Womens Rights

How to Write Women’s #038; Gender Studies Essay

How to Write Women’s #038; Gender Studies Essay Need advice on how to cope with your tricky Women’s Gender Studies essay? College and university students in the USA who study Humanities and Social Sciences are commonly offered courses in Women’s Gender Studies that are interdisciplinary academic programs which examine cultural and social issues from the gender perspective. The purpose of these courses is to educate students about the importance of gender equity. This discipline originated from the feminist movement and the concept of women’s rights and can be a good addition to an academic plan for any student who is interested in focusing on a career that intersects multiple perspectives of diversity. In this article, you will find a complete step-by-step gender studies essay guide on how to write an impressive Women’s and Gender Studies essay that will help you successfully complete this challenging assignment and impress your professor. Besides, we will provide you with a list of interesting essay topics for your inspiration. But first, let’s discuss what Women’s Gender Studies essay is and how it differs from essays in other academic disciplines. Let’s get started. What Is Women’s Gender Studies Essay? Today, the WGS programs mainly focus on the meanings of gender and sexuality in culture, society, and education as well as politics and everyday life. Students who take such courses have to explore the history and the contribution of women to society and study how the gender influences the lives of men and women. The main goal of these programs is to help students become activists and critical advocates for social justice in a wide variety of professions. When writing Women’s Gender Studies essay, you will need to discuss the problems of women, gender, and sexuality from a cross-cultural and historical perspective. Wondering why this essay is so special? Here is the answer. You will need to explore gender and sexuality using methodologies and analytical tools of a variety of disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, and arts, including sociology, philosophy, psychology, anthropology, political sciences, STS, media studies, history, and literature, among others. You remember that this program is diverse and interdisciplinary, don’t you? You may be assigned to write: a response essay; a narrative essay; a theoretical experience essay; an argumentative essay; a rhetorical analysis essay; a reflective essay etc. As to the citation styles, the common style guides in Women’s Gender studies are APA, MLA, Chicago, and Turabian. The formats of essays can vary greatly and so you will need to follow details about your assignment provided by your instructor. If you have any doubts and need more specific information about types of WGS essays, their formatting, types of evidence, you should consult the traditional academic discipline with which your particular course is associated. How to Choose Women’s Gender Studies Essay Topics? The WGS curriculum focuses on the intersectionality of sexuality and gender with different social categories such as: race; nationality; religion; class; ethnicity; age; ability. Students study diverse topics that they can select for writing their Women’s Gender Studies essays, for example, women in the developing world, gender and technology, violence and human rights, women’s literature, the family, gender and the law, feminist political thought, and more. When deciding what you should write about, it is recommended to choose a topic you are really interested in. Doing research and writing an essay is a time-consuming process but you will work more productively if you stay motivated. Besides, your readers will appreciate your passion and your genuine interest and are more likely to be impressed by your piece of writing. Keep in mind that if your topic is too broad to cover in your essay, you need to narrow it and make it manageable in a limited word count. For example, the topic Women and War is too broad, so you should narrow it down and discuss the ways in which women can be affected by a war conflict or analyze laws that can ensure specific protection for women during wars. You can also describe women’s experiences during particular conflicts. With a broad variety of topics to choose from, making the best decision can be overwhelming. Wondering where you can find interesting ideas for your inspiration? Here they are. Have a look at our short list of amazing Women’s Gender Studies essay topics and feel free to use them for writing your own essays. The Three Waves of Feminism Women Who Had a Huge Impact on the Feminist Movement How Feminism Changed Ireland History of the Feminist Movement in The United States How Does Gender Affect the Communication Style? The Importance of Women’s Literature of the 20th Century Modern Black Women’s Literature How Does Gender Affect Health? Human Trafficking as Modern Slavery Gender Structures in Education Why Do Men Commit More Crimes than Women? Are Assisted Reproductive Technologies Ethical? What Does It Mean to Be A Woman In The Workplace? What Challenges Do Women Leaders Face? Gender and Sexuality In The Modern United States Doing Research When you have chosen a good topic for your Women’s and Gender Studies essay, you have to do an in-depth research of a variety of relevant sources. You can find a lot of tools for research in your university library and in electronic databases. You should use data and primary sources related to Women’s History and Gender Studies such as: women’s letters and diaries; statistics; philosophical texts; historical works; literary works; interviews; popular magazines and newspapers etc. In fact, you can use any source that has a first-hand account of women’s and gender studies. Besides, you should look for ideas in different secondary sources such as articles in scientific journals, critical books, and secondary accounts which provide different opinions on women’s studies in general and on your topic in particular. You can find a lot of evidence to support your argument in artifacts such as new media, video art, graphic design, performance, museum installations, photographs, paintings, drawing, prints, architecture, and sculptures. While doing research, you should take notes of interesting ideas which you can use for citations and paraphrasing in your essay. Make sure you include correct details about the author and the title of the work which you are going to use for writing your paper. It’s important to properly document and clearly cite all the evidence that you include in your Women’s Gender Study essay. So, if you write down all the details about the evidence as you are doing research, you will save a lot of time on citing your sources in the text of your essay and creating a Reference page. The Writing Process When you have gathered enough evidence on your topic, you should use brainstorming techniques to determine the key points that you’ll discuss in your Women’s Gender Studies essay and make a working outline that will guide the writing process and help you stay focused on your argument. Your essay has to demonstrate that you can conduct an effective research and provide a critique of various scholarly sources. You have to show that you can synthesize multi-disciplinary approaches to Women’s Gender Studies and express your thoughts clearly and concisely. A detailed outline will help you achieve these goals. The typical essay structure includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. How to Write an Introduction You should start your introduction with a hook or an attention grabber that will engage your readers. It can be a provocative question, a statistics fact, an anecdote, a funny joke etc. But keep in mind that your hook should be relevant to your topic. After that, you need to introduce your topic by providing the context or the background information and end your introduction with a strong thesis statement. You have to briefly state your point of view in one sentence that will serve as a summary of your argument. When formulating your thesis, you should avoid vague words and be as specific and as clear as possible. In your thesis statement, you need to tell your audience what they should expect from the rest of your essay. You need to make a claim that other people may dispute and organize the evidence in the rest of your essay to convince your readers of the logic of your interpretation. Developing a strong thesis is not an easy thing because you have to gather and organize your evidence, find possible contrasts or similarities between facts, and think why these relationships are important. At first, you have to develop a â€Å"working thesis† that will help you in writing your draft and presenting your argument. Later, you can adjust your thesis and your argument as well. For example, if the topic of your Women’s Gender Studies essay is women’s human rights, your thesis statement may look like this: Gender equality is an important indicator for understanding global well-being and, despite many improvements with women’s rights around the world, numerous issues still exist in all areas of life. Writing Body Paragraphs All essays are made of multiple body paragraphs. Their function is to develop an argument that was outlined in the introduction. The success of your essay will depend on how well you can write and develop your body paragraphs. Each body paragraph covers one major point in the development of the overall argument. You need to state this main point in the topic sentence which is actually a mini-thesis sentence for every paragraph and support your topic sentence with evidence. Each body paragraph consists of 3 sections: A topic sentence tells the reader what main point the paragraph will make; The supporting sentences expand the major idea by providing details and evidence to back it up; A concluding sentence restates the main idea of the paragraph. When writing body paragraphs, you should pay attention to the following important aspects: A clear topic sentence that unifies the paragraph’s content; Relevant evidence or supporting details; Good examples, quotes from experts or/and statistics; Transitions between sentences within paragraphs; A convincing concluding statement. How to Write a Conclusion: Highlights from Our Academic Writers A conclusion is an important part of the Women’s Gender Studies essay that sums up the key points or provides a final perspective on the essay’s topic. There is no set formula you can follow when writing your conclusion. But don’t write too much – just a few strong sentences. You can briefly review the major points without restating them exactly or you can describe your personal views on the topic and your emotions. Besides, you can provide some recommendations for further research. Revising Stage of the Writing Process When you have written the first draft of your Women’s Gender Studies essay, it’s time to start revising your work and make improvements in the content, flow, and logic. You should focus on making the content of your essay clear to your readers. Be ready that you will need to revise your draft several times to ensure that it meets the requirements of your instructor and that you are satisfied with it. You should look at global or large-scale matters of your essay. During this stage, you can rearrange the order of your paragraphs, add some new material, and remove some sentences or even paragraphs to ensure that your argument is clear and concise. Sometimes, you may need to do additional research to find more supporting evidence for your key points. Here are some strategies you can use: Take a break for at least a night before you start revising your essay; Don’t try to make your draft perfect at once – ease the pressure; Read your draft aloud or ask a friend to read it aloud for you. When you listen, you are more likely to see where you should make improvements. When you have done multiple revisions and are satisfied with the content of your piece of writing, you can move to the final editing and proofreading stage. Add the Finishing Touches Now you should pay attention to smaller-scale matters such as: Word choice; Sentence structure; Punctuation, grammar, and spelling; Citation and document format; Capitalization. At this stage, you should also focus on making your Women’s Gender Studies essay meet the conventions of standard written English. A bit of routine work, but it will surely pay back.

Higher education in Angola Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Higher education in Angola - Essay Example Education plays a crucial role in the success of a society or country. With globalization there is an increasing trend towards alterations in the field of education, in order to equip students with the capability of international standards. For this reason, a large number of countries have undergone changes in their education policies, specifically, higher education policies on state and national levels, which need assessment and evaluation. Therefore, this paper will specifically focus on the policies of higher education system of one of the countries of the African continent- Angola. In particular, the paper will focus on the process of policy development in Angolan higher education system while discussing the responses of higher education institutions, regarding decentralization policy developments in the country after the end of the civil war in 2002. Lastly, this paper will propose some recommendations that will be beneficial for the higher education system in Angola in the coming years. In addition, it is anticipated that this discussion and deliberation on higher education system of Angola and its process of education policy formation will enlighten readers in many ways. Most importantly it will highlight the discrepancies in the policy formulation and its implementation in real scenarios. Institutional amplifications have been a point of discussion in several countries. According to Chikering (2006), such amplifications and changes may imply several adjustments, namely institutional, social, and political ones: ‘As we pursue these changes, we would try to distinguish among four separate questions and address them discretely: Are the changes we contemplate consistent with our mission and institutional values? Is their design and implementation educationally sound? Are those designs and implementation strategies financially feasible? What are the

Incivility and Resolution Using an Ethical-Reasoning Tool Assignment

Incivility and Resolution Using an Ethical-Reasoning Tool - Assignment Example The nurse experienced embarrassment as there were a lot of other nurses and around (Clark, 2008). Example 2: A nursing staff member was shouted at loudly in front of all other nurses during a training session for nurses working in a healthcare setting. As a result, the nursing staff member started focusing on coping strategy instead of focusing on the lecture being taught. Example 3: During a meeting between the head of different departments of a healthcare setting, the Nursing department’s head raised his hand to provide insight regarding the issue being discussed. He was not acknowledged and his gesture of raising hand was ignored by the director of the healthcare institute. The National League for Nursing has devised a toolkit to counter issues such as incivility in healthcare settings (NLN, 2013). This tool kit has provided with several ways through which various concerns of healthcare settings can be resolved. The toolkit deals with issues such as compensation and benefits, leadership, healthcare setting’s environment and

Financial Investment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Financial Investment - Research Paper Example The principles of time value of money and learning its techniques are the most important concepts for the study and application of finance in general. The concept of interest is divided between simple and compound interest. Simple interest is calculated only by taking into consideration the beginning principal. For instance, if an individual invested $1,000 dollars in a savings account at 5% annual interest, the expected return after one year would amount to a $50 gain on investment. The concept of compound interest unlike simple interest which only takes into consideration the interest return of the initial principal investment is determined by taking into consideration not only total interest on the principal, but it also includes any interest gained on the initial investment. In simple terms, compound interest calculations encompass interest on interest. It is of paramount importance for a finance manager to understand and have a through understanding of time value of money concep ts and its impact on the value of an asset at a specific point of time in order to be successful. Present and Future Value of an Investment For a company one of the most important tools in determination in the time value of money analysis for a specific asset is the cash flows time line. The cash flows time line indicates and helps us visualize when the cash flows related to a particular transaction occur in respect to when the transaction originated. Constructing a cash flow time line will help determine how the timing of cash inputs and outputs will affect the day to day operations of the firm. By utilizing the cash flows time line a person can determine the potential future value of an investment today and how the process of compounding interest on the initial investment affects the total value of the initial investment and its aggregate return on the simple interest. In order to calculate the effect of compound interest in an investment a person needs to use the compound interes t formula (Studyfinance). TV = P1 (1+I)^n TV= total value investment value at the end of n periods P1= initial investment I= interest N= number of periods or years Finance textbooks provide the user with future and present compound interest tables. These tables are calculated in order to simplify the process and provide a guideline to the user with help in determining present and future value of any investment. The tables provided are calculated by determining the value of an initial investment for various time periods and interest rates. The opportunity value of an investment is the rate of return on the best investment alternative taking into consideration the available options of equal risk. On the other side of the coin, the compounded present value of an initial investment is calculated by determining the reciprocal amount of compound interest for the same future period (Studyfinance). Another way of visualizing present value of an investment is to adopt a stance where the init ial investment value is determined by the interest rate and time period of the future investment window. For investors present value calculations determine where individuals invest their limited funds taking into consideration their actual financial performance and risks and overall return. For potential investors present

What Is The Propaganda Model?

What Is The Propaganda Model? When Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky discussed the propaganda model in the book called Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media  from the political economy viewpoint. They pointed out that money and power can filter some of the information, allowing the government and politicians to spread their words to the public. Although the purpose of media is not for propaganda only, the main proportion of it is used for propaganda (Herman Chomsky, 1988). They argue that every piece of original daily news in America is under strict checking before they can be published, the news gatekeepers including ownership, advertiser and sources. From this point, the media are totally lost in serving those who can control and support them, representing the interest of the wealthy and powerful class in the society. They called the checking process as five filters of the news, which is also the central notion of the propaganda model. The newsfilters are ranging from money dominators , advertisers, sources, to flak and anticommunism. Through analysing the five filters, they are dividing the propaganda model into two types: the first pattern is characterized as checked through the official censorship to serve those who are the dominant class in the society. While the latter propaganda type is difficult to be noticed, the media always discloses scandal by the authorities and criticized the government to convince the public. Once the general public have trusted the media, they will naturally follow the media and support those government policies that media is advocating. That is publicity gambit played between the media and the dominant class. The latter type is more important in Chomskys opinion. The first filter illustrates that the investors monopolized the media. Take the newspaper for example, fierce competition in the profit driven free market result in emphasizing more about the readers. Moreover, the progress of technique means the cost is increasing, for the working class newspaper, the cost is relatively low, thus then, and they have to quit the competitive market. Since the media entered the profit-driven market, the capital of the giant media firms are generally controlled by the large enterprise, the board, the stockholders and the bankers in the enterprise are caring more about the profit rather than the quality of the news. Thereby, it is not surprising that the media giants are tied up with wealthy circles. The media are highly reliance on the advertisers in the profit-driven market, which means the choosing of the advertisers, will influence the media profoundly. On one hand, the considerable revenue from advertising will naturally increase the popular media product. In other word, it is impossible to get the support from the advertisers without the ratings guarantee. As Herman and Chomsky (Herman Chomsky, 1988.) argued in their book that it was the buying power from the audience attracting the media most. As a result, it is not difficult to understand why the newspaper is going backwards and in crisis while the society is developing. On the other hand, Advertisers often discriminate both the working class and radical media politically (Herman Chomsky, 1988), in which the advertisers would rather consider more about those who have great purchasing power than the poor. News source is the third filter. Sources form the government and the company can meet the need of media organization: using the reliable sources from the government and the company, can ensure the objective of news reporting; on the other hand, through getting the news sources from the government and the giant company, the publications can cut out a great deal of unnecessary expenditure spending on investigating other unreliable sources. Herman and Chomsky called the fourth filter as flak and the enforces (Herman Chomsky, 1988, p.26.), that is, the government and the major corporation are able to put pressure on the media. Here, flak means bad feedback of a media programme. The media will pay great price for the negative response; they have to defend themselves in or out of the institution, even in the court. Moreover, the advertisers will pull the advertisement as well. According to Chomsky, the flak is generally from the person in authority. Under such pressures, the media can only represent the interest of the investors. The fifth filter is called anticommunism as a control mechanism. In here, they are referring to the media are advocating communism policies (policies that are threatening the property profit, especially the America property profit) as a threat to the bourgeoisie. As stated above, the first three filters are more important in the propaganda theory. Essentially speaking, the methodology of the propaganda model is the same as other theories; they are beginning with loads of hypotheses, and then go back to the assumption through personal experience (Klaehn, 2003). Although Jeffery (2003) argues that the propaganda model is a concept result from the analysis on the relation of media and the authorities systematically and logically. However, different from other research, Chomskys evidences seem to be lacking of persuasion. In addition, this model is mainly focusing on the newsroom structure, it cannot be used to analyse the general journalism practice. Besides, although Klaehn has explained some criticism about the difference between gatekeeper theory and propaganda model, and argued the propaganda model is only used for the analysis of the framework but not the psychological process of the media (Klaehn, 2005). There are some similarities still can be found between them: the aim of the news agency is to satisfy the advertisers rather than attract the audiences under the profit-driven market; every piece of news need to be revised step by step before being printed; in order to reduce the cost, a large number of news agencies are trying to decrease the investigative content in order to avoid being criticized or lawsuits. Obviously, Chomskys propaganda model is largely focusing on the American journalism in the Cold War period. He argues that the propaganda model played an important role during the Cold War period; the media is surly the core of the model. He is not only suspecting that the media is stifling public criticism of the government, keeping the public away from the truth; but even considering that the media is responsible for protracting the Cold War. The propaganda model is widely applicable in America because of the news culture in the US (Chomsky, 2007).Most of the media group in the US are belonging to the private ownership and not subsidized by the government, almost financially independent. Large amounts of the media are controlled by a limited number of big companies, who are also getting on well with the government through the political donations on the trade of weapons. Consequently, they are sometimes involving in the national policy making as well. Meanwhile, the sources of news are required to be obtained through the official channels, such as the press conference or the personal interview. In order to get the first hand information, the journalists need to be getting on well with the government agencies, which will also affect the media attitude towards the politics. From the Chomskys propaganda model it can be seen that in order to strengthen the objective image to the public, the media ownership are using the way of conglomeration and merger of small media companies to make grater in power, influence, stature, or reputation. Sometimes, the government played an accomplice role in this process, charging some small media companies to let them bankruptcy because of the heavily cost of the lawsuit, while the giant media is benefit from the influence and power. Thus it can be seen that the media and the government in the US are closely connected. Because of that, media in the US are always exercising self-censorship. Although Chomsky uses the propaganda model to criticize the media in the Europe, it is lacking of generalizability after all. Klaehn has written on her article that there was a common criticism on the propaganda model: the propaganda model is to be analyzed under the hypothesized condition that there is no difference among the internal the ruling class, but that will never happen in the reality (Klaehn, J. 2002). As Chomsky and Herman have explained in their book, it is similar to the emphasis within the book, the propaganda of some authoritative country is different to the media of the U.S. In fact, spirited debates is allowed and encouraged in the U.S., only when it does not cross the line. (Herman Chomsky, 1988). Moreover, they have made another further explanation that we used the concepts of worthy and unworthy victims to describe this dichotomization, with a trace of irony as the varying treatment was clearly related to political and economic advantage rather than anything like actual worth (Herman, 2000). Talking about this, Colin Sparks, from the University of Westminster has suspected whether this model can be used to explain every context of the media in the UK. Colin Sparks (Sparks, 2007) took the example of the Iraq War reporting in the UK and argued there were lots of researches showing that many media in the UK doubted the legitimacy and appropriateness of the Iraq war. He believes propaganda model neglect the complication of capitalist society. From the economical aspects, the conflicting interests among the different department within the capitalism will be everlasting. It is well known that the US media nearly monopolize the media industry in the world. The propaganda model has archived the largest utility during the international news communication. However, media in other countries are not always following what the Americans want. When the reporting does harm the interest of the country or the reporting is iniquitously unjust, each media organization in the single country will put up resistance. UK is not an exception. 20th March, 2003, the allied forces of US and Britain started the Iraq war without the authorization of the United Nations Security Council. During the prewar and postwar time, the US media has made every attempt to advocate the propaganda model, controlling and intervening the news reporting, in order to ask for support. Although both the United Kingdom and the United States is the staunchest ally during the war, the way of reporting the war was very different because of their different attitude towards the Iraq war. Comparing with the patriotism reporting in the America, news in the UK was obviously impartial. Not only reporting the British and American forces attacked the Iraq forces, but also relayed the civilian casualties,Moreover,they also made some independent comment on the war, even some criticism were totally different from the America announcement. Brookes and Lewis has analyzed the British Television Media; they choose the four main News channels as a sample of how they reported the Iraqi War, including BBC 1, ITV News, Channel4News and Sky channels. They were mainly focusing on three aspects. Whether Iraq owned weapons of mass destruction, the viewpoint of whether Iraqi civilians wish to be liberate from the governance of Saddam and whether the nature of Saddams politics was vicious. The result showed 86% of report tends to agree that Iraq does own weapons of mass destruction (Lewis Brookes, 2004). Those who believe warfare can liberate Iraq are double of the amount of the reports of attack Iraq. More than half of the reports believe that Saddams policies makes Iraq civilian feels they are under pressure and pain. Even channel4 news report seems to have a fair opinion; Brookes and Lewis still give a conclusion of British Television is biased towards the government. In addition, Couldry and Doweny (Allan Zelizer, 2004) analyzed seven newspapers report before the Iraq War started (2003 January to Mid February). They mainly focus on whether media should investigate of the reason of starting a war. Result shown that the right-wing newspaper like The Times, The Sun, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail might or might not support the starting of the war. Newspapers such as Daily Mirror, Independence, Guardiance is considered to be focus on the benefit of the nation and is opposite to the west-ring newspaper is doubting the reason and moral standard on the reason of starting a war towards Iraq. Robertson (Robertson, 2004) chose two Scotland papers The Herald and The Scotsman as the subject of the study and analyses on the report that have been done on the Iraqi war. Its purpose is to analyzing whether the Scotland newspaper is playing a role of watchdog or lapdog. The study shows that both newspaper report the action have been taken in the Iraqi war and the result they have achieve during the war. In comparison, the reports related to the destruction of the facilities in Iraq, the impact towards the public hygiene, environment and social order is relatively less covered within the reports. There are also 2775 cases in total mention about the victims, even those who have rarely cover the death of Iraqi civilian, Arabs and Muslim people. Based on the research from the scholars, there are some specific antiwar news. For example, Daily Mirror in the UK has published two pictures in the front page, which is George Bush with a smile in one picture with a crying Iraq woman on the war wrecks in another picture, with the title he likes it; moreover, Daily Mirror criticized that the Iraq war was pointless, horrible, and appealed to the UK government to stop the war. In addition, The Independent and other newspaper in the UK had replied to Bushs announcement about the war will last for no matter how long it will require on the 28th, March, and it was widely accepted that the longer the war lasts, the heavier the economic losses will be suffering, the more political price will be paid as well. Besides, on the 25th April, the former president of BBC Greg Dyke had delivered a speech in the University of London, he criticized that the news from the America media was over impartial and could not illustrate all the truth from the battlefield, which Greg Dyke was called distorted patriotism. During the war time, the propaganda model was not applicable to explain the media in the UK; on the contrary, it works on few specific cases nowadays. In the 24th, November, 2009, a committee was set up in the UK to investigate the legality of the Iraq war. The result of the investigation will be put out after the election around the end of 2010. The investigation time and scope will be arranging from 2001 until the end of July, 2009, including every stage the British army prepare for the war, go to the war and pullout. Many former government high officers will involve in the inquiry as well. To all appearances, it is difficult to use the propaganda model to explain this. According to the propaganda model, in order to be trusted by the public, the media disclosures scandals of the authorities and criticized the government. Different from this time, once the commission has investigated that the Iraq war is illegal, most of the media organisations that had supported the war would be accused. Instead of gaining the belief from the public, there is no denying that the media are just digging their own graves. In my opinion, the news of Iraq war investigative commission just follows the propaganda mode, getting the trust from the public through criticising the government without being noticed. It is a fight among the political party results in setting the investigative commission. Firstly, talking about the announcement that the investigation result will be published after the election. On one hand, this timing will not diminish the effect of the political propaganda; on the other hand, an opened interrogation was conducted by an investigative group on the commanders and politicians who is involved in the Iraq war, the purpose of that is to advertise and to build up the publicity for Gordon Brown during the election. Secondly, the result of the investigation will make no sense. The Guardian (Sparrow, 2009) argued that the Iraq inquiry was not the responsibility for the investigative commission to judge whether the Iraq war is legal or not. In addition, there is no lawyer and judge in the commission team and all the team members are chosen by Gordon Brown, thus then the so called investigation is just conducting in a perfunctory way. If there is a real need to investigate in the lies and acts the British and the American government have done in the Iraq war, it is then necessary to be carry out by international organisations, such as UN Commission on Human Rights or International Criminal Tribunal. The commission will not dig out the crime that they have done, but in fact they cover up the facts from the public. To sum up the above arguments, it is not surprising that the propaganda model has been strongly criticized by some people. Herman and Chomskys Propaganda Model does not explain every media in every context; it is too rigid in its causal argument and lack of accurate support. Yet we live in a world, changes take place all the time, there is no adaptable news model that is suitable forever. Even in a country, as media in the UK, there would be a variety of news reporting towards one event. Although some of the news can be analysed by the propaganda model while others cannot. In a word, the propaganda model is lack of practicalness and general applicability.

Capital Punishment Essay: The Death Penalty and the Eighth Amendment :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

The Death Penalty and the Eighth Amendment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is the death penalty consistent with the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against the imposition of cruel and unusual punishments? This essay will address this question and present a short history of the death penalty in America.    The Supreme Court considered particular applications of the death penalty in the 1940s and 1950s. In each case it upheld the state's action without addressing the larger issue of the death penalty's constitutionality. In the 1960s, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, led by Professor Anthony Amsterdam mounted a full-scale attack on the death penalty. Adopting a "moratorium strategy," the LDF succeeded in blocking all executions for five years, creating a "death-row logjam."    In Furman v Georgia in 1972, the Court invalidated all then-existing death penalty laws based on the inherent arbitrariness of their application. Most observers at the time concluded that there would never again be an execution in the United States. They were wrong. In 1976, in Gregg v. Georgia, the Court upheld Georgia's new capital-sentencing procedures, concluding that they had sufficiently reduced the problem of arbitrary and capricious imposition of death associated with earlier statutes.    The Court continued to face questions concerning the application of the death penalty: to non-murderers, to minors, to mentally disabled prisoners, to racial minorities. One such case is McCleskey v. Kemp, a challenge based on a study that showed murderers of white victims were far more likely to be sentenced to death than murderers of black victims.    The Eighth Amendment says: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (Constitution).   How does it square with the actual facts of capital punishment: 1. The average inmate put to death in 1998 spent ten years and ten months on death row. 2. In 1998, 285 people were sentenced to death. 3. At the close of 1999, Texas has the most prisoners on death row (39), followed by California (31), and Alabama and Florida (25 each). 4. Over 3,500 prisoners are currently on death row. 5. Thirty-nine states have death penalty laws on their books.    One of the most eloquent attacks on the death penalty ever delivered in an American courtroom came in the Leopold & Loeb Case in 1924. Clarence Darrow's eloquence is often credited with saving the lives of two confessed teenaged murderers.

Consequences of High Interest Rates in the Ghanaian Economy…..

Interest rates are among the closely watched variables in the economy. The media on daily bases record their movement because they affect our everyday lives and have crucial consequences for the health of the economy. They affect personal decisions as whether to consume or save, whether to buy a house and whether to purchase bonds or put funds into a savings account. Interest rates also affect the economic decisions of households or businesses such as whether to put their money in the bank or invest in new equipments for factories.Before continuing, we must understand exactly what interest rates mean. By holding financial instruments , such as loans or bonds. Savers and financial institutions extend credits to those individuals or firms that issue the instruments. The amount of credit extended is the principal amount of the loan or the bond. Those who hold financial instruments do so because they receive payments from the issuers in the form of interest. The percentage return earned is the interest rate or rate of return.Rate of return is the price of credit in financial markets and is usually expressed as a percentage (%) of the total amount borrowed that is to be paid each year (over and above the repayment of the principal, or amount borrowed). Thus, it is the price of credit of the rate of exchange between the present and the future. Rate of returns (r) vary given interest rate (i). It is the value of i that just equates the present value (PV) of the benefits of the extra capital when discounted at i to its cost (Pk). That is, r is defined as : r=MRP/Pk, where: MRP=Marginal Revenue Product Pk= CostWe would however, take a look at how interest rate is calculated, various theoretical analyses that seek to explain the determination of interest rates, distinctions between nominal and real interest rates. Finally, we shall relate it to the case of the Ghanaian economy and look at the consequences of the high interest rates in Ghana. CONCEPTS OF INTEREST YIELD/RA TE Interest yields on financial instruments are thought of in different ways. The most important of these are Nominal Yield Current Yield Yield to Maturity NOMINAL YIELD Assuming that a bond is issued in an amount of 100,000 with an agreement to pay 6000 in interest every year.The annual payment of 6000 is the bond’s annual coupon return. This is simply the fixed amount of interest that the bond yields each year. The nominal yield on a bond is equal to rN= C/F, where rN is the nominal yield, C is the coupon return and F is the face amount of the bond. The annual yield of the 100,000bond with the 6000 coupon yield or return is equal to 6000 / 1000,000=0. 06 or 6 percent. Current Yield The current secondary market price of the bond typically is not the face value of the bond. Bonds often sell in the secondary market at prices that are different from their face value.For this reason, those contemplating on bond purchase often are interested in the current yield of a bond. This e quals to r i =C/P Where ri denotes the current market yield, C is the coupon return and P is the current market price of a bond. For instance, the current market price of a bond with a face value of 100,000 might be 90,000. If the coupon return on the bond is 6,000 per year, then annual current yield on this bond is equal to 6,000/90,000=0. 667 or 6. 7 percent. Yield on Maturity A bond’s yield on maturity is the rate of return if the bond is held until maturity.Calculating this yield can be complicated, however, because the bonds normally differ. Typically, bonds are sold at a discount, below its face value. Hence, other things being equal, the bond holder receives an automatic capital gain if the bond is held to maturity. A capital gain occurs when the value of a financial asset at the time it is redeemed or sold is higher than its market value when it was purchased. Consequently, the bond pays a coupon return. The yield to maturity must account for both the capital gain and the coupon returns that a bond yields to its owner. MEASURING INTEREST RATESThe financial credit market instrument can be classified under four types ?Simple Loan This provides the borrower with an amount of funds (principal) which at the maturity date must be repaid to the lender along with an additional amount known as an interest payment. Supposing, a bank made you a simple loan of 100,000 for one year, you would have to pay the principal of 100,000 in one year’s time along with an additional interest payment of say 10,000 given interest rate to be 10%. Most often, commercial bank loans to businesses are often of this type. ?Fixed payment loan:This provides the borrower with an amount of funds that he is to repay by making the same payment every month, which comprises part of the principal and interest for a given number of years. For example, if you borrowed 100,000, a fixed payment loan might require you to pay 12,600 every year for 25 years. ?Coupon Bond A coupon bond pays the owner of the bond a fixed interest payment every year until the maturity date, when a specified final amount is repaid. For example, a coupon bond with 100,000 face values might pay you a coupon payment of 10,000 per year for 10 years and at the maturity date repays you the face value amount of 100,000. Discount Bond A discount bond is bought at a price below its face value (at a discount) and the face value is repaid at the maturity date. However, unlike the coupon bond, the discount bond makes no interest payment. It just pays off the face value. For example, a discount bond with a face value of 100,000 might be bought for ? 90000 and in a year’s time the owner would be repaid a face value of 100,000. These four types of instruments require payments at different times. Simple loan and discount bonds make payment only at their maturity dates, while fixed payment loans and coupon bonds have payments periodically until maturity.The decision as to which of the instrume nts provides you with more income is difficult since they all make payments at different times. To solve this problem, the concept of present value was invented to provide us with a procedure for measuring interest rate on these different types of instruments, Present Value (PV) approach shows the present value Ao of a known amount An, to be received in ‘n’ years assuming compound interest is at the rate ( i) . The present value (PV) formula is Ao=An/(1+i)n NORMINAL VERSUS REAL RATES OF INTEREST So far we have discussed interest rates only in current cedi terms.There is, however, a problem with this. Inflation can erode the value of interest received when a financial instrument matures. Any individual must take this into account when evaluating how much to save. For instance, supposing that a saver can earn a stated current cedi interest rate or nominal interest rate of r=0. 06(6%) on each cedi that he allocates to a one year bond. Supposing also that the saver expects that prices of goods and services would rise by a factor, ? e=0. 03(3%) Where ? e is expected rate of inflation. This is the rate of inflation that he expects to face.Such inflation would reduce the amount of goods and services that his interest would permit him to purchase. Thus, although the saver earns post interest on the bonds he anticipates the inflation will eat away at that interest and the rate ? e. Hence, the real interest rate that this saver anticipated or his expected inflation-adjusted interest rate is approximately equal r = r-? e r = 0. 06-0. 03=0. 03, Where r = real interest and r = nominal interest rate. In terms of what his savings can buy this saver actually anticipates earnings only 3% on his one year bond.A rate of return in current-cedi terms that does not reflect anticipated inflation is known as Nominal Interest Rate. The anticipated rate of return from holding a financial instrument after taking into account the extent to which inflation is expected to redu ce to the amount of goods and services that this return could be used to buy is termed as Real Interest Rate. The real interest rate is crucial for determining how much the individual desires to save. The reason is that savings is foregone consumption. This individual is likely to give up more consumption if the real rate of return on savings is large.This means that the real interest rate is a crucial determinant of the saving in the nation where this saver is a citizen. Countries with high nominal interest rates often experience very low saving rates because expected inflation is so high. THEORIES OF INTEREST RATES Various theories have been propounded by various economists to explain the determination of interest rates. However we would focus on three main theories namely; †¢Classical theory †¢Neo-classical/Loanable funds Theory †¢Keynesian/Liquidity Preference Theory CLASSICAL /REAL THEORY OF INTEREST RATESThis theory by Marshall and Pigou uses savings and investm ent in determining interest rates. The theory equates investment to demand for capital or supply of bonds (i. e. , sales of bonds). and savings to supply of Capital or Demand for bonds (i. e. purchases of bonds). Hence interest rate is determined when investment equals savings as illustrated below Figure 1. INVESTMENTS – SAVINGS COMBINATION IN THE BONDS MARKET Where B (supply of bonds) = I( investment ) B (demand for bonds )= S (savings) r is the equilibrium rate of interest at where S=IAccording to the classicals, there are only two groups of people in the market to provide bonds; investors and government. Firms sell bonds in order to have capital or funds for investments. The sale of bonds however, depends on the expected rate of returns and the cost in selling the bonds. Hence bond price is expressed as PB=Y/r where PB=Bond Price , Y=rate of returns and r= interest rate, implying an inverse relationship between Bond prices and interest rates, Expected rate of returns is as sumed fixed, and when interest rate rises above the rate of returns, it affects the relationship between investment and interest rate.Assumptions: †¢The classicals assume that, †¢Income is constant †¢The saving-investment schedules are independent of one another Criticisms: †¢Keynes asserts that income is variable and not constant and that the equality between savings and investment is brought about by changes in income and not by variations in the rate of interest. †¢Keynes also states that the saving-investment schedules are not independent of one another THE NEO-CLASSICAL/LOANABLE FUNDS THEORY This theory explains the determination of interest in terms of demand and supply of loanable funds or credit.The theory defines rate of interest as the price of credit which is determined by the demand and supply for loanable funds. According to Prof. Lerner, it is the price which equates the supply of credit or saving plus the net increase in the amount of money in a period to the demand for credit or investment plus net hoarding in the period Demand for Loanable Funds. Three main entities of demand for loanable funds; governments, business men and consumers need them for purposes of investment, hoarding and consumption. Government borrows funds for constructing public works.Business men borrow for the purchase of capital goods and for investment projects. Such borrowings are interest elastic and depend mostly on the expected rate of profit. Individual consumers however may demand loanable funds for the purchase of durable consumer goods like houses. These borrowings are also interest elastic. At lower rates of interest, people borrow more than at higher rates of interest in order to enjoy their consumption now. Supply of loanable funds The supply of loanable funds comes from savings, dishoardings and bank credit.The main sources of supply of loanable funds are private, individual and corporate savings. Savings depend on the level of income. For a given level of income savings will depend on interest rate, and the higher the interest rate the greater will be the inducement to save and vice versa. This saving is referred to as Personal Savings. Corporate savings are the undistributed profits of firms and it also depends on current rate of interest to some extent. High interest rate deters borrowing and thus encourages savings. Dishoarding may also occur when interest rate is high or increases.Thus, one dishoards (ie, releasing hoarded money or idle money holdings), if the cost of holding that money increases as a result of high interest rate. Hence, there is a positive relationship between interest rate and dishoarding. Banks also give credit when the borrowing rate is high. That is when interest rate on credit payable by borrowers is high, hence a positive relationship between interest rate and bank credit. Criticisms: †¢Savings not interest elastic. The theory over emphasis the influence of the rate of interest on savings as interest elastic.Thus, people save not only to earn rate of interest but also for other purposes like precautionary motive, hence savings are interest inelastic. †¢The theory is also criticized for combining monetary factors with real factors making it unrealistic. †¢Equilibrium rate reflects unstable equilibrium. The demand and supply schedules for loanable funds determine the equilibrium rate of interest OR which does not equate each component on the supply side with the corresponding components on the demand side. KEYNESIAN/ LIQUIDITY PREFERENCE THEORYKeynes defines interest rate as the price which equilibrates the desire to hold wealth in the form of cash that is the demand and supply of money determines interest rates. The supply of money is considered fixed and exogenously determined (that is inelastic). Demand for money is also called liquidity preference which is the desire to hold money. In this case, interest rate is the premium which has to be offere d to induce people to hold their wealth in some form other than hoarded money. According to Keynes, speculative demand for money is determined by interest rate and bond prices.He considered the current interest (i) as that which determines the speculative demand for money. The higher the rate of interest, the lower the speculative demand for money. At very low rate of interest people will rather prefer to keep their money in cash than investing in bonds because purchasing of bonds will mean a loss. Determination of interest rates The equilibrium interest rate is determined at a point where the supply and demand for money equilibrates. At the point of liquidity trap, there is the belief that interest rate will not fall but will at a point in time rise hence investors hold money against future rise in interest rate.Criticisms: †¢The theory is considered as indeterminate by Prof. Handson. Keynes asserts the liquidity preference determines the interest rates. The problem is that a new liquidity preference curve would have to be drawn at each level of income. This indicates that income levels will have to be known before otherwise, the supply and demand for money curves cannot tell us what the interest rates will be. †¢Hicks and others were of the view that interest rate is determined by the following; i. Investment demand function ii. Savings function iii. Liquidity preference function iv. Quantity of money function.They are present in Keynes theory but not all are the interest rate analysis. Keynes ignores investment and savings, hence his theory is considered as incomplete. TRENDS IN SAVINGS AND LENDING RATES IN THE GHANAIAN ECONOMY (1994-2004). YEAR19941995199619971998199920002001200220032004 LENDING RATE31. 2440. 5641. 7143. 5838. 536. 54743. 7536. 3632. 7528. 8 DEPOSITE RATE21. 3726. 7532. 2432. 320. 215. 3925. 817. 4312. 4911. 969. 87 INTEREST SPREAD9. 8713. 819. 4711. 2818. 321. 1121. 226. 3223. 8720. 7918. 9 The interest spread was calculated as a difference in the averages of the lending and the deposit rates covering the said period.Between 1997 and 2001, the interest spread increased and subsequently started falling at a slightly varying decreasing rate. This was the period when the lending rates were high 43. 75% in 2001, down from 47% in 2000 because of the high inflation rate and the general turbulence within the economy. The corresponding deposit rate was 17. 43%. Between the years 2001 and 2004, the average interest spread was 23. 66%. This rate of profits of the commercial banks, heralded the spiral influx of foreign banks especially from neighbour Nigeria. It has been taunted that the banking sector is doing very well.In reality there has not been much competition between the existing banks, hence the high lending rate as well as their profits. They tended to act as collusive oligopolies. Recent developments and trends in the banking sector has been that, competition at long last has set in. For instance the Zenit h Bank has unilaterally decided to reduce it’s lending rate 14. 1% with respect to the general rate. This will result in much more innovation in the sector resulting in better banking services and a general reduction in the interest rate as pertained in competitive markets.From the existing trends, especially as indicated in the graph above, other sectors of the economy will take advantages of the low interest rate to boost up investments and hence output with a resultant increase in the GDP. This is the miracle of interest rates. HIGH VERSUS LOW INTEREST RATES IN THE GHANAIAN ECONOMY. In most economies including Ghana, interest rates are largely influenced by the prime rate which is the rate at which the central bank gives over-night loans to the commercial banks. Thus, when Bank of Ghana (BOG) fixes its prime rate, interest rates are adjusted depending on the direction of the prime rate.There is however a positive relationship between prime rate and interest rates. When pri me rate is set high or low interest rates are also fixed relatively high or low. For instance, interest rates followed a declining pattern in 2003. The monetary policy committee of BOG revised the prime rate downwards from 21. 5% in 2003 to 18. 5% in 2004. In line with this downward revision, the commercial banks’ base rates dropped from an average of 29. 0% to 25. 4%. Interest rates for the 91-day treasury bill dropped from 18. 71% at the beginning of the year to 17. 8% at the close of December 2004. The inter-bank interest rate also dropped from 17. 12% in January to 16. 23% at the end of December. Interest rates, however, low or high have both favourable and adverse effects on the economy of a country. During periods of high interest rates investment falls and savings increase and vice versa in the case of low interest rates. The table and graph below shows interest rates, 1998-2004 and interest rate margins respectively. YEAR1998199920002001200220032004 SAVINGS22262929. 2 525. 232319. 25 TIME DEPOSITS914. 7513. 520. 520. 1418. 515. 5Holders of stocks lose during periods of high interest rates and holders of money (cash) gain though money earns zero interest. In periods of economic boom, high interest rates might be needed to check inflation, while low interest rates will be needed to stimulate investments and create employment in recessions. In between these two extremes, interest rates are adjusted up or down depending on prevailing economic conditions. High interest rates will slow down the economy and cripple the private sector. Investors cannot access funds from financial institutions, thus creating low level of investments.It will also be tempting to invest available funds in high yielding bonds than in infrastructural business investments. This will reduce spending, shrink national output and bring down inflation. Low level of investments will therefore create unemployment. The central bank reacts by lowering interest rates using the sight depo sit rate (inter-bank transaction rate with commercial banks also referred to as the key rate). Low interest rates stimulate the economy. Investors can access low-cost capital for investment. Employment increases, and the national output increases.Low interest rates therefore allow for borrowing and spending, but then, inflation will also pick up. As inflation picks up, companies can increase employment, since real wages decrease. Successive increase in interest rate leads to inflation. Inflation however bad for an economy also leads to reducing unemployment rates since there is a negative relationship between inflation rate and unemployment rate. CONSEQUENCES OF HIGH INTEREST RATES IN THE GHANAIAN ECONOMY. High interest rates have certain repercussions in the Ghanaian economy. Prior to 1987, there was a decline in economic growth and development in Ghana due to high interest rates.Current high interest rates on bank loans (over 25%) and treasury bills (17%) have been a serious imped iment to raising capital in the local market. private sector growth in Ghana has been constrained by limited financing opportunity for private investments. High interest rates lead to crowding out of the private sector in the money market; it makes available loanable funds to the government. Thus, lenders of loanable funds shift lending to only the government with the surety that there is 100% safety in retrieving their money since they believe that governments do not die.Studies done in the past show that the growth process in Ghana has been driven mostly by public investments. As a result, some have attributed the lack of accelerated growth to a combination of weak investment and low productivity from the private sector. Hence the current government in its manifesto promised to make the private sector the engine of growth by providing the right socio-economic framework. For example, the government through the monetary policy committee of the bank of Ghana (BOG) managed to reduce t he Bank’s Prime Rate from 21. % in 2003 to 18. 5% in 2004 and currently down from 15. 5% at the beginning of 2006 to 14. 5%. When the prime rate fell, the BOG was expecting a corresponding decrease in commercial bank lending rates but its evident that the private sector is not responding to such developments; commercial bank lending rates have ranged between 18. 5% and 33. 5% as indicated by the Governor of the BOG. This has been a major concern for small and medium scale enterprises that cannot access loans at these exorbitant rates to expand their activities High interest rate may lead to increase in debt ratio that is, when interest rate is set high, cost of governments borrowing increases, interest payments increases and total debt increases. When government wants to finance its debt, it either prints out or borrows money to finance its debt. However if the government wants to avoid the former which usually leads to inflation, it falls on borrowing to finance its debt. Th ese borrowings also attract interest payment which increases the total debt payment in economy.For instance, profile of interest rates in Ghana reveals the real rates ranging from 10% to 21. 7% in 1996 to 1999. The high rates which are more than 100% between 1996 and 1999 worsen the debt burden. It is clear that since1997, borrowing from domestic sources was not even enough to finance the deficit as a result of high interest payments, thus for the last half of the 1990’sthe country had to borrow externally and/or print money to finance the deficit. For instance, in 1995 change in domestic debt was 200. 9 billion cedis but interest payment was 232. billion cedis which is over and above the change in domestic debt. As in year 2000 change in domestic debt was just 855. 5 billion cedis but interest payment was1446. 2 billion cedis over and above the change in debt. Consequently, as a result of the borrowing (i. e. domestic and external) it contributed to a high rate of growth of our debt that led to a state of bankruptcy in which the government failed to honour its debt obligation. As a result, in 2001 the Ghanaian economy was declared H. I. P. C. ?The need for the government to make interest payments on large debt may contribute to inflation.For example ,inflation may result if the government decides to finance interest payment, not by collecting taxes, instead by borrowing. For instance, prior to year 2000, the government of Ghana depended on borrowing to finance its debt as a result inflation recorded at that period was very high ( i. e. 41%). ?At very high rate of interest people hold bonds or save money rather than investing. Inflation occurs as a result of higher prices of goods and services, cost of living become very high, the poor and low income earners suffer economic hardships.Between 1980 and 1983 in Ghana, inflation was very high not forgetting interest rate as well. This led to economic hardships in 1983. ?High interest rate deprives both loca l and foreign investors from investing in the economy. This disturbs economic growth and development. In Ghana, when interest rates are high foreign investors invest in capital goods rather than in productive ventures. In spite of the consequences of high interest rate, there are also some benefits. The truism that high interest rate contributes to high inflation rate reduces unemployment ratio in the economy.In Ghana for instance, the economy has achieved respectable rate of GDP growth averaging over 4% in the 1990s as compared to the negative average growth rate over the period 1970 -1983. However, the average inflation rate fell to about 19% in 1998 relative to 122% in 1983 due to increase in employment levels or a reduction in unemployment levels as one of the factors responsible for this trend. ?High interest rate serves as a tool for monetary control in the economy. Through the use of the open market operation (OMO), where the economy is operating beyond its full employment le vel.That is when it is considered as being hot; the rate of interest can be increased by the central bank in the purchases of previously issued governments bonds. This mops up excess liquidity thereby reducing the money supply in the economy. The result is that demand for money now exceeds money supply thereby bidding up interest rate. This slows down the growth rate to an acceptable level enabling the economy to operate at full employment level. ?During periods of high interest rate, financial institutions records very high turn-overs. Governments tend to earn high tax revenue through taxes charged on banks’ turnovers.The bank of Ghana’s annual report (1997), recorded a high turn-over as a result of high interest rates as shown in the table below . The Central Bank maintained its rediscount rate at 45. 00per cent throughout the year under review. Money market rates were also fairly stable in the year. The 91-day Treasury Bill discount rate for example remained at 42. 80 per cent through November before declining to 42. 48 per cent at the end of the year. The commercial banks’ borrowing rates were also generally stable throughout the year. Rates for savings deposits moved up slightly from 22. 50-31. 0% to 22. 50-32. 00% and the range for call money from 25. 00-31. 00% to 24. 00-34. 00% per annum. The bank’s lending rates however, showed some upward trends. Rates for the Agricultural sector (usually the lowest) moved up from 30. 00 –47. 00% to 35. 00 – 49. 00% per annum while that for the miscellaneous (usually the highest) rose from 41. 50 – 48. 00% per cent to 41. 50 – 51. 00% per annum. INTEREST RATES (Percent Per Annum) 1994199519961997 DecemberDecemberDecemberDecember 1. CENTRAL BANK a. Rediscount Rate (Bank Rate)33. 0045. 0045. 0045. 00 b. Treasury Bill Discount Rate(91days)29. 040. 5042. 8042. 48 2. DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS A. Borrowing Rates. (%) i. Demand deposits4. 00-13. 445. 00-10. 005. 00-10. 005. 00-15. 00 ii. Savings Deposits13. 75-22. 5021. 50-31. 0022. 50-31. 5022. 50-32. 00 iii. Time Deposits 1 month22. 00-26. 5026. 00-32. 5029. 00-37. 0029. 00-37. 00 3 months14. 50-31. 0025. 00-36. 0025. 00-40. 5025. 00-39. 00 6 months14. 75-31. 0022. 75-37. 0032. 00-39. 2532. 00-39. 50 12 months14. 00-31. 0023. 50-36. 0027. 75-39. 5027. 75-39. 75 24 months22. 00-29. 2524. 00-35. 0027. 50-35. 0024. 00-35. 00 36 months26. 50-29. 0035. 0035. 0030. 00-38. 00 iv.Certificate of Deposits13. 75-24. 5023. 50-37. 0025. 00-37. 0025. 00-37. 00 v. Call Money25. 00-33. 5024. 00-34. 00 vi. Any other20. 00-24. 0022. 50-25. 0022. 50-33. 0022. 50-33. 00 B. Lending Rates. (%) i. Agriculture, Forestry & Fishing22. 50-35. 5028. 00-47. 0030. 00-47. 0035. 00-49. 00 ii. Export Trade20. 38-35. 5034. 25-47. 0030. 00-47. 0035. 00-49. 00 iii. Manufacturing26. 00-35. 5033. 00-47. 0039. 00-47. 0039. 00-49. 00 iv. Mining & Quarrying29. 00-37. 5030. 00-47. 5035. 00-47. 5035. 00-49. 00 v. Construction29. 00-37. 5039. 00-47. 5041. 00-47. 5041. 50-49. 00 vi. Other Sector29. 00-37. 039. 00-47. 5041. 50-48. 0041. 50-51. 00 Source: Bank of Ghana During the year under review, total outstanding credit granted by commercial banks to public institutions and the private sector increased by ? 474. 8 billion or 64. 8 per cent to ? 1,207. 2 billion. This compares with an increase of ? 299. 8 billion or 69. 3 per cent in the previous year. The Commerce and Finance sector recorded the highest increase of ? 84. 5 billion followed by Cocoa Marketing sector which registered an increase of ? 78. 2 billion. Significant increases were also recorded in outstanding credit to Manufacturing (? 1. 5 Billion), Construction (? 53. 2 billion), Services (? 49. 7 billion), Mining and Quarrying (? 36. 7 billion) and Import Trade (? 18. 8 billion). Credit for Cocoa financing showed an unusually large increase as a result of financial accommodation given to COCOBOD in the face of a larger than expected crop size. In conclusion, the various levels of interest rate (that is high or low) affect the economy in diverse ways (i. e. positively and negatively). However the optimum benefits derived from those varying levels of interest rates depends on prudent economic management.The interest rate problem does not rest with Government and the Bank of Ghana only but also the commercial banks. The rising rates of interest are acts perpetuated by the banks for more profit and these rates charged by the commercial banks are just too high and that is what hurt investors. In addition, the banks impose charges and commissions which are completely inexplicable. REFERENCES: ?Business and Financial times issue number 689 ?Bank of Ghana Annual report (1997) ?The state of the Ghanaian economy (2004) ?The internet (Nii K. Sowa, CEPA, Inflation and interest rate fixation in Ghana) ?Article by Ampong Owusu Kwabena -Bsc engineering KNUST, Masters in international business (NORWAY), and Masters in Financial Economics (NORWAY). ?Man aging Ghana’s Dept. – Nii K. Sowa, CEPA, Accra ?Henderson and Poole; Principles of Economics ?David C. Colander: Economics ?Miller, R. L and D. D. Van Hoose; Money, Banking and Financial Market ? Miskkin F. S: The Economics of Money and Banking and Financial Markets ? Dr. Henry D. Jackson: An Introduction to Macroeconomics 1999 ? Dr. Henry D. Jackson- McConnell Brue: Economics, 5th Edition.

Seven Essential Ingredients of a Good Working Relationship

Seven Essential Ingredients of a Good Working Relationship While it’s not always easy to get along with your coworkers, it’s a worthwhile endeavor: good working relationships are more important than ever in today’s increasingly collaborative work environments. Unfortunately, this can sometimes be easier said than done. It’s not impossible, however. Get a proactive jump on forming positive workplace relationships by implementing these seven simple yet productive methods. 1. Communication CountsOpen lines of communication are critical to all relationships - both in and out of the office. Different people have different needs and preferences. Understanding your co-workers’ needs and delivering on them can help you not only enjoy a better working relationship, but also maximize productivity.Does he/she prefer email, phone or face-to-face meetings? Are daily check-ins preferable to weekly updates? Establishing ground rules for how and when you’ll communicate eliminates confusion, irritation, and other ne gative emotions in the workplace.2. Show RespectJust as your work is your top priority, so are your fellow co-workers’ roles and responsibilities of equal priority to them. Be on time to meetings, treat everyone with courtesy, and honor the time and space of others.3. Be PositiveWhile there’s a time and place for venting, the workplace during work hours is not it. Avoid complaining about your boss and co-workers on the job. Not only does this damage others’ perception of you as a professional person, but it also promote a culture of negativity.Rather than becoming part of the problem, commit to becoming part of the solution. If workplace problems are prevalent, brainstorm ideas toward their solution. This is far more productive than griping to anyone who will listen and risking your own reputation in the process.4. Listen UpEveryone has the potential to make a difference in the workplace - regardless of level or position. Encourage and welcome ideas from others , and refrain from disparaging or belittling them.This doesn’t mean you have to accept and implement bad ideas, but it does mean treating people - and their ideas - with the same courtesy with which you’d want to be treated.Plus, you never know when someone’s idea will turn into an unexpected solution for an ongoing challenging.5. Speak UpYou have a unique set of knowledge, expertise and ideas. Sharing these with your team members not only has potential to make positive change, but also gives your co-workers a better sense of who you are and what you have to offer.In addition to sharing your ideas, it’s also essential to share your gratitude. If a fellow employee has helped out with a task or made a positive contribution to a project, acknowledging their efforts can go a long way to building a sense of teamwork.6. Be AccountableAs Big Bird himself famously crooned, â€Å"Everyone makes mistakes.† Errors are a fact of life. In most cases, theyâ₠¬â„¢re recoverable. What’s not recoverable? Making a mistake and putting the blame on another co-worker. If you miss a deadline or mess up an assignment, own it.Conversely, when co-workers miss deadlines or mess up assignments, don’t sell them out to management. Give them the opportunity to remedy their mistakes, and offer your assistance along the way. Your support when they need it now may mean their support when you need it later.7. Follow UpAlong the same lines as being accountable, it’s also essential to follow up on your obligations. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you’re unable to complete the promised task, promptly inform your co-worker or boss. Again, missing deadlines is understandable, but attempting to cover up or run from setbacks may lead to disaster. Trust between co-workers is paramount, and following up on your commitments is an essential component in developing trust.While you and your co-workers may never be b esties, there’s no reason you can’t overcome personal differences and work together as a team. These seven tips and tricks can get you on track to professional relationships which aren’t just tolerable, but fulfilling.

Dutchman summary essays

Dutchman summary essays LeRoi Jones "Duchman" was first presented at The Cherry Lane Theatre, New York City on March 24, 1964. Dutchman takes place "in the flying underbelly of the city" in a subway train. It is about a conflict between middleclass black male and a flirtitious white women. LeRoi Jones main focus is on racial discrimination and racial hatred. Twenty year old Clay, a Black man is riding the train. The train slow after a while, Clay exchange a smile with an unknown face on the platform and then started reading his magzine again. Then train roars, Lula Thirty-year-old tall, beautiful women enters the train. She stops beside Clay and takes the seat next to him[Clay]. Clay is the representative of the assimilation faced by many of the black middle class through white`s like Lula. She seems to hate Clay, explaining him that he has a "type" she has often seen. She guesses that he has a black friend named Warren Enright with "phony english accent" and She also comments on his dress by questioning him that "what right you have to be wearing a three-button suit and stripped tie, your grandfather was a slave, he did`nt go to Harvard". Lula insists Clay that she knows the truth about him that his clothes won`t hide his blackness. He can`t be free from heritage of slavery and she can`t be free from the heritage of oppression. Lula direct the flow of conversation through out the first half of the play. Only after Clay express a sexual intreast in Lula, she fall mute. In scene two Clay become more Black. Lula was dancing in the aisle," you middleclass bastard. you would-be Christian. you ain`t no niger, you`re just a dirty white man". Clay finally answer her back. He slap her across her mouth as hard as he can. Clay know that it is insane to conceal his blackness, either he can continue his insanity in this white world or he can releive his insanity by murder. But he chooses to s ...

Weak Legal Environments in Asia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Weak Legal Environments in Asia - Essay Example While in 1977 the economic crisis was triggered by the Thai baht, this time the crisis began on Wall Street. Many South Koreans are of the opinion that their economy is vulnerable to western market panic and destabilization because it is more transparent and open to foreign capital than its neighbors3. This is the reason that countries like Japan and China have not been as seriously affected by the global crunch as South Korea has been. However the reason behind South Korea being affected is that the Korean banks have huge foreign debts unlike the neighboring nations and as the global credit market dried up, the banks were in trouble as they needed dollars to repay the maturing foreign currency loans. What added to the pressure was that the foreign banks refused to roll over the existing loans. Before the 1997 crisis occurred in the Asian countries, the corporate sector in Korea showed very high debt-equity ratios and low profitability and they were still expected to yield high profitability.4 Such crises do not occur overnight and in Korea even ten years before the actual meltdown took place, the return on capital fell short of the oppurtunity cost. Profitability declined even after control of firm-specific and industry-specific factors and the macro-economic conditions. The rate of return on assets (ROA) was much lower in Korea than in other countries. The corporate governance in Korea was very weak as the system failed to provide sufficient monitoring and discipline. The larger firms did not face exit threats and the Korean laws protected incumbent controlling shareholders.5 Because of the Korean family structure, in the chaebols or the business groups, ownership is heavily concentrated to the extent that an individual has almost total control over all the firms within the group.

Narration Paper Prompt Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Narration Paper Prompt - Essay Example Being a student I steadily realized that the society itself differentiate between male and female. I am a female and soon I got friends with both males and females in my class. Two boys and one girl of them became my best friends. We used to do each and everything together, play games, lunch parties, every single thing which calls for some get to gather fun. My class occupied a male class teacher, who used to be responsible for our every act in school, outside the class boundaries. His name was James Scott, and we used to call him Professor James. Professor James was a teacher of Math in school. Outside he was a very friendly and generous teacher, but inside opposite to what he seemed. I never jumped into the diplomatic face of his, until an incident happened which showed Professor James hidden face. As you all know the students do some silly things also at their school times, especially along with support of boys. One day the two male best friends of mine, Nick & Harry brought some alcohol and weed to the school and planned to try them along with me and Tina for the first time. Everybody knows that smoking and alcohol is banned for us until we turn out to be 21. Likewise every school abides by this rule strictly, for their students. When Nick told me about this plan, I refused in the first place. But then Harry and Tina forced me that its nothing more than just fun, and trying just for once won’t kill me or them either. The plan was to try weed and alcohol after the Math class, in math class room, because no other classes were used to be conducted in that room for next two hours. The math class was the last class in the ground floor at the corner. Eventually, I agreed with my friends to go for this illegal act in the school itself. According to the plan we waited for the class to get empty after the math’s lecture. As soon as the