Role of participation in Social Movements in career development Essay

Job of interest in Social Movements in vocation improvement - Essay Example Evaluation about my reasonableness to occupations concerning guidelines of execution set by organizations has been exceptionally fastidious during interviews because of the idea of characteristics required for and obligations appended to work. Positions in different offices called for predominant ability under exceptionally powerful and serious worldwide condition. I have used preparing and direction programs gave by organizations to look over essential information and abilities in line with the prerequisites identified with explicit occupations. The intelligent report is regarding utilization of graduate traits in entering work advertise, advancement of these qualities in work understanding and interest in social exercises, its importance to employer’s need and fulfilled work-life. ... organizations fluctuate significantly, aptitudes procured and understanding into social conduct picked up have been valuable in getting a handle on the center angles identified with work and upgrading versatility. Business in McDonalds is touchy to swelling and pay levels. In full scale financial aspects expansion is firmly connected to monetary development, loan costs, business, utilization and request. This hypothetical information was valuable in planning business numbers subsequent to examining the reasons for the variety in deals which improved my investigative capacity. The effect of financial log jam, globalization and progression marvels in rivalry request the ventures to be increasingly proficient through inventive creation and the executives forms. Working conditions in my activity with REED were favorable for me to learn Word and Excel since I needed to enter information in different structures identifying with client assistance. (why? for example as I require to enter inf ormation or think of some stuff at some point that way). This quality has been valuable in introduction of reports to the executives too. (to whom?)in McDonalds and I have earned great notoriety in introduction in my correspondence. There are sure center angles in regard of the executives in any endeavor. Evaluation with respect to these angles conveys more significance from hierarchical point of view. Maintainable development relies upon adaptability in accepting and releasing obligations as the circumstance warrants. I needed to facilitate with various segments in McDonalds for assortment of information and getting ready reports. Teaching shop producing staff to outfit information in the necessary configuration is a troublesome activity. I could apply my hypothetical information about relational aptitudes the board to accomplish a superior working relationship which expanded my abilities around there for proceeded with employability

Multiple Universes Essay -- Astronomy Research Science Essays

Numerous Universes For characters, I will accept that everybody comprehends, or possibly somewhat comprehends, the grave lack of clarity where quantum mechanics rotates. Basically, similar to light, electrons are inferable from the characteristics of waves in which they show a kind of diffraction design brought about by the electrons meddling with one another, thusly, setting that issue, at any rate infinitesimally, goes about as a wave (1). Consequently, it appears just as electrons don't follow a static example, however communicate with the world powerfully in an increasingly probabilistic way. With a probabilistic perspective on the world there leaves space for the opportunity of other potential results inside our reality that could occur, considering a sensible chance of different universes simultaneously happening. Hugh Everett III was the first to distribute a hypothesis on the idea of molecule wave concurrence prompting the chance of various universes coming about because of each conceivable molecule occasion making another world (2). Everett, at that point, could take care of the issue of Schrodinger’s feline taking into account the way that the feline lived and kicked the bucket yet in various universesâ€broadening the possibility of superposition. David Deutsch has brought a realist’s perspective to the Multiple Worlds Interpretation (MWI), clarifying that there is a substantial self (the self that we see) and a shadow self (the self that separates), and that the impedance made during the twofold cut analysis occurs from the shadow and unmistakable going through the various cuts. Multiverses, in any case, branch from the MWI and place that every quantum change makes a fresh out of the plastic new enormous detonation, clarifying how it’s feasible for our reality to have had the six numbers perfe... .... Yet, the probability of such occasions is thin, since almost certainly, Earth will be pulverized before we can think about such travel. Taking everything into account, multiverses are very energizing and intriguingâ€not just to researchers, yet to laymen; one need just look at mainstream society to consider we to be a people are entranced with the potential outcomes. Be that as it may, in all actuality, the science and truth of multiverses is a long way from concrete; so until we can acquire information, we should be content with our fantasies. Sources Cited: http://online.redwoods.cc.ca.us/DEPTS/science/chem/capacity/Schrod/ http://everythingforever.com/everett.htm http://www.csicop.org/si/2001-09/periphery watcher.html http://www.all-science-reasonable projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Multiverse http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/shed/6929/manyworld.html

Will Facebook Become the Ultimate Online Book Club

Will Facebook Become the Ultimate Online Book Club Ive noticed a trend that Im not sure I like. Many friends are spending more time on Facebook and less elsewhere on the internet. If they jump out of Facebook its because someone shared a promising link. Bookworms have discussed books online since computers were networked in the 1970s. It began with email, mailing lists, and forums. Usenet News and Bulletin Board Services (BBSes) always had groups devoted to book talk. Book clubs formed on CompuServe, Genie, The Well, Prodigy, AOL and other online services. After Mosaic, web browsers made virtual book clubs easier, more fun, and better looking, replacing those older technologies. For sixteen years Ive been book clubbing at Yahoo! Groups. Now those groups are dying. Once active book forums at websites are closing. Popular book discussion mailing lists have become inactive. Readers who want to discuss books online have gone to Goodreads or Facebook. Two years ago my co-moderator of an online science fiction book club started a Facebook group to generate traffic for our club. It didnt. But that Facebook group now has 3,500+ members. Our old group has less than a dozen active participants. Of course, most of the Facebook members are lurkers, but its still a thriving online book club. I found another science fiction Facebook group that had over 7,500 users. Smartphones may account for much of Facebooks activity.  Facebook just passed 2 billion users. I knew Twitter, Facebook, and other social media services worked well from smartphones, but it never occurred to me that online bookworms were moving to those services in droves. I expected Goodreads to become the ultimate online book club, but I might be wrong. My blog gets most of its traffic now from Facebook. It used to come from other blogs, websites, Twitter, and sometimes Flipboard.  Facebook is how Book Riot gets most of its traffic. I assume most online newspapers and magazines get much of their traffic via Facebook too. I recently joined Space Opera Pulp on Facebook, an online book club for readers who love the old pulp magazines. It’s enthusiasm and energy makes my Yahoo book club seem like a funeral where the coffins occupant had few friends.  Is Facebook becoming the popular site for popular people to talk about popular reading? Last week I joined a Facebook group with 25,000+ westerns fans and it answered a question in minutes that I had been Googling off and on for days. That same post got a bunch of comments, whereas my blogs and essays here get few. Facebook can be the better search tool sometimes if you need a human to answer a question. I haven’t given up on Goodreads. Goodreads has features found nowhere else. Goodreads is a quieter place for discussing books online. You might say Goodreads is introverted to the extroverted Facebook. But if everyone stays in Facebook will Goodreads fade too? Will social media sites consolidate around one company? Response to my tweets has fallen off this past year. They are usually about books.Will Facebook be the T-Rex that eats all the competition? What if Facebook gets to 3 or 4 billion users? Will there be any way to resist it then? For a while, all the young folks in our families left Facebook. But now they’re back. It’s very hard to ignore a universally used tool. If all your Facebook friends are talking about the same book will you want to read it too? Or if you’ve fallen in love with a story will you post about it on Facebook? Will you post to your news feed, or to a Facebook book club group? If unknown Facebook users click the like button on your review and then sends a friend request will you confirm it? I made internet friends through my blog and Yahoo! Groups. I had two worlds. Friends I knew in person and friends I’ve never met. Facebook throws those two groups together, colliding my worlds! People I dont know now comment on my wifes posts.  For years I’ve mostly got likes from family and friends. Today when I post something I get family, friends, neighbors, old coworkers, old schoolmates, internet acquaintances, and strangers liking and commenting. I’ve always loved talking about books. Facebook is taking that activity to new dimensions. What will that mean for authors and publishers? They can have their own Facebook pages, making it easier than ever to communicate with your favorite author. It also means writers and publishers get to see their readers and customers, and Facebook can sell them statistical data about us too. Do we need the old online book clubs? If every book published had a Facebook page wouldnt it be the logical place to discuss that book and post links to reviews? Facebook is efficient for finding people with shared interests and for sharing information. However, what people post usually lacks substance. Facebook users prefer clicking the emoticons rather than writing what they think. If they do write something, its very short. Its hard to believe substantive book discussions will happen. Does that mean well all end up over at Goodreads after all?

How to Define Value in Relation to Art

As an element of art, value refers to the visible lightness or darkness of a color. Value is synonymous with luminosity in this context and can be measured in various units designating electromagnetic radiation. Indeed, the science of optics  is a fascinating branch of physics, albeit one to which visual artists typically devote little to no thought. Value is relevant to the lightness or darkness of any color, but its importance is easiest to visualize in a work with no colors other than black, white, and a grayscale. For a great example of value in action, think of a black and white photograph. You can easily visualize how the infinite variations of gray suggest planes and textures. The Subjective Value of Art While value can be a technical term related to color, it can be a more subjective term related to either the importance of a work or its monetary worth. Value can also refer to the sentimental, cultural, ritualistic, or aesthetic importance of work. Unlike luminosity, this type of value cannot be measured. It is entirely subjective and open to, literally, billions of interpretations.   For instance, anyone can admire a sand mandala, but its creation and destruction hold specific ceremonial values in Tibetan Buddhism. Leonardos ​Last Supper ​mural was a technical disaster, but its depiction of a defining moment in Christianity has made it a religious treasure worthy of conservation. Egypt, Greece, Peru, and other countries have sought the return of significant cultural works of art taken from their lands and sold abroad in earlier centuries. Many a mother has carefully preserved many pieces of refrigerator art, for their emotional value is incalculable.   The Monetary Value of Art Value may additionally refer to the monetary worth attached to any given work of art. In this context, value is pertinent to resale prices  or  insurance premiums. Fiscal value is primarily objective, assigned by acknowledged art history specialists who eat, breathe and sleep fine art market values.  To a smaller extent, this definition of value is subjective in that certain collectors are willing to pay any amount of money to own a particular work of art. To illustrate this seeming dichotomy, refer to the  May 16, 2007, Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Christies New York City showroom. One of original Marilyn silkscreen paintings by Andy Warhol had an estimated (objective) pre-sale value of more than  $18,000,000. $18,000,001 would have been accurate, but the actual gavel price plus buyers premium was a whopping (subjective)  $28,040,000. Someone, somewhere obviously felt that hanging in his or her underground lair was worth an additional $10,000,000. Quotations About Value In preparing a study or a picture, it seems to me very important to begin by an indication of the darkest values... and to continue in order to the lightest value. From the darkest to the lightest I would establish twenty shades.(Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot) Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.(Albert Einstein) Its impossible to make a picture without values. Values are the basis. If they are not, tell me what is the basis.(William Morris Hunt) Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing.(Oscar Wilde) Color is an inborn gift, but appreciation of value is merely training of the eye, which everyone ought to be able to acquire.(John Singer Sargent) There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.(Henry David Thoreau)

Money Can Buy The Pursuit Of Happiness - 968 Words

MONEY When it comes to the topic of money granting happiness, most of us readily agree that it can because it gives us status, value, and happiness in society’s modern culture. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of money not being able to buy the pursuit of happiness. Whereas some are convinced that money grants once in a lifetime experience, medical help for loved ones, and pleasurable life necessities, others are convinced that they don’t need money to be happy and would rather be poor and happy than rich and miserable. Money is used for buying, giving, and having fun with it. Money is everything in today world, and not a lot of people have money so there chances of being happy is very unlikely. According to John Grohol Psy. D, a researcher and writes about mental health psychology and technology issues, states, â€Å"Money can buy you happiness as long as you give some of the money away, or use it for an experience rather than buying a pr oduct† because as you may not be aware of, recent studies have shown that we are generally happier when we spend money on experience (Grohol 1). To me money can buy you happiness because it changes our mood and how we feel because it’s undeniable. I also concord with John when saying we should give some money away. For example, give some money to charities or to unfortunate people because some people need it more than we do. It will basically make us feel happier at the end of the day. To me, if you haveShow MoreRelatedIs Money Truly Not Buy Happiness?1457 Words   |  6 Pagesthat money cannot buy happiness. Money can buy the best of food and drink. It can buy land and with enough it can even buy social status. The availability of monetary funds also ensures that bills will be paid and that in and of itself reduces stress. Knowing all of this, the old adage, money cannot buy happiness becomes questionable. Can money truly not buy happiness? Anton Chekovâ€⠄¢s Yermolà ¡i Lopà ¡khin and Leo Tolstoy’s Ivan Ilyich are two fictional characters that explore men of money and statusRead MoreEssay on Can Money Buy Happiness?1721 Words   |  7 PagesJanuary  24,  2015   Does  Money  Really  Bring  Happiness?      John  Locke  once  stated  that  all  men  have  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  property.  The   author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  Benjamin  Franklin,  changed  this  statement  to  the   right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  People  have  the  constitutional  right  to  be   joyful  and  therefore  strive  for  it,  but  what  is  it  that  really  brings  people  glee?  Many  people   believe  that  the  answer  to  this  question  is  simply  money.  They  think  that  the  more  money  they  Read MorePursuit of Happiness732 Words   |  3 Pagesthe pursuit of happiness the most important goal in life or is it just selfish? I once was told that the average person thinks about happiness at least twice a day. Its only 9pm and I can already tell you that Ive been happy and unhappy many times today. If I asked a group of people what they wanted most out of their lives for themselves or their family, whether for tomorrow or the rest of your life, most people would say happiness. Some might say money, but only because they think money willRead MoreCan Money Buy Happiness?1637 Words   |  7 Pages Does Happiness Come With A Price? Malcom Williams Can Money Buy Happiness? Abstract In this paper, I argue and show various sources addressing the correlations between money and happiness through subjects such as pro-social spending, materialism, the pursuit of spending on others, and the effects of homelessness on physical and mental health. Much of the time, cash can have a negative impact on both, particularly the. Now and again, in any case, cash may positively affect satisfactionRead MoreThe Decay of American Dream in The Great Gatsby1289 Words   |  6 Pagesthe upper class society, the luxuries that he has blind him from realizing that money cannot buy him fortune, nor love. Therefore, F. Scott Fitzgerald describes how the American Dream can become corrupted if the dreamer’s focus is on obtaining fame, power and wealth through materialism. Jay Gatsby’s dream is a â€Å"is a naà ¯ve dream based on the fallacious assumption that material possessions are synonymous with happiness, harmony, and beauty† (Fahey 70). He is the title character and protagonist ofRead MoreAn Inside Look at Hedonism Essay606 Words   |  3 Pagesactually buy it for their own pleasure. They also believe that pleasure is the only good in live and pain is the only evil. So, they want to maximize pleasure and minimize pain in their life. Hedonist thinks it is a high prestige when they could show their branded and expensive things. Sometimes they just buy the things without knowing whether if it useful or not. Hedonism is already become a habit or even a lifestyle these day. For instance, many people like to hang out at Starbucks just to buy a cupRead More6. The Value/Danger Of Wealth. These Few Words By John1254 Words   |  6 Pagesnation’s wealth doubled. Was wealth the greatest â€Å"happiness† to pursue? The impact of wealth can display one’s true identity. In The Great Gatsby, wealth directly reflected the success of a person, but the pursuit of opulence twisted foundation of the American dream by resulting in greediness. Money enticed people into accomplishing a directive due to its great worth, which could potentially result in good consequences or bad consequences. Wealth can bring about high values and through those highRead MoreGatsbys Pursuit of the American Dream Essay827 Words   |  4 Pages Gatsbys Pursuit of the American Dream The American Dream means that by persistently working hard, one can achieve success; this is in contrast to other countries where the immigrants came from, in which one was either born into money and privilege or not, and if you werent, there was no way of achieving this success. The American Dream eliminated the barriers between people that social class had held for centuries in Europe. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, shows the corruption of theRead MoreEssay On Happiness In The Great Gatsby1158 Words   |  5 Pages The idea that money can’t give you happiness is definitely a real thing, but some people refuse to admit it. An example, is high school students, all around the world, go through tons of drama in their life. They might not show the troubled side of it, but it’s definitely there and it exists but people just can’t admit it. Money can’t buy you popularity or friends or whatever. Happiness has to be found and not paid for. Gatsby was seen as becoming happier and happier each chapter because he wasRead MoreThe Great Gatsby : Themes Of Wealth, Dreams, Time And The Pursuit Of The American Dream873 Words   |  4 PagesThemes of Wealth, Dreams, time and the pursuit of the American dream in The Great Gatsby The American dream is a common idea in America that all individuals are equal and can achieve their dreams and ambitions are by working hard. The American dream also enshrines the idea that regardless of social class and financial status, any individual who is hardworking and persevering can achieve anything. The pursuit of this dream has led many to success and many also to failure as a lot of people go to all

History of Psychology Free Essays

In this paper we will compare and contrast the basic theoretical positions of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler and William James. We will be describing the differences among their perspectives concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning. Sigmund Freud, who was often considered the â€Å"father of psychoanalysis† work was instrumental in providing a clearer understanding of what motivates behavior and how the mind works. We will write a custom essay sample on History of Psychology or any similar topic only for you Order Now Freud broke important ground in professions such as psychology with his treatment of mental and emotional disorders but it was not only his work in psychology that made him so important it was also his work that influenced breakthroughs in the medical profession, criminology, and sociology. Freud’s work also cast mental illness into a new category of illness which could be treatable as well as any physical alignments. Even those who did not agree with Freud’s work agreed that without his endeavors’ then, the stigma of mental illness would be much worse. Sigmund Freud who began initially treating what was then called â€Å"hysteria† (extreme symptoms, such as paralysis of a limb, with no apparent physical origin) by hypnosis, in 1890’s Freud began experimenting with different ways of releasing hidden memories from a patient as he began to see hypnosis as ineffective. Freud would begin free association which was allowing the patient to talk freely, guiding the conversation only when he needed too. Freud believed that this form of therapy was not only improved from hypnosis but also allowed patients to be active participants in their treatment, because they would be fully conscious whenever any revelation transpired. Freud began focusing on dreams and their interpretation techniques to determine the symbolic meaning of dream events. He wrote a book in 1899 that outlined his theories in his â€Å"Interpretation of Dreams†. Freud also formulated theories on human sexual behavior. His ideas were paramount to the theory of repression. The idea that feelings could be repressed from early childhood and could influence later behavior has been influential. Freud was rebuked strongly in his time but he gained a large following in the scientific community to included Carl Jung, and Alfred Adler. How to cite History of Psychology, Papers History of Psychology Free Essays

Continuum Poetry Essay Example For Students

Continuum: Poetry Essay Continuum The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind my house, and the moon does neither of these things, am talking about myself. Its not possible to get off to sleep or the subject or the planet, nor to think thoughts. Better barefoot it out the front. Door and lean from the porch across the privets and the palms into the washed-out creation, a dark place with two particular bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, ones mine the others an adversary, which may depend on the wind, or something. A long moment stretches, the next one is not on time. Not unaccountably the chill of he planking underfoot rises. In the throat, for its part the night sky empties the whole of its contents down. Turn on a bare heel, close the door behind on the author, cringing demurrage, who picks up his litter and his tools and paces me back to bed, stealthily in step. Continuum: anything that goes through a gradual transition from one condition to a different condition, without any abrupt changes or discontinuities In this poem, Cornrow explains the hardness of poem. He is waiting for inspiration for his poem and he is bored about thud and wants to sleep. He explains that writing a poem is an endless cycle. He personifies moon as a symbol for himself which creates a restless mood. The poet can not rest until he finished his poem. l am talking about myself this sentence suggests the reader that the poet is lonely and isolated. His source for inspiration is nature in this poem and he sass Better bare-foot it out the front because he wants to connect directly with the nature. He can not concentrate anything because of his restless mood. washed-out creation and dark-place miseries suggest that he wants to find SST unique. A long moment stretches, the ext one is not on time. this sentence means that the poet doesnt notice the time had gone. Cornrow used (query) because he want to explain his sense of questioning. The cringing demurrage is the creative side of the persona and he Is In an inner-conflict because one side of him wants to sleep the other one wants to write a poem. At last stanza, we are not sure but we understand that he found SST like inspiration and he turns to his bed, stealthily in step. Cornrows punctuation suggests that he Is lack of control. His commas shows that he is Jumping from thought to Hough. Cornrows enjambment rambling poets own thoughts. The poems structure is also explains the theme and title of the poem, Continuum. The poem is also 1 OFF Allen Cursors Continuum is a poem on the continuity of poetic inspiration. The poetic source of stimulation of great poets since ages has been the landscape. The moon has been a persistent metaphor for poetic inspiration in celebrated poems like Samuel Coleridge Dejection: An Ode. The poets quality of being a satirist is prominent here. He first asserts that the moon rolls over the roof, and falls back. This is to imply that his poetic capabilities are sinking. Subsequently, he goes on to substantiate that the moon does neither of these things, he is talking about himself. When poets generally do falter in poetic output or due to lack of inspiration, they tend to blame the external circumstances. However, Here Allen Cornrow asserts that the poet himself is to be blamed; for, Poetic inspiration comes from within and not from outside. Being sleepless is not an excuse for writing a poem. Sleeplessness does not necessarily allow one to ruminate over a subject, or planet or subjective thoughts. The condition of insomnia can also be dodged conveniently by walking barefoot on the front. The speakers then visualized as an onlooker of nature. As he stands at the porch he beholds an objective view of himself, as he discerns across the privets/and the palms a washed out creation. This portion is a dark space. The poet moves to his satiric tone yet again. This dark space contains two particular clouds, one was supposed to be a source of inspiration for the poet, and the other for his adversary- the other fellow poet. Bright clouds dusted(query) by the moon, ones mine The others an adversary, which may depend on the wind or something. The clouds seem to dust the moon for the poet in his quest/query for poetic stimulation. Nevertheless as one cloud functions in his favor, the other (cloud) poses as an adversary that may shadow the cloud, accompanied by the wind. Poetic brainwave or competence must not mar the others inspiration, for each poet has his individualistic insight that springs from within and does depend on external features. Creative Inspiration The poet gets the feeling that he has overcome his writers block. Restoration comed EssayThe Moon is cleverly used as a symbol for loneliness as there are no other objects in the sky mentioned in the poem. Furthermore it is usually the brightest thing we see in the sky in the dark of night, creating the image of the writer also being alone at night. 3. Alliteration in better barefoot. The word better has the tendency to be read quickly by readers, as it was designed to do. This is used by the author to create the image of the speaker in the poem to try and Jolt himself out of his surreal world to try and get himself into reality here he can finally have a focused mind to try and create any ideas to work on. Furthermore the fact that he wants to Better barefoot out the front demonstrates the fact that he wishes to throw himself out in the open and force himself into a more awake state of mind as he tried to make his body realize the dangers of the outside world without any protective apparel. 4. There is the use of slow vowels, especially in the word moon which is used 3 times. This creates a slow-paced speed for reading to exemplify the writers muddled thinking and slow evaluation of the world around him. . The last stanza can portray both the failure and a sudden success of the speaker of the poem. Note that at the last stanza, the author part of him becomes another person, thus the lines on the authorat the beginning of the last stanza. This author part of him picks up his litter and his tools and paces me (him) back to bed, stealthily in step. a. This could be a sign of his failure as a poet or author to be able to create good material as the author side of him picks up his litter and tools, perhaps a sign of him giving up if the author entity wishes to dispose f it or return it to the shelf (or wherever he keeps his tools). The fact that he puts the person back to bed stealthily in step creates an image of the author being ashamed of being unable to produce any good material. B. On the other hand, it could be a up his litter to review his drafts again and picking up his tools to use. The fact that he wants to put the person back to bed stealthily in step indicates that the author would not want to make a big news out of it, and perhaps surprise his counterpart in the future, if he manages to create a piece of course. If not, it would forever stay hidden that he had a glimpse of hope in the first place. Speaker of the poem: The writer himself. Allen Cornrow Speakers attitude toward the subject of the poem: Dissatisfied, unhappy, annoyed, confused, isolated, alone, discombobulated, detached. Paired poems (Identify poems in the anthology and why they are appropriate to be paired) 1 . The Woodsier because they both address the concept of being detached as The Woodsier is written in the past tense, where you cannot change anything and where you are looking back on the past as a third person. 2. The Woodsier to be able to look at the contrast in organization in the form of the poem. As you can see, The Woodsier is written with a clear rhyme scheme, clear paragraphing and overall very organized in the imagery conveyed, the direct opposite of what is happening in the Continuum. 3. The Woodsier as they both convey a surreal image as The Woodsier tends to deal with peculiar weather patterns. The winds suddenly die and start again, as well as a sense of fading within reality and the world of dreams as the character within The Woodsier sleeps and arises in the dead of night. Memorable lines (that reinforce poetic devices) The moon rolls over the roof and falls behind my house, and the moon does neither of these things, I am talking about myself. 2. Better barefoot it out the front It is not possible to get off to sleep or the subject or the planet, nor to think 3. Thoughts. This shows surrealism as he mentions trying to get off the planet. This is due to his lack of coherent thinking, such the lines nor to think thoughts Bright clouds dusted (query) by the moon, ones mine the others an adversary 4. Which may depend on the wind, or something.

Hamlet Characters Essays (917 words) - Characters In Hamlet

Hamlet Characters In Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the importance of characters Laertes and Fortinbras have been an issue that's discussed and analyzed by many literary critics. Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras are parallel characters in the play. Laertes and Fortinbras are often use by Shakespeare to compare the actions and emotions of Hamlet throughout the play. "They are also important in Hamlet as they are imperative to the plot of the play and the final resolution" (Nardo, 88). Shakespeare placed these three men: Hamlet, Laertes and Fortinbras into similar circumstances, which is, to avenge for their fathers' deaths. The main difference between the three is the way that each of them comes to grief of their fathers' deaths and the way they planned their vengeance. "Laertes is a mirror to Hamlet. Shakespeare has made them similar in many aspects to provide a greater base for comparison when avenging their respective fathers' deaths" (Nardo, 90). Both Hamlet and Laertes love Ophelia in different ways. Hamlet wishes Ophelia to become his wife, Laertes loves Ophelia as a sister. Hamlet is a scholar at Wittenberg; Laertes is also a scholar at France. Both were brought up under this royal family of Denmark. And both are admired for their swordsmenship. But most important of all, both of them loved and respected their fathers greatly, and showed great devotion when plotting to avenge their fathers' deaths. Hamlet's response to the grief of his father is very different from Laertes. Laertes responded immediately to the death. He showed his anger to others, he didn't hide it inside. He is also suspicious, it's evident in his speech to Claudius, he asked, "How came he dead? I'll not be juggled with. / To hell, allegiance" (Act 4, 5: 130)! Hamlet however is very private with his grief. He mourned long and hard for the death of Old King Hamlet, even two months after his father's death, after his mother's wedding to Claudius. He is still observed by Claudius and Gertrude to be wearing . . . Suits of solemn black" (Act 1, 2 : 78). Claudius and Gertrude noticed and commented on his unhappiness, however, Hamlet hides his feelings so well, it was not until his first soliloquy that we as audiences learned the depth of his suffering. We see the same contrast between Laertes and Hamlet again when they avenge their fathers' deaths. Laertes again is fast to action, he wants immediate revenge for Polonius. His immediate actions are based in anger and emotions, and therefore, rash. Also because of his immediate want for revenge, Laertes is easily drawn into the manipulation of Claudius. Claudius manipulates him into becoming an ally to kill Hamlet. Laertes is confident with his abilities, he says . . . my revenge will come; only I'll be revenged / Most throughly for my father" (Act 4 5:135). Contrasting to Laertes' quick response, Hamlet procrastinates. Although, Hamlet wants to gain honor by avenging his father's death, he is doubting and undecided of his abilities to do what he promised to the Old King's Ghost. For two months Hamlet procrastinates, he agonizes over what he has to do, and how he's going to avenge the murder of his father. While Laertes acts on impulse. However, despite the impulsive actions of Laertes in challenging of a duel with Hamlet, Laertes is without the cruelty and spitefulness of Hamlet. Hamlet not only wants to avenge his father's death, he wants Claudius to be eternally punished, just like the Old King Hamlet is tortured in hell. Therefore, Hamlet does not kill Claudius in the scene where Claudius is praying, when there is a chance Claudius might had a chance to confess all his sins. Laertes wants revenge, but he's not concerned with Punishment, he is concerned with physical and the present. Hamlet however, cares about Claudius' afterlife. Hamlet and Laertes the two extremes of the act of revenge: Hamlet thinks reason before action. Laertes acts on impulsion and without reasoning. Revenge was the driving force behind both characters' actions and it led to their eventual down fall. Fortinbras is the son of Old Fortinbras, King of Norway, killed during the battle with King Hamlet. Through a "Seal'd compact" (Act 1, 1:89), the lands of Old Fortinbras were forfeited to Denmark. Fortinbras, being the son of the Old King, vows to avenge his father's death and reclaim the lands that were lost. Fortinbras shares similarities and differences with Hamlet, "Fortinbras is a scholar, a soldier, the man of procrastination and the man of reason and action" (Nardo,

45 Idioms About Ordinal and Multiplicative Numbers

45 Idioms About Ordinal and Multiplicative Numbers 45 Idioms About Ordinal and Multiplicative Numbers 45 Idioms About Ordinal and Multiplicative Numbers By Mark Nichol The following is a list of idioms about ordinal numbers (first, second, and so on) and multiplicative numbers, or what the late English-usage expert Henry Watson Fowler called numeral adverbs (once, twice, and so on). (Because I have already devoted an entire post to idioms that include first, I’ve omitted them here.) 1. bottom of the ninth: the last minute, from the last segment of the last inning of a baseball game 2. break the fourth wall: speaking directly to the audience during a theatrical performance (or, by extension, a film or a television program) 3. cheap at twice the price: exceedingly inexpensive 4. don’t think twice: don’t concern yourself about it 5. eleventh hour: the last minute 6. even a stopped clock is right twice a day: someone who is usually mistaken can be correct on rare occasions 7. fifth column: collaborators supporting would-be invaders from within a country 8. fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me: a proverb expressing that one should be wary of the intentions of someone who has tricked one before 9. for once: on this particular occasion 10. Fourth Estate: journalists as a group (originally, a reference to the press in counterpoint to three other major demographic groups: the clergy, the nobility, and the common people) 11. give (one) the once-over: examine with interest 12–13. if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred/thousand times: a phrase expressing, with exaggeration, that one has repeatedly referred to something 14. lightning never strikes (the same place) twice: an unusual occurrence that has happened before won’t happen again 15. once and for all: permanently 16. once bitten, twice shy: a proverb expressing that one’s inclination is to avoid people who, or things, that have hurt them 17. once in a blue moon: very rarely 18. once in a lifetime: said of something likely to occur only once during one’s life 19. once over lightly: quickly 20. once upon a time: once in the past (used often as the beginning of a fairy tale to express that the story occurred long ago) 21. opportunity knocks but once: a proverb expressing that one may have only one chance to take advantage of an opportunity 22–23. plead/take the fifth: said humorously in response to a request for provocative information when one does not want to reveal it (a reference to the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens against self-incrimination) 24. second banana: someone who plays a secondary role (from show business slang for a supporting comedian) 25. second best: something not as good as the thing desired 26. second chance: another opportunity 27. second childhood: a period later in life marked by renewed interest in things of interest to a child or by reduced mental capacity 28. second class: inferior, as in references to travel accommodations or disadvantaged citizens 29. second fiddle: one who plays, or is perceived to play, a subordinate role (from an informal reference to violinists in a music ensemble who are not the principal violinist) 30. second-guess: predict another’s action or decision 31. secondhand: as an adjective, not original, or previously owned; as an adverb, indirectly, or obtained from another 32. second nature: said of a behavior or habit that one seems to have been born with 33. second sight: clairvoyance, or the supposed ability to see something happening elsewhere or in the future 34. second thought: a reference to changing one’s mind, as in the phrase â€Å"on second thought† or to be inclined to do so, as in the phrase â€Å"having second thoughts† 35. second to none: better than anyone or anything else 36. second wind: restoration of easy breathing after physical exertion, or a renewal or energy or strength 37. seventh heaven: a state of bliss 38. sixth sense: a perceptiveness that cannot be achieved with the five physical senses 39. think twice: carefully consider 40. the third degree: intense questioning 41. third rail: something dangerous, like the electrified third rail of an electric railway system 42. third time’s the charm: one will succeed on the third try 43. Third World: the undeveloped world, first used to describe countries not aligned with the world’s democratic and communist nations during the Cold War 44–45. third/fifth wheel: a person thought to be unwelcome in the company of a pair or quartet of people; usually a reference to a single person with one or two couples Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Good At, Good In, and Good With"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?5 Examples of Insufficient Hyphenation

Social policy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Social policy - Assignment Example The paper focuses on two policies that have the potential of solving problems created by welfare systems for single mothers with creation of sustainable employment opportunities and reduction of out of wedlock births being areas of concern. The number of children being raised by single mothers has continued to increase over the years with data indicating the ratio of children living in families headed by women at all-time high (Fang and Keane 2). Introduction of welfare programs for single mothers is informed by existing challenges they go through in being the only parent in the family. These mothers have to deal with increased demand for attention from their children, despite the fact that most of the mothers work in low paying jobs with few or no benefits (Deily 135). Apart from low income that is not sufficient to support the families, single mothers also have to work longer shifts to meet family needs. This implies that they have less time to take care of the children yet they cannot afford to employ a capable substitute housekeepers and caregivers (Albelda 200). Due to the continued rise in the number of single mother, there has been increased scrutiny of programs seeking to support single women with children. The program has been accused of not only improving the economic position of these women but also ensure they remain dependent on welfare. There is now a split in opinion over the best approach to tackle the situation especially when assessing the importance of welfare programs to economic stability of such families against the need to enable these women through polices that will make them economically independent in future. As a result of the arguments on the effectiveness of assistance to single mothers, there has been increased argument in support of polices that would empower women through job creation as opposed to focusing on welfare (Garfinkel and McLanahan). Due to the inherent challenges within

Pfizer Stock Analysis Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pfizer Stock Analysis Paper - Coursework Example At the same time, the real disposable income has shown a positive trend and indicates that the personal income of the US citizens is increasing but still it remains below the former level. With particular reference to the health care, the sector has received the boost as the average life span and median age of the US citizen and around the globe has improved. This has resulted due to the advancements in the pharmaceutical sector and indirectly impacted its revenue growth over the years. "A global depression has been averted. The world economy is recovering, and recovering better than we had previously thought likely1." The economy is expected to perform to better in the near future with a growth rate of 3.1% expected in the current year. The economists and investors around the globe have shown the optimism in their acts. However, the future still remains uncertain as most of the governments are running in huge deficits due to the fiscal stimulating programs. The governments have injected billions of dollars to revive the economy and to keep the business cycle in continuum (Schuman, 2010). The two giants of the US drug sector, Pfizer and Merck, beat the estimate of the financial analysts for the quarterly result. These companies were supported by reduced costs as a result of the recent merger activity. This will also boost their revenue activity in the coming years. (Pierson, 2010) Based on above information, Pfizer is the market leader in sales generation due to its sheer size, workforce and global operations. At the same time, it is not able to curtail its increasing expenses and has low efficiency. Pfizer contributes 17 cents to the final income for every $1 transaction as compared to Merck contributing 47 cents to the net income for every $1 transaction. As a result, it has a very low profit margin as compared to its rival. The lesser earnings as a

European Union’s Democratic Deficit: A Critical Assessment

European Union’s Democratic Deficit: A Critical Assessment Introduction The European Union is in a middle of a crisis. The worst part of its economic crisis has passed but it still faces even more severe issue: a trust crisis. People do not feel represented by the European Union and have turned their support towards populist and radical movements. What is the basis of this crisis? Some authors incline to say it is the EU’s democratic deficit. Thus, since there is a wide gap between what EU citizens want from their politicians and how the EU bureaucrats and institutions act. This leads to a situation where the public’s opinion and desires are not taking into account by the body that should represent them[1]. Yet, first we need to analyse in detail what a democratic deficit means to then address this problem. Democratic deficit is a tricky issue as it does not have a widely accepted definition between politics and law scholars. Depending on the author and its background, the term can be used with different connotations and meanings; hence, the results of the analysis tend to depend on the notion of democratic deficit the author uses[2]. Therefore, first, we shall develop our own democratic deficit conceptual approximation. Then, we will be able to lead a critical assessment on representation and participatory actual problems of the European Union. Afterwards, we will have all the tools necessary to address in detail if there is a true democratic deficit problem in the European Union and to propose some possible alternatives to solve it. The European Union and Democratic Deficit If a hyperbole is permitted, democratic deficit may have as many meanings as authors have discussed it. It is not an easy issue to address or to encompass in a single-simple definition. First of all, especially because, even though we can agree on some basis for democracy, in wide terms it is an ambiguous subject. So, what an author considers a democratic deficit will be highly influenced by what he considers to be a democracy. One of the first scholars to use this term was British David Marquand. He used it to define the democratic legitimacy faintness of –then- European Community. He suggested direct elections for representatives before the European Parliament. When this was adopted, the issue around European Community democratic legitimacy arose even further, as for the European Parliament represented the voice of the European Community citizens but the Community was not ready to give more powers to the Parliament, causing more tension. After the approval of the Maastricht treaty, the problem grew. Two pillars were added to the Union (common Foreign and Security Policy and Home Affairs), and in none of them the Parliament had any control[3]. Other authors propose the democratic deficit problem in the terms of a backwards Hume’s is/ought as they consider there is a discrepancy between is and ought/ should in the European Union[4] institutions and democracy as the transfer of substantial amounts of political decision-making towards the supranational level on non-elected institutions has diminished the democratic influence and the basic control the citizens have on their political institutions. It is obvious that at the first stages of the European Community it was reasonable and necessary to keep citizens away from decision-making as it was initially designed to be an economic community and not a political institution[5], but its goals mutated in time. The Community passed from a purely economic institution to a political one. As it was a community formed by democratic countries, one could expect that the supranational body they formed would also have democratic and participatory channels. Nonetheless, European Union turned into a bureaucratic and political giant that has slowly diminished the national entities and directly-elected supranational bodies -European Parliament- and passed it to its hands. Yet, other approaches[6] suggest that, even though the democratic deficit issue is real, it has to be attributed to the Union’s member states, rather than the Union itself. Integration between European states was responding to a series of already-existing democratic legitimacy issues within the states. They argue that the Union is not democratic enough because the member states have not been able to democratise their integration. The issue of the lack of democracy within European Union institutions is not considered as the cause of the problem, but the natural consequence of the democratic deficit of European Union members. This perspective must be necessarily rebuked. Even with their flaws, most of the European Union members have developed and stable democracies. If an institution poses itself as the supranational ruler of a continent and its legitimate representative, it must follow the same form of government that those national units it intends to rule, which is democracy. Where could European Union legitimacy come if not from its citizens? The Union’s decisions directly impact its citizens, as much as a national government decision, or even more. It also breaks citizens’ capacity to rely on the regular channels of influence –voting- to ensure they are being listened and to participate in political process[7]. The lack of democracy of the Union and is tightness to evolve and accept citizens demands only causes further disgust and loss of legitimacy. European Union is a sui generis institution, as it is not a state but it represents them and takes decisions in their name, therefore it should be held accountable for its decisions in direct elections. One cannot fail to notice that there is a deep democratic deficit in the European Union from the turnout in its elections. Ever since legislative powers were transferred to the Council of Ministers of the European Union from the national governments, the setup of the European Union shifted from that of an economic block to that of a political one. The lack of democracy in the Union has been evident in the voter turnout. From the first vote in 1979, the turnout has been going lower and lower with the 2014 election having a disappointing turnout of 42.54%. Compared to the individual member nations where the average voter turnout is 68%, this is a sign that the members of the European Parliament have noted something wrong with the setup and are thus silently revolting. This has led to the debate as to what ought to be done to get the Union back on track. While one side states that reforms are enough to make the Union serve its needs, others think the European Union should be simply debunked. The fact that the European Union has a lot of benefits for its member states and the world in general, however, means that its abolishment is not the best solution. To get the best solution for the case, therefore, requires an in-depth analysis of how the Union works and where it is failing. The Origin of the Democratic Deficit of the European Union Looking at the origins of the European Union, it is easy to make the conclusion that it was primarily meant to be purely economic and the introduction of the political aspects only complicated issues. The Treaty of Paris in 1951 saw to the formation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) which was meant to provide a trading bloc for coal and steel in Europe as suggested by its name. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome saw to the establishment of the European Economic Community (EEC). The EEC’s original members were known as the European Communities. In 1993, the Maastricht Treaty would see to the establishment of the European Union. With the European Union came the introduction of European citizenship. The latest of the treaties in this regard is the 2009 Treaty of Lisbon. While a lot has changed in the structure and function of the European Union to the present moment, some of the problems that plague the Union are the same.   The Manifesto for the Young European Federalists by Richard Corbett first raised the issue of the lack of democracy in the European Union in 1977 where the term democratic deficit was first used. David Marquand would later use the term in reference to the workings of the European Economic Community. The coining of the term primarily focused on the European Parliament, which was previously referred to as the European Assembly, and why it had a deficit of democracy. The primary argument behind this assertion is that the Parliament was made up of members who had not been directly elected by the citizens of the European Union. As such, the European Union was not serving the needs of its citizens but those of a few people. Effectively, the European Union is thus not democratic enough given that it does not meet the definition of a democracy where there is a government for the majority. The fact that the majority is not represented through free and fair elections of the members of the European Parliament is one point to the fact that there is a deficiency of democracy in the Union. The European Constitution The European Union prides itself in democratic legitimacy through various aspects of the constitution. The first of these aspects is the European Parliament. The Parliament is subject to the electorates of the member states. The other organs are the Council of the European Union also called the Council of Ministers, and the European Council made up of the heads of national governments of the member states. The European Parliament and the Council of the European Union appoint the European Commission members. This system of making decisions is supposed to give the European Union democratic legitimacy in the same way the US House of Representatives and the US Senate give democratic legitimacy to the United States. Decisions are thus to be reached by both bodies agreeing, and a third organ in this case the European Commission. The intended democratic legitimacy has, however, not been entirely attained by the European Union. The construction of the Union itself has occasioned what the German Constitutional Court called a structural democratic deficit in the Union. This court established that the process of making decisions for the European Union was primarily those of an international organisation rather than those of a government. The difference is that, as an international organisation, the European Union based its democracy on the equality of the member nations rather than the citizens of these countries. It is thus difficult to reconcile the needs of the citizens and those of the member nations of the European Union provided its operation as an international organisation rather than a government. Similarly, the British Electoral Reform Society filed a report in 2014 to the same issue of the EU constitution having a structure which focused on the needs of the member states rather than the citizens. The r eport stated that, while the European Union has focused on upholding the principles of democratic engagement, accountability and representativeness, there is the need to focus on the needs of the minority in any democracy. The European Union, being mostly made up of minorities, thus needs to have a focus on serving the needs of the citizens rather than those of the member governments[8]. Democratic Deficit and the European Commission One of the main structures put in place by the European Union in support of democracy is the European Commission. First, there has been criticism concerning the legitimacy of the European Commission and its role in the initiation of legislation in the European Union. However, this criticism does not have the backing of facts as similar bodies within national governments have yielded similarly poor results. However, its position as a body that legitimises the European Union and its take on democracy has failed by a large extent. The main weakness with such a body, as also noted in the case of the United States government, is that the regulations may be so detailed that the member states have little freedom in making their decisions on legislation[9]. While the issue of a democratic deficit was noted as far back as the 1970s when the idea of a united Europe was still in development, democratic legitimacy has always been an issue the Union has been dealing with ever since. When the Treaty of Lisbon was put in place, its primary aim was to provide room for better democracy in the region. The Treaty of Lisbon required that the President of the European Commission ought to take account of the results of the European Union parliamentary elections. This simply means that the President of the European Commission should be nominated by the   most dominant group in the parliament. This step effectively makes the European Union a political body rather than the economic one meant for the over watch of the economic activities of Europe. In fact, the European Union, owing to this kind of structure, has become partly a federation and also an international organisation[10]. The President of the European Commission would thus be partly elected and partly appointed. This position gives the president less power than is needed to win the confidence of the population, and too much power to earn the trust of the governments of the member nations. The resulting model is one where little democracy is accorded to the citizens of the European Union and their governments as well. The European Parliament and Democratic Deficit When the European Parliament was set up, a lot of people were ready to voice its weaknesses in seeing to the implementation of legislation. However, political scientists would come to the rescue of this organ by stating that, first, the European Parliament is different from the parliaments of single countries due to various factors such as the lack of a divide between the government and the opposition, the presence of a divide between the executive and the legislature, the presence of political parties that are decentralised, bipartisan voting, and the roles of the various committees. For this reason, the European Parliament has been compared to the US House of Representatives but with the advantage of not having a governing body over it like the latter house. The fact that the majorities in the European Parliament have to be built each time while depending on negotiations, persuasions, and explanations ought to make it better in function than the US House of Representatives. This is true given that the lack of interference between the executive and the legislature has made the European Commission and the European Parliament more effective. For instance, the member states of the European Union have less than 15% of their legislative initiatives becoming the law. This is largely due to the lack of support from the executive. The executive bodies, on the other hand, rarely require the input of the legislature in the same nations to pass amendments. The role of the European Parliament is the propositioned amendments to the existing laws. The success rate of these amendments is as high as 80% with the lowest levels recorded (mostly for the hotly contested topics) is at 30%. To an extent, however, the structure of the European Parliament allows for a level of lack of accountability and weakness when it is compared to parliaments with an overwatch body like the case of the US House of Representatives. Voter Turnout in European Elections and the Impact on Democratic Deficit With any democracy, the legitimacy of the leaders in power heavily relies upon the turnout of the voters during elections. The European Parliament has had some of the lowest levels of elections voter turnout hence the reduction in its democratic legitimacy. This is based on the fact that the turnout of the European Parliament elections has been declining consistently since its formation. However, the President of the European Union, Pat Cox, said that the 1999 European Parliament elections and a far much better turnout than the presidential elections in the United States. Compared, the voter turnout for the presidential elections in the United States in 1996 was 49%. However, the voter turnout in the European Parliament elections for 1999 was at 49.51 percent. For both types of elections, this turnout was among the very lowest. While both are at their lowest, it is difficult to use this as an excuse for the lack of democracy in the European Union. As a matter of fact, the case of the United States is very different from that of the European Union and the reasons for the low voter turnouts. For the European Union, the people have an option of whether to belong to the Union or not. And the way they can show their willingness to belong or not belong to the Union is through participating (or not participating) in its activities such as elections. The social aspect of the European Union, that of being accepted or rejected by the people, has been observed in the way the people have turned out in low numbers at each European Parliament vote[11]. The massive lack of knowledge for the common citizen of the European Union has led to the lack of participation by the voters. On the other hand, the United States electorate can have a low voter turnout for many other reasons none (or very little) of which is being against the union that is the United States. As it is, the European Union is not a very effective and efficient democracy given that its workings are not in line even with the developing democracies of the world. First, it is torn between being a government, and an international organisation. Secondly, the citizens, having seen that the democracy of the Union does not work (and it is too complex to understand), are increasingly ceasing to buy into the idea of the European Union being there to improve their lives through fostering democracy. Democratic Deficit and the Council of the European Union Another organ of the European Union is the Council of the European Union. This Council is also part of the efforts of the union to foster democracy among the member states. Its primary role is acting as the voice of the member governments of the EU while adopting the laws European Union and coordinating the polices of the union as well. Depending on the policies of the union, the government ministers of the members states are the members or the Council of the European Union. The presidency of the Council is held on a rotating basis (among the states) with each president holding the office for 6 months only. The Council carries out voting on legislation and discussions with both exercises being held in public. The decisions are based on a qualified majority whereby at least 55% of the countries (which is about 65% of the total population of the European Union) are required. In blocking a decision, 4 nations are needed (being the equivalent of 35% of the European Union population). For issues that are of an administrative and procedural nature require a simple majority while a unanimous vote is needed for the very sensitive topics such as taxation and foreign policy. While the structure of the Council of the European Union seems to read democracy all through it, the same weaknesses that plague the European Parliament plague it hence it is just another example of democratic deficit in the EU. For one, own-initiative reports from either the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union do not have legal consequences as such to the member states. Also, both bodies cannot play major roles in the amendment and repealing of legislation that is already in place. Lastly, and most importantly, the bodies do not address the needs of the citizens of the member nations. Looking at the structure of the European Union, it is easy to conclude that the reason it has not met the needs of the citizens is because there is too much bureaucracy between the top organs of the Union and the common citizens for the member states. The organs are too separated from the citizens in that the decision made take a very long route to reach the citizen. The representatives also have to make decisions which serve the needs of the Union and those of their respective countries; an issue which often introduces a conflict of interest. What the European Union has Done to Better Democratic Legitimacy All the concerns expressed here about the democratic legitimacy of the European Union have been expressed before by various persons and bodies and they have been heard by the people at the helm of the Union. For this reason, the Union has put in place various changes to the constitution with the focus being on doing away with the noted weaknesses in the laws and constitution of the Union in general. Among the changes made include the introduction of the Maastricht Treaty. This was a landmark treaty which is credited with the introduction of citizenship of the European Union. This citizenship would grant EU citizens voting rights to the European Parliament in each of their countries. Even municipal elections of the European Union were also included in the treaty. The treaty would also introduce co-decision procedure in which the European Parliament was given powers that gave it an equal footing to the Council of the European Union in making legislative decisions[12]. These steps would make the European Parliament much more functional and powerful but not powerful enough to overcome the issues of being a purely democratic entity.   The other change made to the constitution of the European Union is the Treaty of Lisbon. Becoming effective from the 1st of December 2009, the treaty saw to better representation of the EU citizens both directly in the European Parliament and indirectly through the Council of the European Union. This was meant to foster democracy and representation. The treaty would also see to the implementation and acceptance of the co-decision procedure as the primary procedure for the legislative dealings of the Union. The Treaty of Lisbon is also credited with tremendously increasing the powers of the European Parliament by a large extent[13]. One of the main areas in which the Treaty of Lisbon helped focus on the EU citizens was in giving the citizens the right to make petitions to the European Parliament concerning any matters of material effect[14]. This increased the powers of the citizen and their levels of participating in the making of decisions. Further on, the treaty would ensure th at Council of the European Union meetings which discussed public matters are made public for all to see. In this way, the citizens can better understand the debates and the workings of the European Union. The Treaty of Lisbon also receives credit for improving on the role played by the national parliaments of the member nations in putting in place the laws and legislations of the Union[15]. Lastly, the Treaty of Lisbon is credited with giving the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union full legal effect. This meant that various steps taken by the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, and the European Parliament would have full legal effect in areas where they apply[16]. Conclusion The workings of the European Union in seeking democracy have been so far ineffective on various levels as observed above. While there is intention from the leaders of the European Union to remedy these weaknesses in the workings of the Union, the fundamental reason why there have been low levels of success when it comes to attaining democracy for all citizens is its structure. It aims to operate like a government yet at its basic form it is an amalgamation of governments. Each of these governments have different needs, goals, histories and fundamental principles. The rest is that the leaders of each country first take care of their countries’ needs before those of the European Union. Also, its structure makes it difficult to make laws that will lead to better governance as each piece of legislation needs to have the needs of the many member states at heart. With time, it can be hoped that better legislation will be enabled for all the democracy to be attained. References Avbelj, M. 2005. Can the New European Constitution Remedy the EU Democratic Deficit?. EUMAP.org Campbell, M (2012) The Democratic Deficit of the European Union. Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union, p. 25. Castro, C. (2015). Assessing the Democratic Deficit in the EU: towards a Participatory Approach. RIPS, 14 (1), p. 63. Craig, P; Grainne De; P. P. Craig (2007). Chapter 11 Human rights in the EU. EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 379. Dilek, K. (2011). The Problem of â€Å"Democratic Deficit† in the European Union. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1 (5) p. 244. Electoral Reform Society — Close the Gap — Tackling Europes democratic deficit. European Parliament: Relations with National Parliaments. Innerarity, D (2015). The Inter-Democratic Deficit of the European Union: The Governance of Europes Economic, Political and Legal Transformation. Pp. 173-174. Kelemen, R. (2012). The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond. Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22. Milev, M. (2004) A ‘Democratic Deficit’ in the European Union? Master Thesis, I.H.E.I. p. 10. Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. [1] Castro, C. (2015). Assessing the Democratic Deficit in the EU: towards a Participatory Approach. RIPS, 14 (1), p. 63. [2] Milev, M. (2004) A ‘Democratic Deficit’ in the European Union? Master Thesis, I.H.E.I. p. 10 [3] Milev (2004), pp. 11-12. [4] Dilek, K. (2011). The Problem of â€Å"Democratic Deficit† in the European Union. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1 (5) p. 244 [5] Castro, C. (2005), p. 66. [6] Innerarity, D (2015). The Inter-Democratic Deficit of the European Union: The Governance of Europes Economic, Political and Legal Transformation. Pp. 173-174 [7] Campbell, M (2012) The Democratic Deficit of the European Union. Claremont-UC Undergraduate Research Conference on the European Union, p. 25. [8] Electoral Reform Society — Close the Gap — Tackling Europes democratic deficit. [9] Kelemen, R. (2012). The Rules of Federalism: Institutions and Regulatory Politics in the EU and Beyond. Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22. [10] Charlemagne. 2013. A democratic nightmare: Seeking to confront the rise of Eurosceptics and fill the democratic deficit. The Economist. [11] Avbelj, M. 2005. Can the New European Constitution Remedy the EU Democratic Deficit?. EUMAP.org [12] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31–32. [13] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–44 [14] Schà ¼tze, R (2012). European Constitutional Law. Cambridge University Press. p. 99. [15] European Parliament: Relations with National Parliaments. [16] Craig, P; Grainne De Burca; P. P. Craig (2007). Chapter 11 Human rights in the EU. EU Law: Text, Cases and Materials (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 379.

Compulsory Education Essay

Many may argue education is at its finest since things seem to get better with time; but is this the case when speaking of compulsory education? Compulsory education in the United States today has come a long way from original ideas concerning education. There are some satisfied with the way schools are constructed; yet there are others who are not. Much like anything else, compulsory education can be improved. According to Paul Goodman, requiring students to attain two years for maturing between high school and college can improve compulsory education (Goodman 2012). The history of compulsory education dates back to before the medieval era. As one may guess, compulsory education has been changed drastically since it was introduced. By the year 1918 all of the United States and territories had laws governing compulsory school attendance. Executing compulsory schooling allowed a more productive means of solidifying national school attendance. At this time, compulsory education is a form of progress setting the stage for more jurisdictions in state legislation regarding these attendance policies (Richardson 1994). Compulsory education has significant advantages and disadvantages. Compulsory education has great effects on enforcing children to go to school. Sadly enough, not all families want their children to go to school or be educated beyond a certain point; or for that matter, some children do not desire to continue their education. Fortunately, these attendance policies make children attend school up to a certain point, which depends on the state. The major disadvantage of compulsory education is that not everyone is â€Å"classroom material†. Some people prefer a being employed and establishing a steady income at an early age rather than going to school. A prime example of this is about a teenage boy, Charlie, was bored with school so he started skipping class for weeks at a time. Even then, Charlie proved to be successful in the landscaping business despite the substantial amount of time he lost in school (Inson 2006). Whether the effects of compulsory education are essential to one’s success or not, it plays a key role in today’s schools. Like anything else, compulsory education can and should be refined and enriched. Some of these ideas of improvement are shared by many but have not yet been enforced. The government should be more responsible for setting goals within the system and providing the infrastructure to do so. Also, the government should be responsible for analyzing the outcomes from students once these provisions are set (Yasuhiko 2005). Going further as to say, raising the age of compulsory education, which is an idea shared by many. This enforces students to continue their education for longer periods of time, which in turn, would ultimately provide more productive citizens to the American society (NASSP 2010). Certainly, compulsory education is a significant part of the history and present day schools. Education is everything in today’s society. There are immense advantages as well as disadvantages concerning this subject. Compulsory education is essential to schools in the United States and will continue to be. Continuous reform and amendments will be made along with new laws and policies governing compulsory education and attendance. Learning is a ceaseless process. Works Cited National Education at the Beginning of 2001. â€Å"Innovations and Developments in Education System†. 2002. Richardson, John G. â€Å"Compulsory School Attendance†. 1994. Inson, Peter. â€Å"The Guardian†. November 2006. Yasuhiko, Torii. â€Å"Redesigning Compulsory Education†. October 2005. < http://www. mext. go. jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/06051511. pdf>

Automated Highway System

As described and depicted in Sci-fi futuristic films like I, Robot, Minority Report and Star Wars, the Automated Highway System (AHS) features an automatically controlled transportation system that is meticulously interlaced with the highway system.   The principal idea of AHS is to remove the driving operation from human control and assign it to the vehicle, which in turn collaborates with the highway system to perform such function.Thus, the concept of AHS involves technology that can be classified into three groups namely, intelligent technology on board the vehicle, intelligent technology in the road, and communication technologies that link or connect the vehicles to road.   Communication facilitates interactivity and information exchange between vehicle and highway infrastructure and action is undertaken by user/ vehicle in an automated fashion.   (Ioannou, p183)AHS technology for vehicle auto-control accentuates on how automobiles can routinely detect road driving barrie rs especially other vehicles, the track course, traffic management rules, as well as internal engine problems so that the vehicle can instinctively make the proper steering, turning, braking, lane changing, stopping and other related movements involved in driving.The current trend under this heading is the blending of car and computer technology.   On-board PC promises latent flexible innovations which include internet communications, car operation (sound, air-conditioning and navigating through voice) and paging, etc. (The Economist)Current technology leading towards this end includes the intelligent cruise control system which use radar or laser to sense vehicles along its driving path that commands vehicle to decelerate or accelerate as needed or allowed; the driver status monitoring which reveals driver status i.e. consciousness levels, stare direction, driving skill, etc. in another vehicle to warn other drivers on the road; collision notification that forewarns or notifies d rivers for potential crash or collision accidents with other cars; navigation assistance systems such as traffic and traveler information and on board diagnostics system that detects potential vehicle malfunction in advance, among others. (Cheon)AHS technology for highway control include traffic monitoring for traffic management, highway and incident surveillance technologies of which there are intrusive (pneumatic road tube, inductive loop detectors, piezoelectric sensors, magnetic sensors and weight in motion) and non intrusive technologies (video image processor, microwave radar, infrared, ultrasonic and passive acoustic array sensors (Vehicle Detector Clearing House), and lane tracking and positioning, among others.Finally, technology for the seamless communication of the vehicle and road infrastructure is necessary for the integration, collaboration and connectivity of the system’s operations. The focus of research on communications technology is the improvement in the p rovision of real time, reliable data communications among vehicles and between vehicles and highway infrastructure.The global positioning system (GPS) is a promising technology for transportation communications for the fulfillment of AHS. It utilizes satellites rotating around the earth that pick up radio signals from users to calculate and determine their exact position including latitude, longitude and altitude. (Helms)The multifaceted potential benefits of AHS to the ordinary citizens, the transportation sector, and the general economy are both vast and profound. By removing the human component in driving and its penchant to errors, driving safety will be significantly improved. Factors such as fog, darkness and other severe weather conditions that can disturb visibility and directly impact driving performance can be eliminated.Since driving is automated, it affords people free time for productive activities during travel such as studying and reading as well as leisure for playin g, sleeping or relaxing.     For the elderly, the disabled and other people who do not know how to drive, driving skill is no more a hindrance to travel and mobility.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Travel time is also expected to be reduced because of free flow travel conditions as the traffic management system will control and balance the speed of cars depending on the congestion of highway used at that time. (Ferlis)

September 11 Insurance Industry Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 21 Words: 6152 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Level High school Did you like this example? Sept. 11 attacks exposed insurance industry to new and unheard costs of global terrorism. Terrorist attacks on Sept. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "September 11 Insurance Industry Finance Essay" essay for you Create order 11 were the most expensive insurance event in history till that date. Sept. 11 attacks cost about $40 billion to the insurance industry (Hartwig, 2002). The previous biggest single event insurance loss was $19 billion for Hurricane Andrew (Hartwig, 2002). Insurance losses from Sep 11 attacks are almost double the losses from any event before that. The most significant aspect of this huge insurance loss was that insurance companies paid claims for an event that wasnt even properly priced in premiums. Terrorism related insurance was covered but not clearly defined and demarcated in insurance policies. â€Å"The unthinkable was insured† said Mr. Leidthe (Williams, 2002). The extent of Sept. 11 losses has changed the risk profile of insurance industry dramatically. Lloyds Chairman S. Riley said â€Å"In a world post September 11, when the very nature of risk has so fundamentally altered..† (Lloyds, 2001). Extent of insurance losses Sept. 11 attacks cost about $40 bil lion to the insurance industry (Hartwig, 2002). The majority of losses were borne by the non-life insurers with life insurers paying about $2.7 billion only. Though life insurance loss is not significant as that of non-life insurance, yet it was substantial figure in itself and by far the highest single event life insurance loss till date. The table 1 below shows the line of business losses for Sep 11 attacks. The highest single line loss was suffered for business interruption and its share of total losses was 27 percent. The combined loss suffered by property line was 24 percent. Table 1 Line business losses for the insurance industry $ billion Insurance Losses % Property WTC 1 2 3.5 9% Property Other 6.0 15% Business Interruption 11.0 27% Life 2.7 7% Workers compensation 2.0 5% Aviation 4.0 10% Other 11.0 27% Total 40.2 100% (Source: Insurance Information Institute, 2002a) The losses incurred by the insurance industry were unprecedented in many aspects. It was the largest single event insurance loss both in terms of natural and man-made disasters till that date. It was also the first time when losses were catastrophic in life insurance, disability and worker compensation insurance sectors. It was also the largest loss for the aviation insurance. Insurance industry had previously also faced terror losses. The table 2 below lists the major terrorist attack losses in past. The previous highest insured property loss in any terrorist loss was $907 million for a bomb explosion near NatWest tower in London in 1993. The insured property loss in Sep 11 attacks was $20 billion, about 22 times more than the highest previous loss. This huge increase in losses caught most of the insurers unaware and presented a scenario which was not modelled before. Table 2 Major terrorist attack losses Date Description Losses * $ Millions Sep 11, 2001 9/11 attacks 20,300 April 24, 1993 Bomb near NatWest tower in London 907 June 15, 1996 IRA bomb near Manchester Mall 744 February 26, 1993 Bomb in WTC Garage 725 April 10, 1992 Bomb in London Financial District 671 * Insured property loss Adjusted to 2001 price level (Source: Insurance Information Institute, 2002a) Sept. 11 terrorist attacks also showed the global integration of insurance industry. More than half of the final payouts were from non-US companies (Williams, 2002). Though this caused wide spread losses across borders, yet it also prevented more bankruptcies. The industry has learnt a lesson from this and now more insurers and re-insurers are forming pools to underwrite insurance. Insurance industry reaction Industry wide big changes in insurance sector normally occur at the time of some catastrophic events and losses. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, insurers started charging high premiums in coastal zones and require special windstorm deductions. The post Sept. 11 insurance industry changes are similar to post Hurricane Andrew changes. Insurance industry has taken many steps to reduce potential losses. The first step was to raise premiums. The post Sept. 11 insurance premiums were much higher and it was not unusual to see premiums ranging from 7 percent to 10 percent of the stated value of coverage in the beginning of 2002 (Hartwig, 2002). Lloyds of London are now offering premiums ranging form 1 percent to 5 percent of the limit value (Hartwig, 2002). The price may fall further in future as the capacity in the insurance sector increases. The average increase in insurance premium was around 30 percent by the second half of 2002. The increase was caused by both reduction in capital supply and higher demand of insurance in light of increasing dangers. With the passage of time, the rise in premiums has slowed down again as more and more capital flows in the insurance industry and creates higher competition. The reduction in reserves post Sept. 11 coupled with regulatory capital requirement took many insurers and re-insurers to the capital markets. Insurance industry had raised total capital of $28 billion by June 2002 (Hartwig, 2002). Even though premiums will fall, it is unlikely that the coverage off ered will match pre Sept. 11 coverage. Airline industry was one of the hardest hit by the increase in insurance premiums. Coupled with high losses due to flight cancellations, it approached governments to bail it out. Many governments offered terror risk insurance to airlines. The increase in premiums has reduced the combined ratios to almost the lowest levels seen in the decade before Sept. 11 attacks. It reduces the reliance of insurers on investment income. The industry has seen that low investment returns and high terror losses can occur at the same time and hence it would be naà ¯ve to rely on investment returns to offset underwriting losses. The key lessons learnt by the insurance industry from Sept. 11 attacks are: Insurers are aware of larger potential losses Amount of risk capital required to support insurance is very high Reduced capacity results in supply versus demand pressures Insurance industry should not base its model on investment returns compensating underwriting losses The remaining part of the paper looks at the effects of Sept. 11 attacks on the insurance industry. Section II looks at the short term effects and section III studies the medium to long term effects. The paper concludes with section IV. SECTION II SHORT TERM EFFECTS Insurance industry had to immediately rise to the occasion which was not even properly thought also. Its short term reactions were key to the stability of financial industry. The following are the main short term effects of the Sept. 11 attacks on the insurance industry Ability to pay The attacks were the big test of global insurance industry and demonstrated the financial strength of the insurance industry. In spite of the negative returns from stock markets in 2000 and 2001, insurance industry has managed to pay insurance claims associated with Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A major factor in that is the spread of payments over time. According to a study by A. T. Kearney, only about 15 percent of total claims were settled in 2001 and about 50 percent of claims were to be settled in 2002 and 2003. The remaining 35 percent of claims were to be settled in 2004 and beyond because of the nature of losses related to injury and pollution. The above spread of payouts means that insurers had to pay approx. $6 billion only in 2001, an amount absorbed by the insurance industry without much of financial damage. The primary insurers and re-insurers raised their premiums immediately after Sept. 11 and that will absorb or even exceed Sept. 11 attacks payout in remaining years. Only one re-insurer, Japanese re-insurer Taisei Fire and Marine, had to file for bankruptcy due to its high exposure in the aviation insurance sector. Ichiro Ozawa, the president of now bankrupt Japanese re-insurer Taisei Fire and Marine said that the loss from reinsurance was caused purely by the terrorist attacks and they could not foresee that such a huge loss would be generated because the four airplanes simultaneously crashed (BBC, 2001). Its position was further financially weakened by the Nov 12, 2001 crash of an American Airlines flight. Another re-insurer Copenhagen Re stopped accepting new business after Sep 11 attacks. But no primary insurer filed for bankruptcy. Another reason for insurance industrys ability to pay huge claims was the wide spread of risk among a large number of insurers and re-insurers. Till July 2002, a total of 119 insurers worldwide had announced their exposure to the Sept. 11 attacks (Hartwig, 2002). Widespread use of re-insurance was the key i n preventing large number of insolvencies. The table 3 below shows the estimated insurance losses related to Sept. 11 attacks in July 2002. The largest share of single insurer, Lloyds of London was only 7 percent. This shows the spread of insurance risks and the prominent reason behind just one bankruptcy due to Sept. 11 attacks. Table 3 Estimated losses of major re-insurers $ millions Estimated losses % of total losses Total losses 40,200 100% Lloyd of Londons 2,913 7% Munich Re 2,442 6% Swiss Re 2,316 6% Berkshire Hathaway 2,275 6% Allianz 1,323 3% (Source: Hartwig, 2002) The insurance industry ability to pay claims strengthened investors faith in it and helped the industry to raise further capital. Underwriting losses Prior to Sept. 11, insurance companies were earning overall profits mostly through returns on investments. But the two years of equity market losses in 2000 and 2001 forced insurance companies to re-look at their business strategy. The magnitude of Sept. 11 losses meant that equity returns werent enough to give overall positive profits. Insurance companies were forced to abandon the practice of accepting losses on underwriting business in the hope of covering loss by high investment returns. This means that insurers had to increase premiums to reduce dependence on investment returns. Price of insurance premiums Primary insurers and re-insurers have hiked their premiums since Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (General Accounting Office). The table 4 below shows the increase in insurance premiums across different lines of business in the first half of 2002. Table 4 Increase in insurance premiums in the first half of 2002 0% 1-10% 10-20% 20-30% 30-50% 50-100% 100% Workers Compensation 5 % 13 % 19 % 32 % 15 % 5 % 2 % General Liability 2 % 9 % 24 % 45 % 15 % 2 % 1 % Commercial Umbrella 2 % 4 % 10 % 20 % 27 % 17 % 16 % Commercial Property 3 % 4 % 16 % 30 % 31 % 13 % 1 % Business Interruption 3 % 8 % 32 % 33 % 10 % 1 % 0 % (Source: Hartwig, 2002) We can see that the percentage of no increases in insurance premiums for all lines is only in single digits. The median increase range is between 20 percent to 30 percent. Both commercial umbrella and commercial property insurance lines have similar percentages in 20-30 percent and 30-50 percent range which implies that mean for these insurance lines would be more than 30 percent most likely. In case of commercial umbrella, there were 16 percent insurers who increased the premiums in the first half of 2002 by more than 100 percent. In US, insurance premiums were already rising in 2000. General Accounting Office of US said that insurance premiums were already increasing for commercial coverage prior to Sept. 11 (General Accounting Office). It also said that insurance industry members told it that the increases were a part of the underwriting cycle normal. Yet the GAO acknowledges that the insurance losses from Sept. 11 terrorist attack almost certainly exacerbated the rise in premiums. Net written premiums rose by 5.1 percent in 2001 (Insurance Information Institute, 2000b). The increase in the insurance premium was a result of both decrease in supply and increase in demand. Decrease in supply capital. The high abnormal losses sustained due to Sep 11 attacks reduced the capacity available to the insurance industry for writing new business. Another factor contributing to the reduction of capital was the decline in equity markets. Equity markets were on a decline since March 2000 and as insurance companies invest a large part of their free cash in equities, it meant that they needed more reserves to offset losses suffered in the equity markets. Lower amount of capital meant that insurers could choose the policies and / or markets offering high insurance premiums. Increase in demand. The scale of losses from Sep 11 attacks again brought back the attention to the scale of risk businesses carried and the necessity of a mechanism to offset it. Well diversified companies in terms of geographical reach like British Petroleum have the option of â€Å"self-insurance†. BP decided based on the wide spread geographical spread of its business units and plants that an attack or a loss of a single location would not jeopardise the whole business. It is also unlikely that more than one location will face catastrophic disaster at the same time. Hence BP took the decision of not paying high insurance premiums every year. But less diversified businesses dont have this option. The terrorist attacks increased the demand of insurance policies from businesses. The fear of the loss increases demand and London insurers Catlin and Hiscox have predicted that the Katrina hurricane in USA would boost insurance demand and rates (Slater, 2005). Lloyds and other insurers predict t hat the Katrina hurricane would cause heavy losses but would be beneficial in the longer term as it will push prices for affected risks steeply up. At the same time there is some rationale justifying increase in insurance premiums. Insurance premiums normally follow cyclical trends based upon the capacity and willingness of primary and re-insurers to take risk. Prior to Sept. 11 attacks, the insurance premium rates had peaked in 1993 and since then they were on constant decline (OECD, 2002). The rates had only stabilised in 1999 and started moving up in 2000 only. Even after one year of premium increases since Sept. 11 attacks, the insurance premiums are still lower than the peaks seen in 1993. Underwriting losses Since 1975 till 2001, insurance industry had underwriting gains in only two years and that too in as early as 1977 and 1978. Since 1978 the insurance industry had consistently made underwriting losses and they were about $30 billion in 2000 also (Insurance Information Institute, 2002a). The increase in insurance premiums would reduce underwriting losses. Combined ratio The combined ratio for US reinsurance sector was highest and worst ever in 2001. It was 142.9 percent in 2001 and next highest ratio was 126.5 percent in 1992. This shows the extent of losses due to Sept. 11 attacks (Insurance Information Institute, 2002a). The combined ratio for Lloyds reinsurance in 2001 was 142 percent (Lloyds, 2001). The combined ratio was 116 percent for all lines combined ratio. The combined ratio for all lines combined was also highest in 2001 but the next high was 115.8 percent in 1992 (Insurance Information Institute, 2002a). So the impact on all lines combined ratio was not as bad as on re-insurers. High premiums post Sept. 11 attacks resulted in one of the lowest combined ratio in 2002. The combined ratio for the US reinsurance was 102.3 percent in the first quarter of 2002 and it was very close to the lowest of 100.5 achieved in the past one decade (Insurance Information Institute, 2002a). For all US lines combined, the ratio at 101.6 percent was the lowest in last one decade. This shows that the increase in premiums has significantly increased the profitability of insurance industry. Coverage The unprecedented high losses stemming from Sept. 11 attacks forced insurers to re-look at the range of risks covered. Another major post Sept. 11 step was the reduction of coverage offered by the insurance companies. Mr. Hess of Swiss Re said in 2002 that Swiss Re had cut its potential exposure to less than half for events similar to attack on World Trade Centres (Williams, 2002). Patrick Liedthe, Secretary General of the Geneva Association also reiterated the above point and said that the exposure of the global industry to terrorist attacks is much lower post Sept. 11 attacks (Williams, 2002). Terrorism exclusion One of the most significant policy changes in the post Sept. 11 insurance sector is the introduction of terrorism exclusion from general insurance policies. Insurance industry was covering terrorism related risks even after the first attacks on World Trade Centres in 1993 and Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The fact that the risk was covered for very little or no prem ium immediately forced most of the insurers to exclude acts of terrorism from general insurance coverage. The other alternatives to terrorism exclusion were either to stop writing new business in soft target industries like commercial landmarks, chemical and power plants etc or to charge steep premiums to take care of more frequent terrorist attacks. The absence of statistically significant data hindered the quick development of rationally justified terrorism risk pricing. If insurers stop writing new business because of terrorism risk then it would expose businesses to financial risk from so many other events like fire, floods, etc. So it was better to exclude terrorism risk in the immediate aftermath rather than pricing irrationally or stop writing new business. After initial withdrawal period of terrorist related insurance, private insurance market again saw insurance products for these types of major attacks (OECD, 2002). Some of the insurance instruments like catastrophic bonds already existed in the private market even before Sept. 11 attacks. Catastrophic bonds are not actively traded and are mainly used for special events rather than being available for general use. The reluctance of insurers to cover terrorism insurance and the high premiums charged by many insurance companies has left many companies with no terrorism cover. In July 2002, about half of the businesses were not covered by terrorism cover at all (Hartwig, 2002). Only 14 percent of businesses had full coverage. This shows that only a minority of businesses are fully prepared to face terror risks. Even though most of the companies dont have self-insurance luxury that can be afforded by big multinationals like BP, they are not prepared to pay high insurance premiums to safeguard their business against terror attacks. Insurance Information Institute has a Rate On Line index which correlates the link between price of insurance and the limits of risk offered. The Rate On Line was 1 30 in 2001 and it increased to 215 in 2002 after steep increase in premiums and reduced limits (Insurance Information Institute, 2002a). Rebuild reserves. The high abnormal losses of Sept. 11 attacks resulted in $80 billion reduction in insurance industrys ability to meet future insurance claims (Williams, 2002). The reduced capital base and increase reserve requirement to handle equity losses mean that many companies were either unable to take any further shocks or had to raise further funds to strengthen their capital base. Many companies raised additional capital to meet regulatory capital requirements. By the end of 2001, insurers had raised $20 billion in new capital (Hartwig, 2002). And by June 2002, the total capital raised increased to $28 billion. The pace of capital raising slowed down significantly thereafter as the reserves rose due to higher premiums. It is hard to categorise the amount of capital raised separately into terrorism related insurance and other insurance lines. They thing important here is to note that Sept. 11 attacks acted as a catalyst for fund raising. Role of government As a result of complexity in pricing terrorist risks and associated high losses, many insurance firms withdrew risk coverage of terrorist attacks. This left many firms, vulnerable to such attacks, exposed to huge losses in case of terrorist attacks. US government then promulgated Terrorism Risk Insurance Act 2002 to cover major terrorist risks. Aviation insurance We now look at the aviation insurance industry, one of the two main insurance sectors affected by the Sept. 11 attacks. It was the first sector to react and it is a general belief that post Sept. 11 knee jerk reaction of the aviation insurance sector was an act of over reaction. Giles Williams of Wills Global Aviation said that the industry over reacted and it shouldnt expect profits in the year of its biggest loss (Shapiro, 2002). Aviation insurance sector lost $5.5 billion in 2001, out of which $3.97 billion was related to Sept. 11 attacks alone (Shapiro, 2002). The high loss prompted aviation insurers to not only swiftly raise premiums after the attacks but also impose new surcharges. Aviation insurers started charging $1.25 per passenger surcharge to replenish premiums. The increased premium and new surcharge increased insurance premium income by almost three folds in 2002. Aviation insurance premium totalled around $4 billion in 2001 as compared to around $1.2 billion in 2000 (Shapiro, 2002). Aviation insurers justified the increase by saying that the industry had suffered on average $1.7 billion loss each year between 1992 and 2000 (Shapiro, 2002). In addition to that insurers have to pay about $1.5 billion in administration, re-insurance and higher retention of primary insurers. One change welcomed by the airline industry is the better rationale for pricing. Previously aviation underwriters traditionally calculated liability premium by the kilometres travelled by the airplane. Indirect effect of insurance industry on non-insurance industries Sept. 11 attacks were probably the first insurance related event that had an impact beyond the directly related insurance sectors. It was expected that the attacks would lead to increase in premium for commercial property and airline insurance sectors. But the attacks put the focus on all sectors / industries that are thought to be soft targets for terrorist attacks. The rise in insurance risk premiums were more in line with their risk profile than any other factor. Natural terrorist attacks prone industries such as shipping, tourism and energy generation plants have faced some of the highest increases in insurance premiums. Commercial property and liability insurance rose by about 30 percent on average in one year after Sept. 11 attacks (OECD, 2002). â€Å"Target† structures those whose destruction can cause multiplier effect such as chemical and power plants and high rise office buildings saw even steeper increases. One thing to note is that the increase in premium s came after decade of decline. Even though the premiums have increased considerable the average insurance premium is still lower than the peaks seen in the decade before Sept. 11 attacks. Though the average insurance premium may still be lower than the levels seen in 1993, the insurance premium rates for â€Å"target† industries have risen sharply and hence the rise might be skewed too unfavourably for them. Reduced insurance coverage may hinder the availability of sufficient financial instruments to cover risks associated with terrorism. Lower investment and capital expenditure may have a negative impact on economy. Insurance industry took many steps immediately to correct the situation caused by the Sept. 11 attacks. We saw above that insurance premiums were raised, risks covered were reduced and many companies partially or fully withdrew from the terror risk insurance market. The above immediate steps did help the insurance industry to increase capital and profit ability in the short term. But the question looming is whether the insurance industry would be able to continue taking steps to maintain or increase its profitability. And how the short term steps would fare in medium or long term. SECTION III MEDIUM TO LONG TERM EFFECTS We now look at the medium to long term effects of the Sept. 11 attacks. The major effects are: Price of insurance premiums Post September 11, the net premiums in the US reinsurance industry increased by 14.1 percent in 2002, a rate of growth not seen since 1986 (Insurance Information Institute, 2002b). Lloyds mentioned in its 2001 Global Results pointed that early 2002 is seeing significant improvement in business conditions caused by higher demand and increased prices (Lloyds, 2001). The cost of insurance price dropped significantly in 1990s. The cost of risk to business dropped by 42 percent between 1992 and 2000 (Hartwig, 2002). If we add in the affect of inflation, the real drop in insurance premium would be much more. So sooner or later the insurance premiums had to increase. Insurance premiums also had to rise due to increasing medical and legal costs. The steep rise in insurance premiums attracted more capital to the insurance sector. In its Global Results for 2001, Lloyds pointed out that the inflow of capital, especially in Bermuda would slow down the increase in insurance premiums (Lloy ds, 2001). It is difficult to escape the cyclical nature of insurance sector. Increased capital will again increase competition leading to renewed price competition in the medium term. General Accounting Office of US government also pointed out that while there may be some examples of excessive price increases in the market, as long as insurance continues to be available, it is likely that competitive pressures will ultimately remedy that problem (General Accounting Office). Lloyds and US General Accounting Offices assessment of medium term slower growth in insurance premiums was correct. The US property and casualty insurance industrys net written premium growth was only 4.7 percent in 2004 as compared to 9.8 percent in 2003 (Insurance Information Institute, 2004). Pricing of terrorist attacks In Sept. 11 attacks, insurers lost heavily on life, building and airplane insurance at three different places including one for two World Trade Centre towers. It is extremely difficult to price the probability of multiple occurrences for such events. But we are seeing more of such events and it was demonstrated again in July 7, 2005 when four near simultaneous terrorist attacks shook Londons underground and bus network. It is difficult to price risks related to terrorism. Several factors contribute to this pricing conundrum. First, terrorist attacks are very less in numbers as compared to the frequency of other insured losses. So there is lack of sufficient data to model insurance premiums. Second important thing is the possibility of many catastrophic events occurring at the same time. Since Sept. 11 attacks, world has seen many more terrorist attacks. Though the losses suffered there are not significant to the scale of Sept. 11 destruction, yet the insurance industry is mor e aware of the scale of losses. The slowdown in insurance premium growth indicates that the insurance industry is now pricing terror risk more rationally. Coverage In a study conducted by Joint Economic Committee of Congress, US on terrorism insurance, the major finding was the limited market for terrorism related insurance post Sept. 11. Re-insurers started excluding terrorism from insurance policies in the beginning of Jan 2002. With no government assistance, primary insurers were forced to exclude terrorism related coverage from insurance policies too. US government soon introduced Terrorism Act of 2002 to act as insurer of last resort. Since then many primary insurers have re-started offering terrorism insurance. But the market is not as wide and deep as it was before Sept. 11 attacks. As re-insurers first excluded terrorism cover, primary insurers limited the coverage. Initial coverage was limited to at most $150 million. The coverage was also subject to higher deductible. Over time the limit has increased but it is no where near the previous coverage levels. Also some companies are not writing terror insurance policies. Even the o nes who are writing terror policies are defining limits properly. It is unlikely the commercial property and casualty insurance will ever get the same terror risk as was there before Sept. 11 attacks. Increased risk at primary insurers level The higher reinsurance costs have lead many primary insurers to retain higher amounts as reinsurance at lower levels is now too high and economically unviable. Primary insurers are still writing terror risk insurance policies but not taking reinsurance as the costs of high reinsurance dont justify taking them. They also want to keep higher proportion of insurance premiums with them to pay for terror attacks. But not taking reinsurance has left them exposed to high costs if any major terror attacks take place. There is a possibility of failure of such primary re-insurers. Capacity The capacity of the insurance industry is limited and as it has been demonstrated by the Sept. 11 attacks, the terrorism related losses could easily run into anything catastrophic. The insurance industry has managed to survive Sept. 11 attacks without much financial jitters. But a few more attacks of such scale can easily push a large number of insurers into bankruptcy. This will have an irreparable damage on not only the financial health of insurance industry but also on the general economy and growth. In June 2001, the aggregate claims paying ability of the property and casualty insurance industry was about $300 billion. The Sep 11 property and casualty losses are about 10 percent of the claim paying ability. Though the claims are to be paid over time, yet the payout represent a significant part of the claim paying ability. We should also exclude some categories like auto and home from the total property and casualty claim paying ability as the attacks targets were mainly comm ercial property. The surplus claim paying ability of the related insurance sectors was just $100 billion before Sept. 11 and fell to $80 billion after the attacks (Hartwig, 2002). The limited coverage with restrictive terms along with withdrawal of insurers from many markets meant that the insurance industry lost another $40 billion or so in capacity (Hartwig, 2002). The introduction of Terror Act 2002 by the US government increased investors confidence in the insurance industry. The bill brought back many insurers and hence increased the capacity. The increase in capacity slowed down the increase in insurance premiums. Market perception Stock markets are a good indicator of things to come. Fear of high Sept. 11 related claims led to dumping of insurance shares in the week after the Sept. 11 attacks. The insurance company shares fell by about 10 percent in the first week of trading after Sept. 11 attacks (Hartwig, 2002). Investors were also concerned about the possibility of more such large scale attacks. Warren Buffet mentioned that any nuclear attack by terrorists can wipe out the whole insurance industry (Hartwig, 2002). But the initial negative sentiment towards insurance shares soon reversed into a positive outlook. The sharp increase in premiums made investors take a re-look at the medium and long term profitability of the insurance industry. The positive outlook was also strengthened by the fact that only one re-insurer filed for bankruptcy. Investors also woke up to the idea of reducing exposure and tightening underwriting standards by the insurance industry. Who wouldnt like to invest in an industry which is increasing the price of its products yet at the same time offering less to its customers. It is a double win situation. Role of government Sept. 11 attack has also established a closer relationship between the insurance industry and governments. The US Senate passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 on June 18, 2002. The US President signed the bill on Nov 26, 2002. The insurance act is about sharing of terrorism related insurance losses between insurers and the government. The insurance industry was asked to retain certain amounts to meet terrorism related claims. The government was acting as re-insurer of last resort and agreed to pay 80 percent to 90 percent of the losses based on the amount of losses. The US government also capped its liability on all cases to $100 billion. The initial sharing agreement is for three years and the government will then review the extension at that stage. US governments intervention to take risk previously insured by the private sector was intended to be a short to medium term step. It was a step taken to restore public confidence in business. It appears that the knee je rk reaction of aviation insurers in increasing premiums has driven business out and brought government in. As aviation insurance sector had made losses in 8 out of 10 years prior to 2001, it was probably not the right insurance sector for private companies. Or is the government entry as insurer of last resort in US was inevitable? Airline industry was already reeling under heavy losses due to post Sep 11 flight cancellations, lower ticket sales and general poor state of economy. The high increase in premium made it very difficult for them to survive. US based airlines have formed Equitime, a company incorporated to cover war and terrorism risks. Over time it is expected to build a capacity of $1.5 billion to provide coverage for war and terrorism risks. The US federal government will act as the insurer of last resort. US government helped in setting up of Equitime by guaranteeing its role as insurer of last resort. Prior to that, the US government had little or no role in priv ate insurance market. But the governments across the world, especially in developed countries, have been acting as re-insurer of last resort. And these are the countries who have seen terrorism related violence in the past. UK had been facing IRA related terrorist attacks for decades. To take into account the potential of very high losses the government set up Pool Reinsurance. Under this scheme, there is limited private cover with additional excess cover for both property damage and business interruption made available for companies who join Pool Re. The UK government acts as re-insurer of last resort in case of insolvency. In Israel, terrorism risk is excluded from standard policies. Israeli government covers terrorism related property damage losses. Post Sep 11 attacks, France and Germany have also set up state sponsored re-insurers for terrorism related risks. In case of France, the membership of this re-insurer is compulsory for all members of French insurers associati on. The UK government also extended the terrorism insurance cover for commercial property in 2002. The increased threat and frequency of big terrorist attacks makes it very difficult for private insurers to cover all terrorism risks and governments entry either as a re-insurer of last resort or pool provider was inevitable. Alan Greenspan said to the Joint Economic Committee of US Congress that in situations of violence, the viability of free markets may require that the costs of insurance are borne by the taxpayer (Hartwig, 2002). So what was initially thought to be short or a medium term measure would probably become permanent. It is very difficult for governments to withdraw support. Since many other nations have not withdrawn such facility, US government would also keep it. Effect on small businesses The smaller firms are also feeling the post Sept 11 insurance changes. In UK, The Federation of Small Business has warned that soaring insurance costs of obligatory employers liability insurance premiums are forcing many small firms out of business. Small firms dont have negotiating power and are often squeezed by their bigger customers. They survive many times on tight margins and increase in insurance premiums may just be the tipping point for some to close business (Madslien, 2002) Insurance industry took immediate steps after Sept. 11 attacks to maintain its financial health. Many of those steps have medium to long term effects on insurance industry. The industry has been plagued by cyclical nature of high and low insurance premiums and low and high combined ratios. The premiums increased after Sept. 11. But the rate of growth has slowed down in the last year. The insurance industry target of around 90 percent combined ratio is still some distance but if it keeps increasing premium rates, even at a low rate, it might reach there. The only thorn in that achievement would be the industry itself, where low combined ratios pull in more capacity and higher competition lowers insurance premiums. SECTION IV CONCLUSION Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were the biggest terrorist attacks ever and exposed insurance industry to man made catastrophic losses. Terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 cost about $40 billion to the insurance industry and are almost double the losses from any event before that. Insurance industry though covered terror risk yet it wasnt either priced or was priced very less in the premiums. The loss faced by the commercial property insurance industry was about $10 billion and so was the loss in the business interruption line. Yet the insurance industry survived bankruptcies and assured the world of its ability to pay claims. This was due to the global nature of re-insurance industry and sharing of risks. Now more insurers and re-insurers are formi ng pools to underwrite insurance. The industry took quick steps of limiting or withdrawing terror cover. It is not easy to price terror and the easiest way out was to stop terror cover. This left many businesses exposed to high risk of terror. Over time more insurers have started offering terror cover but have limited their scope of losses. This is one of the major impact of Sept. 11 attacks and it is unlikely that the insurance industry will ever offer pre Sept. 11 terror cover. It also increased premiums to make up the losses in the next few years. The increase was about 30 percent on average across most of insurance lines of business. The premiums have been increasing since then and have resulted in some of the lowest combined ratios in the last 15 years. But the lure of higher premiums has brought in more capacity into the insurance market. This has again increased competition and led to lower growth in insurance premiums. Insurance industry should try not to again fall in to cyclical trend of high and low premiums. It should learn the lesson now of now basing its model on investment returns compensating underwriting losses. Back to: Custom Essays BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES BBC (2001). â€Å"Japanese insurers reel†, https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1669703.stm General Accounting Office. https://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02472t.pdf Hartwig, R.P. (2002). â€Å"One Hundred Minutes of Terror that Changed the Global Insurance Industry Forever†, Insurance Information Institute Insurance Information Institute (2000). â€Å"2000 Year End Results†, Insurance Information Institute, https://www.iii.org/media/industry/financials/2000yearend/ Insurance Information Institute (2002a). â€Å"The Long Shadow of September 11 Impact Implication for Insurers and Reinsurers†, Insurance Information Institute, www2.iii.org/media/presentations/sept11/ Insurance Information Institute (2002b). â€Å"2002 Year End Results†, Insurance Information Institute, https://www.iii.org/media/industry/financials/2002yearend/ Insurance Information Institute (2004). â€Å"2004 Year End Resultsâ₠¬ , Insurance Information Institute, https://www.iii.org/media/industry/financials/2004yearend/ Lloyds (2001). Global Results, 2001, https://www.lloyds.com/index.asp?ItemId=2416 Madslien, J. (2002). BBC. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2002/september_11_one_year_on/2207645.stm OECD (2002). â€Å"Economic Consequences of Terrorism†, www.oecd.org/dataoecd/11/60/1935314.pdf Shapiro, S. (2002). â€Å"Aviation markets Sept. 11 response debated†, Business Insurance, Chicago, Aug 5, 2002, Vol. 36 Slater, S. (2005). â€Å"Catlin and Hiscox see Katrina loss but rates boost†, www.reuters.co.uk, 12 September 2005 Williams, F. (2002). â€Å"Attacks force insurers to rethink strategy†, www.ft.com, Sep 10, 2002 More Free Finance Essays Get free finance essays from our extensive online resource library. Hundreds of example essays available from all the major essay topics to help you with your research Please note: The above essay was written by a student and then submitted to us to display and help others. Thanks to all the students who have submitted work to us.