Slavery and War

Midterm 1. What fundamental factors drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the New World? There were many fundamental factors that drew the Europeans to the exploration, conquest, and colonization of the World such as natural resources, overpopulation and religion. The European explorations have been hearing a lot about all the natural resources that the New World can offer to them. They wanted to travel and find the Far East for the gold, silk, spices, and possible crops that they may be able to bring back to Europe.They believed that the New World would be able to offer all of the natural resources that they may need in order to survive in Europe. They were also very fond of gold and all the other riches they may find. Another reason that drew the Europeans to the New World was due to population. Europe was getting overly populated and the lack of available land caused crowdedness. People were determined to get away from Europe and arrive to the Americ an colonies to establish a new place to live. Due to overcrowding, majority of people in Europe were contracting unknown contagious diseases.Many people also wanted to get out of Europe to avoid being infected. Religion has also become a fundamental factor to the exploration of Europeans. There were many different types of religions that the Europeans wanted to spread to the New World. The Europeans wanted to convert all the Native Americans that they have encountered. The Catholics settled in Maryland, while the Quakers settled in Pennsylvania. The goal of the Puritans was to arrive in the New World and be able to freely worship any religion. They wanted to free themselves from the England’s church and be able to create their own churches.What was the impact on the Indians, Europeans, and Africans when each of their previously separate worlds â€Å"collided† with one another? Indians, Europeans and Africans were all significantly impacted when each of their previously separated worlds â€Å"collided† with another. The Indians were significantly impacted when the Europeans came to the New World. The diseases that the Europeans have contracted from Europe were brought to the New World, and resulted to killing thousands of Indians. The diseases were highly contagious and did not take long for countless amount of Indians to get them.If the diseases did not kill the Indians, the Europeans would mistreat them or force them to get out of their own land and move somewhere else. The Indians did not benefit much from the Europeans and overall caused interactions to negatively affect the Indians. The Africans also did not benefit much from Europeans and the interactions that they had. Europeans did not like the Africans because of the dark color of their skin. In result, Europeans took advantage and turned Africans into slaves in the Americas. Only a few Africans benefitted with the Europeans’ interaction with them; slave traders.Some African s became slave traders and traded their own kind by capturing Africans and selling them to ships to travel to the Americas for profit. The Europeans benefitted the most when their separate worlds â€Å"collided† with the others. Due to their advance weapons and animals; they were able to kill the Indians or remove them form their own native land. After they did this, they were able to explore the land create new colonies, find new animals and plants to use for work and food. The Europeans benefitted from Africans because they enslaved them and did not have to pay for the labor.What caused the shift from indentured servant to African slaves as the dominant labor force in the southern colonies? The institution of slavery began in England because young women and men wanted to find a master who they will serve for (usual terms were from 4 to 5 years) to exchange for food, housing, and a way to get to America. After serving their time, men ended up being farmers, artisans or worse ; unemployed without anything and women ended up getting married. Indentured servants started to decline due do low birth rates and lack of improvement in the economic conditions developed.They often did not want to stay in the southern colonies due to the poor advancement it offered. In result, landowners started to use African slavery as their source of labor. They were free and landowners did not have to worry about paying for the African slaves. 3. What efforts were made to strengthen English control over the colonies in the seventeenth century, and why did they generally fail? After the civil wars that were going on in Europe, England tried to restore their authority on the colonies and make sure that throne was still powerful.After the British throne had been restored by Charles II, he wanted to be able to control his colonies more strictly. However, he was surprised that the orders he have made were not being followed in Massachusetts. The colonies were being taxed a lot by t he English and they also sent out governors of their own to try to take charge of the colonies and made sure that the British laws were being enforced. Charles II wanted to continue the English rule in the New World and tried to overpower the colonies. It generally failed because the English were fighting civil wars themselves, and colonies were left insolated for many years.This can be argued in a good and bad way. The colonies started becoming independent and did not like the idea of being ruled under England anymore. They liked the idea that they were free from England’s rule, which foreshadows terrible events down history. The colonies wanted to be under their own rules and disliked the thought of still being under England’s rule. What were the causes of the Bacon Rebellion and what impact did the rebellion have on Virginia politics and slavery? There were many causes of the Bacon Rebellion.Nathaniel Bacon created an angry group of people (slaves, farmers, servants ) to protest and burn down Indian settlements and Jamestown because they believed that the government was not giving them enough protection. This was caused by a disagreement between the Natives and the newly settled lands to the west. William Berkeley, Virginia’s governor, created a deal with the native. This deal was that there would not be any more settlers settling west of the mountains. However, due to the rapid growing of population, the agreement was difficult to maintain.There were people who were still settling west of the newly settled land where they have agreed not to settle in. This made the Natives very furious and started to harass the settlers. Nathan Bacon wanted support from Berkeley for a militia but Berkeley turned him down. This angered Nathan Bacon and ultimately, gathered people to defend him and others against the natives. After he did that, he invaded Jamestown and exiled Berkeley. Also, it was evidence of a struggle that was continuous between the In dians and the colonies in Virginia.The competition among the easterners and westerners revealed the bitterness they had for each other. It demonstrated the fact that the colony may not be capable of proving stability to the large population of free and landless men (most were former indentured servants). Bacon’s rebellion also made a huge impact on Virginia politics and slavery. The rebellion indicated the fact that it was the first class struggle between the rich and the poor whites living in the New World. It also continued to reduce the amount of Indians living there and open new land for white settlers.It reduced the population of white servants and increased the population of African servants. The indentured servants started to decrease because the landowners knew that indentured servants were to be released after their contract was finished. Landowners turned to Africans slaves because slaves did not have any contracts about how long they were to work for. They did not pose a threat for any uprisings, which the landowners highly approved of. 4. Identify the basic beliefs and assumptions of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening.The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening impacted the intellectual and spiritual life of the colonies in different ways. The Enlightenment challenged the divine right and the role of religion, which assisted Colonial America to realize that it was possible to challenge the divine right and the King. It resulted in opening the ideas about literature, science and education. It focused more on scientific advancements and helped produce more of an interest in politics and education. The Great Awakening had an idea behind it: â€Å"a new beginning†. It created a new pathway toward religion being shared.T led to the ability to challenge the clergy and the King. The Great Awakening believed that God was coming soon. This caused the believing of others and they started creating churches and school for education. This mea nt that it gave the people a freedom of religion. How did these two movements affect colonial development? The Great Awakening is the religious response to the Enlightenment to the Enlightenment and the Enlightenment was a change from religious thinking to scientific thinking. The Enlightenment gave the colonies opportunity to another option other than religion.This enabled the colonies to challenge traditional beliefs. How did the American colonies move from loyalty to protest to rebellion in the twelve years following the end of the French and Indian War? The American colonies moved from loyalty to protest to rebellion in the twelve years following the end of the French and Indian War. The fertile soil in the Ohio River Valley sparked the interested of the colonists. The idea of colonists entering the land caused the French and Indians to be concerned for they have already established a great trading relationship together.The British, which also included the colonists, defeated th e forces of the French and Indians combined. Ultimately, this war made a severe financial issue to the British because while they were fighting with the French and Indians; they were also fighting in the Seven Years War in Europe. The British needed to find a way to increase revenues to the treasury while saving money. One way the British were able to save money was by passing the Proclamation of 1763. The Proclamation of 1763 was to stop settlers from advancing and settling in west of the Appalachian Mountains.They wanted to separate the colonists from the Indians and prevent any conflict between them. By reducing any conflict between other groups, they would not need as many military forces, which will help them save money. Unfortunately, the colonists did not like this idea because they believed that since they participated in the war, helped fight, and win the war; they would be able to settle in the Ohio River Valley. The British were able to increase the revenue is by adopting the Stamp Act. The Stamp Act stated that all printed items; for example, playing cards, newspapers and pamphlets, would all be taxed.This caused mixed emotions and led to a serious of actions on both the British and the colonists. The colonists did not like that idea and so they would protest about the tax. The British would try to rescind it, change it or enforce it. If the British were forced to rescind the act, they would change it to another tax; for example, Currency Act or Sugar Act). The colonists were not to happy about the acts because they did not elected any representatives to the Parliament. The British Constitution did not allow taxing unless there were representatives in the Parliament.This caused the colonists to be taxed without any representation. However, the British fired back and said that the colonists were being represented. The Parliament counted and represented all Englishmen even though they have not voted. After the French and Indian War, there were many e vents that caused the colonists to be angry. The most obvious reason was because of the series of Parliamentary acts. 6. What advantages and disadvantages did the American rebels and the British possess as the war began? There British and the American rebels both had many advantages and disadvantages as the war began.The British had many advantages compared to the Americans as the Revolutionary War began. The British had the confidence that they were going to win the war. The unlimited amount of money to buy any materials/resources they needed, and the significantly huge amount of trained soldiers were big advantages for them. The disadvantage the British had was that the soldiers really did not have any purpose in fighting because most of them were being paid to fight. The British soldiers were doing what they were told to do. They did not find any significance about this war.The British soldiers did not have to fight for their independence, unlike the Americans. The Americans had a couple advantages going into the war: the purpose of fighting, which was for their independence (they did not get paid at all unlike the British) and that made them fight harder than the British. They were truly fighting for themselves and valued the significance of this war. They were also fighting on their own land so they knew important landmarks. This was a great advantage for the Americans because they would be able to identify and predict where the British would be.The disadvantages that the Americans faced were that they were very limited in supplies. They did not have the huge amount of money to buy materials, which meant that they valued every bullet, cannon, and guns. They were not as populated as the British soldiers. They also did not have as much soldiers as the British did. The Americans were not also properly trained to fight. They did not have well-experienced captains leading them. Why was the Battle of Saratoga such a key to American success in the Revolutionary War? The French disliked the British for particular reasons like the war they had about gaining territory in North America.The French wanted to weaken the English as much as possible, which meant that French might be able to take revenge for what the British have done to them. In order to win the Revolutionary war, the Americans knew that they needed help from foreign forces. However, the French did not commit to fully support the Americans until they are certain that the Americans were capable of winning. After the Battle of Saratoga, the French started thinking that the Americans were worthy of their support. The Americans’ victory in this battle resulted in France becoming allies to the Americans.The Battle of Saratoga was significant because it was a major turning point of the Revolutionary War. Battle of Saratoga was the first American victory in the Revolutionary War. The confederacy of the Iroquois was neutral during the war. But three of the Iroquois nation fought al ong side with the British forces in the Battle of Saratoga. The confederacy was then weakened severely and with the Americans winning the Battle of Saratoga, the confederacy weakened even more. The result of the confederacy being weakened, the Iroquois nation were forced into Canada.What role did France play in winning the America’s independence and what were the long term implications for France? The France played an extremely important role with the winning of America’s independence. The French and the Americans were allied, and the Americans had no navy at all. The French were able to supply the Americans with the navy that they needed. The Americans also lacked the weapons and supplies they needed to fight in the Revolutionary War. They were able to give the Americans huge amounts of guns, other weaponries and ammunitions. The Americans were also lacking a huge army.The French also gave the Americans half of the army they had in the war. The French were also allied with the Spanish, which was a bad thing for the British. The French supplied the Americans with money that the Americans did not have. The French did not think about the American’s independence during the war, but mainly to try and get rid of the British. They wanted to crush the British armies because of what happened in the French and Indian War. The French disliked the British and that is why they allied with the Americans. If it wasn’t for the French, the American’s chances to winning were close to nothing.

Capital Account Convertibility Essay

Capital Account Convertibility. Should India adopt full convertibility? Capital Account Convertibility-or a floating exchange rate-is a feature of a nation’s financial regime that centers around the ability to conduct transactions of local financial assets into foreign financial assets freely and at market determined exchange rates. It is sometimes referred to as Capital Asset Liberation or CAC. CAC is mostly a guideline to changes of ownership in foreign or domestic financial assets and liabilities. Tangentially, it covers and extends the framework of the creation and liquidation of laims on, or by the rest of the world, on local asset and currency markets. Current account convertibility allows free inflows and outflows for all purposes other than for capital purposes such as investments and loans. In other words, it allows residents to make and receive trade-related payments receive dollars (or any other foreign currency) for export of goods and services and pay dollars for import of goods and services, make sundry remittances, access foreign currency for travel, studies abroad, medical treatment and gifts, etc. Capital account convertibility is considered to be one of the major features of a developed economy. It helps attract foreign investment. It offers foreign investors a lot of comfort as they can re-convert local currency into foreign currency anytime they want to and take their money away. At the same time, capital account convertibility makes it easier for domestic companies to tap foreign markets. At the moment, India has current account convertibility. This means one can import and export goods or receive or make payments for services rendered. However, investments and borrowings are restricted. But economists say that Jumping into capital account convertibility game without considering the downside of the step could harm the economy. The East Asian economic crisis is cited as an example by those opposed to capital account convertibility. Even the World Bank has said that embracing capital account convertibility without adequate preparation could be catastrophic. But India is now on firm ground given its strong financial sector reform and fiscal consolidation, and can now slowly but steadily move towards fuller capital account convertibility. CAC has 5 basic statements designed as points of All types of liquid capital assets must be able to be exchanged freely, between any two nations, with standardized exchange rates. The amounts must be a significant mount (in excess of $500,000). Capital inflows should be invested in semi-liquid assets, to prevent churning and excessive outflow. Institutional investors should not use CAC to manipulate fiscal policy or exchange rates. Excessive inflows and outflows should be buffered by national banks to provide collateral. Prior to its implementation, foreign investment was hindered by uneven exchange rates due to transactions, and national banks were disassociated from fiscal exchange policy and incurred high costs in supplying hard-currency loans for those few local companies that wished to do business abroad. Due to the low exchange rates and lower costs associated with Third World nations, this was expected to spur domestic capital, which would lead to welfare gains, and in turn lead to higher GDP growth. The tradeoff for such growth was seen as a lack of sustainable internal GNP growth and a decrease in domestic capital investments. When CAC is used with the proper restraints, this is exactly what happens. The entire outsourcing movement with Jobs and factories going oversees is a direct result of the foreign investment aspect of CAC. The Tarapore Committee’s recommendation of tying liquid assets to static assets (i. e. investing in long term government bonds, etc) was seen by many economists as directly responsible for stabilizing the idea of capital account liberalization. The Reserve Bank of India has appointed a committee to set out the framework for fuller Capital Account Convertibility. The Committee, chaired by former RBI governor S S Tarapore, was set up by the Reserve Bank of India in consultation with the Government of India to revisit the subject of fuller capital account convertibility in the context of the progress in economic reforms, the stability of the external and financial sectors, accelerated growth and global integration. Economists Surjit S Bhalla, M G Bhide, R H Patil, A V RaJwade and Alit Ranade were the members of the Committee. The Reserve Bank of India has also constituted an internal task force to re-examine the extant regulations and make recommendations to remove the operational impediments in the path of liberalisation already in place. The task force will make its recommendations on an ongoing basis and the processes are expected to be completed by December 4, 2006. The Task Force has been set up following a recommendation of the Committee. The Task Force will be convened by Salim Gangadharan, chief general manager, in- harge, foreign exchange department, Reserve Bank of India, and will have the following terms of reference: Undertake a review of the extant regulations that straddle current and capital accounts, especially items in one account that have implication for the other account, and iron out inconsistencies in such regulations. Examine existing repatriation/ surrender requirements in the context of current account convertibility and management of capital account. Identify areas where streamlining and simplification of procedure is possible and remove the operational impediments, especially in espect of the ease with which transactions at the level of authorized entities are regulations are consistent with regulatory intent. Review the delegation of powers on foreign exchange regulations between Central Office and Regional offices of the RBI and examine, selectively, the efficacy in the functioning of the delegation of powers by RBI to Authorised Dealers (banks). Consider any other matter of relevance to the above. The Task Force is empowered to devise its work procedure, constitute working groups in various areas, co-opt permanent/special invitees and meet various trade ssociations, representative bodies or individuals to facilitate its work.

Stephen Crane’s The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky

Upon reading Stephen Crane’s (91) The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky, the initial reaction was surprise. In the climax of the story, there was no gun slinging, no gun shot, and no body dropping on the ground. It seems to be a different kind of Western from those usually read in novels and seen in the movies. Yet, upon a greater examination of the story, it would become clear that Crane is portraying a different kind of Western—one in which he delights his readers and at the same time shows a different face of the men in a western setting (Petry 45).This paper seeks to look at the short story and look at the metaphors that Crane employed as well as Crane’s portrayal of the changing times in the West. This paper will also look at the setting and the time in the story and relate the development of the story to the underlying changes going on in the story. Crane’s short story does not contain the usual elements of the Western story but he artfully uses the genre to delight people and show the changes going on in the community of Yellow Sky. The Story The story is about the efforts of Jack Potter, the marshal of the town in bringing his new wife to Yellow Sky.He went all the way to San Antonio to fetch his wife and transported her via train. Yellow Sky is a frontier town in Texas at a time when the civilization is encroaching upon the environment of the Old West. Crane’s story had the makings of a Western—there was a train, a town in the Old West, the challenges for fights and duels as well as the bar where cowboys gather and drink. By the end of the story, however, Crane does away with the typical idea feature of a Western—the gunfight and seems to proclaim that the end of violent gunfight and duels is at an end.The story has four parts and it shows the interaction of the character with the environment and the society that he has. Surprisingly, the wife of Jack Potter does not have a name. Although she plays an important part in the story, she seems to represent only the role of women in marriage and in raising a man’s family. The first part of the story shows Jack Potter, without naming him, coming from San Antonio with his wife on a train, the â€Å"Great Pullman† traveling throughout Texas. In this section of the story, Crane masterfully shows the lack of orientation of Jack and his wife to the luxury and the elegance of the train.He portrayed them as follows: â€Å"To the minds of the pair, their surroundings reflected the glory of their marriage that morning in San Antonio. This was the environment of their new estate, and the man's face in particular beamed with an elation that made him appear ridiculous to the negro porter. This individual at times surveyed them from afar with an amused and superior grin. † (Crane 92). Clearly, the couple appeared to be simple compared with the luxurious train that they were traveling in that even the negro porter looked at them with disd ain.As the train nears Yellow Sky, Jack Porter becomes anxious and restless. Apparently, he feels guilty over leaving the town without much of an announcement of where he is going and what his purposes in leaving was. There appear to be two possibilities as to the guilt of Jack. One is that marshals of a town may not marry due to the necessities of the job that they have to perform, or that he has gone â€Å"headlong over all the social hedges† (93) by not informing his friends and his family as to his getting married.This also explains why in the story, Jack Porter leads his wife quietly to the place where they will stay. Crane then shows the two adversaries—Scratchy Wilson and Jack Porter through the eyes of the six men and the Eastern drummer at the Gentleman Saloon. As the drummer recounts a story, the door of the Saloon opens with another man saying that Scratchy Wilson is drunk and is looking for his enemy, Jack Porter. This incident builds up the expectation tha t some shooting will occur in the vicinity. Scratchy is further introduced as one of the last member of the gang to hang out in Yellow Sky.Scratchy then appears in the third part of the story and he is portrayed complete with the gun and swaying gait that cowboys have in Western stories. Stories set in the American West have already achieved the level of legend and portrays elements of heroic literature (Cortese 122). Scratchy then begins shooting in the area, which is tantamount to issuing a challenge against anyone who cares for a gunfight. He then walks from the Saloon to Jack Porter’s house and issues a warning and expletives against Jack.The last part of the story is where Scratchy and Jack Porter meet. It is situated near the house of Jack and the wife of the latter is in plain sight of Scratchy. Scratchy then challenges Jack for a gunfight. Jack responds by saying that he has no gun. Scratchy rages against Jack and says â€Å"don’t take me for no kid† (Cr ane 98). He was still expecting Jack to answer his challenge for a gunfight. Jack then talks with Scratchy, saying that he does not really have a gun. Jack Porter then made the admission that he has no gun because he has married.Because of the suddenness of it all, Scratchy could not deal with it and simply walked away and declared that â€Å"it’s all off now† (99). Works Cited Cortese, James. â€Å"Bourgeois Myth and Anti-Myth: The Western Hero of the Fifties,† SubStance, 5. 15 (1976), 122-132. Crane, Stephen. â€Å"Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,† Literature: The Human Experience, 8th edn. Ed. Richard Abcarian and Marvin Klotz. Boston: Bedford, 2002. (91–99). Petry, Alice Hall. â€Å"Crane’s the Bride Comes to Yellow Sky. † The Explicator, 42. 1 (1983) 45-47.

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions Assignment - 2

Managing Financial Resources and Decisions - Assignment Example It summarizes all of the revenue and expense items of the firm and presents the final result in term of profit and loss, for a given period of time. Financial statements are prepared to present and record information regarding the financial position of a firm at a given point in time, to show performance of the firm during the particular period, and to depict changes in performance during that period. This information is used by the different users of financial statements to make their decisions. 5. Impact of Inflation:- Financial statements do not account for the impact of inflation hence â€Å"Cannot be a true reflection of growth where the economy is infected with a high level of inflation†. [IBP 2011] 7. Measurability:- Financial statements only record the information that is measureable and do not account for qualitative characteristics and assets and efficiency, competence of workforce and goodwill etc. suitable option available to Paul and Sarah’s. Moreover another benefit of using this option according to Boyneclarke .com is that â€Å"you relinquish no control over your business.† [http://www.boyneclarke.com/ resources/entry/sources-of-business-financing] so investing personal savings will also secure control of the partners on their business and will result in avoiding many managerial and regulatory complexities. Both of the partners Paul and Sarah can invest their personal savings at any agreed ratio into the business to finance its expansion. Paul and Sarah’s. They can add new partners into their business who can provide required financing, moreover if they succeed in adding a competent business partner then it can not only provide financing but also can provide business acumen and can help in administration. it is an equity investment so entails high risk, so venture capital organizations require high expected rate of return on their investment, as

Effect of Material and section shape in bending Lab Report

Effect of Material and section shape in bending - Lab Report Example It is therefore a complicated endeavour. In selecting materials for beams, various properties other than the cost and the availability, are taken into consideration. These properties include the Type, Yield Strength, Ductility, Youngs Modulus, Hardness, Poissons ratio, and behaviour in low or high temperatures (Charles, Crane & Furness, 1997, p. 43). Yield strength is the amount of stress at which deformation of a material starts to occur. The Youngs modulus is the measure of a beams resistance to deformation. Materials show different behaviour at low and high temperatures. The strength of material reduces with increasing temperature. For example the Youngs modulus of copper is at room temperature and at almost 100Â °C. The selected material should be able to withstand all the applied forces without failure. A beam under bending stress experiences a negative strain on the side whereby force is applied, and a positive strain on the opposite side (Dupen, 2012, p.68). This results in the change of size on either side. The st iffness of beam under stress depends on the product of modulus of elasticity () and the second moment of area (), that is (Krenik, 2001, p.27). For a simply supported beam, the deflection () of beam is determined by the following equation, that is When the load () is increased, the defection () also increases and if the length is increased, greater deflections are obtained as a result of the cubed term. An increase in the modulus of elasticity and the second moment of area results in a decrease in the deflection. The stiffness of a material is determined by the Youngs modulus, which is expressed by rearranging the deflection equation as . A graph of load plotted against the has a gradient equal to the Youngs modulus . The stiffness is derived by plotting the load against deflection. It is the slope of the graph. The three point

Information Needs by Position, Function and Role Essay

Information Needs by Position, Function and Role - Essay Example Certainly, having an appropriate organizational model in place is a precondition for long stint success (Pugh, 1990). This is because of its ability to identify and address the innumerable business and human realities of the corporation in question. An organization is a three layer system where at the bottom the organization’s material flows (activities of the first kind). Decision makers, managers of the organization are at the top. The middle layer receives information from the bottom, processes it and presents it to the decision makers. Decisions made in the top layer influence the bottom layer activities. For organization mangers to make qualitative decisions, they need to receive qualitative information on time (Pugh, 1990). This will result in the delivery of decisions to the bottom layer on time. Qualitative realization is attained if these information flow procedures are ensured by the middle layer. The two fundamental requirements of an organizational structure includ e division of labor into distinct tasks and coordination of that labor. This is such that the workers are able to accomplish the company’s goals. ... It may choose to cluster these utilities together under the department of marketing. Bigger establishments may organize so much of these undertakings that they isolate sales into a department different than the other functions (Pugh, 1990). Hence, qualitative information is required on the customer’s needs as well as the company’s performance in the market. The company should have information on how to establish market niche. The other information needed is the need for competitor intelligence. The company should be equipped with strategies to beat the competitor. Roles Once a corporation has proven how functions are convened, then functions must be allocated to the people who have the capability to perform them. Many establishments make roles to execute these functions. Companies should have information on ranks with job explanations that will assist employees to know the range, function and parameters of their roles. This will create a system of accountability and rel iability between all the people working in an organization (Pugh, 1990). In corporations big enough to have several people in a branch, roles aid in making sure that each person is taking care of central functions without replication or desertion of tasks. For instance, in a finance division, they might have a controller, accounts payroll person and an accounts collections person. All these people form part of a crew with an inclusive job to manage the firm's cash flows. However, every one of them has a set of duties that boost efficiency and ensure the assiduousness of the team. Information needs associated with organizational roles include information on training programs and motivation strategies for the employees. There is a need for

Case portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Case portfolio - Essay Example iii. Compact Disk: This disk similar to the first evidence could have been used to store data which might have appertained to the pending case. This disk can also be preserved in a tamper proof evidence material/bag while awaiting transportation to the law enforcement agency or pending analysis. iv. The Hard Disk Drive: This material is always used to store all the information in a computer system. As the primary storage source, this evidence could reveal most of the data required in determining this case. In storing this, the data in the drive can be copied to another independent one for precautionary reasons. The disk should also be stored in a tamper proof material awaiting analysis or transfer to the law enforcement agency. v. The telephone: Mr. Didit might have used this phone for his communications and as such this item would be major evidence in the case. The call history should be tapped and stored in a safe and permanent place. Obtaining the call logs will reveal the information he was communicating and the recipients of the same and whether in his communications he talked of child pornography at all. The internal memory of the phone should be able to reveal all the evidence pertaining to this case if there is any made. vi. The computers: Since it is the computers that were mainly used in the major communications, these computers in the office provide crucial evidence as to the validity of the case. Together with their components, they should be analyzed to determine the information in their internal memories and as well be kept safely without being moved by unauthorized personalities. I secured the computers and components and transported the same to the law enforcement authority. vii. The computer mouse: This is used to input specific commands especially when accessing file. The fingerprints of the user can be traced on it which can then

Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility Essay

Corporate Governance & Social Responsibility - Essay Example Business organizations should not be interested only on the shareholders (tutor2u, 2011, para.4). The employees as well as the users of these products need to be considered in the development of the operational strategies of the organization. The concern addressed here should reflect on the type and quality of product offered to the consumers. While some products have no adverse effect on the social life of the users, others like alcohol drinks and bhang are often associated with serious social issues. Excessive drinking and drug abuse contribute significantly to other social issues like domestic violence, sexual abuse, or even manslaughter. Product advertisement After developing a product, a business company would always want to let its product be known in the market. This is achieved through extensive promotion and advertisement of the product. The advertisements often appeal to the consumers on the benefits of the product. The contents of the advert will influence its effectivenes s (Gunter, Oates, & Blades, 2005, p.123). The adverts explain why the product ranks well above the other products in the market and provide a direction on how to use the product (eHow, 2011, para.1). Largely, the advertisements have significant impacts on the usage of the products. Researches have shown that exposure to some advert increases the consumption of the advertised product (Gunter, Oates, & Blades, 2005, p.123). Ideally, this objective of advertisement (appealing to the public to buy the product) should apply to those products not associated with social problems. However, for products that influence the society, especially the underage, the advertisements only need to be informative. The adverts should indicate prices of the product as well as where they could be obtained. For the alcoholic drinks in particular, the advertisements should stress on the targeted age group and emphasis that they should not be sold to underage. The associated health problems also need to be in dicated in the adverts and containers of the products. Spykes and the company’ decision to stop its sales It is not appropriate to rule out that Spykes was a bad product. The company studied the market trend that had been recorded in the past. Its development acme about after the company had observed that taste was moving from their traditional domestic brands like Budweiser (Case study, p.497). The product was not developed to attract underage drinkers as per the criticisms. Instead, it was targeting the drinkers in the age bracket of 21-30 (Case study, p.497). Besides, the product had caffeine additive to improve on its energy content. It also had lower alcohol content than the wine; it had 12% alcohol content. The only mistake that the company did was that they did not emphasize on the age bracket that was targeted by the product. Even though the product was developed to attract the young adults, its sweetest taste was criticized to attract the teenagers. It is assumed tha t alcoholic drinks with high-energy content are popular among the teenagers (Case study, p.498). The decorations at the website were also seen as appealing more to the teenagers than adults. After all the criticism that was launched on the product and its advertisement, the company did the right thing to withdraw the product. The so-called â€Å"self-appointed† civil activists are very significant influential in the market as

Not sure Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Not sure - Assignment Example the same method, conceptual methodology of previous studies was also referenced as a means of providing the researcher a framework through which they could understand how prior research identified the very same terms and sought to draw inference upon them. The design of the study was concentric upon creating a sample of individuals that would be reflective of a standard number of the broader population. The data was collected in terms of interview questions and analyzed via the authors after these interviews were conducted. The main finding had to do with the fact that both men and women faked orgasm during all manner of sexual relations; however, women statistically faked it almost twice as much as men. The greatest limitation of the research is contingent upon the fact that an individual respondent was under a great many societal and gender expectations to answer in a given way; reducing the possible validity of the findings based upon these biases. Similarly, the greatest strength was with regards to the statistical size of the group that was measured; far exceeding what was needed, this providing the reader with a tacit understanding the a rigorous study was

Describe your professional goals and how your chosen major relates to Essay

Describe your professional goals and how your chosen major relates to these goals. Is there a professional in your field of choice who might serve as your role - Essay Example This would cater to people who want to beautify themselves, eat well, and have time for relaxation in this world of rush. I also want to own the Miss Universe Organization. This follows the same trend as mentioned previously. This gives people the opportunity to see, all over the world, beautiful ladies who also care about other people ´s needs as to when they are asked, what they would like to do. I want to help in various areas of research to help cure many diseases. This research will focus in the following diseases: diabetes, leukemia, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS. Supporting researchers in these areas will help in prevention measures, maintenance/control, and cure. My desire is to also help combat poverty. There are too many poverty stricken people around the world. Measures to alleviate poverty should be one of the aims entrepreneurs should have while conducting their business. It is clear that corporations make donations and it is also clear that they are tax exempt however, more needs to be done. There is never enough. Working with Adoption Agencies that work with dwarf children and with orphanages is one of my most interests. Children all over the world need attention. They need to feel comfort given their present situations. I would like to build schools in India and in Africa to be in a position to educate children. To give them the opportunities that others take for granted and enjoy. My role model is Donald Trump. He is a wise man, kind, calm, intelligent, thinks quickly, and he is not regularly seen in the tabloids. He is also a successful entrepreneur who owns the Miss Universe Organization. I want to be this kind of person. I want to be an entrepreneur, make donations, become part of the process, and see to it that changes are made to help others in their crisis. I want to be in a position where decision

Discussion Board question and comment Assignment

Discussion Board question and comment - Assignment Example Apparently, productivity increases as the number of inputs increases. However, this is not the case as I recently witnessed a scenario where a company specializing in motor vehicles assembly hired more workers only to be disappointed that the move only drained the company’s resources and increased operational expenses without a significant increase in output. Thus, while it is important to increase productivity, companies must strive to ensure that the desired productivity is attained with the same resources. While it is true that multifactor productivity pinpoints the efficiency of a company, I believe that there is more items to consider when assessing the efficiency rather than merely focusing on the production process. Maybe we should consider sales turnover as well as how the company meets its plans. However, we cannot claim with certainty that reducing inputs increases productivity as this is not always the case. The volume of production should most appropriately be increased through motivating employees and providing appropriate amount of materials. Non-financial rewards will work best as they do not upsurge the labor cost. I believe that productivity can best be explained as the efficiency of production and not as â€Å"represent the economic value of the factors of production† as you put it. However, it is true that when determining productivity, one must determine the market value of the inputs and outputs. The suggestion that productivity be improved through scientific methods is quite reasonable. Technology and investment in skilled labor coupled with motivation of employees, I believe, are best suited to improve the productivity of firms in a country. Moreover, it will improve the productivity of the country resulting in growth and development where welfare of citizens will dexterously

Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Technology has (had) come a long way since the early years of life. The use of technology to humans, is to enhance or improve whatever it may be to have a much quicker advancement or have a better and easy going lifestyle. But in the more recent years, technology has turned for the worst. Specifically speaking, video games. Video games in its early years were meant for a positive use, much like any other type of game; to simply act as a fun activity to pass time. That is not the case anymore because of how dangerously advanced and addicting video games can be. In fact it’s so dangerous nowadays that countries like South Korea are contemplating whether or not to ban video games. Why is it dangerous? Video games influence a type of negative social behavior, has a direct correlation to the cause of Insomnia, and is relevant to the increasing obesity rates in America. Playing video games can lead to many negative effects on a person. Video Games influence a type of negative social behavior. â€Å"The effects of videophilia are substantial and include obesity, attention disorders, lack of socialization and poor academic performance† (Video Game Addiction). The person (game player) may lose social skills and qualities depending on the level of video game addiction. Usually, the player is spending so much time on the game that he/ she is neglecting other areas of life. A common sign of video game addiction is constantly talking about the game almost constantly. â€Å" It is more likely to talk down upon a peer after a violent video game session† (Tiret). These types of social skills are not acceptable to continuously practice. The people that talk down on peers because of the violent video game session could go into depression or anxiety because of what others say or think about them. Young Children love playing rated M 18+ games that contain violence and other profound content (Parks). â€Å" the more time children and teens spend playing violent video games the more likely they are to display aggressive behavior† (Tiret). The more violent the game is, the more violent the player will be. It’s morally wrong to be mean for absolutely no reason towards other human beings. The effects on aggressive behavior can be long lasting (Tiret). A build up in anger is not healthy. If the constant aggression keeps up, the aggressive person will be ostracized by classmates or friends. Insomnia is easily caused by the lack of sleep, which is a common symptom of a video game addict. â€Å"Studies have shown that people deprived of contact with nature were at greater risk of depression and anxiety† (Wilderness Adventure). â€Å"In a study by Breslau and associates, patients with insomnia were nearly 4 times more likely to suffer major depression than those without insomnia† (Johnston). A depressed person will look at everything negatively and have no motivation to go outside. The person may even view his/ her life not even worth living. Stress and depression can be caused by a variety of things resulting in insomnia. Stress may be caused by hours on the computer playing a game without rest. Depression may hit the person, depending on intimacy with the video game, once he/she loses a lot. â€Å" insomnia and its associated daytime sleepiness had significant negative effects on cognitive functioning and impaired their subjects’ ability to perform ordinary tasks† (Johnston). â€Å"Excessive Sleepiness has been linked to learning disabilities in children and cognitive and memory problems in adults† (Johnston). If this keeps up then the next generations will become less capable than the ones before which shouldn’t happen. Remembering what you ate for breakfast will be very difficult. â€Å"Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Mayo Clinic). The ‘stimulating activities’ could translate into playing video games before you sleep. The effects of the stimulating activities causes the person to stay awake longer in bed. Some argue video games can be healthy to a person. One of the biggest positive effects video games can have on a person is the fact that makes people happy. As a result, video games have become an easy scapegoat for numerous violent tendencies and social behaviors. Video games are indeed a scapegoat, but it doesn’t hide the fact that the people who play these games as a scapegoat are neglecting themselves from the real world. These people will not get to experience what it’s really like in the real world. Based on solid scientific evidence, video games may actually fill basic human needs that the real world fails to satisfy (Shapiro). This applies to people who have social anxieties causing these people to refrain from the outside even more. The people are not completely solving their problems, only temporarily. It is not the game’s fault for these negative effects. There are millions who play the game and don’t go out and do the negatively portrayed actions on the news. The criminals mention the games’ names and blame the games. Violent games are very influential on a person. â€Å"Reality is too complicated to blame playings games, moving pictures, or letters on a page† (Parks). Games are where people get ideas from. Life is commonly sealed into one perception for a person, and curiosity comes from ideas that have never been heard of before. Addiction of video games can easily lead into obesity which is a dangerous and lethal disease. Video games create an obstacle for children. â€Å"Children today spend an average of 6 hours each day in front of the computer and TV, but less than 4 minutes a day in instructed outdoor play† (Wilderness Adventure). There is an extreme amount of physical inactivity. The calories are not burned which turn into fat later on. â€Å"Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause changes in hormones that increase your appetite† (Mayo Clinic). Less sleep IS a vital cause of obesity. Eating most of your calories at night contributes to weight gain. â€Å"Overweight and obesity are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight† (WHO). Being overweight and obese brings cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and even some cancers. The obese people are not outside and running which leads into no training for the cardiovascular system. While playing video games, gamers do not pay attention to what they eat which could lead into a massive buildup of diabetes. â€Å"More than 40 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2011† (WHO). 41% of certain cancer burdens are attributable to overweight and obesity. Children who play video games fit into this category. The topic of video games being perceived as a positive thing today is growing out of hand. It’s like spreading a humongous lie to gullible innocents. Affecting social behavior in a negative manner, causing obesity, and developing insomnia are serious matters. The negative effects of playing video games are severe and the idea of playing video games should not be taken lightly.

Illegal Forest Acticvities In Malaysia Environmental Sciences Essay

Illegal Forest Acticvities In Malaysia Environmental Sciences Essay Malaysia is a tropical country which consists of three regions: Peninsular Malaysia and the two Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak. According to Forest Statistic Information for the Year 2009 from Official Website Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia, the forested area in Peninsular Malaysia is 5.89 million hectares from overall Peninsular Malaysia Area which is 13.18 million hectares. McMorrow Talip (2001: 217, citing Wood 1990) have pointed out that, based on its performance up till the end of the 1980s; Malaysia is one of the 14 major countries with over 250,000 hectares deforested annually. They added that by the late 1980s half of the forest area in Peninsular Malaysia and a fifth in Borneo had gone. A variety of factors contribute to this state of affairs. When deforestation and forest degradation became critical issues, shifting cultivation was singled out by the governments, and particularly by the Sarawak government, as the main cause of forest loss. Yet, it has since been established that forest degradation due to shifting cultivators is minor (Cramb 1989; Jomo et.al. 2004; Nicholas 2003). The major causes of the decline in forest area and quality include commercial logging, agricultural development, dams and resettlement. To look deeply into the matter of the role of authority from land office and forest department to prevent illegal occupation in the forest, the author will give some definitions about forest, illegal forest activities which include illegal occupation of forestlands, illegal logging, etc. The laws such as National Land Code1965 and National Forestry Act 1984 that involve illegal occupation in forest have to be defined. Forest management or sustainable forest management also has to be defined to find out overview of forest law enforcement and system monitoring in Malaysia. Since the respondents of study are authorities from land office and forestry department, hence the functions, roles or responsibilities also need to be defined. 2.2 Definition 2.2.1 Forest According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, forest is a large area of land that is thickly covered with trees. While in Cambridge Advance Learners Dictionary, forest is defined as a large area of land covered with trees and plants, usually larger than a wood, or the trees and plants themselves. Forest is a problematic and hybrid category. As defined in FRA2000, it is a combination of a land-cover class and a land-use class: it relates not only to the presence of trees of over 5m and 10% canopy cover, but also to the absence of other land uses such as agriculture. It includes areas normally forming part of the forest area which are temporarily unstocked but which are expected to revert to forest (FAO Forestry Department, 1998, p. 3). Further complications stem from changes in minimum size of area included (0.5 ha in FRA2000, compared with 100 ha in FRA1990). Rubber plantations were included as plantations in FRA2000 but not in FRA1990. And while a uniform definition was employed in FRA2000, it has not become a global standard: discussion continued thereafter (FAO, 2002), and a different one has been agreed for reporting on the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC, 2002). Even if a single definition is agreed, as in FRA2000, problems remain and indeed may become even more insidious because they are less obvious. At the country level, data are collected according to national definitions, and have to be adjusted to the international one Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 showed that forests cover 31 percent of total land area. The worlds total forest area is just over 4 billion hectares, which corresponds to an average of 0.6 ha per capita. The five most forest-rich countries (the Russian Federation, Brazil, Canada, the United States of America and China) account for more than half of the total forest area. Ten countries or areas have no forest at all and an additional 54 have forest on less than 10 percent of their total land area. Carol Yong (2006) revealed that the official definition of a forest used in Malaysia differs from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) definition, which excludes areas under agricultural crops (e.g. oil palm). In Malaysia, however, the areas under oil palm, rubber and tree crops are frequently regarded as forest. The question of the definition of forests is particularly significant in the Malaysian context where the Malaysian forests are rapidly disappearing and, conversely, forest plantations areas are expanding. Malaysian Timber Council (2008) draws our attention that in the year 2006, Malaysia has 32.95 million hectares of land area, of which 24.60 million hectares or 74.7 percent of total land area are classified as total area under tree cover. Of these, 18.5 million hectares are forested area and 6.25 million hectares are other tree cops. Of the total area under tree cover, 8.96 million hectares (36.42 per cent) are found in Sarawak, 11.23 million hectares (45.65 per cent) are found in Peninsular Malaysia and 4.41 million hectares (17.93 per cent) in Sabah. Sabah claims it has the least area under tree cover. S. Mather (1990) in Zalinda Binti Muhammad (2003) and Norisah Binti Kasim (2006) stated that forest is one spectrum which has natural elements like product of the forest, flora and fauna, etc. Area of all the forest that has been identified at the middle of decade 1980 is more than 4000 million hectare or 31 percent of surface of the earth. According to S.M. Mohd Idris who is the director of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) or Friends of the Earth Malaysia (1987) in Norisah Binti Kasim (2006), he stated that forests offer protective roles against environmental changes. The complex role played by forest in the heat and water balance of the earth is undeniable. At the local level, the forest cover breaks the impact of heavy rainstorms on the soil, reduces and slows down surface run off, and minimizes soil erosion as well as situation of the drainage systems. Flash floods and prolonged floods in many areas of the topical world are increasingly attributable to extensive clearance of forested areas. 2.2.2 Unlawful Occupation According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the meaning of occupation is the act of living in or using a building, room, piece of land, etc. Meanwhile the meaning of unlawful is not allowed by the law or synonym with illegal. Therefore unlawful occupation can be defined as the act of living in or using a building, room, piece of land, etc which is against the law. 2.2.3 Illegal Forest Activities Illegal forest activities is a broad term that includes illegal logging; it is used to refer to activities broader than just harvesting, which is, transport, processing and trade (Smith, 2002). Brack and Hayman (2001) also mention that illegalities may also occur during transport, including illegal processing and export, misdeclaration to customs, and avoidance of taxes and other monies. Illegal forest activities include all illegal acts related to forest ecosystems, forest industries, and timber and non-timber forest products. They include acts related to the establishment of rights to the land and corrupt activities used to acquire forest concessions. Illegal acts include unauthorized occupation of public and private forestlands, logging in protected or environmentally sensitive areas, harvesting protected species of trees, woodland arson, wildlife poaching, unlawful transport of wood and other forest products, smuggling, transfer pricing and other fraudulent accounting practices, unauthorized processing of forest products, violation of environmental regulations, and bribing government officials (Contreras-Hermosilla 2002a) There are many types of illegal forest practices like public servants may approve illegal contracts with private enterprise. Private commercial corporations may harvest trees of species that are protected by law from timber exploitation. Individuals and communities may enter public forest and illegally take products that are public property. Illegal activities do not stop at the forest. They travel down the line to operations in transportation, processing and trade of forest products. Individuals or corporations may smuggle forest products across international borders or process raw forest materials without a license. Corporations with strong international links may artificially inflate the price of imported inputs or deflate the volume and prices of their exports to reduce their tax liability and to facilitate the illegal transfer of capital abroad (FAO 2001). Contreras-Hermosilla presents examples of illegal activities in the forestry sector, grouped into six categories: illegal occupation of forestlands; illegal logging; arson; illegal timber trade and transport, and timber smuggling; transfer pricing and other illegal accounting practices; and illegal forest processing that shown in Table 1 below. Illegal occupation of forestlands à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Invasion of public forested lands by either rural families, communities or private corporations to convert them to agriculture or cattle ranching à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Practice of slash-and-burn agriculture on invaded lands à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Landless peasants illegally occupying forested areas to force governments to grant land ownership rights to them and these governments buying lands from peasants. Illegal logging à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Logging protected species à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Duplication of felling licenses à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Girdling or ring-barking, to kill trees so that they can be legally logged à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Contracting with local entrepreneurs to buy logs from protected areas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Logging in protected areas à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Logging outside concession boundaries à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Logging in prohibited areas such as steep slopes, riverbanks and water catchments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Removing under-/over-sized trees from public forests à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Extracting more timber than authorized à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Reporting high volume extracted in forest concessions to mask the fact that part of the volume declared is extracted from non-authorized boundaries à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Logging without authorization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Obtaining logging concessions through bribes. Woodlands arson à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Setting woodlands on fire to convert them to commercial uses. Illegal timber transport, trade and timber smuggling à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transporting logs without authorization à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Transporting illegally harvested timber à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Smuggling timber à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exporting and importing tree species banned under international law, such as CITES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Exporting and importing timber in contravention of national bans. Transfer pricing and other illegal accounting practices à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Declaring lower values and volumes exported à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Declaring purchase prices higher than the prevailing market prices as equipment or services from related companies à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Manipulating debt cash flows to transfer money to a subsidiary or parent company, such as inflating debt repayment to avoid taxes on profits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Under-grading, under-valuing, under-measuring and misclassification of species exported or for the local market. Illegal forest processing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Operating without a processing license à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Ignoring environmental and social and labour laws and regulations à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Using illegally obtained wood in industrial processing. Table 3: Examples of illegal practices in the forestry sector The World Bank estimates that loss of revenue caused by illegal forest activities throughout the world is worth US$5 billion annually. Illegal forest activities occur in tropical, temperate and boreal forests. Illegal forest activities abound in many countries, for example: * In Indonesia, as much as 50 million cubic meters of timber are estimated to be illegally cut-down each year. * At least one-fifth of Russias annual timber harvest is taken illegally, and illegal harvesting may account for as much as 50 percent of the total in East Asia. * In Cambodia in 1997, the volume of illegally harvested logs was ten times that of the legal harvest. * In Cameroon and Mozambique about half of the total annual timber harvest is illegal. * In Brazil, an estimated 80 percent of timber extracted each year in the Amazon is removed illegally. 2.2.4 Illegal Logging Illegal logging has no single definition. It is not a legal term derived from treaties, statutes, or court opinions. Neither is it a technical term that professionals use in a consistent way. In a general sense, illegal logging takes place when timber is harvested, transported, bought or sold in violation of national laws (Black and Hayman 2001). This broad definition includes almost any illegal act that may occur between the growing of the tree and the arrival of the forest-based product in the hands of the consumer(Rosenbaum 2003) There are usually no explicit definitions for illegal logging. In practice, the definition can be derived from the legal violations that are reported on in the national statistics concerning illegal logging. This does not necessarily mean that other types of violations would be ignored; they may simply be recorded under different headings. In broad terms, the various legal violations associated with illegal logging can be divided into eight groups: (i) theft, (ii) unauthorized harvesting, (iii) non-compliance with regulations related to timber harvesting, (iv) non-compliance with the procedure of timber sales/concession award, (v) manipulation of timber data, (vi) evasion of taxes and fees, (vii) non-compliance with regulations concerning transport or export of timber, and (vii) noncompliance with labor laws Typically, the statistics on illegal logging in the countries involved in the study refer to violations which involve physical removal of trees i.e. theft, unauthorized harvestin g and noncompliance with cutting regulations. Corruption in connection with timber harvesting is not recorded under illegal logging unless it involves physical removal of trees. All types of violations in the above list except theft could involve corruption. Based on interviews with various stakeholders in the countries involved in the study, noncompliance with labor laws is perceived to be only weakly linked to illegal logging. Sector-specific records are not maintained and forest administration is not involved in enforcement activities. The illegal logging phenomenon is neither new nor uncontested by the government. It started in the years prior to the social economic reform; it reached the peak in 1997 and continues to date. From this point of view, the illness has not infected only one sector but has extended its roots into other sectors of the economy, and the cure for this illness requires the intersectoral cooperation of public administration, not denying here the interested community and the work of the economic and environmental NGOs. 2.3 Forest Management Forest management is the branch of forestry concerned with the overall administrative, economic, legal, and social aspects and with the essentially scientific and technical aspects, especially silviculture, protection, and forest regulation. This includes management for aesthetics, fish, recreation, urban values, water, wilderness, wildlife, wood products, forest genetic resources and other forest resource values. Management can be based on conservation, economics, or a mixture of the two. Techniques include timber extraction, planting and replanting of various species, cutting roads and pathways through forests, and preventing fire. Formal forest management in Malaysia was introduced in 1901 by the British colonial administration with the creation of a forest department. The department was involved in forestry botany, silvicultural practice, policy formulation and forest preservation. Forestry policies formulated by the British in the 1920s and 1930s were consolidated as the National Forestry Policy (NFP) in 1978 to ensure orderly implementation of forest management, conservation and development across all states. This is because land and forest in Malaysia are strictly state matters. The ad hoc forest management policy practiced by each state makes monitoring and control of forest resources at the federal level difficult. The National Forestry Act (NFA) of 1984 provides for orderly harvesting, renewal and conservation of trees at the sustainable yield level. 2.3.1 Significance of Forest Management 2.3.2 Sustainable Forest Management Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is the way of management in which growth exceeds timber harvest, now also encompasses economics, environmental and social qualities that contribute to the sustainability of forest dependent communities and ecosystems as well as the forest itself. Malaysia has a plan more environmentally-friendly and responsible business practices. This will help reduce operating costs in the long-run and is a wise investment in the future, safeguarding the natural resources depending on corporations and communities. For example, local corporations in forest industries are joining WWFs Global Forest and Trade Network. They are targeting European and US markets, where consumers are increasingly demanding wood products from sustainably managed forests (WWF-Malaysia, 2008). According to International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO, 1992), sustainable forest management is the process of managing forests to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the production of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services, without undue reduction of its inherent value and future productivity, and without undue undesirable effects on the physical and social environments. FAO (1993) defines it as one which ensures that the values derived from forest meet present day needs while at the same time ensuring their continued availability and utilization to long-term development needs. Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is impossible to achieve if a country does not have a management system. In this regard, the use of more systematic approach in managing the forests in Peninsular Malaysia began in 1901 when the first forest officer was appointed (Ismail, 1996). Since then, forest management practices in Peninsular Malaysia had been subjected to constant review and refinement so as to ensure their suitability in achieving forest renewal and sustained yield. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 report has provides a comprehensive overview of the results of FRA 2010 grouped according to seven themes, covering key aspects of sustainable forest management: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Extent of forest resources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Forest biological diversity à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Forest health and vitality à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Protective functions of forest resources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Productive functions of forest resources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Socio-economic functions of forests à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Legal, policy and institutional framework 2.4 Legal Framework The forestry policies are implemented primarily through the provisions in the forest laws enacted for the three regions: National Forestry Act 1984 for Peninsular Malaysia, Forest Ordinance 1958 for Sarawak and Forest Enactment 1968 for Sabah, and the various amendments by the States. The other related regulations that affect forestry for Peninsular Malaysia include the Land Conservation Act 1960, Environmental Quality Act 1974, National Parks Act 1980, Protection of Wildlife Act 1972, National Land Code 1965, Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954, Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 and Forest Rules 1985. For Sabah, the relevant regulations include Forest Rules 1969, Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1977, Land Ordinance 1930, Cultural Heritage (Conservation) 1997, Sabah Parks Enactment 1984, Biodiversity Enactment 2000, Conservation of Environment Enactment 1996, Water Resource Enactment 1998, and Environmental Quality Act 1974. Sarawak has the Natural Resources and Environment Ordinance 1 997, Forest Rules 1962, Wildlife Protection Ordinance and Rules 1998, The Forests (Planted Forest) Rules 1997, Sarawak Biodiversity Centre Ordinance 1997, Sarawak Biodiversity (Access, Collection Research Regulations) 1998, Land Code 1958, Natural Resource and Environmental Ordinance, Water Ordinance 1994, Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994, Land Ordinance 1952, Native Code 1992, Native Code Rules 1996, and Native Custom Declaration 1996. 2.4.1 The laws 2.4.1.1 Malaysian Constitution Forests are under the responsibility of the states as enshrined in the Malaysian Federal Constitution. Under Article 74(12) of the Federal Constitution, land and forest ownership and management is the responsibility of the State governments. Each state has control over how they use and protect their forest resources then come up with their own policies. For example, Sarawak governs under the Sarawak Forest Ordinance of 1954 while Sabah operates under the Sabah Forest Enactment of 1968. The executive authority of the Federal Government only extends to the provision of advice and technical assistance to the States includes help with forest management, training of personnel, conduct of research and demonstration or experimental stations unless the State agrees to delegate some of their authority to the Federal Government. However, the Federal Government is responsible for trade policies, import and export controls and international cooperation among others. Under the provision of Article 74 Clause (2) of the Malaysian Constitution, land and forest are defined as state matters and are thus within the jurisdiction of the respective State Governments. Clause (3) of Article 76 of the Malaysian Constitution ensures that all Acts related to land and forest shall not come into force in a State unless it has been adopted by a law made by the legislature of the State. As such each State is empowered to enact laws on forestry and to formulate forest policy independently. The executive authority of the Federal Government only extends to the provision of advice and technical assistance to the States, training and the conduct of research, and in the maintenance of experimental and demonstration stations. 2.4.1.2 National Forest Policy Upon independence from the British in 1957, the Colonial Office returned the forests to Malaysia. In 1958, with provisions under the Federal Constitution, the National Land Council (NLC) was formed for coordinating State and Federal policies and objectives covering land use, mining, forestry and agriculture to formulate from time to time in consultation with the Federal Government, the State Governments and the National Finance Council a national policy for the promotion and control of the utilisation of land throughout the Federation the development of natural resources was therefore perceived piecemeal, rather than holistically (Kathirithamby-Wells 2005: 267). The first step to protecting the forest resources in Malaysia was the formation of the National Forestry Council (NFC) in December 1971. The goal of the NFC was to create coordinated plans and effectively manage Malaysians forests. The NFC is made up of the Chief Ministers from all 13 states. Later, this body created the groundwork for the formation of the National Forestry Policy (NFP). This policy was officially adopted by the Malaysian government in 1978. This policy recognizes the importance of forests for the welfare of both individual communities and that nation itself. Malaysia has dedicated itself to sustainable timber yield practices. The National Forest Policy for Peninsular Malaysia of 1978 was revised in 1992 to incorporate several new elements, one of which is on the importance of forest law enforcement. In this revised policy statements, it was emphasized that the State Governments through their respective State Director Forestry must judicially implement the National Forest Act 1984 (Revised 1993) to ensure sustainable forest resource management and conservation. 2.4.1.3 National Forestry Act 1984 An Act to provide for the administration, management and conservation of forests and forestry development within the States of Malaysia and for connected purposes. There is the amendment to National Forestry Act 1984 in 1993 to provide for stiffer penalties for illegal logging and enlisting the Police and Armed Forces to assist the Forestry Departments in carrying out enforcement to curb illegal logging, timber theft and encroachments. The key measure taken by the Government to prevent forest crime was by amending the National Forestry Act, 1984 to incorporate new provisions to deter the occurrence of forest offenses. The Act was enacted to update and harmonize forest law in the Peninsula. Prior to the Act, the various State governments depend on the State Forest Enactments, which were formulated in 1930s, for legal guidelines on forest management and conservation. The Act also enables the effective implementation of the National Forestry Policy passed in 1978. It was amended in 1993 to further strengthen its provisions to curb illegal encroachment of forests and theft of timber. The Act has been adopted by all the states in Peninsular Malaysia. The main objectives of amending the Act are as follows: i) To increase the penalties and tighten the procedures in compounding forest offences ii) To transfer burden of proof from the prosecutor to the defense in the court iii) To delegate power in writing by State Director of Forestry under section 88, 89, 90, 92 or 93 to any member of the armed forces not below the rank of Lance Corporal as empowered to the police but shall not include the power of investigation iv) To add new sections 100A and 100B for rewards and protection of informers respectively, section 101A for power of court to order revocation and disqualification, section 110A for offenses committed by licensee or holder of permit, and New Sixth Schedule for list of machines, equipment and conveyance. v) To make general amendments in the national language text, change of name in the national language text and substitute sections 5, 69, 101 and 104 2.4.1.4 National Land Code According to section 425 unlawful occupation, etc., of state Land, reserved land or mining land National Land Code (Act 56 of 1965) and regulations, Section 425(1) stated that any person who, without lawful authority Occupies, or erects any building on, any State land, reserved land or mining land or Clears, ploughs, digs, encloses or cultivates any such land or part thereof; or Cuts or removes any timber or produce on or from such land, shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding ten thousand Ringgit, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year. (1A) Any person who abets the commission of an offence under sub-section (1) shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding ten thousand ringgit, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or to both. (2) For the purpose of this section, State Land shall include all land held by or on behalf of Federal or State Government a local authority or a statutory authority exercising power vested in it by Federal or State law. Section 426 also stated that unlawful extraction or removal of rock material also show that any person who without lawful authority, extracts removes, or, transports or permits the extraction, removal or transportation of rock material from any land shall be guilty of an offence, and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to both. Section 426A show that any police officer not below the rank of Inspector, Registrar, Land Administrator, Settlement Officer or other officer duly authorized by the State Authority (hereafter in this part referred to as authorized officer may without warrant- Arrest any person found committing or attempting to commit or abetting the commission of an offence under section 425 or 426 Seize any vehicle, tractor, agricultural implement or other thing whatsoever which he has reason to believe was used or is being used in the commission of an offence under that section Demolish, destroy or remove any building, or take possession in the name of the State Authority of any crop, erected or cultivated on any land land in contravention thereof. 2.4.1.5 List of unlawful activities under each Law Violations of the protective provisions (damage of forest reserve through fire, prohibited acts in a forest reserve, illegal logging and removal from other areas, cutting of undersized trees) are punished by fine and imprisonment in the case of unauthorized entry for interference with fences or notice boards, by a fine alone [id. Section 20(1)(C) and 33(1)]. Various offences of fraud, concealment of evidence and receiving forest produce are also punished by fine and imprisonment (Section 30). In addition to fines and imprisonment, the Forest Enactment authorizes the court to order the cancellation of licences, the payment of any fees that would have been payable in the case of unlicensed acts that could have been licensed, and compensation of ten times the value of forest produce removed or damaged (Enactment No. 2 of 1968, Section 34). There is also provision for compounding of certain offences [entering closed area, practising shifting cultivation (Section 20(C)], subject to the payment of an amount based on the fine provided for the offence (Section 35). The Forest Enactment contains a number of presumptions that shift the burden of proof to the defendant charged with a forest offence. In prosecutions against licensees, if there is an extraction route from an area of alleged illegal removal to the licensed area, or if the volume of timber claimed to be covered by a licence exceeds the production of the licensed area, the elements of illegal removal or of possession of produce in respect of which an offence has been committed are presumed. In any case in which the existence of a licence, payment of any royalty, ownership of livestock or forest produce, or the provenance of forest produce is in issue, the burden of proof lies on the accused (id. Section 38) . 2.4.2 The Agencies Involved 2.4.2.1 Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department Peninsular Malaysia (JPSM) is one of the departments under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Malaysia and consists of Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Headquarters, 11 State Forestry Department and 33 District Forest Office in all of the Peninsular Malaysia. The department is headed by Director General of Forestry and assisted by two Deputy Director of Forestry. At the end of 2009, the number of employees is about 5.432 people. Forestry Department is responsible for the management, planning, protection and development of the Permanent Forest Reserve (HSK) in accordance with the National Forestry Policy (NDP) 1992 and National Forestry Act (APN) 1984. Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Headquarters responsible for the formulation of forestry policies, providing advice and technical services to State Forestry Department in the planning, management and development of forests, forest harvesting and wood-based industries, forest operations research, and training and human resource development. At the Head Office of Forestry, there ar

Who Were The Mesopotamians Religion Essay

Who Were The Mesopotamians Religion Essay The transition from the nomadic hunter-gatherers to the more sedentary farmers brought about some of the first serious thinkers in the world. This is how it started for the Mesopotamians, the transition from traveling around in search of food to settling down on the banks of a river. Because of their location they became the first river-valley civilization which is why Mesopotamia was so aptly named as so, it meaning the land between rivers those rivers being the Tigris and Euphrates. Their new sedentary gave them time to not only think but also to explore subjects such as mythology, religion as well as advances in technology. Because of this, these people could live in one place and build what we call a civilization. These people would multiply, build, create new beliefs, be conquered, made into slaves and eventually pass their beliefs on to others with some form of writing. This marks the beginning of history, by technical definition. The next topic I will explore upon is the religion of the Mesopotamian people. The Mesopotamian Religion, also known as Assyro-Babylonian religion  [14]  involved polytheism, which is the practice of worshipping multiple gods. These gods ranged from the all-powerful to the minor and they all represented some fact or occurrence in nature and/or life. Every city had a temple that was dedicated to a god, normally one major temple per city although multiple temples did occur in one city. These temples were called ziggurats where the followers of the god to which the temple was located would congregate and even reside. For example prostitutes would gather at the temple of Ishtar, the goddess they represent in their lifestyle choice. Prayer was also a present practice as warriors might pray to one of the many war and battle gods and goddesses for victory or at least survival. The purpose of the gods was as an attempt to explain the masses of phenomena that perplexed and dumbfounded the se people. The religion of the Mesopotamian people went through four historical periods. The oldest of these periods was from 3500 B.C.E. to the time of Hammurabi  [15]  , which is about 1700 B.C.E. The religion of this period involved the worship of deities in individual groups and as society built itself up many of these individual practices melted together to provide the dominate polytheistic method of worship. The second period ranged from between 1700-1365 B.C.E. and during this period a supreme deity surfaced  [16]  . This deities name was a fertility god, a god of thunderstorms (I find it interesting that most of the times it seems that gods of thunder and/or lightning take up the post of king of the group of gods they represent) Marduk  [17]  and by getting rid of the evil dragon goddess of chaos Tiamat  [18]  . The third period was from 1365-612 B.C.E. During this time was the Assyrian period as well as the fall of Nineveh  [19]  . There is another shift , as another group falls and assimilates into the larger group which happened a lot in the Mesopotamian area, as another deity takes place as supreme rather than Marduk. This deities name was Ashur  [20]  , a god of the sun. Ishtar remained the most important female deity throughout these three periods (which im sure has nothing to do with the fact that she was the goddess of prostitution). The fourth and final period started with the reign of Nabopolassar  [21]  (625-605 B.C.E.) and came to an end with Cyruss  [22]  conquest of Babylon in 539 B.C.E. who increased his dedicated policy of religious freedom and returned many plundered religious relics back to their rightful places  [23]  . Rituals involving religion included sacrifices and burnt offerings which could include the best of their crop, herd, as well as the enemies the people may have overcome. Rituals might have also been practices that related to the god or goddess that the respective group was worshiping . For instance, if a group worshiped Ishtar, to show their devotion they may become prostitutes and therefore practice prostitution in an attempt to glorify their chosen goddess and maybe to acquire their blessings or favor. The holidays gave people other reasons to worship the all mighty gods and goddesss of the Mesopotamian area. These holidays included important birthdays, passing of the seasons, and days of momentous occurrence such as the victorious conclusion of a long and epic battle. The final topic of my discussion is the topic based on the various technologies brought about in Mesopotamia. Since this was one of the very first civilizations to come into existence it brought about many of the tools that were essential to survival in their new sedentary lifestyle as well as building procedures. The first thing that I would like to mention is a process that is used to prevent damaging floods, a process that is still used today; the use of levees. Levees are depressions built along the bases of rivers or lakes that potentially raises the total potential volume a river or lake may retain without over flowing. Their strength depended completely on its weakest point, meaning if that particular point were to be damaged or completely destroyed then the whole structure would follow. Levees were basically piles of earth surrounding the designated area of containment, though today we use concrete and other materials to accomplish similar means. Due to these structures peopl e no longer feared the yearly floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the same extent as previously and another effect of the containment was a more sable distribution of irrigation resulting in greater amounts of food. Architecture is next with the structure in discussion being the momentous ziggurats, which were temples similar to those of the pyramids in ancient Egypt. They were made with dried bricks of mud which really was a combination of limestone rock earth and water, a loose relative of concrete. Now I will discuss tools and weapons, remember though that all weapons were tools until they were used to inflict purposeful harm on another being. The tools that were brought about her basically encompass most all tools present in many farming and cultivating professions. These tools included sickles, hoes, axes, hammers and many more. The major weapons used included swords, spears, maces, bow and arrows as well as shields. Most of all of the tools were manufactured using the practice of smelting to combine tin and copper to create bronze and wooden handles on which the metal pieces were attached. Machines that appeared in this time era included the plow, wheel and axel as well as the pulley and lever. This concludes my term paper on the mythology, religion and technology present in the Mesopotamian civilization. It was the spark of civilization that we can thank for its contribution to modern day society, because it was the starting point in a new order of operations in the way the world works and would be the first building block in the expansion of a sedentary life style in opposition to the previous nomadic way of life. Gilgamesh. Welcome to MYTHHOME:Mythology Site. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. . Ninsun | Goddess A Day. Goddess A Day My Quest for the Ten Thousand Names of the Goddess. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. . Midnight, By. Lugalbanda Epic. Bible and History. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. . Ishtar. Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. Web. 13 Nov. 2010. . Mitchell, Stephen. Gilgamesh: a New English Version. New York: Free, 2004. Print. Humbaba. Picture Books by Dandi Palmer. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Enlil. Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Shamash (Mesopotamian God) Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven. Bible and History. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Anu. Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Utnapishtim. Encyclopedia Mythica: Mythology, Folklore, and Religion. Web. 26 Nov. 2010. . Mesopotamian Religion New World Encyclopedia. Info:Main Page New World Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Hammurabi of Babylon History for Kids! Kidipede History for Kids Homework Help for Middle School. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . The Myth of Marduk, How Marduk Became King of All the Gods. Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Tiamat Mesopotamian Mythology Ancinet-Mythology.com. Ancient Mythology: Greek, Norse, Egyptian and More Ancinet-Mythology.com. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Mesopotamia Fun Facts and Information. Fun Trivia Quizzes Worlds Largest Trivia and Quiz Site! Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Ancient Babylonia Nabopolassar. Bible History Online Images and Resources for Biblical History. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Sorat, By Cyrus. Cyrus The Great. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. . Mythology | Define Mythology at Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. .

do children owe their parents? :: essays research papers

There is a question that I have been thinking of: â€Å"Do I owe something to my mom and dad†? – Who knows†¦ Sometimes we might think that we owe them a lot, but then other times we might think â€Å"Why should I do something for them? I have my own life. I have lots of to do without taking care of my folks†. But then again, how can I leave them in trouble when they are the same bloods? I look like them and most importantly I love them. It depends on the relationship between parents and kids when deciding if we owe them something or not. Children who felt loved, had lots of attention from a mother and father growing up will try to treat them the same way, instinctively paying back good for good. In families without strong connections, kids will very simply forget about their parent’s existence. They may believe that no one asked their parents to have them. No one asked them if they wanted to be born they had no choice. Two adults wanted to have kids and they had them. It was their choice to be responsible and raise the next generation. Then if look at the nature, you would not find creatures who would do something to support their parents after they grew up. We are just one of many creatures in this universe. Why it should be different for us? Humans are most developed creatures on the earth with feelings, lots of knowledge, procreating their kind, taking care of each other. So isn’t it most important to look after the people who are close to you? And only then look after the others? Why do we forget that sometimes?.. Parents are the first people who deserve your attention. Through the years they put so much effort and passion the way they can, to protect us from bad. We know that mom and dad will be next to us even if we get in trouble or lose everything. They still will be the ones to help us as much as they can. They will find space in their home for us to stay. For this reason we should be so thankful to them and pay for it in advance. However there are big differences between cultures and countries. For example in my country, Lithuania, parents are taking care on their kids until â€Å"babies† can really support themselves.

The Theme of Prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird :: Kill Mockingbird essays

   The theme of prejudice in To Kill A Mockingbird is much more than just a case of black and white. The entire novel is about prejudice in its' many forms, the most prominent case of prejudice is the hate between the blacks and whites. The whole town of Maycomb is based on stereotypes of it's inhabitants, that are passed down from generation to generation. Rumors run rampid and very little truth is usually in them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "So Jem received most of his information from Miss Stephanie Crawford,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   a neighbor scold, she said she knew the whole thing. According to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Miss Stephanie, Boo was sitting in the livingroom cutting some   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   items from The Maycomb Tribune to paste in his scrapbook. His father   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   entered the room. As Mr.Radley passed by, Boo drove the scissors   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   into his   parent's leg, pulled them out, wiped them on his pants,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and resumed his activities."   (Chapter 1, page 11)   Ã‚   I don't see how you can't expect to have prejudice in a small town like that, after all isolation is a major factor in why prejudice and racism arise.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Men hate each other because they fear each other,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and they   fear each other because   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  they don't know each other,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   and they don't know each other because   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   they are often separated from each other. "   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   -Martin Luther King   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The stereotypes in this novel are fairly common but the fact that they are accepted and used so openly in public is what astonishes me. I think people in the community, even if they do disagree with what is being said or done, they will say or do nothing because they are afraid of going against the majority of the community and become a victim of prejudice themselves. Atticus was one of the few who actually stopped and listened to himself without being biased by the views and opinions of the rest of the town. He then had the courage to stand up and take prejudice himself for trying to correct the prejudice against a black man, and prove his innocence.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   "Scout, you aren't old enough to understand some things yet, but   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   there's been some high talk around town to the effect that I

Explanations of East Asian Economic Development

The economic success of the East Asian countries has inspired many economists to study the background of their rapid growth. Interestingly, different economists interpret this success in entirely different ways. During the 1970s and an important part of the 1980s advocates of the neoclassical model argued that growth in East Asia was the result mainly of the market mechanism and the emphasis on export promotion in these countries. Especially since the mid-1980s the neoclassical approach was criticised by economists who stressed that government intervention played a crucial role in the process of economic growth. This paper aims at presenting a survey of the arguments recently put forward by the critics of the neoclassical approach to explain the role of government in the economic success of the countries in East Asia. Such a survey is very useful, since it forms a new breeding ground for the discussion on the role of the government in the economic development of other Developing countries and the countries in Eastern Europe. Without a doubt East Asia’s economic expansion during the past twenty years is one of the most remarkable economic changes since the Second World War. Gross national product of the East Asian countries increased by more than five per cent per year in the period 1965-1990, which is considerably larger than that of Latin America (1. 8 per cent), sub-Saharan Africa (0. 3 per cent), or even the OECD (2. 4 per cent). Six of the seven fastest growing economies in the period 1960-1985 (measured on the basis of the average growth of per capita GDP) were East Asian countries. The economic success of these countries has inspired many economists to study the background of this rapid growth. What is rather remarkable in this context is the fact that different economists interpret this success in entirely different ways. During the 1970s and an important part of the 1980s advocates of the neoclassical model argued that growth in East Asia was the result mainly of the market mechanism and the emphasis on export promotion in these countries. This interpretation dominated the debate for a long time. Especially since the mid-1980s the neoclassical approach was criticised by economists who stressed that government intervention actually played a crucial role in the process of economic growth. In this paper these economists are referred to as the new interventionists. The debate between the neoclassical economists and the new interventionists seems to concentrate on the issue concerning the role of the government in the process of economic development in general and the East Asian growth miracle in particular. In this article East Asia includes the following countries: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. A significant part of the literature used for this article concentrates mainly on South Korea and Taiwan. This paper mainly aims at presenting a survey of the arguments recently put forward by the critics of the neoclassical approach to explain the economic success of the countries in East Asia. In particular, it emphasises their view with respect to the role of the government in the process of economic development. Such a listing of the contributions of the new interventionists concerning the backgrounds of the Asian miracle and the possible contribution of the government is very useful The article is structured as follows. Section 2 presents a survey of the contributions of development economists with respect to the role of the government in the process of economic development as put forward by them in the 1940s and 1950s. Section 3 describes the reactions of the neoclassical economists on these early contributions. They emphasised that especially the market mechanism played an important role in the growth of the East Asian countries. Section 4 deals with the critics of the neoclassical economists and describes their approach to the backgrounds of the Asian miracle. The discussion on the role of the government in the process of economic development originated in the 1940s and 1950s, this discussion fits into the post-war predominance of Keynesian economics. During this period several theoretical models contributions in the literature pointed out that market imperfections justified government intervention. The main emphasis was on the existence and benefits of economies of scale and the external effects of production. One of the most influential models was the model of industrialisation based on the notion of infant industry. The existence of dynamic economies of scale and positive external effects of production in certain industries prompted the government to actively stimulate the development of these industries since the private sector was thought to be incapable of assessing the long-term economic benefits of investing in these industries. According to this model the government would stimulate the development of these industries by means of subsidies and protective measures until they were sufficiently developed to produce without government support. Other models went further in their recommendations concerning the role of the government in development. According to several economists, the economic growth potential of developing countries was restricted since many of these countries mainly exported primary goods. They expected that the prices of these goods relative to prices of industrial goods would fall permanently; this is also known as export pessimism. By combining the infant industry argument with export pessimism they pointed out that a structural change in the production structure of these countries was absolutely necessary in order to obtain positive long-run economic growth prospects. The government ought to play an important role since such a drastic change could never be realised through the market mechanism due to considerably large coordination problems in the economy. The emphasis was put on improving infrastructure and education. Both these aspects were assumed to be extremely important in order to realise such a structural change. Furthermore, the mutual dependence of industries was pointed out: the development of one industry was also determined by the development of other sectors, either as a producer of inputs4 or as a demander of output. This caused simultaneous support of different industries necessary. Later on, the debate in literature concentrated on the way in which the government ought to intervene. Some supported simultaneous intervention in all industries essential to economic growth; others stressed the limited availability of scarce resources which would hinder the execution of such a comprehensive strategy. They advocated government intervention mainly in those industries that had the most relations with other industries (unbalanced growth strategy; see Hirschman, 1958). These models very much influenced the economic policies pursued by the various developing countries during the 1950s, 1960s, and a large part of the 1970s. The idea of a government intervening in the process of economic growth was appealing to many politicians. It contributed to developing models of central planning, and it stimulated to using trade policies, such as import quota, export subsidies, and fixed exchange rates, introducing price controls and subsidies in markets for goods and production factors, and establishing public enterprises in important sectors like mining and heavy industries. Many governments pursued policies of import substitution (and later also export promotion). Initially, several countries appeared to be successful in achieving economic growth by way of government intervention. However, as increasingly more problems arose with respect to the models of planned economic growth, this approach was increasingly criticised by economists whose ideas matched the neoclassical tradition. This is the term to which they are referred to in the debate on the role of markets versus the Government in the process of growth. Mainly at the fact that the above described models primarily pointed at the imperfections of the market mechanism; the models seemed not to be concerned about the possibility that government intervention in itself could also lead to an inefficient allocation of resources. The neoclassical economists rejected the implicit assumptions that allocate inefficiency due to market imperfections would always be larger than the inefficiency resulting from government failures. This assumption would imply that the government has sufficient information in order to determine for which particular industries positive externalities and dynamic economies of scale could be expected, and to properly assess the costs and benefits of supporting certain activities and industries. This also would imply a well-functioning apparatus of government within which this information would be translated into a policy in the right way. Moreover, it meant that the government would also be strong enough to resist pressure groups and to minimalize the negative effects of rent-seeking behaviour. Finally, it was anticipated that the government put maximum welfare for the country as a whole before maximising the individual objectives of those representing the government. The neoliberals very much doubted the fact that these conditions had been sufficiently met in developing countries. They were rather convinced of the fact that especially such factors as lobbying, rent seeking, and a government pursuing maximisation of the individual welfare function, would negatively affect the efficiency of intervention. Therefore, they concluded that the imperfections of government intervention generally exceeded market imperfections. Only in some cases the government could play a role, e. g. with respect to providing physical infrastructure, macroeconomic stability, and maintaining order and upholding the law. This is all the government should do. The device of getting the prices right plays a crucial role in the neoliberal view: If the markets are not interfered with, scarce resources will be allocated most efficiently. Their starting points were the basis of the IMF and World Bank policy. Recommendations that were part of the structural adjustment programmes presented to developing countries in the 1980s and 1990s. The neoliberal interpretation of the role of the government versus the role of the market in the process of economic development has also been applied in analysing the economic success of East Asia of the past three decades. According to the neoliberals, the governments of these countries observed the limits of their capabilities, and the economic success, therefore, was caused mainly by the market which functioned quite well. They especially pointed out the emphasis governments placed on developing and stimulating exports, private entrepreneurship, and the execution of market-oriented policy measures. Focusing on export enhanced the development of industries with a comparative advantage. The East Asian countries especially developed those industries in which they had a comparative advantage. The governments had created the right environment – by providing macroeconomic stability and public investment in social and physical infrastructure – in which the private sector was encouraged to invest in such a way that it, would contribute positively to economic development. The neoliberal interpretation of the economic success of the East Asian countries was supported by the observation that several African and Latin American countries, where the government had played a very significant role for several decades, had experienced a deep economic crisis since the 1980s. The failure of government intervention and the positive contributions of the market mechanism were elaborately discussed in studies by, among others, these studies considered the East Asian countries as examples of countries where the market mechanism had positively influenced the process of economic development. The neoliberal criticism of the models from the 1940s and 1950s was justified to a certain extent. They rightly emphasised that too much government interference in the process of economic development could lead to considerable inefficiencies. They provided a theoretical basis for the possibility and consequences of government failure (Islam, 1992). Since the early 1970s and especially during the 1980s practically everybody agreed on the fact that government-led economic development, with an important role for state enterprises, would lead to large inefficiencies. However, this did not automatically mean that the neoliberal alternative provided a correct interpretation of the backgrounds of the successes in East Asia. Since the mid-1980s there was increasing criticism of the neoliberal interpretation of the role of the market versus the role of the government in development. These critics can be referred to as new interventionists. This group of economists argued that the government could contribute more to economic development than just providing certain important public goods. They based their ideas mainly on their analysis of the backgrounds of economic success in East Asia. The centre of their analysis proved to have rather a lot in common with the analyses of and themes addressed by development economists of the 1940s and 1950s. Criticism of the Neoliberal Model and the Arguments in Favour of Government Intervention According to the new interventionists, the neoliberal interpretation could not explain satisfactorily the success of the East Asian countries. A growing amount of research showed that government could indeed contribute positively to growth by means of comprehensive intervention in the economic process. This was not in keeping with the usual neoliberal starting points, and therefore alternative approaches were sought after to explain for this finding. An important alternative explanation of the East Asian economic success was found by emphasising the extent of problems concerning coordination in less developed economies. Critics of the neoliberal interpretation pointed out that the government could play an important role in stimulating the process of economic development by reducing coordination problems, related to the hoice of and relationship between production decisions that hinder development. These problems concerning coordination are the result of dynamic economies of scale of production and external effects resulting from the strong mutual dependence of certain industries. If such circumstances do play a role, the allocation of resources on the basis of the market mechanism can quite easily become sub-optimal. To begin with, in practice market prices provide information abou t the current profitability of productive activities; they contain hardly any – if at all – information on future profitability. Under these circumstances, if there are any activities that lead to economies of scale in the future, current market prices give the wrong signals with respect to optimal allocation. In this case, allocation will not be dynamically efficient. Moreover, investment decisions at the level of the individual entrepreneur may be sub-optimal if the future profitability of an investment project also depends on the degree to which investments are made in other sectors at the same time. In this case, too, allocation of resources based on the free market principle results in dynamically inefficient allocation. According to the new interventionists, interventions of East Asian governments were mainly aimed at decreasing these coordination problems, thus stimulating economic growth. The interventions actually improved the economy since barriers caused by economies of scale and external effects were taken down, which probably would not have happened if resource allocation was based purely on market principles. The model explaining the East Asian economic miracle as proposed by these new interventionists matches some of the central thoughts of the development economists of the 1940s and 1950s. One major difference, however, is that this model is formalised in some recent contributions. Recent theories on industrial organisation also point at the positive effect of limited competition – rather than free markets – and protection and co-ordination by the government. The remainder of this section will discuss in more detail several of the above mentioned aspects of the East Asian intervention policy, such as the characteristics of industrial policies, the instruments that were used to stimulate specific investments, the institutional context, and the preconditions. Industrial policy The contents and effectiveness of the industrial policies pursued in the East Asian countries is the central focus of several new interventionist studies, Focusing mainly on the analysis of the Korean experiences, this is also presents a new interventionist interpretation of the economic development of South Korea. In her analysis she shows why the Korean government policy can be considered dynamically efficient. She emphasises the fact that government intervention led to a situation of getting the prices wrong, which, according to her, precisely resulted in an optimal allocation of scarce resources. By deliberately disturbing prices, the government was able to reduce the coordination problems that occur when allocation of resources is left to the market mechanism. Policies aiming at disturbing the market mechanism led to other priorities concerning what should be produced as compared to the outcomes of the market as the coordinating mechanism. The industrial policies of other rapid growers in the region have been interpreted in a similar manner in other studies; characterises the process of economic development in South Korea as the process of late industrialisation. Fast growth in this country is mainly based on the implementation of existing (Western) technologies. The aspect of learning, adopting and adjusting existing technologies is central in her analysis. Since learning processes have the characteristics of a public good and are for example, closely related to increasing economies of scale and the external effects of production, government intervention is vital in the process of late industrialisation. The government sees to it that the Western technology is copied and implemented as efficiently as possible, and that the labour force is educated sufficiently to work with the new technology. Moreover, they coordinate production decisions in different industries. Thus, the government becomes an entrepreneur who decides what, when, and how much to produce. The active intervention resulted in the industrial development of South Korea, which would not have been realised without government intervention. The government especially stimulated those industries that were thought to be of crucial importance to the long-term development of South Korea. Whereas in the 1960s mainly export-oriented industries were stimulated, in the 1970s emphasis was placed on the development of heavy and chemical industries, the electronics industry, and shipbuilding. In the 1980s the centre of attention of industrial policies shifted towards stimulating the development of high-quality industries, the so-called sunrise industries. Due to government intervention South Korea became a leading producer of microchips, and had an important share in the world markets for consumer electronics, cars, and in shipbuilding. In this context, leading economists point out the difficulties involved in the development of especially heavy and chemical industries, and in electronics and shipbuilding. The relatively long time these industries require reaching maturity, and the limited profitability (or even temporary loss) during the initial phase cause these industries to be rather unattractive when it comes to private investment. This provides a legitimate reason for an active industrial policy by the government. Instruments of government intervention The East Asian governments used various instruments that enabled them to influence the organisation of production decisions and the allocation of production factors, in order to achieve that scarce resource would be applied in the areas they preferred. These instruments primarily aim at creating rents, i. e. providing subsidies for certain investments. A subsidy may be a strong instrument to influence the use and allocation of means; provided that the granting meets certain conditions. A subsidy will contain a protective element on the one hand, and provide an incentive to implement specific activities on the other hand. Given these conditions, a subsidy may contribute to the fact that investors who are granted a subsidy may take into account more than short-term profitability only, and may also consider future possible profitability of the decisions. In these cases, the dynamic aspects of implementing investment decisions are taken into account, and thus granting subsidies may contribute to a better allocation of means. Initially, subsidies were granted by means of programmes for cheap credit and selective credit loans. In countries like South Korea and Taiwan, the government had a significant impact on determining the nominal deposit and loan rate in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, they also introduced guidelines with respect to the allocation of bank loans to the private sector. Thus, they were able to stimulate the development of specific industries and private activities by granting them access to external funding and by subsidising this Funding. The role of the export promotion policy Especially with respect to the role of export-oriented policies as part of industrial policies, and the related specific instruments of government intervention in East Asia, the neoliberals and the new interventionists do not agree. In the neoliberal model the emphasis of government policies on export promotion is very important, since they believe that competition on world markets stimulated East Asian companies to produce efficiently. They exported especially those products for which the countries had a comparative advantage in production. According to the neoliberals, the rapid growth of exports justified this approach. Subsequently, the development of export industries was thought to have a positive effect on the production in other sectors of the economy. In this model – the so-called model of export-led development – the rapid growth of the export industries led to a growth in investment and was therefore the driving force behind the overall economic success. The new interventionists disputed the neoliberal point of view. Some of them point out the fact that the governments created comparative advantages, thus actually reversing the causal relationship between export growth and14 comparative advantages. The above mentioned industrial policies in South Korea can again be used to illustrate this view. The South Koreans developed advantages in shipbuilding, and in the electronics and car industries, all industries in which they initially did not have comparative advantages. Some new interventionists stressed the fact that government intervention stimulated especially those export industries for which competition in international markets was fierce, in order to stimulate the building up of a competitive external sector. To a certain degree, this view resembles the neoliberal interpretation of the role of international trade, although the new interventionists put much more weight into the role of government intervention to develop such a competitive external sector. They argue that international competition can be regarded as an efficiency check of interventionist policies and the policy measures used. The success or failure of export producing firms provided the government with information which enabled it to decide whether or not to continue support to particular industries, and to decide on the extent of this support. Thus, protection measures and the granting of subsidies were linked to the performance of firms with regard to the development of sales in foreign markets. Others, however, resist the argument that exports played a crucial role in stimulating the economic growth of these countries. On the one hand, they point at the limited share of the export sector in total GNP of most East Asian growing countries in the period concerned. Considered this limited share, this sector could never have been the driving force behind the strong economic development during the 1960s and 1970s. On the other hand, the direction of the causality between exports and investments as supposed by the neoliberals is questioned. It is more likely that the explosive export growth was the result of a strong increase in domestic investments, rather than the other way round. The increase in these investments led to an increasing demand for imports, which – taking into account the limited availability of foreign currencies – went hand in hand with an increase in exports. This increase in exports was realised by reducing the domestic consumption of tradable goods, making them available for exports. Exports were not hampered by any unfavourable exchange rate policies, which had indeed been the case in many other developing countries in the 1960s, 1970s, and part of the 1980s. They argue that export production was actively stimulated by means of several instruments, particularly the above described systems of subsidisation. Therefore, some new interventionists argue that the explanation of economic growth in East Asian countries lies in the factors that influenced the strong growth in domestic investments, such as the creation of rents to stimulate investment behaviour. Cooperation between the state and the private sector in the previous sections it has been pointed out continuously that the East Asian governments proved to be able to reduce coordination problems, which contributed to stimulate economic growth. However, this still has not answered the question concerning the way governments were able to dispose of sufficient information to efficiently coordinate investment decisions and to determine which industries were important in realising a dynamically efficient allocation of scarce resources. Several studies have examined this aspect. These studies show that very close ties existed between the government, banks, and the private sector. These ties led to frequent contacts between the government and the private sector about the economy’s weaknesses and strengths. In this way, the government gained a better understanding of the nature of the coordination problems that played a role in the economy. On the basis of this information the government was better able to take decisions concerning intervention. In the case of South Korea, civil servants from different ministries, bank managers, and managers of large companies regularly met on so-called deliberation councils. Apart from this there were also monthly export meetings. At these meetings, presided by the president of the country and attended by16 senior civil servants, managers of banks and companies, economic bottlenecks were directly discussed, and decisions were taken concerning the outlines of the industrial, trade, and financial policies. Specific attention would be paid to the performance of the export industries, and if necessary the export policy would be adjusted on the basis of the information available. The South Korean private sector was very much organised on the basis of conglomerate structures, the so-called Chaebols. A limited number of very large conglomerates were actively involved in various economic activities, thus controlling an important part of the total production of the private sector. The government actively stimulated the development of these large conglomerates. The idea was that this would lead to an optimal use of economies of scale and external effects due to the strong mutual dependence between industries. In this way, the conglomerates would internalise existing coordination problems. Moreover, an advantage of the existence of several large conglomerates was that there were only a small number of ties between the government and the private sector, so that a relatively small number of policy makers and managers would be responsible for making important decisions. This added to an efficient exchange of information and a reduction of coordination problems. Some studies describe the model of the East Asian economies as a governed market. This means that private companies competed and cooperated and were supervised by the government. Other studies – especially referring to the case of South Korea – characterise the relations between government and the private sector as a quasi-internal organisation. This model describes a firm as an organisation that minimalizes transaction costs by internalising certain activities, i. e. hese activities are executed within the organisation. This may cause the allocation within an internal organisation to be superior to allocation resulting from the market mechanism. The model contains a central management that determines the outlines of the activities of the firm and that delegates the execution and immediate responsibility for the results to different divisions. The divisions are accountable to th e central management and have to provide information regularly, enabling the management to change its strategy on the basis of this new information – if necessary. In this way, coordination problems between the different activities can be reduced. The comparison to the characteristics of the Korean society applies to a certain extent, if the government is regarded as the central manager and the various conglomerates as the divisions. Due to the intense and informal contacts between the government and the private sector, the government had at their disposal information concerning the nature and extent of coordination problems in the economy. On the basis of this information, economic policies could be designed and choices could be made on which industries should be supported, since they were supposed to be of crucial importance to the growth of the country. Furthermore, economic policy programmes could constantly be adjusted on the basis of new information so that they would positively contribute to the economic development of the country. To conclude, it can be argued that the strong ties between the government and the private sector contributed to an intense exchange of information. Based on this information, the government was able to follow and if necessary adjust the activities in private industries. The new interventionists considered the combination of these ties and the nature of the way the government created rents and distributed these among firms and industrial sectors as an important explanation of the successful government intervention in the various East Asian countries. Initial conditions and political factors The new interventionists also point at other factors they feel have been important in realising that the government translated the information they eceived from the private sector into a policy that contributed to the successful18 reduction of coordination problems. These factors are closely related to the initial conditions that applied at the moment this miraculous process of economic growth was started. They also point at certain specific political economic circumstances. To begin with, the new interventionists emphasise that in these count ries the educational system and the level of education of the labour force were of a relatively high standard as early as the 1950s, especially compared to countries in Latin America and Africa. This positive initial condition had various positive consequences. To start with, this meant that labour productivity was relatively high and that the East Asian economies were at least capable of working with relatively high-grade production processes as early as the 1950s. Moreover, this meant that the copying of Western technologies is the essence of late industrialisation – could be executed faster. Finally, the high level of education had a positive effect on the quality of the civil service. The latter was not to be underestimated as an aspect of the success of the East Asian intervention policy. Several authors have therefore paid special attention to the aspect of the quality of the civil service. An efficient apparatus of government was of great importance in order to translate the information on coordination problems in the economy into a policy that could contribute to increasing economic growth. Moreover, the work ethic of the average civil servant in the Eastern Asian countries was also important in explaining the efficiency of government intervention. In many developing countries civil servants seemed to be easily corrupted, whereas in most East Asian countries this was relatively less common. Consequently, the abuse of, for example, the granting of subsidies and other benefits to firms could be kept rather limited. To explain this phenomenon the new interventionists argued, among other things that in such countries as South Korea and Taiwan a high degree of social responsibility had been developed and introduced through the educational system. Education very much contributed to a sense of social awareness. This led to the fact that a position as a civil servant involved a high social status. This may be an explanation for the fact that the best students often accepted a19 position with the government whereas a similar position in the private sector would pay far more. This high status would also contribute to a lower degree of corruptness as compared to that in many other developing countries. Moreover, a career with the civil service was considered the perfect way to a high position in the private sector. Apart from these initial conditions, several authors argue that the political economic circumstances in the East Asian countries contributed to the fact that government intervention could concentrate on the efficient use of scarce resources. As is well-known from the public-choice literature, a government may implement a policy because they are being pressurised by certain groups in society that are crucial to a possible re-election. In such case, in their policy the government may to a certain extent want to comply with the wishes of their future voters, rather than pursue a policy that contributes to economic growth as much as possible. 9 For example, they may not use subsidies to support certain important economic activities; instead subsidies may be used to secure political support. In many Latin American and African countries such a populist policy has been pursued in the past with all the associated negative consequences to general economic growth. In case of a more autocratic government, the government will use part of the means available to bribe representatives of powerful lobbies who could jeopardise the government’s continuity or to forcefully suppress these lobbies. In South Korea and Taiwan the government hardly ever faced lobbies of real importance so that a populist policy was not necessary. Therefore, they could develop and pursue their policies independent of any lobby and they could efficiently employ subsidies and other instruments to promote economic growth, rather than use them in order to gain political support. There were several different reasons for this particular circumstance, according to the new interventionists. Among others, for an empirical analysis of such kind of political economic processes, to start with, countries like South Korea and Taiwan were characterised by a relatively equal income distribution due to which the governments of these countries were less pressurised into taking popular measures to please certain lobbies. The equal income distribution was mainly the result of the land reforms of the 1950s which took place both in South Korea and Taiwan. Thus, equal income distribution had been realised before the start of the period of rapid growth. More recently, empirical support for the positive relation between equal income distribution and economic growth has been found. Moreover, some mention the fact that both the South Korean and the Taiwanese society were characterised by a relatively cultural unity, This meant that this potential source of political instability was less strong than it often was in other developing countries and that this made it easier to develop a solid nation state. Some authors also mention the fact that the Japanese oppression of South Korea before 1945 drastically reduced the role of lobbies in this country. With respect to Taiwan, the flight of political leaders and their supporters from China had actually decimated the differences between the various political lobbies. Finally, there was no elite based on the ownership of natural resources, since these countries hardly had any natural resources. In several Latin American countries this elite was an important opponent of the government. The new interventionists offer an alternative explanation for the economic success of the East Asian countries during the past few decades. They point at the existence of coordination problems and argue that these problems are the main obstacle for economic development. For this reason the government should play an active role. The analysis of the role of the government in East Asia shows under which circumstances government intervention may have a positive impact on the economic growth of a country. The contributions by the new interventionists appear to resemble those by the development economists21 from the 1940s and 1950s. The difference, however, is that the new interventionists have provided the understandings of the development economists with a more solid theoretical and empirical basis. Some questions remain unanswered, however. For example, the new interventionist analysis of the role of the government in the East Asian success has not convincingly shown why the efforts of the governments of these countries seemed to have been explicitly concentrated on promoting long-term economic development. This paper has described all conditions that must be met in order for government intervention to contribute positively to economic growth, as was the case in East Asia. Another starting point for future research refers to the empirical foundation of the existence, nature and importance of coordination problems in a less developed economy. Although the new interventionists have frequently and convincingly described the existence of these failures, until now their empirical proof has been scarcely provided. Therefore, micro-level research – i. e. t the industrial level – into the significance of these coordination problems in economic development is vital. Related to this, more empirical research ought to be conducted into the importance of dynamic efficiency in a less developed economy. This requires more analysis of the nature of the possible economies of scale, the external effects in such economies, and the way in which they could be exploited by government interventi on. The debate on the role of the government was quite explicit after the World Bank had published a study in 1993 which contained an in-depth analysis of the backgrounds of the East Asian success. The new interventionists criticised the World Bank for the contents of this report ,the analysis in this report builds on an earlier World Bank report (World Bank, 1991) in which the neoliberal view on the role of the government is somewhat changed with respect to their previous attitude on this subject. Both the 1991 and 1993 reports assign a more positive role to government intervention. The reports argue that interventions may add to economic growth, provided that these interventions are market friendly. The market friendly nature of interventions means that markets ought to function freely, unless the results are clearly better in case of government intervention. Furthermore, checks and balances have to be introduced: interventions must always be subject to the discipline of the domestic and foreign markets as much as possible. Finally, intervention must be straightforward and transparent, based on clear regulations, so that the contents and consequences can be monitored by anyone. The 1991 World Bank report introduces the market friendly approach of government policy as the alternative road between market and government. Starting from this analysis framework, the 1993 report studies the economic development of East Asia and endorse the positive role of the government in the process of economic development of these countries. Furthermore, the report argues that the distortions that were a result of government interventions were small, especially as compared to those in other developing countries. Government policies were often embedded in a competitive environment, all according to the market friendly approach. At the same time, however, the analysis shows that government intervention was by no means always successful. The market is considered to remain the most efficient coordinating mechanism. Therefore, the report’s advice is to get the prices right. The final conclusion is that the most important positive contributions of government intervention referred to creating a stable macroeconomic environment – in the form of low inflation and government deficits, and a stable exchange rate – and investment in the development of human capital. The government created the right environment within which private initiative could optimally contribute to economic growth. Economic policies should concentrate on these factors, the World Bank argues. The recent World Bank report does only partly do justice to the new interventionist’s criticism. The policy recommendations still seem to be rather neoliberal. Although the World Bank report initially appears to lead to a synthesis of the neoliberal model and the new interventionist understandings, the policy implications of the analysis of the two camps differ very much. The new interventionists point at the importance of government intervention and set great store by industrial policies and the use of subsidies and other instruments in order to realise a dynamically efficient allocation of resources, whereas the World Bank continues to argue that the government ought to aim mainly at creating macroeconomic stability and should aim solely at creating the right conditions for private initiative. Conclusion To conclude, since the early 1990s there appears to be some general agreement concerning the debate on the role of the government in the process of economic development in East Asian countries. The World Bank – being the main representative of the neoliberal point of view – and its critics agree on the fact that the governments of these countries severely intervened in the economic process. Thus, it would make great sense for developing nations in Africa, South America and south East Asia to place prodigious importance of state intervention to economic development and to dismay the western â€Å"liberal† model as useless and deceptive. As they themselves (western countries, including Japan) all at some point in their economic development guided their economy towards what they thought was suitable and progressive, which is called â€Å"industrialisation†.