors , government and legal factors , demographic factors , geo-physical factors etc., are , therefore, generally regarded as uncontrollable factors . It may , however , be noted that a firm may not sometimes have complete control over all the internal factors . also , it is some times possible to change certain external factors. Some of the external factors have a direct and intimate impact on the firm ( like the suppliers and distributors of the firm ) . these factors are classified as micro environment , also known as task environment and operating environment . there are other external factors which affect an industry very generally ( such as industrial policy , demographic factors , etc . ). They constitute what is called macro environment , general environment or remote environment . Business environment Dimock observes : the two most powerful institutions in society today are business and government ; where they meet on common ground-amicably or otherwise together they determine public policy , both foreign and domestic , for a nation The political environment includes factors such as the characteristics and policies of the political parties , the nature of constitution and government system and the government environment encompassing the economic and business policies and regulations . these factors may vary very considerably between different nations , between different provinces of the same nation and also over time. The major economic policy decisions often have political underpinnings. The adoption, in the early 1950s of the principle of socialist pattern of society as the socio-economic philosophy by the congress party, which ruled India until 1995 except for a brief period (1977-1980), was mainly responsible for the public sector dominated development strategy followed in india until the early 1990s. It is indeed the dramatic changes in the political environment in the erstwhile USSR and the East European countries that gave rise to drastic changes in their economic policies in the late 1980s. And these developments have encouraged a revolutionary change in Indias economic policies in 1991. Peter Drucker in the Management Challenges for the 21st century observes : Even within transactional economic units , national politics still over rule economic rationality despite the European economic community, for instance, it has proven all but politically impossible to close a totally redundant plant in Belgium and shift the work to a French plant of the same country only 30 miles away, but on the other side of a national border. Many political decisions have serious economic and business implications. The economic policy of ruling party is very important. In the past communists and other leftists favored state capitalism and were against private capital, particularly foreign. Important economic policies such as industrial policy, policy towards foreign capital and technology, fiscal policy and foreign trade policy are often political decisions. Business is an economic activity. But to be effective, business mangers, must also take into consideration the non-economic environment of business. One should give importance to politico-legal environment of business. The Government is a political institution, but it also serves a social purpose, it formulates and executes social policies , it provides the means of maximizing social benefits and minimizing social costs. In other words, the Government itself has a social value and culture. In the modern world, business of any type any structure and any size is often affected by Government polices, programmes and legislations. The Government has its own form, structure, style and ideology or outlook. Business has to organize its activity, and the businessmen have to define their respective business strategy and business tactics depending upon the nature of the Government at work . In other words, business policy decisions are designed according to the Governments overall policy and environment of the system. The ideology or philosophy or outlook of the government of every country enacts and executes a set of policies and programmes. few of the policies are being executed through legislations. The politico-legal environment constitutes the legislations and enactments, rules and regulations, systems and procedures, policies and plans, statements and announcements, directives and guidelines by the Government . To become a successful manger, one should take into considerati on the political environment of business, and then capitalize on the opportunity available in Business environment. The political environment of business consists of several critical elements, e.g., the nature and form of government, the ideology of the ruling party, the strength of the opposition, the role and responsibility of the bureaucracy, political stability, the effectiveness of the Government, its plans and programmes, the socio-economic legislations, and politico-legal institutions, etc. The political environment of business contains a number of critical elements: The Form Of Government Gone are the days of Laissez fare, government intervention to some extent in business activity every where in the world is a rule rather than an exception. So, the form and structure of the Government is a very crucial and decisive factor for the business sector. Following examples may be cited to illustrate this point. As it is said that in democracy such as in India , we have government of the people, by the people and for the people. Peoples participation is so important that even at the enterprise level, we seek workers participation in management, i.e., industrial democracy . Under a federal form of government, we tend to confine the authority of the Central Government with respect to the functional autonomy of the State Governments and, due to this, we allow both Central as well as State level public enterprises. In the same way, the principle of democratic decentralization, authorize even the local Government to collect some business taxes and spend money on local activities. Thus, the system of government and the structure of administration affects business. And in order to secure maximum favor from the existing Government, businessmen also create their own lobby and this factor partly decides whether the Government adopts pro business or anti business measures. For example , as India is a democratic country (or peoples government) , to help medium and small scale entrepreneurs , it has been undertaking several steps like setting up of banks and financial institutions; formulating various policies and schemes, etc. All such measures are specifically focused towards the promotion and development of medium and small scale entrepreneurs. The government (central and state ) has been taking active steps to promote entrepreneurship in various industry and service sectors. It has declared several policies and also implementing schemes and programmes to enhance the global competitiveness of small enterprises across the country. The Ideology Of The Ruling Party In a democratic set up, like in India, the ideology of the ruling party influences ownership , management structure and size of business. rightist inclination of a ruling party may formulate liberal pro-business policies, whereas a leftist bias of a ruling party will develop measures like nationalization and excessive centralization. So the ideology or outlook of the ruling party may help or hurt the core of business activity. Earlier, our government favored progressive income taxes and opposed unregulated business and finance. In recent years they followed centrist economic and social democratic agenda. But , today our ruling party focuses on neo-liberal policies which includes social liberalism secularism and free enterprise system with government regulations. Under the regime of Mr. P. V. Narasimham Rao and then finance minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, significant economic reforms were initiated and more stress was given on efficiency rather than equity considerations. This affected the work ethos in the day to day operations of public enterprises. In 1991 congress with its alliance introduced New Economic Policy in which they welcome the idea of privatization , which was discontinued by the BJP government under the leadership of then prime minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee . In 2004, again the privatization came into existence with the emergence of congress party. The Strength Of Opposition In a democracy opposition plays as vital role as the government. a government to work in a proper way and according to the will of the people, equally strong and sensible opposition is requisition. an opposition like this leads to the success of democracy like in England which the oldest democracy of the word. Usually , there is one strong political party is opposition which is the strength of democracy in that country. Under the two-party system, the party which gets an absolute majority forms the Government. Under the multi-party system, the party which gets a relative majority forms the Government with the collaboration or support of some other political parties. Others which do not command majority form the Opposition. The strength of the Opposition very often depends on whether or not the Opposition parties are united or divided. They may be ideological differences between parties but the Opposition must act as a whole, and the parties must rise above their ideological differences and should judge every move of the ruling party critically. in India there are a number of opposition parties. The effective working of opposition in democracy is very important. The opposition fastens the growth of the county and slow down its growth by untimely agitations. For example, the violent agitations in Gujarat, Bihar, Assam and Punjab resulted in great loss of life and propensity and failed entirely to gain their objectives which affects the working of business entities. So if the Opposition is fair, firm and consistent, it can make constructive criticism of Government polices affecting business. As a result, the Government cannot afford to act irresponsibly with regard to the business sector in the economy. Recently also, the Governments policy of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail is wrongly criticized due to political reasons by opposition. Such kind of destructive approach is against the national interest. So in a democracy, an effective Opposition is as crucial as Government to protect, promote and regulate business in the best interest of society. Role And Responsibility Of Bureaucracy In any country , Government works through the bureaucracy. In a democratic set up, different parties may be voted in or out of the Government as and when elections are held. Even if the same party rules, thee is no guarantee that the same person will hold charge of a Ministry. Ministers change from time to time, but Government administration must continue without any break. This is where the bureaucracy comes in. bureaucracy is the permanent machinery of the Government, it is meant to keep the flow in Government operations in relation to both business and non-business sectors. In a system where the Government controls and regulates the business extensively, the bureaucracy is very powerful in enforcing Government rules and regulations, systems and procedures, licenses and restrictions. So the Businessmen, should, tend to oblige the bureaucracy in a number of ways. Role of bureaucracy in a country like India which is a developing country are: Policy Formulation- Formulation of Policy is the crucial function of political leaders or members. But the executives also have to play a vital role in it. They advise the ministers in policy making . Political leaders or members being amateurs cannot understand the technical complexities of laws and policies and hence depend upon the expert advice of professional civil executives. Policy Implementation This is the most essential and fundamental function of civil servants. They formulate and execute laws and policies to attain the goals of welfare state that is social equity, economic development, growth and so on Delegated Legislation- This is a quasi legislative function performed by the civil executives. Due to unavailability of time, pressure of work and increased complexities of legislation the legislative makes laws in raw form and delegate its power to the civil executives to make the full fledge bill . so in this sense civil executive makes bills ,rules and regulations, but within the boundary of the parent law that is enacted by the legislature. Delegated legislation is also known as executive legislation or subordinate legislation. Administrative Adjudication- This is a quasi judicial function performed by the civil executives. The civil executives settle disputes between the citizens and the state. There are Administrative Tribunals with judges who solves this dispute among citizens and the state. Examples of some of the tribunals in India are : the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Industrial Tribunals, Rent Tribunals and Railway Rates Tribunals. These tribunal functions beyond the ordinary court system. In addition to the above, the civil executives also performs the following functions-Administrative planning, administration of public enterprises ,handling financial operations etc. When the Government introduced liberalization in 1991 i.e., relaxation of rules and regulations, streamlining of systems and procedures, control turns out to be redundant and meaningless. At that time the bureaucracy finds that it is going to loose its age old role and responsibility of enforcing controls, as the same has happened with economic reforms. Powerlessness is a terrible situation for the bureaucracy. So they opposed towards liberalization. The bureaucracy enjoys imposition and execution of controls and regulations and the subject of controls and regulations had profound implications for business. For example, professional management of quite a few of our public enterprises has become a perpetual tussle between bureaucrats and technocrats. Politico-legal institutions Business and economic policies are statutorily enforced through laws. Various socio-economic legislations are subject to business operation which constitutes the legal environment. In todays scenario there are so many laws that are prevailing which can affects the business operations and it is required by the modern businessmen to have a basic knowledge regarding law and he needs legal advice constantly. Today business is more a kind of a legal contract rather than a social contract. Business laws are numerous in number and various in form. The laws are enacted to protect the business interests of various groups in society. The laws are needed to protect consumers, workers, mangers, owners, shareholders and society at large. There are many business legislations such as MRTP,FERA, IDRA etc. The order is maintained in the industrial economy through the above said legislations . Industrial order and harmony is essential for survival and expansion of business. Laws are not only meant to protect the business but sometimes it also creates the business. for example in Tax laws , more the number of operations of business ,the more the complications of tax laws the more will be the business of tax consultants. Thus economic legislations and business environment are interdependent on each other. Last but not the least, the legal institutions also plays a crucial role as a part of the noneconomic environment of business. The organs of the Government effects functioning of the legislative, executive and judicial business environment directly and indirectly in all manners. The above said organs run through organizations and institutions. The judiciary functions through organizations and institutions. For example, in India the judiciary runs through the Supreme Court, the High Courts and the lower courts. Unless these courts function efficiently, adjudication of business matters, will be at stake. For example , unless the police department acts with vigilance, the economic offences in a country will increase. The successful operation of business depends upon cooperation and coordination between number of Government departments like DGTD, DGS D BPE, etc. Sometimes, business suffers because of inter-ministerial or inter-departmental conflict. To avoid this kind of conflict, very often coordinating cells are created. Efficient working of the cells will helps in running business prosperously without constraints, otherwise, red-tapism, procedural delay, excessive centralization, lack of dedication and absence of departmental coordination will frustrate business activity.

CUBA: The Great Journey in Economic Development on the United State’s

CUBA: The Great Journey in Economic Development on the United State’s Doorstep Introduction A discussion of Cuba and the occurrences within the country over the last century is often surrounded by probing analysis as to the extent to which the Revolution of 1959 actually served as a change from past regimes. It is ignorant to evaluate the revolution in a vacuum, because past events that created the climate where such a change could take place. Yet it is also immature to state that 1959 was purely a product of history and previous revolutions. The story of the Cuban revolution and events since does not begin with the revolution itself. Rather, it starts from the political, economic, and social situations which evolved over centuries. The revolution of 1959 was not the first revolution to take place in Cuba. Political struggles within the state had been occurring for years trying to create a stable system that would provide the stage for Cuba to assume its possible level of economic development and growth. Additionally, there was a desire to release the pop ulation from dictator control. The rise of the leader Fidel Castro continues to mark a drastic divergence from previous leadership and policy. For this reason the political changes of 1959 and afterwards must be viewed as a revolution, a complete change of the political system and policy of Cuba. Moreover, after seizing control of Cuba, Fidel Castro implemented a very unique form of Communism often referred to as â€Å"Castroism.† Under Castro’s control – and with substantial help from the Soviet Union – Cuba flourished in a number of areas including health care and equality. This Communism and relationship with the U.S.S.R., however, led... ...kin, p. 53 [7] Rabkin, p. 50 [8] Rabkin, p. 54 [9] Rabkin, p. 54 [10] Peter Taaffe, Mai Cuba: Socialism and Democracy. 2000. http://www.slp.at/theorie/cuba_2.html [11] Peter Taaffe, Mai Cuba: Socialism and Democracy. 2000. http://www.slp.at/theorie/cuba_2.html. [12] Rabkin, p. 53 [13] Rabkin, p. 55 [14] Rabkin, 51. [15] Rabkin, p. 170 [16] Speech by Fidel Castro, December 6, 2002, attended by Kimberly Roberts [17] Plank, p. vii [18] Plank (Wriston), p. 32 [19] Plank (Wriston), p. 36 [20] Peter Taaffe, Mai Cuba: Socialism and Democracy. 2000. http://www.slp.at/theorie/cuba_2.html. [21] Peter Taaffe, Mai Cuba: Socialism and Democracy. 2000. http://www.slp.at/theorie/cuba_2.html. [22] Garza, Laura. â€Å"UN Condemns U.S. Embargo On Cuba† 1995. [23] Plank (Wriston), p. 40 [24] Rabkin, p. 53

Public finance and policy solution gruber Essay

Questions and Problems 1. The government of Westlovakia has just reformed its social security system. This reform changed two aspects of the system: (1) It abolished its actuarial reduction for early retirement, and (2) it reduced the payroll tax by half for workers who continued to work beyond the early retirement age. Would the average retirement age for Weslovakian workers increase or decrease in response to these two changes, or can you tell? Explain your answer. The first policy change, abolishing the actuarial reduction, would tend to lower the average retirement age. The actuarial reduction is intended to make workers approximately indifferent between retiring early and waiting until standard retirement age. With the reduction, early retirees have a smaller benefit over more years. Abolishing that reduction would make early retirement more attractive: the benefits would be just as high as if workers had waited, and they would be paid over more years. The second policy change would increase the return to working later in life and thus would tend to raise the average retirement age. The overall effect would depend on a number of factors. If people discount the future by enough (that is, have a high enough internal discount rate), they will tend to retire early: the benefit is immediate. People who have a lower discount rate will choose to work longer at the lower tax rate. A second factor that would influence the decision is the potential re tiree’s health status or personal (as opposed to statistical) life expectancy. Someone who believes he has a fairly high probability of living long and well late in life will be more likely to opt for later retirement. A third factor that will tend to increase the  retirement age is that the early retirement effect is truncated at the age designated for eligibility: even people who choose to retire early will only be able to retire a few years earlier than before in order to benefit. People who choose to retire later may retire many years after the standard retirement age. 2. When you called her last night, your grandmother confided that she is afraid to sell her home because doing so will affect her Social Security benefits. You told her that you’d call her back as soon as you read Chapter 13. Now that you’ve read it, what will you say to her about how her benefits will change when she sells her house? Social Security benefits do not change with changes in the value of assets held by the beneficiary. The formula used to calculate benefits under Social Security is based on earned income only. Your grandma’s Social Security benefits will not be affected by the sale of her house. 3. Congressman Snicker has proposed a bill that would increase the number of years of earnings counted when computing the Social Security Average Indexed Monthly Earnings amount from 35 to 40. What would be the effects of this policy change on the retirement behavior of workers? Would the Social Security trust fund balance increase or decrease? Why? Workers may work longer if their best 40 years counted rather than their best 35. Generally, you would expect earned income to increase over a worker’s lifetime; thus, the last several years are likely to yield higher income than the first several years. Being able to count 5 more high-earning years  would induce some workers to remain in the workforce to increase their calculated benefits; if they did not work longer, that 40 years might include some very low or zero-earning years (when the worker was in his or her twenties, possibly still in school). Increasing the number of years of earnings counted would certainly increase the trust fund balance if it caused people to delay their retirement: people would be paying in longer and withdrawing for fewer years. Offsetting that increase would be the increased benefits payable by including 5 higher-earning years in calculating benefits. This offset may not be huge, though. The highest-earning workers would not increase their benefits by very much due to the redistributive nature of the calculations. Low-wage earners who have zero or very-low-wage years among the 40 would have a lower average on which to base the benefit calculation. In addition, by including 5 more years, people who did not delay retirement would have an even lower calculated benefit: their lifetime average would include those low-wage summer or entry-level jobs. 4. Suppose the Social Security payroll tax was increased today to 16.4% in order to solve the 75-year fiscal imbalance in the program. Explain the effect of this change on the value of the Social Security program for persons of different ages, earning levels, and sexes. An increase in the payroll tax would reduce the value of Social Security for younger workers relative to older workers. Older workers would benefit from having a more secure plan, and they wouldn’t have to pay in at the higher rate for very long. Younger workers would have to pay the higher rate over many more years, and their benefit calculation would not increase (because the increase in taxes is meant to keep the current system solvent, not to increase benefits). The very-highest-earning workers would not be harmed as much as lower-earning workers because the payroll tax is not imposed on earnings above $87,900 (currently); however, their payroll tax burden would increase. Women generally benefit more from Social Security because they live longer than men. They are also more likely than men to have interrupted their careers to raise their families, so they tend to pay in less. They are  also more likely to receive benefits as a surviving spouse. All of these factors would continue to exist with a higher tax rate. The higher tax rate would be borne by the employed, not by those who receive benefits because of their survivor spouse status. 5. Senator Deal proposes to offer a choice to future retirees: Retire before age 70 and the benefits are calculated on the last 35 years of income; if you retire at age 73, however, you receive benefits calculated on only the last 15 years of income. Which option are high-income workers likely to choose? Low-income workers? Why? A high-income worker may not benefit by much if he delays retirement until age 73, and he would lose three years of benefits. He is likely to choose the earlier retirement age. Assuming no major work interruptions, which is perhaps a more reasonable assumption for a high-wage earner than a low-wage earner, his benefits will be calculated based on his wage since he was in his mid-thirties. These are likely to be fairly-high-earning years, as they begin a decade after a person would have completed his education. Because of the regressive nature of benefit calculations, the higher wages of the last 15 years would yield a low marginal benefit. High-wage earners are also better able to save for retirement in other ways, so they may be able to afford retiring three years earlier. Low-wage earners will be more likely to delay retirement until age 73. They would lose three years of benefits, but their benefits, once they do retire, will be higher if their income is higher in the last 15 year s of work. This option will be particularly attractive if these workers had some low- or zero-earning years over the course of their working lives. In addition, calculated benefits are a higher percent of  average monthly wage for these workers, so they stand to lose less by working more years. 6. A recent study found that people nearing retirement age were more likely to retire early if they experience large windfall gains (that is, sudden large increases) in the value of their homes. The author of that study concluded that this is evidence that Social Security and private savings are substitutes. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this argument and of the empirical evidence? It seems intuitive that all sources of private wealth combined substitute for, or augment, Social Security, particularly among higher-earning workers, because their Social Security benefits will not replace as high a percentage of their pre-retirement wage. If Social Security benefits are expected to be a relatively small component of post-retirement income, as may be the case for higher-earning workers, then the official Social Security retirement age might be less influential in retirement timing. A sudden increase in the market value of an asset (like housing) might be more influential in the timing decision. One concern this scenario poses, though, is the direction of causality. The implication is that the windfall gain caused early retirement by giving the retiree more money on which to retire. However, retirement may have led to realization of the windfall gain. Increases in the value of a person’s home are realized upon the sale of that home. Perhaps people sold their h omes and realized the gain because they were retiring and relocating. Even under this interpretation, though, the windfall gain would contribute to the retiree’s income, augmenting Social Security benefits. A second concern is that increases in home value are a relatively illiquid form of private savings. Extending this particular correlation (housing value and retirement) to a general statement about private savings requires a bit of a leap of faith. Data on other savings and investment value might help clarify this interpretation. Perhaps these retirees had anticipated inflation in the housing market and included it in their retirement plan portfolio—a portfolio that included assets and Social Security benefits. Finally, other correlates must be considered. A windfall gain in the housing market may be correlated with geographic location, as housing booms can be local in nature. A gain may also correlate to membership in a demographic group that tends to buy the kind of real estate that is most likely to appreciate and that tends to retire early. Suburban businessmen, for example, may tend to fall into both groups. 7. Senator Dare suggests lowering Social Security benefits by reducing the rates at which Average Indexed Monthly Earnings are converted to the Primary Insurance Amount. Senator Snow instead proposes reducing the rate at which benefits are indexed to inflation so that when the Consumer Price Index rises by one percentage point, Social Security benefits rise by less than one percent. Which proposal will benefit the elderly more? Senator Dare’s suggestion immediately and certainly reduces the benefits paid to retirees. Senator Snow’s proposal would reduce the benefits gradually, and in unpredictable ways. In times of extremely low inflation, Senator Snow’s proposal would very gradually erode the spending power of retirees’ benefits checks. However, suppose the plan were to increase benefits by, for example, 90% of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) each year. The following year,f the Cinflation-adjuste 10. Dominitz, Manski, and Heinz (2003) present survey evidence suggesting that young Americans are extremely uncertain about the likelihood that they will receive any Social Security benefits at all. How might demographic trends in the United States contribute to this concern? The most obvious trend in this regard is the aging of the baby boom generation. Young Americans are aware that, in a few years, the baby boom generation will become an extremely large body of retired people. Exacerbating that retiree population bulge is the fact that people live longer now than they have in the past. Those baby boomers will be around for a long time, collecting their Social Security checks. In addition, family sizes are smaller. Baby boomers may have grown up with several siblings, but they had fewer children as adults. Therefore, there will be fewer workers contributing for each baby boomer collecting. 11. The Social Security Administration Web site has a link to a publication entitled Social Security Programs Throughout the World. The European version is online at http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2002-2003/europe/index.html. Pick any two countries in Europe and compare the key attributes of their social security programs. Which of these two countries do you think will have the greater rate of early retirement? Why? Responses to this question will obviously depend on the countries chosen. There are fairly wide variations in the ages at which retirees become eligible for benefits in different countries. Retirement age is lowest in Slovenia, at 58 for men and 54 for women. Other Eastern European countries, such as the Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and Serbia, also have low ages of eligibility. These countries should see relatively low rates of retirement prior to the local age of eligibility, because eligibility occurs at relatively young ages. In contrast, the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Iceland, and Norway have the highest age of eligibility, 67. Holding health status equal across countries, countries in which eligibility occurs at older ages should experience higher rates of retirement prior to eligibility. It is difficult to generalize given the different currencies and complex structures of individual countries’ rules. However, most  countries generally provide an amount equal to a percent of average working wage. Some calculate it based on a fairly short window of working years; in Serbia, for example, the base is calculated using the best ten consecutive years. Advanced Questions 12. Suppose the Social Security system becomes fully privatized, so that all individuals save for their own retirements. Consider two of the various alternative methods of paying off the legacy debt of the program. (One such example is double taxation of existing generations of workers.) Compare and contrast the benefits and drawbacks of each potential â€Å"solution.† An inescapable problem with the Social Security system is that it pays current retirees from current workers’ taxes. If current workers were to â€Å"own† their own Social Security accounts, there would be no flow of funds available to pay current retirees, as their deposits have already been paid to the preceding generation. By double taxing a single generation, the system could switch over, but members of that one generation would have to pay their parents’ benefits as well as fund their own retirement accounts. That is a serious burden to impose on them. However, it would only have to be done once. Subsequent generations would simply fund their own retirement accounts. Another possible solution would be to increase payroll taxes over a longer time period to retire the legacy debt over several generations, while allowing current and future generations to invest privately. The high taxes necessary to accomplish this solution, however, would offset much if not all of the gains from investing in higher-yielding stock funds. An alternative to increasing taxes is reducing benefits. Several options exist to accomplish this reduction. One way would be to increase the full benefits age of retirement and adjust early retirement benefits to be actuarially neutral. An advantage of doing this is that it adjusts Social Security rules to reflect longer and healthier lives among people in their sixties and seventies. Not everyone in those age groups can continue to work, however, and this change would impose a hardship on them. In addition, there is something essentially unfair about changing the rules of the program after people have been paying into it for their entire working lives. A similar objection would be raised if the system were changed to reduce the benefits paid to the wealthy elderly. This approach seems reasonable; after all, those retirees who are wealthy do not need Social Security to stay out of poverty. But they paid into the program and perceive it to be more of a pension than an anti-poverty program. Making the program more ambitiously means-tested (as opposed to just redistributive) changes the nature and perceived legitimacy of Social Security. 13. Does Social Security provide much benefit in terms of consumption smoothing over the retirement decision? Contrast Social Security with a different social insurance program, unemployment insurance, which provides income support for half a year to individuals who have lost their jobs. Do you think that unemployment insurance is likely to pro vide more or less consumption smoothing than Social Security? Unemployment insurance smooths consumption over discrete, fairly brief, unanticipated interruptions in work; Social Security allows retirees to remain out of poverty after stopping work. Retirement is not a surprise. In the absence of Social Security (and even in its presence), people with foresight plan and save for retirement. Social Security payments alone are not enough to allow retirees to maintain their pre-retirement consumption level, but they do substantially reduce the number of retirees in poverty. The purpose of Social Security was not to allow retirees to maintain pre-retirement income (that is, to smooth consumption) but to help them avoid poverty. Unemployment insurance is much more explicitly aimed at  consumption smoothing between employment spells. It allows people to maintain their standard of living over intermittent dips in income. Thus, Social Security provides less consumption smoothing than does unemployment insurance. 14. Edwards and Edwards (2002) describe evidence that following a social security reform in Chile that reduced the implicit tax on working in the formal sector, informal sector wages rose. What do you think is the mechanism at work here? In equilibrium, prices and wages tend to equalize. In the case of Chile, if formal sector wages are particularly low, people will choose to work in the informal sector. One reason formal sector wages are low is that those wages are taxed. When tax rates are high, more people seek work in the untaxed, informal sector. However, when tax rates fall, as they did in Chile, the effective wages in the formal sector increase and people exit the untaxed sector to accept jobs in the formal sector. Wages in the informal sector must then increase to retain those employees who are tempted by higher after-tax wages elsewhere. 15. Suppose that you had information about the amount of private savings during the years before and after the introduction of the Social Security program. How might you carry out a difference-in-difference analysis of the introduction of the Social Security program on private savings? This data would be helpful in determining the extent to which Social Security crowds out private savings, but there may be reasons for savings rates to change that are unrelated to the introduction of Social Security. You could use difference-in-difference analysis to distinguish between differences in private savings that are related to general trends in saving behavior and those that are associated with the introduction of Social Security. Depending on how many years of data you have, you could determine the difference in savings rates between pairs of years preceding the change. You could also determine the difference in saving rates between pairs of years after the introduction of Social Security. Then you would want to investigate differences in savings rates in the years immediately before and after the institution of Social Security. This test is meant to determine whether that difference is statistically significantly different from the patterns of differences measured for pa irs of years in which there was no change. Specifically, if savings rates fell between the year immediately preceding Social Security and the year of the change by more than it fell for other pairs of years, you would have evidence consistent with crowding out. 16. Suppose you find evidence that high school dropout workers are more likely to retire at age 62 than are college-educated workers. You conclude that these workers do so because they are more liquidity-constrained than are other workers. Can you think of alternative explanations for this finding? One possible explanation is that less-well-educated workers are more likely to have jobs that are relatively more physically demanding and particularly difficult to continue after age 62. Similarly, the physical wear and tear of demanding jobs may leave these workers unable to comfortably work later in life. Another possible explanation is that these workers have already had their 35 best years: they began working at a younger age than college-educated workers and their upward mobility is constrained, so they will be unlikely to have high salaries later in life. Finally, higher education is correlated with better health; less-welleducated workers may  retire fairly early if they anticipate having a reduced life expectancy. 17. Consider an economy that is composed of identical individuals who live for two periods. These individuals have preferences over consumption in periods 1 and 2 given by: U = log(C1) + log(C2). They receive an income of 100 in period 1 and an income of 50 in pe riod 2. They can save as much of their income as they like in bank accounts, earning an interest rate of 10% per period. They do not care about their children, so they spend all their money before the end of period 2. Each individual’s lifetime budget constraint is given by C1 + C2/(1 + r) = Y1 + Y2/(1 + r). Individuals choose consumption in each period by maximizing lifetime utility subject to this lifetime budget constraint. a. What is the individual’s optimal consumption in each period? How much saving does he or she do in the first period? Optimizing the utility function subject to the budget constraint yields max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) subject to C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 100 – C1 + 50/(1 + 0.1), or max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(145.45 – C1 – 0.91C2). This yields first-order conditions of 1/C1 = ÃŽ »; 1/C2 = 0.91ÃŽ »; and 145.45 = C1 + 0.91C2. Solving for C1 yields 0.91C2, and substituting into the budget constraint yields C2 = 79.92, C1 = 72.73, and savings in the first period are 100 – 72.73 = 27.27. b. Now the government decides to set up a social security system. This system  will take $10 from each individual in the first period, put it in the bank, and transfer it to him or her with interest in the second period. Write out the new lifetime budget constraint. How does the system affect the amount of private savings? How does the system affect national savings (total savings in society)? What is the name for this type of social security system? The new budget constraint reduces first-period income by $10 to $90 but increases second-period income to $50 + $10(1 + r): C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 90 + 50/(1 + r) + 10(1 + r). Solving, C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 90 + 45.45 + 11 = 146.45. Following the same procedure as in a, you would find savings by solving the constrained optimization problem: max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(146.45 – C1 – 0.91C2), which yields C2 = 80.47, C1 = 73.22, and total savings are 10 + (90 – 73.22) = 26.78. This social security system is a funded plan because the money that is paid in during the first period is used to pay the benefits in the second period. c. Now suppose that the existence of the new social security system causes an individual to retire in period 2, so he or she receives no labor income in period 2. Solve for this individual’s new optimal consumption in each period in this case. What is the new level of private and national savings? Does this differ from the level of savings in part b, and if so, why? (Explain intuitively.) The new budget constraint is C1 + C2/(1 + r) = 100. The new optimization problem, then, is max U = ln(C1) + ln(C2) + ÃŽ »(100 – C1 – 0.91C2). Solving, C2 = 54.95, C1 = 50 and, savings are 100 – 50 = 50. Total savings is greater with earlier retirement, as this consumer must save enough during the first period to completely finance consumption in the second period. 18. For each of the reforms listed below, briefly discuss the pros and cons of the reform, paying attention in particular to efficiency implications (through potential behavioral responses to the change) and equity implications (who wins and who loses). [Note that all reforms are intended to save the system money, so you do not need to list this as a benefit.] a. Increase the number of years used to calculate benefits from 35 to 40. Increasing the number of years used to calculate benefits could lower benefits, because more low- or zero-earning years would be included in a retiree’s average wage. To avoid this reduction in benefits, workers might choose to delay retirement so that they had 40 high-earning years included in the calculation. Workers who spent many years in college and graduate school might be most vulnerable, as they will have had fewer fulltime working years by the time they reach retirement age. Similarly, workers who have had some interruptions in their employment, to raise a family or to retrain for a new career, for example, will also have to delay retirement in order to avoid inclusion of zeroor low-wage years. b. Reduce benefits for beneficiaries with high asset levels (wealth). Means-testing, by considering asset levels, would increase the redistributive nature of Social Security but would induce some perverse behavior. People might be able to increase their benefits by hiding assets, by setting up trusts or other entities, for example. They might also change the timing of selling some of their assets in order to retain Social  Security benefits, which distorts resource mobility, an efficiency concern. While this plan may appear to benefit the less wealthy at the expense of the wealthy elderly, it seems vulnerable to loopholes and evasive behavior. c. Add new state and local government workers to the pool of covered workers (i.e., they pay payroll taxes now and receive benefits when they are old). Broadening the tax base to include these workers would yield a net increase to the system. Current Social Security participants will, over their lifetimes, pay in more than they withdraw. Therefore, increasing the number of workers covered provides a net increase to the cash flow in the system. The new workers stand to lose from this system relative to a plan in which they had their own retirement accounts (because with Social Security they will pay in more than they receive), but the Social Security system benefits. This new rule may induce some to exit these jobs, but since most workers are covered by the system, they will have little choice as to where else to work to avoid this tax. d. Gradually increase the normal retirement age (NRA) from 65 to 70 (under current laws, the NRA will gradually rise to 67 by 2022; the proposal is to speed up this process so the NRA will be 70 by 2022). Gradually increasing the normal retirement age will save the fund money by reducing the number of years during which retirees can collect. People who need to retire earlier for health or physical limitation reasons will be adversely affected. If they are able to, they may attempt to find less physically demanding work or they may increase private savings in order to be able to afford to retire earlier. Note: The icon indicates a question that requires students to apply the empirical economics principles discussed in Chapter 3 and the Empirical Evidence boxes.