Catholic Social Teaching Essay Example for Free

Catholic Social Teaching Essay * is a body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state. Its foundations are widely considered to have been laid by Pope Leo XIIIs 1891 encyclical letter Rerum Novarum, which advocated economic Distributism and condemned both Capitalism and Socialism, although its roots can be traced to the writings of Catholic thinkers such as St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine of Hippo, and is also derived from concepts present in the Bible. * The Catholic Social Teaching has two basic characteristics, namely, being permanent and developing. * Permanent -Since the teachings are based on the Gospel, they offer a permanent complex idea to be pursued in the ever changing historical conditions and ways. These teachings can never go out of date in their fundamentals. Examples of these permanent teachings are exemplified in the following principles: 1. Human dignity and Solidarity 2. Social justice and Christian love 3. Active non-violence and peace 4. Preferential option for the poor 5. Value of human work 6. Universal destinations of all goods of the earth 7. Stewardship and the integrity of creation 8. People empowerment 9. Authentic and holistic (integral) human development * Developing -The fundamentals of Church Social Teaching make up the steadily growing collection of the Church’s social principles that must be creatively applied to and renewed in ever changing concrete situations of various events, cultures, and human needs in the historical process. Deeper insights into permanent values develop as the Church reads the signs of the times. * Methods and Sources 1. Scripture. The authoritative books which record the Jewish and Christian   experiences of God’s self-disclosure. Scripture reveals who God is and who we are called to be in response to God. Interpretation of Scripture requires attention to historical context and is best done in community. 2. Tradition: the ways of thinking and living that are â€Å"handed over† (traditio) from one generation to the next; an ongoing conversation across the ages about our most important questions. Also the body of theological reflection and the ways of putting this reflection into practice that are â€Å"handed over† (traditio) from one generation to the next. Magisterium: official teaching office of church and authoritative voice of tradition. While theologians, activists, and ordinary Catholics make contribute to this body of theological reflection in important ways, a privileged source of Catholic tradition is the magisterium or the official, authoritative teaching office of the church. This official teaching office is exercised by Catholic Bishops, and in particular the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), as well as groups appointed by the Pope. This teaching is expressed in the form of a) papal encyclicals; b) encyclicals of Church Councils (such as Vatican II) or Synods of Bishops, c) statements by Vatican offices, congregations, and commissions; d) Episcopal conferences (regional meetings of Bishops, such as the National Conference of Catholic Bishops in the United States). 3. Reason. The natural human capacity to know truth. The way we interpret and understand Scripture, Tradition, and experience. * Reason as Natural Law The preeminent form of reasoning for much of Catholic tradition has been natural law reasoning. To understand Catholic natural law reasoning, one must get inside a whole worldview, culture, and language within Catholic tradition. Natural law holds that God’s intentions are expressed in the order that God â€Å"built into creation.† This order takes the form of â€Å"natures† or intelligible patterns of being. Humans are capable of knowing this order by reflecting upon creation. As humans we must first recognize our nature and act according to it so as to fulfill our created nature. For example, humans by nature (or by creation) have a â€Å"built in† instinct for self-preservation. Aquinas argues that to use appropriately limited violence in self-defense is good because it is to act according to our God-given nature. (God’s creation is good). * Four Levels of Law St. Thomas Aquinas defines law is â€Å"an ordering of reason† (ordinatio rationis) or the most important way that reason rules or measures actions. He describes four levels of law: a. Eternal Law: the mind (ratio) of God which orders and governs creation b. Divine Law: the explicit revelation of the mind of God in Scripture c. Natural Law: the expression of the mind of God in the order that God has built into creation. This order takes the form of natures or patterns of being that humans can know by using their reason to reflect on creation. For example, because humans by nature (or creation) have a built in instinct for self-preservation, limited self-defense is in accord with our God-given nature. See Romans 2:14-15 d. Human Law: human attempts to formulate laws that reflect the natural law. * Two Interpretations of Human Nature There have been two major strains of interpretation of human nature: a) â€Å"nature as physical†Ã¢â‚¬â€humans must respect their biological â€Å"givenness† or the physical order (ex. artificial contraception interferes with the natural order of sexual intercourse whereas the rhythm method respects this order.) b) â€Å"nature as rational†Ã¢â‚¬â€humans must act in accord with reason; they must seek to discover and fulfill their fullest purpose. Biology does not trump other cues in discovering â€Å"nature.† Instead, we must look to all sources of human wisdom in order to discover how things are meant to be. The pope reasons that the purpose of property is for the good of all creation but a limited right to private property is consistent with human dignity and human wisdom about how well people take care of common property. 4. Experience. Our encounter with the world both past and present. Christian tradition privileges the experience of those at the margins of society—the poor and the oppressed. In Catholic social thought experience is enriched and expanded by a four step process of interpretation and reflection which I will call â€Å"the interpretive circle†. a. experience: insert yourself into a situation, see what is going on, and gather necessary information b. social analysis: â€Å"What are the structural or â€Å"root† causes of injustices?† â€Å"What are the patterns of action that reinforce these injustices?† c. theological reflection: â€Å"What light does faith, especially as expressed in Scripture and Catholic social teaching, shed upon our experience and social analysis?† â€Å"Where is God in this situation and how might we respond to God’s call to us?† d. practical planning: â€Å"What are the most faithful, creative, and effective ways of acting upon the first three steps?† * How does Catholic tradition use these four sources? 1. They serve as checks and balances to each other. Each should inform and complement the other in critical dialogue. 2. â€Å"Reason informed by faith.† Reason and faith penetrate each other and form a unified way of approaching problems. Scripture and Christian Tradition provide the overall story, worldview, and values that serve as the framework for moral reasoning.

Los Angeles Kings Marketing Plan Essay Example for Free

Los Angeles Kings Marketing Plan Essay I. Executive Summary The NHL has seen its fairs share of storied franchises, but non-however may stick out more than the Los Angeles Kings. At one time the Kings had acquired arguably, the best player to ever lace up his skates in Wayne Gretzky and were competing for the Stanley Cup year-in-and-year-out. The Kings have been long regarded as one of the better ran franchises in sports, thanks to managements commitment to winning. However, the Kings have not managed their ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup, they manage to remain competitive every year. The closest they came was in 1993, where they lost to the Montreal Canadians in the Stanley Cup Finals. Behind the play on the ice though comes a marketing strategy that ties it all together. This strategy will be developed in conjunction with, Vice President of Marketing Jonathon Lowe, and team owners Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski Jr. The following strategy will include sales, promotions, merchandising, advertising/sponsorships, public relations, and then of course community relations. The Kings came to the NHL in 1966, as apart of the â€Å"new 6† that doubled the size of the NHL and brought a franchise to Southern California. Then owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, Kent Cooke brought his passion for the sport of hockey, and for the city of Los Angeles together when he created the organization. After 44 seasons of hockey the Kings are now one of the more storied franchises in the NHL today. This past season the Kings enjoyed a great fan turnout averaging 18,803 fans filling the building to an average of 99.8% capacity, up 6% from the previous season. The Kings do not have to compete with the LA Lakers or Clippers of the NBA so much being as how all three teams play out of the Staples Center, but in a city like LA where the entertainment dollar is more competitive now than ever, it is important for the Kings to stay ahead of the rest of the competition. Fans need to know that they have the opportunity to catch the most exciting game on ice, every time the Kings play at home. If there is one thing LA fans are notorious for it is only coming to â€Å"important† games. That is why we need to branch out to new fans and make sure old fans still know the Kings run this town. II Sales: Sales, the lifeblood of any organization, the biggest factor that separates a successful franchise to a non-successful franchise. The Kings currently have their season ticket plan broken up into several different categories they include, full/half season ticket plans, along with 10-game deals, a Wild West package, and then single/group ticket sales. Also there are Royal benefits made available to full/half season ticket holders, and 10-game ticket holders. By becoming a season ticket holder be it full, half, or a 10-game plan the fan is entitled to Royal benefits that include but are not limited to: * Stanley Cup Playoff Ticket Priority * Significant saving on tickets * Flexible interest free payments * 10% off at the team LA Store * Ability to purchase advance tickets to other events at the Staples Center, Home Depot Center, LA LIVE and more * Ability to purchase Staples Center pre-paid parking They also include Royal Service Programs that include: * Access to a personal Season Ticket Service Executive * Kings CARE donation program (this gives the ticket holder the opportunity to donate unwanted tickets to the Kings CARE foundation) * Ability to upgrade account or add tickets to account * Access to LAKings.com/seasontix this website give the fan the option to view their account, access tickets, make payments, renew tickets, and sell tickets on Ticketmaster’s TicketExchange They also include Royal Treatment: * Receive invites to exclusive Team Member events like, a Meet the Players Party, State of the Franchise, private practices, listen in on conference calls, and much much more * Refer a friend to season tickets and receive free Team LA gear. The Kings play 82 regular season games in the Western Conference, Pacific division. Of these 82 games 41 are played at home, the rest on the road. For all 41 home games the ticket sales are as follows: The Kings offer great deals to buy tickets in bulk, i.e. season tickets and are willing to sacrifice some profits to bring fans into the arena. The only thing that the Kings lack in their season ticket packages are names that people can get excited for. The full season ticket holder package will be renamed the â€Å"King’s Royal Court†, this is something that will help the fan feel more connected to the team. The half season ticket holder package will be known as â€Å"the Royal package of the Crown†. The 10-Game packages needed names with a little more spunk so instead of the 10-Game, Big Game package, it will be known as the â€Å"10-Game War† to because it is war on the ice and the team will be playing some of the best competition the NHL has to offer. The Weekend Plan could be renamed â€Å"Time Away From the Throne†, because it is a weekend and people typically do not have to work. I like the name of the Flex package because it tells the consum er exactly what they are getting. Following package sales are individual ticket sales and group ticket sales. Single game tickets can be purchased through the box office or the team’s website via Ticketmaster. Pricing for tickets are based on demand, opponent, day of week, and number of days before the game. Prices may vary from week to week and will go up or down each Wednesday based on these factors. The way the price for tickets is determined is very interesting, it is good for the fans and bad for the fans, because the system relies heavily on what games being played and there performance of the team. This gives fans with a lower level of income the ability to catch a Kings game, even though the opponent might not be that good. Group tickets are available to groups of 15 or more and offer value priced seating based on the game. The idea behind group seating is to bring the groups, pride, passion, and power to the Staples Center to support the LA Kings. The Kings work with multiple youth hockey organizations, along with other organizations throughout the area to achieve group sales. III Promotions The Kings do an excellent job with promotions to get fans into the arena, different nights of the week have a different theme, all of which appeal to the people who live in the Los Angeles area. The promotions schedule is as follows: * Oct. 18: Opening Night * Oct. 22: Law Enforcement Appreciation Night * Oct. 25: Kroq Tailgate, Hockey fights cancer * Nov. 3: Canadian Heritage Night * Nov. 5: Waste Management â€Å"Green Game† * Nov. 8: Native American Pride Night, USC vs UCLA * Nov. 12: Boy Scout Night * Dec. 1: Career Night * Dec. 10: Legends Night, Firefighter Appreciation Night * Jan. 2: Legends Night * Jan. 5: Faith Family Night * Jan. 9: Russian Heritage Night * Jan. 12: Waste Management â€Å"Green Game† * Jan. 19: Jewish Pride Night * Jan. 23: Armenian Pride Night * Feb. 18: Legends Night, Black History Night * Mar. 3: Waste Management â€Å"Green Game† * Mar. 22: Law Enforcement Night presented by Enterprise Rent-a-center Along with these promotions that are geared towards promoting community bonding there is Military Mondays which honors those who have served in our military, Website Wednesdays which offer different deals on Wednesday of ever week, and Student Nights which are games that offer discounted tickets to all students with valid ID. IV Merchandising Merchandising deals with all aspects of the game, it is the difference between any old game and a sporting event. The fact that when a fan enters the Staples Center they are welcomed to a sea of black and purple and blinded by the Kings crown is what makes a Kings game a Kings game. The Kings are fortunate to have a very intensive website dedicated to Merchandise that includes jerseys, tee shirts, golf shirts, sweatshirts, and much more. The goal behind the Kings merchandising techniques is that everyone who walks into Staples Center better be wearing some type of Kings memorabilia and if they are not they better walk out with something on. In the arena itself there is a store dedicated to offering women’s apparel. The store had pink and form fitting hockey jerseys for women because the normal jerseys are too big. The store also had Kings shirts that are a little more flashy than normal and would appeal more to a women’s eye. Along with the women’s store there are several stores in the arena that are designed for children. These stores have Kings toys and mini hockey sticks, plus clothes and jerseys designed for children to wear. All along the arena there are places for men to buy merchandise they include jerseys, hats, tee shirt, sweatshirts, hockey pucks and much more. Some of the more popular items are the shirts designed for women, golf balls and hockey puck with the Kings logo on it. The Kings have a very recognizable brand and are amongst the top teams in revenue generators for the NHL. V Sponsorships The Kings have formed multiple corporate sponsorships that help fuel their organization. Most notably is Staples, whom own the naming right to the arena they play in but that is also in conjunction with the Lakers, Clippers, and city of Los Angeles. On top of that the Kings have teamed up with Verizon Wireless and Wells Fargo both of which are huge national organizations. The Kings also pair up with corporations to bring events to games. The Kings have deals wit h Pizza Hut to sponsor events, Waste Management sponsors â€Å"Green Games† for the Kings, and Kroqs also sponsored a themed game promotion. Sponsorships are a huge part of revenue and the best way to attract new sponsors is to attract fans. Some suggestions that the Kings could use would be to get a company to sponsor some type of ticket deal, it would reduce the cost to the consumer, and could come with coupons to use at the sponsoring company’s facilities. Another sponsorship idea is to have corporate sponsored events like a golf outing for charity or something of that nature. The Kings have the luxury have having a giant billboard that surrounds the ice they play on so corporate sponsors are not too hard to come by. Some notable sponsorships are Delta, Carl’s JR, Hooters, Toyota, and the Penalty Box, which is a bar located in South LA dedicated to the Kings. Another way the Kings could promote corporate sponsorship is through some type of wellness card. All card carriers would receive benefits to participating companies, and could include money off food, gas, or clothing. The card is something that can purchase through the LA Kings and will offer deals to its card carrier. VI Public Relations Public Relations are important to any organization and the Kings are no exception to this. The Kings already do an excellent job with their PR. The teams website is more than informative and gives fans a very hands on approach to press releases, game notes, and player stats/news. The idea behind good public relations is that by being perceived as good in the public’s eye will equate to more ticket sales and more support of the team. No one will support a team that is full of classless thugs, and that is why the website is so interactive. The fans have a chance to read up on their favorite players, see where they are from, and their career stats. That is fairly basic though, I propose each player prepares a short, quick, bio about themselves answering some fun questions like â€Å"what’s your favorite movie?,† â€Å"what’s your favorite food?†, â€Å"who is your favorite band?†. Questions that when answered will give the fan one more possible way to connect to their favorite athlete. Not only that, but by doing this it will give fans the chance to get to know new players. Another big part of PR is getting team new out their fast before the media gets the wrong story out there. The Kings have all updates on player personnel available on the team website and also through the teams’ Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Kings have 165-thousand Facebook fans and 49.6-thousand followers on Twitter. The Kings have really utilized social media as a positive tool while dealing with Public Relations. VII Community Relations Community Relations is similar to PR but deals more with the local community at hand rather than the view of the team under the national spotlight. For the Kings the city of LA has been very gracious hosts and the Kings have returned the favor significantly. The Kings have been in the area for the last 44 years and have maintained an excellent presence in the city. In 1996, the Kings started the Kings CARE Foundation, which is dedicated to helping less fortunate kids get through school by providing educational support the Kings were able to raise $3.5 Million since being started. This includes a $250-thousand donation that was used to help fund the Children’s Museum of Los Angeles, and another $250-thousand donation that was dedicated to AIDs victims. Another thing the Kings do is Kids Ice Knights, which donates over 10,000 tickets a year to kids who cannot afford to go to Kings games. The Kings Care Foundations hosts a silent auction every year that benefits the Children Cancer Research Fund, the items up for auction were tee shirts designed by team players and those associated with the Kings. The players all designed a dog bowl that were auctioned off, all proceeds of this went to the Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. The 2006-2007 campaign gave the Kings the opportunity to work with Carmen Electra’s fundraiser, Head to Hollywood, which benefits survivors of brain cancer/head trauma. The team sponsored events at their home games where Miss USA and other celebrities shot pucks into an empty net to raise money. Every Wednesday the Kings feature children up for adoption in the greater LA area. In 1998, the Kings began a scholarship fund for fallen friend Michael Jund, and has been changing the lives of its recipient for over a decade. Finally the Kings pair with Toys for Tots around the holidays to bring holiday cheer to children. The Kings take a very active role in the community. On top of all of this players are constantly visiting the less fortunate and making sure the community knows the Kings care. It is important for the Kings to maintain their strong community ties because every season starts with the off-season.

Financial Systems of Ghana and Nigeria

Financial Systems of Ghana and Nigeria Since the idea of Adam Smiths invincible hands also known as invincible hand of the market, the allocative power of the market has been generally recognised. These ideas have been reinforced by the apparent failure of Keynesian theories of government intervention to stand the test of time. As a result of the adoption of SAP (Structural Adjustment programme) by most developing countries including Ghana and Nigerian which are my main concentration, the debate of liberalization versus intervention has been rekindled. The major area of concentration is if these developing countries (Ghana and Nigeria) with imperfect markets have benefitted from recent liberalization efforts in the structural adjustment programme. Financial liberalization is usually an important component of a countrys strategy for economic growth. In an old fashion way, financial liberalization, has come to be most universally linked with freeing of interest rates, but now financial liberalization is seen as a process involving a much broader set of measures geared toward the elimination of various restrictions on the financial sector, such as the removal of portfolio restrictions on the banking sector, the reform of the external sector, and also changes in the workings of the monetary policy THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM OF GHANA AND NIGERIA. A key stylised fact about financial systems in developing countries is that they are dominated by commercial banks (Fry, I995, pp. 4-5; Rojas-Suairez and Weisbrod, I995, pp. 4) Ghana and Nigerias financial system consists of a large fragmented informal sector and formal sector. The formal sector is made up of central bank(Bank of Ghana and Central Bank of Nigeria) at the apex, with 42 commercial banks for both countries; Nigeria (26) and Ghana (16), development banks (Nigeria, (5), Ghana (3) , and merchant banks (30) Nigeria), (Ghana, (10), insurance companies, stock exchange, building society, community banks. The structure of Nigerias financial system will be explained below: Regulatory Authorities: they regulate the Nigerian financial system, and they include Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),), and the National Board for Community Banks (NBCB, National Insurance Commission (NIC). These regulatory authorities will be explained in detail below. 1. Federal Ministry of Finance: the role of this regulatory authority is to advise the Federal Government on its fiscal operation and make sure it follows whatever the central bank of Nigeria says concerning the monetary matters of the country. 2. FEDERAL MORTGAGE BANK OF NIGERIA (FMBN) The role of the is to provide banking and advisory services, and also to undertake research activities pertaining to housing. After the adoption of the National Housing Policy in 1990, The FMBN is empowered to licence and control main mortgage institutions in Nigeria and act as the peak regulatory body for the mortgage finance industry. 3. The central bank of Nigeria The central bank of Nigeria has the same responsibilities as the bank of Ghana. It was established by the central bank of Nigeria act of 1958 and commenced operation on July 1, 1959. Their major regulatory objective is to issue legal tender to the economy, banker of last resort, financial adviser to the government, enhance monetary stability and a good financial environment which will be of benefit to the country in the short and long run. the central bank of Nigerias success is partly as a result of the rise in crude oil prices. 4. The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation: Its role is to complement the supervisory and regulatory role of central bank of Nigeria (CBN). It has the right to examine the books and affairs of the insured banks in Nigeria and other deposit taking financial institutions. ORIGIN OF FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION IN NIGERIA Nigerias economy has always been dependent on oil prices since the early 1960s. As a result of the collapse of world oil prices and the reduction in the production of petroleum in the early 1980s, the nature of the countrys economic and financial position became very weak and vulnerable. This led to recession and economic deterioration. The economy was characterised by shortages in its foreign exchange, debt crises, negative economic growth and high rates of unemployment, Indeed, beginning from 1982, and through 1984, the country had become saddled with negative trends in economic growth as indicated by the decline in the gross domestic product (GDP) (0.35% in 1982; -5.37% in 1983; and -5.18% in 1984), persistent current account and budget deficits, a huge number of uncpmleted projects in the public sector, factory closures, large-scale retrenchment, acute shortages of essential commodities and galloping inflation, (Odusola,2001,p4). The government decided to carry out some short run stabilization measures, one of which was to foster employment through the creation of public sector jobs, this exerted more pressure on the budget, not withstanding that, public sector employment grew by a further 18 per cent between 1981and 1984. This policy promoted migration into cities, as the increases in government salaries during this period compared to that of the rural areas was more favourably. Urban migration and its attendant unemployment problems became even more pronounced in 1981 when the Government increased the minimum wage rate to the entry level salary of public sector employees. Urban unemployment increased significantly, from 2 ½ per cent in 1980 to 10 per cent in 1985, while rural unemployment rose from 4 per cent to 6 per cent over the same period. Real per capital income fell significantly as well, from US$1,010 in 1981 to US$850 in 1985 (Odusola, 2001, Pp4). Nigeria financial sector was characterised by rigid exchange and interest rate controls, sart orial allocation of bank credit (Okpara, 2010, P54), the naira was overvalued, all of which made the economy more exposed to risk of default and practically led to distortions that resulted into low direct investment, which in turn led to financial repression. it will be discussed more in-depth below. Financial repression discouraged investment in information capital; it also discouraged savings mobilization, in the sense that it was not vigorously pursued. The financial system incurred a lot of cost in financial intermediation, and it was as a result of inactive liquidity and liability management and incentives to increase efficiency. Not only was Nigeria the only country going through this problem of financial repression, much of the twentieth century saw intensified financial repression (Caprio et al, 2001 p5), for example, Ecuador, Uruguay, Mexico, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania etc, all had the problem of financial repression in their economy. As a result of the financial repression i n the economy, the government decided to adopt a financial sector reform to help increase the countries economy. The programme they adopted was called Structural adjustment programme (SAP). STRCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME IN GHANA AND NIGERIA. The Ghanaian economy also went through the same problems as the Nigerian economy during the early 1980s. They had similar problems as the Nigerian economy; which include, high default rates, high rates of inflation, weakened confidence in the financial system. These affected the ability of the banks to perform their intermediation function properly (Acquaye and Sowa, 1999, p395). The major objectives of this SAP were, among others, to: Restructure the economy in a way to reduce its dependence on oil as its main source of income. Revitalise the financial sector by creating new institutions Reduce fisal balance of payment problems Promote non-inflationary economic growth. The key policies designed to achieve these objective were: The liberalization of the external trade and payments system-dismantling of price, trade and exchange controls; Implementation of methods to encourage domestic production and expand the supply base of the economy; The setting up of a Second-Tier Foreign Exchange Market (SFEM) as a mechanism of realistic exchange rate. The rationalization and restructuring of public sector enterprises and overhauling of the public sector administrative structure. Reinforcement of important and strong demand management policies; More rationalisation and restructuring of tariffs in order to aid industrial diversification; The elimination of price controls and commodity boards; The key reforms that have already been implemented as part of the financial liberalization policies include; Changing of the concept of a credit ceiling with OMO(Open market operation) Promoting competition and efficiency in the financial system Liberalizing interest rate, exchange rate, but in general the financial sector. The financial sector reforms were thrown into crisis by the sequencing of reform measures and the lack of the necessary prerequisites for liberalization. Particularly, the deregulation of interest rate and the requirements for market entry led to the instability of the financial system. A series of corrective measures had to be adopted, raising questions of policy credibility (Aiyeetey et al, 1997, P196). THE STRUCTURAL ADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME: THEORETICAL BASIS Virtually every sub Saharan African country including Nigeria and Ghana experienced major changes in the overall direction of the national economic policy in the early 1980s. These policy reforms were implemented as an integral part of the structural adjustment programmes (SAP) prescribed by the World Bank and the stabilization programme of the international monetary fund (IMF) (Olasupo, 2005, p 7). The structural adjustment programme had a lot of objectives, but the major objective of this reform programme was to correct the alleged distortions which made sustained economic growth and recovery in the economies difficult. Notwithstanding the general decision of the countries to undertake the adjustment programme, there has since the start of the 1990 decade, been wide ranging argument surrounding the theoretical paradigm underlying the SAP and their suitability to African countries. The first which is the unrequited orthodoxy; it emphasizes how well the adjusters have done in compari son to non adjusters. According to this perspective, the regime of restricted inward looking policies resulted in over protected industrial structure, balance of payment problems (Olasupo 2005, p10). They also contend that development problems will be solved by more adjustment not less, with this they concluded that sub- Saharan African countries experienced poor macroeconomic growth and performance relative to their South East Asian counterparts, because economies in the former were exposed to long term government intervention and restrictive macroeconomic and sectorial polices. The modified orthodoxy sees adjustment programmes in an economy as a necessary but not sufficient condition for development, because adjustment is only capable of stabilizing economies in the short term. This orthodoxy believes that other measures must be put in place for African development to occur in the medium and long term. A strong proponent of this approach puts it, the most significant shortcoming o f current structural adjustment programs is the lack of logical linkage between the short-term objectives of attaining balance-of-payments equilibrium and improving allocative efficiency and the long-term objective of sustainable development Nguyuru Lipumba, (p. 9) FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND REPRESSION. Financial liberalization is the process of breaking away from a state of financial repression. Financial repression has been most commonly associated with government fixing of interest rates and its adverse consequences on the financial sector as well as on the economy. The term financial repression was originally coined by economists interested in less developed countries (LDCs) Gupta, 2004, Pp2. It originated in the works of Ronald I. McKinnon and Edward S. Shaw in the early 1970s, to describe a developing countrys environment, defining it as the set of government legal restrictions preventing the financial intermediaries in the economy from functioning at their full capacity level. The most common forms that this intervention takes are interest rate regulations, directed credit schemes, and high reserve ratios. The literature on financial repression stresses that because savings levels are sensitive to real interest rate, nominal interest rate controls; cumulative inflation reduces the amount of the national income. The benefits of financial repression, as opposed to financial liberalization, are debated on several points Ozdemir Erbil, (2008). In theory, it is believed that financial repression can make it better to control money supply in an economy and also control over interest rate which will induce investment. Another argument in favour of financial repression is that government controls on financial markets are needed for developing countries. In practice, financial repression appears to have yielded government revenue in the order of 2 % of GDP on average in samples of developing countries (Giovannini and de Melo, I 993; Fry et al. I 996, p. 36). The main conviction of the advocates for financial repression is that the government knows better than the market. The repression mechanism works through the interest rate and the exchange rates. Therefore moving from financial repression to financial liberalization would require extra budgetary measures and could create budgetary problems, Like in the case of Nigeria in the early 1980s when the government seeked to reduce unemployment in the urban areas and the outcome of this decision exerted more pressure on the budget. Financial liberalization may increase the fiscal deficit and the cost to finance, as the government loses revenues and is forced to pay more market-based interest rates on its existing debt. On the other hand, the most popular argument which favours financial liberalization is the rising growth effect by motivating savings and investment. Financial liberalization may increase the level of savings and improve the allocation of savings among potential investors. This will lead to the creation of more available funds and hence economic growth. Financial liberalization may decrease the cost of capital, but on the other hand, movements which cause the crises and macroeconomic instability may have a negative impact on economic growth Ozdemir and Erbil (2008). This debate highlights the need for further sound empirical evidence on the benefits of financial liberalization on economic growth, especially for small open economies of developing countries. FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND SAVINGS The advocates of financial liberalization do not seek to induce savings, but to promote and increase the volume and efficiency of capital formation. While financial reform can affect saving through various potential channels, on the whole its net effect is ambiguous.( Schmidt- Hebbel and Serven,2002, p2). Moreover saving is often considered beneficial for its financial dimensions. In open economies, raising national saving is a way to reduce the dependence on foreign saving, protecting the economy from external shocks. This is an important policy concern in a world of increasing financial integration. Together with a strong and well-capitalized financial system, saving represents a form of self -insurance to reduce the economys vulnerability to unexpected reversals of international capital flows. In this manner, saving can help reduce macroeconomic volatility, which empirically has been shown to hamper growth (Ramey and Ramey 1995; Fatà ¡s 2000). Various researchers have shown some empirical evidence that although financial liberalization results in higher interest rate and financial deepening , it does not really lead to higher savings. In majority of countries, financial reforms are followed by declines in savings (Okereke,2009). Bandiera et al (2000) estimated an econometric relationship Showing the private saving ratio as a function of the real interest rate and degree of openness as an index for financial liberalization, along with income, inflation and public savings. analyze the experience of eight countries that underwent significant reforms in their financial systems, namely Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Turkey and Zimbabwe. Foe this countries they measured the effect of liberalization on the volume of aggregate savings, their results Their results do not provide a clear answer on the impact of reforms on saving, as the effect appears significantly negative in some cases (Korea and Mexico), positive in some others (Greece and Turkey) and insignificant in the Indonesia, Malaysia, Zimbabwe, and Ghana. In a study similar to theirs i.e.(Bandiera et al), Loayza and Shanka(2000), used India as their country of observation, and the savings rate from India and found out that financial reform has not changed the savings rate, but moved the composition of savings in India towards a higher share of durable goods. Ostry and levey(1995), in their findings maintained that financial development as a result of liberalization reduced savings. Bennett et al(2001), in their work, also found a negative significant effect on savings. CONSEQUENCES OF FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION Policies that make an economy open to the rest of the world and they are needed for sustained economic growth. No country has achieved economic success, in terms of substantial increases in living standards for its people, without being open to rest of the world. Trade opening has been an important element in the economic success of East Asia, where the average import tariff has fallen from 30 percent to 10% over the past 20 years. Opening up economies to global economy has been essential in enabling many developing countries to develop competitive advantages in different sectors of their economy. Countries that have opened their economies in recent years, foe example India in 1991, have experienced faster growth rate and more poverty reduction, a proof is that following the economic reforms, the country began to develop a fast paced economic growth. India is the eleventh largest economy in the world There are some negative effects experienced by countries or the world in general in terms of their reform policies that has outweighs the benefits of such reforms, this statement can be applied to the effects of financial liberalization despite its benefits in terms of access to more capital inflows. Financial liberalization creates exposure to various kinds of risk and they include; a propensity to lead to financial internal and external financial crises, inadequate access to funds for small scale producers etc. Many researchers have carried out empirical studies on financial liberalization on financial fragility of the economy, and their conclusion is that liberalization increases the fragility of the financial system. According to (Demirguc-kunt detragiache), one of the reason why financial liberalization may lead to increased financial sector fragility is that the removal of interest rate ceilings and also the reduction of barriers to entry reduces bark franchise values, thus exacerbating moral hazards problems. The moral hazards problem is a special case of information asymmetry, a situation in which one party in a transaction has more information than another. Normally banks try to protect their franchise, and the risk of losing their franchise, but during a period of policy reform such as financial liberalization, where there is free entry in to the market or financial sector, so as a result of that there is more competition, this erodes franchise values. If the effort of reform does not incorporate adequate strengthening of the prudential regulations and supervision to realign incentives, lower franchise values are likely to lead to increased fragility (Stiglitz et al (2001) Tornell et al (2003), in their studies, they said that financial liberalization is bad for growth because it leads to crises. Their empirical analysis shows that in countries with harsh credit market imperfections, financial liberalization leads to a more rapid growth but also a more higher incidence of crises. They also argued that liberalization leads to faster growth because it eases financial constraints, but on one condition that this occurs if agents which are the government, investors and creditors take on credit risk which makes the economy fragile and prone to crisis.

How Diverse is B.E.T. :: essays research papers

The television and music industry is one of the main industries of today. I chose to research the company BET (Black Entertainment Television). BET is the number one black television network on television today and it is the only television show that does not have any white announcers or white based shows, everything is based on blacks and what is going on today in the lives of Black people.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  BET is a show for the ages and what I mean by that is that you will only ever hear about teenagers and young adults watching it, it is not a show that is centered around all age groups like MTV (Music Television). The people that BET is targeted towards are the group that is what makes the world go round.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But the problem with BET is that even though it targets the main age groups of the world, it only is targeted towards the black race and isn’t meant for whites. BET is not a very diverse company and they need to become one, but if they become more diverse they could actually loose the business they have now. It is the only show in the world that has no white television announcers and will not have any television shows that are white based and that would encourage white living.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  BET is one of those shows that plays all rap videos and goes around to the ghetto’s of the US and shows what life is really like outside of the yuppie lifestyle so many people think this world is like. It shows how things are and they shouldn’t change anything. If they changed the races they attracted then I believe they would loose money. BET is probably the only company that can get away with not being very diverse and still be successful. They will never be a diverse company and will never show diverse shows.

Breast Cancer :: Health, Diseases

Breast Cancer as the most common cancer in Iranian women affects women at least one decade younger than their counterparts in developed countries. The highest frequency of malignancies has been observed in the 40-49 age groups [1]. It is commonly accepted that estrogen and its receptor have an important role in the pathogenesis of breast malignancies. Breast tumors are classified based on ER status to ER negative and ER positive tumors. About 40% of breast tumors are ER negative [2]. ER negative tumors in comparison to ER positive tumors tend to have worse prognosis and less likely to respond to endocrine therapy. This type of tumor is more prevalent in younger patients. Triple negative breast tumors (without ERÃŽ ± and PR expression and Her2 amplification) are the most clinically aggressive ones. Considering to the challenging nature of ERÃŽ ± negative tumors treatment, and their innate poor prognosis, clarification of the molecular mechanisms that control expression of ERÃŽ ± is essential. This knowledge may enable us to modify the situation as such to restore sensitivity to endocrine therapies which provide us with opportunities for new therapeutic options for ERÃŽ ±-breast tumors [3]. Despite many studies on the mechanisms of negativity of ER in breast tumors, many details still need to be clarified [4],[5].The loss of ERÃŽ ± expression in breast cancer may result from different underlying causes such as structural changes within the gene or transcriptional silencing [6]. Abnormalities such as point mutations, deletions, loss of heterozygosity or polymorphisms within the gene have not shown to be frequent enough to explain ER negativity phenotype[6] [7]. In breast tumors such as other types of cancer, epigenetic alterations are common and are related to gene expression modification[8]. It has been shown that tumor suppressor genes promoter methylation gives growth advantages to malignant cells[9]. Because of the potential reversible nature of epigenetic gene silencing, epigenetic mechanisms have been under intense investigations in recent years [4, 6, 10, 11]. Regarding to evidences which have been resulted from several in vitro (cell lines) and in vivo (animal models) studies, it has been shown that the inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT) and histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes can reactivate ERÃŽ ± expression in ERÃŽ ± negative cells and restore response to endocrine therapy [12, 13]. These promising landscape encouraged researchers to focus on the relationship between ERÃŽ ±- phenotype and promoter methylation. However, heterogeneity of the cellular population in breast tumors and differences in

Peter in da Vincis Last Supper Essays -- Leonardo da Vinci Last Supp

Leonardo's The Last Supper depicts the sequence of events before Jesus's betrayal and crucifixion. Rather than merely a snapshot in time, The Last Supper seems to be a continuous sequence of events, and a foreshadow of events to come. Two interpretations of the subject of the painting come to mind: the betrayal announcement and the first communion. Observing the impulsive Simon Peter's interactions with Judas and John, Jesus and Thomas, it is clear that The Last Supper represents a conjoint presence of both the betrayal announcement and the institution of the Eucharist. The main theme behind The Last Supper is Jesus's death. Jesus came to earth to be crucified as the sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Man cannot become righteous by his own works and are thus condemned to hell. But Jesus comes as a sacrifice to pay for those sins and thus all who trust in him and give their lives to God will be forgiven of their sins. This is what the Eucharist represents. The bread is Jesus's body broken for man, and it symbolizes Jesus's sacrifice on the cross. From a secular viewpoint, the Eucharist means nothing, so the main theme is obviously Jesus's announcement of the betrayal. Jesus already knows that Judas will betray him and accepts it because the betrayal is but one part of God's plan. The reactions of the apostles as seen in the painting seem to differ, as some react to the betrayal while others appear to be receiving communion. Peter's placement on the left side of the painting and his placement between John and Judas reflects his character. The painting is divided with six apostles on either side of Jesus. The ones on the right are beside a lighted wall, whereas the ones on the left sink into the shadows. Peter is on the darke... ...himself claims: "Your tongue will be paralyzed... before you predict with words what the painter shows in a moment" (Steinberg, p. 53). Yet The Last Supper has become a masterpiece that has sparked many debates. Does it depict the first Holy Communion, or the prediction of the betrayal? Many have argued either way, and there are valid arguments for both. By examining the interactions of Peter with John, Judas, Jesus and Thomas, we see that indeed both events are represented. Instead of choosing to capture a single moment, Da Vinci's masterpiece covers past, present and future events and both the institution of the Eucharist and the betrayal announcement. The Last Supper is truly complete work of art in every way. Works Cited Holy Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 1996. Steinberg, Leo. Leonardo's Incessant Last Supper. New York: Zone Books, 2001.

Relationships Between Humans & Plants& Animals Essay

Humans, animals and plants have a great relationship with each other, they need each other, and they make each other’s lives better. Without plants and animals, human won’t be able to survive or can not live till now because humans need plants and animals to feed themselves. On the other hand, plants aren’t able to grow, too because they need to be taken care by humans. Therefore, human should protect both animals and plants. But human couldn’t take good care of animals, most of the animals in the forests are extinct because of human acts, they kill those animals carelessly for their own needs. Although, humans also do animal science to help them from terrible sickness and their strange behavior. In our time, we are smart compared to ancient people. At first, humans don’t know how to fly. But then humans get smarter and smarter and they started to associate themselves with new knowledge, educate animal and analyze chemicals and animal’s tissue. Then they learned how to make airplanes by using birds’ shape. In other words, humans also need animals to study about them and use them to improve their technology. Humans also use animals for their agricultural setting, animals’ wastes are also important for plants; they use those wastes as natural fertilizer in agriculture, more than that, animals help us to protect our home, we also use animals for other things like using their skin as clothes or purses, eating them, killing them for their paws, claws, tails, cutting off their head and use them as home decorations, illegal hunting and more surprisingly some humans just kill animals for fun. Because of our careless acts, more and more animal species are e xtinct. Hundreds of thousand years ago, ancient people didn’t know how to make medicine, so many of them died because of diseases. But later on, humans started to learn that they can use plants as medicine, they use their roots, leaves, branches and more. Humans first learnt how to float on water by using boats that are made from woods. Almost every part of a plant is important to both humans and animals. We also eat plants which have been categorized in to crops, fruits, seeds, and vegetables, and we use plants to feed our livestock, too. For example, cows eat grass, chickens eat grain†¦etc. Humans also cut down trees and use those fine woods to make wooden furniture and houses. Plants also help to take in carbon dioxide which we might get carbon dioxide poisoning or carbon dioxide intoxication by breathing it too much, and more importantly they produce oxygen which both animals and humans use for breathing. At the very beginning of Earth, Earth’s atmosphere contained only carbon dioxide, nitrogen and other gases. But it almost contained no oxygen. Some time later, plants started to grow on Earth and they produce oxygen until then there were lives on Earth. Plants attract rain and help us to protect our planet from the sun. So, plants play a very important role in our and animals’ lives. As we all have known how plants, animals and humans are important to each other. In my opinion, we should all care more about those plants and animals, we should all take the responsibilities to protect those animals from extinction and plant more trees to protect our world and for our benefits,