Healthcare Spending

The United States always have been known for acquiring the best health care system in the world. The United States spends a higher percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) and more for each fund about healthcare in comparison with other country in the world. The most effective health care establishments on this planet are in the U. S., people originate from everywhere to acquire quality health care in U. S. Physicians from different countries come to the United States for advanced training. These are â€Å"All† great things to say about the health care system but how does it affect the spending issues that U.S. is having? â€Å"The National Health Expenditure Accounts (NHEA) are the official estimates of total health care spending in the United States† (Health Data, 2007).LevelAccording to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (2013), from 2012, to 2013, wellness payments ended up being forecast to grow slightly from 3.8% to 4.2%. Private health care insuran ce were also predicted to grow, but the growth was diminished by consumer cost sensitivity. CMS also predicted Medicare spending too slow for 5.9% in 2012 to 1.3% in 2013, because there was a scheduled â€Å"30.9-percent physician payment rate reduction authorized under the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula, and an additional 2-percent payment reduction across all providers from the sequester under the Budget Control Act of 2011†.In 2014 CMS, projected worldwide health spending will elevate to 7.4 %, or 2.1 percentage-points rapidly, which will be Medicaid spending growth connected with 18. 0% as well as private health care insurance growth connected with 7. 9%. CMS declares, out-of-pocket paying is planned in order to decrease 1. 5% since the fresh guaranteed  populations are anticipated to end up being somewhat younger as well as healthy in comparison with at this time guaranteed individuals.Medical care expenses in the United States are regarding 18% associated with GDP, a nd this also reveal is projected to go up deliberately. In the event health prices carry on and increase at historic charges, the particular reveal associated with GDP devoted to health in the United States is projected to realize 34% through 2040 (The White House, 2013, para 2). Federal insurance policy contains Medicaid, Medicare as well as other financed organizations financed with regard to productive armed service as well as veterans. (Social Security Administration [SSA], 2013, para 1) Medicaid is a federal/state platform made to cover medical care for many distinct groups of people that is poor. Medicare is often a freedom program for all of age 65 as well as older, also more radiant men and women if the person belong to a particular disability type.Spending too muchAccording to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (2012), The United States spends some 17.6 percent of its GDP on healthcare – far more than any other OECD country – but does n ot see quality increases equal with its spending. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released primary data itemizing the values doctor's offices charge for popular techniques that revealed an array of price fluctuations involving different doctor's offices. Steven Brill, a Time Magazine journalist, explored hospital bill to determine why the cost was so high. He found that hospitals were receiving effectively over and above what exactly these people might need to help make even reasonable make money from the therapy. One example was $1.50 for the common variation of the Tylenol capsule, (one pill) because too expensive gauze parts, hospital dresses and more.He also states that, â€Å"‘nonprofit’ hospitals are making billions and the CEO take home earnings with equivalence with almost any Walls Street executive – properly in to the six-figure range and sometimes past. According to US News and Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians (2013), â€Å"America can commit as much as $2. 8 trillion upon professional medical, which is $750 thousand in excess of the country, would certainly when this put in exactly the same for every capita because various other developed places.Medicare  and Medicaid insurance policies programs covers some $800 thousand connected with the high cost and also the various other $2 trillion will likely be selected through private health-insurance corporations in addition to folks who don't have an insurance policies or even who'll shell out perhaps the costs covered by their insurance policies.†Add or CutSeven hundred billion dollars, that is a ballpark figure associated with what quantity of money was wasted in the U. S. professional medical technique each year, as outlined by a new Thomson Reuters (TRI) statement. In addition, it claims, the quantity adequate to roughly one-third in the place's overall health-care wasting was flushed absent upon pointless remedies, redundant assessments, scam, errors, as well as plenty of additional economic sinkholes that nothing to improve the nation's health and fitness.Needs are paid forMedical care, specifically hospitalization, advanced technology, and also challenging remedies, is really expensive that the majority of folks cannot have the funds for to afford the idea by themselves. At that point Private Insurance, out-of-pocket, Medicare, Medicaid, other payers (workers compensation, worksite health care, maternal, and child health, and vocational rehabilitation) and other public insurance (Department of Defense, Veteran Affairs, and Children Health Insurance Programs) step in and pick up the expense.According to a report published by the California Healthcare Foundation( 2011), In Hospital Care private insurance paid $306.9 billion (36%), out-of-pocket paid $28.1 billion (3%), and Medicare paid $231.3 billion (27%), Medicaid paid $151.0 billion (18%) Other payer paid $80.0 billion (9%) and other public insurance paid $53.3 billion (6%) for a total of $850.6 Billion in hospital care alone. The report also stated, In Physician, and clinical services Private Insurance paid $249.1 billion (46%), Out-of-Pocket paid $52.3 billion (10%), Medicare paid $124.0 billion (23%) Medicaid paid $44.8 billion (8%), other payers paid $48.8 billion (9%) and Other Public Insurance paid $22.5 billion (4%) for a total of $541.4 billion.ForecastChaos is going on with health care spending and a lot of that has to do with the increase in insurance. Will that change for the better? Healthcare spending was projected to continue to grow quickly. If the trends continue at the rate it is going then health care spending will be a quarter of the economy years to come. Wellness has humanity’s the majority of valuable and the majority widespread price; however additionally it is you’re the majority of sensitive learning resource. Globalization has significantly offered in order to economic increase; however at the same time our universe is now additional at risk of tough economy (Hospital & Healthcare Management, 2001, para 3).

Baby Boomers and their unique relationship with alcohol and Other drugs

In reality, older adults take a greater toll than younger adults for substance abuse and alcoholism, their increasing number is alarming as they approach the next century. It was predicted by the United States Bureau of Census that the growth of baby boomers also known as adult population will more than double by the year 2050 (Atkinson, R. 2000). Baby boomers unique relationship with alcohol and drug abuse paved the way for psychosocial concerns and may accelerate decline on their physiological welfare. These individuals are at risk for serious illnesses, injuries and socioeconomic downfall.A typical baby boomer will disapprove the possibility of treatment and corrections (Fries, F. 2001). Many individuals in this age group are reluctant and ashamed of admitting their use and misuse of drugs and alcohol and seek professional help (Atkinson, R. 2000). They consider the situation as a private matter and need not have intervention from other people. Even relatives of this adult populat ion whom are into substance abuse and alcoholism are ashamed of the current situation and would rather keep themselves in silence and not address the current situation.Most of the relatives thought that the older individuals who are into alcohol and drugs are happy and there was no difference if they intended to continue their habitual vices for they will not stay much longer in this world (Schulenberg, J. 2002). There is unspoken assumption that it was not worth to correct and treat the older individuals for alcohol and drug abuse makes the matter worst and increase their numbers in the society. Discussion The aging of Baby Boomers who were into an early alcohol and substance abuse would be an alarming sign of greater problems in the future.The physical and psychological effects of alcohol and drug abuse to older individuals may influence their children and carry the habit when they reach old age too (Schulenberg, J. 2002). The potential increase in alcohol and drugs morbidity will affect the future health services. Though there seem to be no urgency to correct the unique relationship of Baby Boomers to alcohol and other drugs with impressions that treatment of older population will not be a success and only a waste of health care resources.These callous attitudes of many individuals will only create problems that will affect the future generation (Atkinson, R. 2000). The impressions of depression for other adults who can do self-medication and can live alone will only lower their living satisfaction and further enhanced by past experiences of loosing their spouse, unemployment, injuries and depression (Fries, F. 2001). They are also facing chronic and lingering illnesses such as diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, senility and other forms of ailments that made them dependent to other individuals while performing their daily activities.The prevailing cultural beliefs of individuals in the age bracket of sixty and older will encounter abuse or misuse of alcohol and other drugs, good examples are buying over-the-counter drugs cough suppressants with high alcohol content that could interact negatively with other medicines they are taking (Fries, F. 2001). The unique relationship of older adults to alcohol and other drugs cannot be easily identified due to their similarities with other symptoms of illnesses common to aged.They may keep on reminding the health care professional the similarities of their prevailing condition from their parents and grandparents (Epstein, F. 2002). The recognition of alcohol and other substances abused are not typical for the younger population because they are now living independently, no longer employed, with lesser socialization and may no longer be driving, hence reducing the potential to trace their alcohol and other drugs in their system.There are circumstances that older individuals are into prescription drugs like sedatives, hypnotics and depressants with problematic effect brought by age-related metabol ism and negative chemical and alcohol interactions with other prescribed medications (Schulenberg, J. 2002). The adverse effects of drugs and alcohol to older individual are cognitive impairment, physiological impairment, delirium and greater risk of falling that needs medical intervention and institutionalization.The age-related changes varies according to their body systems, the parameter of their alcohol and drugs intake can be medically hazardous despite of lower frequency of intake (Atkinson, R. 2000). The older individual unique responses with alcohol and other drugs will undoubtedly increase false diagnostic procedures and may diminish their quality of living. The complexity of Baby Boomers condition makes the diagnosis and treatment difficult and will serve as barriers for effective recovery from the disorders (Fries, F. 2001).Being old was coined during the mid-1960s to describe the Baby Boomers tendency to react negatively to corrections instead of looking for specific cau ses of their medical, social, biological, psychological and physical conditions (Epstein, F. 2002). It was further deteriorated by other people’s assumption that older person comprised powerlessness, uselessness and death. This stereotype internalization may categorize the older person as senile though in reality was afflicted with treatable ailments cause by alcohol and other drugs abuse.Caregivers may have good intention but the confusion and unchallenging condition of older individual age-related illnesses while conducting routine medical monitoring would deem not worthy of treating for they would die soon anyway. Other factor that contributes to worsening condition of older individual is the stigma associated to gender, religion and culture. The older individual’s perception of alcohol and drugs during 1950s was influenced by advertisement from moral failing to prosperity and achievement.They are also very sensitive to issues concerning psychiatric disorders and re luctant to acknowledge symptoms of alcohol and other drug abuse (Fries, F. 2001). Many of older individual will simply relate their problems to old age and would think that alcoholism and drug related dependency is a youth problem. They keep on masking their serious drinking of alcohol as a pleasure and a kind of social drinking for they already accomplished their family responsibilities and does not have any work to do (Epstein, F. 2002).The multiple symptoms for older individual made it difficult of health care providers to suspect that they are into alcoholism and drug abused, typical symptoms includes irritability, insomnia, chronic pain, common medical disorder or combination of any of these conditions. Stereotyping is another barrier to detect the symptoms of alcohol and other drugs abuse for older individual especially for women who came from higher socioeconomic background. The individual patient’s age is correlated on the length of physician’s time spent; the older the patient, the lesser the time spent by the physician (Atkinson, R.2000). This is due to older individual’s lesser complaint and it is not easier to detect his underlying problem on alcohol and other drug abuse. The unique relationship of older individual with alcohol and other drug abuse increasingly compete with his other health problems (Atkinson, R. 2000). The immediate family members of confined elderly will give higher priority to physical conditions concerning heart, renal failure or other organ failure, psychological impressions while alcoholism and drug abuse is usually at the least among concerns (Atkinson, R.2000). Diagnostic treatment for older individuals who are alcoholics and suffering from other substance abuse are complicated to other prevailing medical conditions such as impairment of their cognitive facilities, depressions, basic sensory deficits like hearing impairment or vision blurredness and even lack of mobility (Epstein, F. 2002). One good exa mple is older patients who can no longer walk up stairs or drive a car after dark.There are situations that health care professionals would not suggest accommodation of older individual for treatment due to complex barriers of aging (Atkinson, R. 2000). In the case of minority elders, language barrier is another issue that needs attention, being first generation immigrants in a place, most of them cannot relate to universal language like English which most professional opted to use (Fries, F. 2001). An interpreter is needed to communicate with health care professionals that might be providing bias communication which adds more barriers for effective correction.The cultural competence of health care professional is crucial especially for Non-English speaking minorities like Europeans, Asians and Native Americans (Epstein, F. 2002). Another issue is the homebound and handicapped elderly that immediate family members find it difficult to transport them to medical intervention instituti ons. Home confinement restricted them with various health problems like chronic lung diseases, heart ailment, diabetes and other medical conditions without considering the possibility of alcoholism and other drugs abuse (Atkinson, R.2000). The weak and frail condition of older individual needs considerable and taxing effort of immediate and able family members to health care institutions. Their isolated condition make the matter worse due to limited contacts with other people that the alcohol and other drugs abuse are neglected (Fries, F. 2001). The worsening condition of older individuals due to licit and illicit drugs and alcohol will greatly affect their immediate relatives and the younger generation may have misperception that being old is just normal to suffer from health discomfort.Knowing and discovering the hidden condition of the elderly in terms of misuse and abuse of alcohol and other substance will pave the way to correct past beliefs and thinking on their failing health (Atkinson, R. 2000). The older abusers of alcohol and other drugs share common adverse reactions with their younger counterpart and this inter-generation equity must be resolved and prevented the earliest possible time (Epstein, F. 2002). The growing population of elderly with health burden, alcoholism and drug abuse will be a burden to society and an enhanced alcohol and substance abuse policy for successful treatment is needed.The baby boomers are born between 1946 and 1964 and there is a great possibility of increasing their population by approximately twenty percent by 2030, this impending retirement will have a great impact to their unique relationship with alcohol and other substance abuse (Epstein, F. 2002). Conclusion The distinct characteristics of older individual’s relationship with alcohol and drug abuse needs through understanding of their misuse or abuse of these components which resulted to adverse and negative impact to their well-being (Fries, F.2001). Today ’s elderly population has an increase rate of emotional crisis brought by alcohol and drug abuse that needs practical and immediate recommendation to put individual’s understanding into practice for treatment (Epstein, F. 2002). Baby boomers are once productive and great contributor of the society and their aging must not be a reason to neglect the proper health care intervention needed to enjoy their last hails in life peacefully.Alcohol and substance abuse will greatly affect the baby boomers ability to spend the rest of their life from healthy and sound environment. This is serious problem among older individuals which will have a major consequence to their chronic disability from physical and mental capacity and lower standards of living. References Atkinson, R. (2000). Alcohol and Substance – use Disorders in the Elderly. Handbook of Mental Health and Aging, 2nd Edition, Academic Press, Inc. , San Diego California, pp.514-554. Schulenberg, J. (2002). A New Elderly-Specific Screening Test – Geriatric Version on Alcoholism, American Clinical and Experimental Research Journal, pp. 769-774. Epstein, F. (2002). Substance Dependence Abuse and Treatment: Findings from the 2000 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, DHHS Publication Series A-16, Office of Applied Studies, New York, pp. 87-97. Fries, F. (2001). Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics of Older Americans, Journal of Medicine, NY, pp. 130-135.

Durex Marketing Plan Essay

The Durex brand is well known and well trusted. So was the company’s marketing strategy. Condoms are most used by the 16 to 35 age group – a group most at risk in terms of sexual behaviour. For an older target group, the relevancy of Durex products wanes. This group is in a different life phase and has different sexual needs. Most people over 35 are married or in long-term relationships and therefore use other protection. While brand name recognition in this group is still very high, the product is no longer considered as relevant. The traditional and ongoing challenge, according to Durex global marketing head Mark Critchley, is to constantly attract new customers to the company’s primary age group, 16 to 35, to compensate the natural drop on the upper side, 35 plus. â€Å"We call it youth recruitment, we have to keep attracting young consumers to the brand as older consumers use Durex less because the condom is less relevant to them. † Critchley said Rather than just replenishing the existing consumer base, over the past few years Durex has taken the decision to expand its business concerns into other areas of sexual well-being. Durex wanted to expand its product base; to stretch the market by introducing products that would be relevant to the lives of its older consumers. The company started by researching potential consumers. In the past five years Durex has polled more than a million of them, focusing on different themes: concept level, users’ research (every time a new product is launched the product is always tested with consumers before launching), online research and also a comprehensive worldwide sexual wellbeing survey, led by an independent research company. The results showed that there was an opportunity for Durex to expand into new product categories, by shifting its brand positioning from safer sex to better sex. The goal for the company’s marketing team was therefore to expand Durex’s market and map out various products which consumers want to use to improve their sex life. The company also wanted to change the perception of these products. â€Å"whilst the traditional sex toy in many cases is effective, they look awful. We wanted to ensure our products are well designed, effective and don’t look pink and phallic. Critchley said â€Å"The goal for Durex in stretching the brand is to appeal to both males and female consumers, all our products therefore need to be well thought through and relevant. † survey, led by an independent research company. The results showed that there was an opportunity for Durex to expand into new product categories, by shifting its brand positioning from safer sex to better sex. The goal for the company’s marketing team was therefore to expand Durex’s market and map out various products which consumers want to use to improve their sex life. The company also wanted to change the perception of these products. â€Å"whilst the traditional sex toy in many cases is effective, they look awful. We wanted to ensure our products are well designed, effective and don’t look pink and phallic. † Critchley said â€Å"The goal for Durex in stretching the brand is to appeal to both males and female consumers, all our products therefore need to be well thought through and relevant. † Communication for Durex Play has also taken a different track. Durex has long used the internet to communicate with young adults across the globe and provide them with safer sex information in their own language. With Durex Play, however, the company moved to use above-the-line communication such as TV ads, a method not much used for these products before which again helped to change consumer perceptions about these goods. For the younger target group, Durex’s communication focuses on education, prevention and encouraging condom-use. Durex Play focuses more on the slightly older audience, emphasizing the fun and experimental values. Product Definition Durex is the world’s best-selling brand of condoms, and with a large variety of condoms, lubricants, vibrating rings, and other types of sex toys, it’s no wonder that they’re so widely used. The standard Durex condom is the Durex Natural Feeling Condom, which comes with water-based lubricant inside and reservoir tip to help provide a natural feeling during sex. An alternative to this classic is the Durex Enhanced Pleasure, which has a special contoured shape that creates both more sensitivity and a better fit to help enhance the experience. Looking for something a little more exciting? Try Durex High Sensation condoms, which differ from other ribbed condoms by having large ribs towards the open end, leading in an increase in sensation for your partner. Another condom in that same vein is the Durex Her Sensation condom, which with its specifically positioned ribs and berry scent will certainly please your partner, if not you as well. Don’t think that’s exciting enough? Then try the Durex Intense Sensation with its raised stud texture, which is sure to lead to a unique and memorable experience. And for those who love both ribbing and studs, there’s the Durex Pleasuremax, the ultimate in pleasure from Durex. Looking for something in particular with your condom? Want to extend the experience for as long as humanly possible? Durex’s new Durex Performax condoms are for you then, as they contain a special climax control lubricant inside to help extend your experience long into the night. Interested in sensitivity and thinness? Durex Extra Sensitive Condoms are 20% thinner than the standard condom and have a fitted shape which greatly enhances the sensation while reassuring that you stay protected. Another similar condom is the Durex Maximum Love Condom, which, besides being thinner, comes with an extra-smooth silky lubricant inside to help increase sensation during sex. However, if you’re more interested in the safe part of safe sex, try Durex Extra Strength Condoms instead, which use premium latex to ensure that the right combination of pleasure and protection occurs. And for those of you who want some fun with your sexual experience (and who doesn’t want that? ), Durex Colors & Scents Condoms and Durex Rainbow Colored Condoms come in a wide variety of colors and scents to help add that special touch. There’s also Durex Natural Feeling Non-Lubricated Condoms for those who are sensitive to lubricant, and Durex Avanti Polyurethane Condoms for those who are sensitive to latex, so no one has to miss out. And if you’re unable to decide on just one type of condom, Durex offers a Sampler Pack where you can choose up to four different types to try out. It’s no surprise then that Durex condoms are considered some of the best in the world! And with condoms being fairly inexpensive, buying them wholesale and trying out lots of different types has never been so easy! Durex also offers a number of excellent lubricants as well. One is Durex Play More, which is designed to help enhance intimacy and is a long-lasting lubricant. Another is Durex Play Longer, which helps delay climax in order to extend the experience even longer. Then there’s Durex Play Warmer, which provides a warming sensation on contact, which is sure to be a real pleaser. Finally, there’s Durex Play Tingling, which with its minty scent and tingling sensation makes an excellent type of massage lotion. And of course, all of these lubricants can be used on condoms.

Definition of crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Definition of crime - Essay Example Modern societies, therefore, describe criminal activities as offenses against the state or public. Failure by the public to observe social order can result to the governing authority imposing formalized and stricter measures of ensuring social control (Tadros, 2005). State agents rely on legal and institutional machinery in compelling the public to conform to desired codes, while punishing or attempting to reform individuals who cannot conform. There are two models that the society uses in determining various acts of crime, with regard to the established government criminal system. The two models are crime control and due process models (Cengage Learning).Crime control model recommends repression against all forms of criminal conducts. The model identifies repression as the most important component of criminal process, and should be embraced by the governing authority (Persak, 2007). Criminal process should be efficient during screening of suspects, determination of guilt as well as proper disposition of persons with criminal record. Looking at the due process model, it appears as an impediment to the crime control model. Due process model has successive stages aimed at providing impediments against carrying the accused farther along the criminal justice system. Due process ideology is deeply based on the law structure. While crime control model recommends the use of investigation to screen suspects, due process opposes th e use of investigation by claiming that human agents are prone to errors (Cengage Learning). Conclusions from observations can be affected by emotion arousing events while personal confessions made by a suspect under police custody can be as a result of physical and psychological coercion. There are various theories connected with application of criminal law. Different situations present a basis of assumptions concerning the theory to be applied (Renzo, 2013). For instance, situations can be

Set Up a New Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Set Up a New Business - Essay Example The products – Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green come with a rich past, having gone through a century of successful marketing. Pepsi has a long rich past, originating from the last 100 years of success. Caleb Bradham’s analysis provides a definite concept about the sophistication within the market. He developed a strong franchise and also aided better business attributes. With an all time slogan, â€Å"Drink Pepsi Coal†, he has moved through generations, and the new product provides a mild combination of tasty Pepsi flavours, enriched by western lemon brandss. The gains of Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Greenare attributed to the empirical framework that defines and create substantial formulation of the ideal criterion to manage an orderly launching process. Firstly, the relevance of the launching implications state that the usefulness of the model is ideally fundamental to the overall strategy and this overruns Market eval uation for Pepsi is an important phenomenum needed to accomplish positive business feedbacks. The real marketing strategies for this product are hugely dependent on the existing market forces. Ideally, the trends equally explore the usefulness of the momentum generated by the launching method. ... ivered value approach creates a competitive advantage and Braithwaite and MacKay, (1991) explains that market timings are fundamentally vital for better product launches. The target market in this case being London, offers established identities and the marketing mix roles offer techniques including suggested activities within and outside London. Equally, the prescriptions aiding the market fronts are expansive and to undertake the critical plans, prescriptions for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green will involve forecast financial outcomes. The new brands establish greater positioning and particularly on the basis of dependent marketing variables. Service provision defines the London market for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green as a continuous process which offers substantial customer management concepts. These are ideally explained by the relative operational standards which are comprehensively vital for appropriate product launches. The process range involves implementing the specific marketing processes ranging from selling, pricing and product distribution. Equally, the attainment of the formal distribution mechanisms will also involve the larger market inclusions. In the views of Gray et al, (2005), the business development structures are aided by established market formations. The distinctiveness of the London market is widely explored by the emerging business platforms. The strategy is hugely dependent on a focused penetration level. The research indication for Pepsi-Cola Gold and Pepsi-Cola Green creates coexistence between the specific business models and the defined product factors in the target london market. The Pepsi-Cola strategy applies new market variables. Equally, market pioneering component is specifically aligned from a relatively innovative

Discussion part Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Discussion part - Lab Report Example Upon administration of satraplatin, a number of metabolites (JM118, JM383, JM518, JM559 and JM149) are formed (Raynaud et al. 1996). Platinum complexes can kill tumour cells owing to their ability to form various covalent adducts on DNA (Brabec, 2002). DNA conformation is affected by the formation of adducts which also impacts some of the other intracellular processes including DNA damage recognition by specific proteins, DNA polymerisation and repair, all of which contribute to the antitumour activity of the platinum-based compounds e.g., cisplatin (Johnson et al., 1989). Most of the chemotherapeutic drugs that have been found to be clinically valuable act by damaging DNA in proliferating cells. Thus, DNA damage is pivotal to the origin, progression and treatment of cancer. Also, higher the cytotoxicity of the compound, better the efficacy. In the present study, both the Comet assay and the MN technique were employed to assess the genotoxic effects of satraplatin and vinflunine. The comet assay essentially evaluates primary DNA damage, which is reparable, by measuring single- and/or double-strand breaks in individual cells (Collins et al., 1997). Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an oxidising agent that is produced intracellularly during normal metabolism or when exposed to external agents such as solar UV radiation. H2O2 can cause DNA damage through sugar and base modifications (Dizdaroglu, 1992). In this study, human lymphocytes incubated for 30 min with 50ÃŽ ¼M H2O2 showed substantial DNA damage, seen as a 7-fold increase in the mean Olive Tail Moment (OTM) values compared to the control sample (Fig. 1). In those cells that were subjected to a one-hour pre-incubation with satraplatin (0.02ÃŽ ¼M - 200ÃŽ ¼M) a significant reduction in OTM values was obtained. The observed decrease in OTM, ranging from 30% - 75%, was directl y proportional to the concentration of satraplatin used. The mode of action of many

Postmodernism- Derrida, Foucault and Rorty Essay

Postmodernism- Derrida, Foucault and Rorty - Essay Example The essay "Postmodernism- Derrida, Foucault and Rorty" examines how do philosophers Derrida, Foucault and Rorty differ in their views. Though Derrida, Foucault and Rorty tend to differ in an array of ways, still their postmodern views do evince a similarity in the sense that their philosophies do starkly come out as being a potent reaction against the salient philosophical values and assumptions that the modern period of the Western history does affiliate to. The philosophies of Derrida, Foucault and Rorty do carry a single thread in the sense that they are marked by a stark skepticism and a pervasive suspicion of the power of reason. The strategy of deconstruction contrived by Derrida does practically amount to a staunch critique of the philosophical traditions that hitherto signified the Western philosophy. The strategy of deconstruction not only does tend to expose any literary or philosophical text, but by doing so it also does vehemently try to subvert it by exposing the varied binary oppositions that envelop the salient Western ways of thinking about and perceiving reality. The technique of deconstruction tends to attempt a textual interpretation of a text, with the intent to bring to fore the alternative meanings hidden in that text. It is not a surprise that Derrida’s â€Å"idea of â€Å"deconstructing text† has had a very wide influence". In continuation of a similar skeptical sentiment, Foucault did study the salient power structures that governed an array of social institutions.

Education Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Education - Coursework Example The session is followed by a fifteen minutes of group or individual work, which gathers students in order to share the progress of their work. Additionally, students prefer the use of projection slides, as well as handouts in order to complete their presentation. The teacher supervisors, these presentations and group discussions in order to ensure that the content brought to class is relevant to architecture and is helpful to other students (Isenberg & Jalongo, 2010, p. 110). The lesson entails a number of practical lessons where students are involved in some architectural drawing and building and construction works. Cognitive theorists were largely concerned with various changes in the understanding of a student resulting from learning, as well as with the fundamental environmental importance. However, constructivism itself bears a number of variations like cognitive apprenticeship, discovery learning, and generative learning, based learning, and situated learning. Therefore, constructivism promotes the exploration of students within a certain structure or framework. When architecture students are working on a similar task their objectives, goals at times are different, and the discovery theory should be applicable to enable them discover on their own. At the end of every task, students should share their creations and solutions since it helps to motivate them and more importantly, it demonstrates various ways in which a single task can be completed (Kay, 2005, p.79). Group discussions are necessary in developing English, ICT, and mathematics as well as acquiring wider skills. A large number of students easily acquire knowledge when shared by their peers and can easily remember compared to the thing taught in class by a teacher. Architecture students are supposed to present using proper English, which enables students, learn fluent English outside and in class. Students undertake a large number of activities

Common Merit vs Anniversary Date Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Common Merit vs Anniversary Date - Essay Example Company practices of granting merit increases are usually pre-defined in compensation and performance evaluation policies and procedures, which indicate the frequency of performance reviews; evaluation standards, criteria, measures, and rating scale; and equivalent percentage increases according to ratings. The merit date is the date at which an employee is eligible for a performance evaluation and a merit increase (Chesterfield, 2008). There are two popular ways for administering annual merit increases, either using a common merit date for all employees or o common ways or by using by using the employee’s anniversary date of hire. One practice for administering the annual merit increase is by using the employee’s anniversary date of hire. This means that one year after the employee was hired, he/she becomes eligible for a performance evaluation and a merit increase, and then every year thereafter, on his/her anniversary date. The advantage of using the anniversary date of hire as against a common merit date, is that it ensures that an employee has been given a full 12-month period to exhibit the job performance he/she will be evaluated on. Considering the length of the period, the employee would be able to improve performance over the course of the months or remedy any bad performance exhibited within ample time till the evaluation date. For the company, planning, implementing and monitoring the evaluation process and the granting of merit increases using the anniversary date would mean a lot more work as anniversary dates would be different from employee to employee. Schedules of performance evaluatio n have to be pre-defined for each employee according to his/her anniversary date, tracked, and monitored for completion, usually a joint responsibility of the HR department and the immediate manager. The greater the number of employees of a company, the more work it would entail. For managers with a number of subordinates to evaluate, it would also mean

MGMT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

MGMT - Term Paper Example It is their management which is primarily responsible for the formulation of strategies, assigning goals, implementation of strategies, tracking the success of these by matching them to their predetermined goals. This is done in my forms however their strategic thrusts rely heavily on feedback which they receive. The most effective feedback is by the numbers which are generated by each store. These are then forwarded to the headquarters by the use of the vast digital network. In 2007 Wal-Mart was labeled one of the most competitive and innovative companies in the world (Plambeck, 2007). Their ability to be innovative is critical for them being able to achieve sustainability through measures that positively impact and reduce strain on the environment. This they do by three ambitious goals: incorporating as much of renewable energy as they can as part of their operations, minimizing the creation of waste and continuously striving to sell products which lead to sustaining their resources as well as the environment. As far as innovation is concerned an analysis of the activities and measures taken by Wal-Mart focus on incorporating a culture which aids the organization through making efficient use of a learning culture. This can be seen in the extensive measures taken by Wal-Mart to facilitate learning of the employees and introducing frequent training sessions. From the instance an employee starts working at Wal-Mart they undergo a extensive customer service training, they also undertake on the job training and ongoing formal training as far as responsibilities of the work are concerned. Analysis suggests that initially it was customer service and the ten foot rule applied to the workforce which served as driving forces for Wal-Mart’s innovative culture. Suggestions, feedback and communication with the employees were valued and some of their suggestions were even adopted

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses Research Paper

Comorbidity and Treatment of Mental Illnesses - Research Paper Example Changes in these levels can lead to abnormalities. In addition, during the interview with the parents, it was acknowledged that they tolerated this abnormal behavior such as moodiness. He was also having problems at school due to the particular cohort of students he was associating with. The increase in weight could also be attributed to either genetic factors or simply the parents feeding him an unhealthy diet. On a side note, he seemed to have some abnormally shaped facial features which could possibly be the result of trisomy-21 or another genetically linked disorder which could be used to help explain the genetic link behind the psychiatric illnesses. The suicide which followed due to bullying could have also been prompted by a couple factors. The students were making fun of him and over time this wears down a person’s defenses making them vulnerable. People who are suffering from depression and suicide also have low amounts of dopamine, which is an important neurotransmit ter in the regulation of mood. It is hard to place Alex’s problems at a specific root such as ADHD because there are so many biopsychosocial problems which could be effecting and causing many of the problems in which he is experiencing. First, in order to gather information regarding the roots of the problem, I would focus on the biology and family history as well as the parent’s lifestyle and parenting style. 1. Is there a family history of obesity and any other conditions associated with obesity such as heart disease, cancers, etc.? 2. Is there a history of ADHD or any other diagnosable psychiatric illnesses in the family? 3. Has this behavior always been displayed, or has this been something that has evolved in the past few years? 4. How would you describe your parenting style when dealing with Alex? 5. How would you describe his home life in relation to his social life at school? The questions that I would like to ask Alex would be more related to his ideas of suic ide and depression and looking his global index as far as mental health. 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? 3. How do you feel when you cannot concentrate in class and do your work? 4. What do you want out of life? 5. Is there anything else you want to share as far as how your family, friends, teachers, etc. treat you? Interview 1. When and how many times have you considered committing suicide? There has been a few times in which I have felt like what’s the point in living. Like its hard when you can’t find anything you’re good at, and you see kids doing good in some aspect and I’m just not good at anything. I also am fat and the kids like to make fun of me for that. I feel like what’s the point in living if I can’t be successful or do anything. I have only tried once to go through with my suicide, but I think about it as a way of me escaping from everything. 2. How does it make you feel when the kid’s bully you†¦ how do you deal with that? It makes me feel sad and angry. I feel like they are attacking me and it hurts me on the inside. Sometimes I will get angry and fight back, but then I get into trouble. I feel like I can’t talk to anyone about it because I don’t want to come off as weak to my parents or at school. Most of the time I just want to play video games and be by myself when I go home

Hotel Tour - the Evaluation Essay Example for Free

Hotel Tour the Evaluation Essay Remington Hotel is located near NAIA 3, beside the Resorts World Manila. The hotel is good but has some flaws that has a need to work on knowing the hotel is rated as 4-star. As a hotel, they must repair and maintain facilities as it is needed. But when we arrived to the hotel, one of their interior design is not functioning, which is a demerit for their hotel. And no personnel from the department of repair is fixing it. The hallway of the hotel is very simple, as a 4-star hotel, being classy yet elegant is a must, but then, we felt like we are in a dormitory as we walked through the hallway and corridors. The elevator is well functioning, the good thing about their elevator is their ving card system, where in a guest can only go to a certain floor where his/her room is located. The room is okay. I cannot say that is very good since it doesn’t has a mini bar which is one of the requirements of a guest room, also, the bathroom is not spacious, and it does not have a bath tub. Also, I did not saw their spa and gym, which I doubted they have as well as their convention halls. Their personnel are accommodating, good looking, and practice being hygienic. The female personnel’s hair are in bun, they wear a light make up, and proper uniform, while men personnel’s hair are properly trimmed, and they wear proper uniform. Another thing I am concerned with is their reception area is far from the doors of the hotel. Which I think will not work because the guests will still look for it instead of seeing it upon entering the hotel. Resorts World Manila is such a very elegant, luxurious place for unwinding, relaxation, and of course, for entertainment. It is an all in one establishment. It has a casino, a lineup of first class bars and clubs, restaurants, and the Newport mall. But, there are some downsides. In order to enter the establishment, you must be 18 years old and above, or accompanied by an adult, you must have enough money to roam around the vicinity, of course, this is a place for rich people. The Seminars we attended when we had our hotel tour is very beneficial for each and every one of us students especially when we already entered the Tourism and Hospitality Industry. From Meal Management, though it is not that good because it is very basic, and it has been already discussed by our dearest Prof. Elizabeth Guevarra. It is beneficial for us in the sense that when we wanted to enter FB sector, we know how to operate it and how we can serve our guests finely. We are able to serve them in the best way. In FB sector, mastery of the skills is a must in order to get appreciated by the large number of guests coming in to your food establishment. The Purchasing and Cost Control Seminar we had at Genting Star Tourism Academy (GSTA) is very helpful for us when we chose to have our own food establishment in the near future or we want to be a purchaser of a restaurant or in the hotel. We can use what we learned form the seminar to fit in with the standards of being a certified purchaser or a food establishment owner. The Front Office Management seminar we had again, at GSTA, is one of my favorite seminars we had, we learned a lot, and it is very beneficial and favorable for some who wants to be in front desk of a hotel or Cruise ship. We learned that there is a separate reservation system from hotel and cruise ship. There is Opera Full Service, and Fidelio Cruise. Both used as a reservation system and it is easy to use. The House Keeping Seminar we had at GSTA helped us a lot since we knew that lots of General Managers or at least top employees in the hotel are from the housekeeping department because they know most of the circulations in the hotel. In the lecture, the speaker told us that as a house keeper who needs to make up 16 rooms in 2 hours, he must acquire a number of assistant to help the house keeper out and not making himself being in a hurry. When cleaning a guest room, a house keeper must clean first the ceiling, then the walls, and lastly the floor. As we had our bed making demonstration from one of the graduates and employee of GSTA, we learned that when you make the bed, you must work complementing being fast and working with grace. To be more efficient, a housekeeper must work in the way that he/she will be more comfortable with. We learned that it is much easier to miter the linens if you use your knees to lift the mattress. Also, a house keeper must wear comfortable clothes to move freely and make the bed very well. After the said demonstration about housekeeping, we got the chance to try making our own beds in our hotel rooms. When we get back to our respective rooms, we are ordered to make the bed and take pictures for documentations. But sadly, the house keeper and other staffs of Remington Hotel and Marsman Drysdale designated 15 students in one bed which made us a bit annoyed because we will not be able to execute our trial very well. Here’s our photo documentation for bed making: My roommates are Jerome Paul Misa and Richard Mark Oliveros. Martin Tioseco is not our roommate but he decided to have his bed making trial with us since the employees are rushing us and we have no time to make the bed group by group. a.Before Return-Demonstration Procedures b. While working on Bed Making Procedures c. Finish Product of a Well-Made Bed Set-up The theme park is not just for Lodging, Casino, Malls, and Bars, they also have the Newport Performing Arts Theatre in where we watched the King and I show, it is also a great experience for us to enter the theatre of Resorts World Manila. Also, they offer free shuttle service for guests who checked-in in their corresponding hotels: Maxims Hotel, Marriott Hotel, and Remington Hotel. Also, it is offered free for Resorts World Member which we got on the night of day 1. Resorts World Manila offers free membership card for everyone to earn points and as an ID to enter the Resorts World Manila.

Rural Financial Intermediation of Ghana

Rural Financial Intermediation of Ghana CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study The rural sector comprises nearly 80% of Ghanas population of 18.5 million, with rural economic activities providing employment and incomes for an estimated 60% of rural dwellers (World Bank, 2001). At the same time, nearly 30 percent of rural inhabitants live below the poverty line. However, financial services remain significantly limited at present, mainly provided by informal groups and rural banks. After relatively successful macroeconomic and financial sector reforms, the absence of strong rural and micro finance institutions have continued to impede the attainment of rapid rural economic development. Existing rural financial institutions are often community-based, with strong socio-cultural linkages. The rural banks in particular are characterized by broad-based shareholdings by community members and compared to the larger commercial banks, have a higher propensity to serve clients with low asset base, education and/or collateral, clients who otherwise would have little or no access to formal financial services. At the same time, there is an emerging network of specialized micro-financial institutions that are testing out international best practice methodologies and adapting them to Ghanaian microfinance context and situations. Given the dispersion of rural banks, the nature of community ownership, and rural client base, development of strong rural and micro finance institutions would provide a coherent framework for rural economic growth that would lead to lowered poverty rates and improved standards of living for a majority of the countrys population. Since independence the Government of Ghana (GoG) has made several attempts to promote rural development to improve the living standards of its rural people. The 1992 Constitution has made a firm commitment to rural development as part of its national strategy to improve the living conditions in rural areas through decentralization with the establishment of political and administrative regions and districts. As part of its poverty reduction strategy the Government in 2000 sought funding from the World Bank under the Rural Financial Services Project (RFSP) to promote growth and reduce poverty in Ghana by expanding the outreach of financial services in rural areas and strengthening the sustainability of the institutions providing those services. The Rural Financial Services Project Objectives The Rural Financial Services Project (RFSP) seeks to promote growth and reduce poverty in Ghana by broadening and deepening financial intermediation in rural areas through the following measures: (i) strengthening operational linkages between informal and semiformal microfinance institutions and the formal network of rural and community banks in order to expand services to a larger number of rural clients; (ii) building capacity of the rural and community banks, the principal formal financial intermediaries operating in rural areas, in order to enhance their effectiveness and the quality of services they provide; (iii) supporting the establishment of an apex structure for the rural banking system to provide the economies of scale needed for these unit rural banks to address generic constraints related to check clearing, specie supply, liquidity management and training, etc. which have impeded growth of the rural finance sector; and (iv) strengthening the institutional and policy framework for improved oversight of the rural finance sector. 1.2 Problem Statement The search for a system to tackle the financial problems of the rural dweller started as far back as the 1960s under the Nkrumah regime. During that period, the need for a veritable rural financial system in Ghana to tackle the needs of small-scale farmers, fishermen, craftsmen, market women and traders and all other micro-enterprises was felt. The need for such a system was accentuated by the fact that the bigger commercial banks could not accommodate the financial intermediation problem of the rural poor, as they did not show any interest in dealing with these small-scale operators. Governments attempt in the past to encourage commercial banks to spread their rural network and provide credit to the agricultural sector failed to achieve any significant impact. The banks were rather interested in the finance of international trade, urban commerce and industry. There was, therefore, a gap in the provision of institutional finance to the rural agricultural sector. The failure of the commercial banks to lend on an appreciable scale to the rural sector had been attributed to the lack of suitable security on the part of farmers and the high operational costs associated with small savers and borrowers. Another reason may be the centralised structure of the banking set-up, which, despite their many branches countrywide, is controlled by their Head Offices in Accra, making decentralisation ineffective. One disadvantage of this system was that a centralised institution is not able to compete with the local private money lender in local knowledge and flexibility. More important still, the branch network of many banks covered mainly the commercial and semi-urban areas and did not reach down to the rural areas. Therefore, not only were rural dwellers denied access to credit from organized institutions, they could also not avail themselves of the opportunity of safeguarding their money and other valuable property which a bank provides. It is the realization that the existing institutional credit did not favour rural development that led to the search for a credit institution devoid of the challenges /disabilities of the existing banking institutions but possessing the advantages of the non-institutional credit agencies. This institution was the rural bank. 1.3 Research Questions The study sought to answer the following research questions: i. Are there success cases in the provision of rural financial services? ii. What are the challenges faced by the implementers of the Rural Financial Service Project (RFSP)? iii. How many of the rural poor have gained access to the financial services from the Rural and Community Banks? iv. What is the impact of the Rural Financial Service Project on the performance of the Rural and Community banks and what has been the profitability levels and shareholders fund of the rural banks? 1.4 Research Objectives The primary objective of the study was to ascertain the extent to which the Rural Financial Service Project had been able to promote growth and poverty reduction by strengthening the capacity of those institutions providing financial services. Other objectives for this study are as follows: i. To identify the challenges faced by the RCBs under the RFSP. ii. To assess the impact of the project on the growth and performance of the selected RCBs in terms of profitability, shareholders funds, total assets and deposits. iii. To determine the access of rural poor to financial services. 1.5 Significance of the Study The findings of this research may inform stakeholders: Government officials, policy makers, donor agencies, the World Bank and IMF of the importance of improving and strengthening the operational efficiency of the RCBs as an important intermediary in the provision of financial services to the rural areas to aid poverty alleviation. The recommendations, it is hoped, may encourage the formulation of appropriate policies and programmes to further develop these institutions with technical and financial assistance to lead the role of improving the quality of life of the rural dwellers. Results will contribute to a better understanding of the evolving structure of rural financial services and provide an input to the financial policy made by policy makers especially Bank of Ghana. 1.6 Scope of the Study The sampling area of the study covers 127 Rural and Community Banks in Ghana out of which five selected Rural and Community Banks in the Eastern, Ashanti and Greater Accra regions under the Rural Financial Service Project were considered as the sample size. These RCBs include Bosomtwe Rural Bank, Upper Manya Krobo Rural Bank, Ga Rural Bank, Nwabiagya Rural Bank and Dangme Rural Bank. The study looked at the financial performance of the Rural and Community Banks in Ghana between the period of 2002 and 2006 and also the impact of the RFSP on the selected RCBs. Impact was measured by growth in Profitability, Total deposits, Shareholders funds and access of rural poor to financial services. 1.7 Organization of the Study In order to present a systematic and consistent research, chapter one introduces the background of the study, the problem statement, the research questions, the objectives, significance of the study, and the scope of the study. Chapter two which is the literature review which will throw more light on related studies and concepts of rural financial service project, financial intermediations in the rural areas, challenges of rural financial intermediation and traditional approach to rural finance. Chapter three deals with the methodology adopted in the collection data for the research, description of the field instrument, procedure and data analysis. Chapter four is the presentation of results, interpretation and discussion of the results. Chapter five provides a summary of the study, the conclusions, limitations and recommendations of the study. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction Financial intermediation is a pervasive feature of all of the worlds economies. As Franklin Allen (2001) observed in his AFA Presidential Address, there is a widespread view that financial intermediaries can be ignored because they have no real effects. They are a veil. They do not affect asset prices or the allocation of resources. As evidence of this view, Allen pointed out that the millennium issue of the Journal of Finance contained surveys of asset pricing, continuous time finance, and corporate finance, but did not survey financial intermediation. Here we take the view that the savings-investment process, the workings of capital markets, corporate finance decisions, and consumer portfolio choices cannot be understood without studying financial intermediaries. 2.2 Importance of Financial Intermediaries Why are financial intermediaries important? One reason is that the overwhelming proportion of every dollar financed externally comes from banks. In the United States for example, 24.4% of firm investment was financed with bank loans during the 1970 1985 periods. Bank loans are the predominant source of external funding in all the countries. In none of the countries are capital markets a significant source of financing. Equity markets are insignificant. In other words, if finance department staffing reflected how firms actually finance themselves, roughly 25 percent of the faculty would be researchers in financial intermediation and the rest would study internal capital markets. As the main source of external funding, banks play important roles in corporate governance, especially during periods of firm distress and bankruptcy. The idea that banks monitor firms is one of the central explanations for the role of bank loans in corporate finance. Bank loan covenants can act as trip wires signaling to the bank that it can and should intervene into the affairs of the firm. Unlike bonds, bank loans tend not to be dispersed across many investors. This facilitates intervention and renegotiation of capital structures. Bankers are often on company boards of directors. Banks are also important in providing liquidity by, for example, backing commercial paper with loan commitments or standby letters of credit. Banking systems seem fragile. Between 1980 and 1995, thirty-five countries experienced banking crises, periods in which their banking systems essentially stopped functioning and these economies entered recessions. (See Demirg-Kunt, Detragiache, and Gupta (2000), and Caprio and Klingebiel (1996). Because bank loans are the main source of external financing for firms, if the banking system is weakened, there appear to be significant real effects (e.g., see Bernanke (1983), Gibson (1995), Peek and Rosengren (1997, 2000)). Basically, financial intermediation is the root institution in the savings-investment process. Ignoring it would seem to be done at the risk of irrelevance. So, the viewpoint of this paper is that financial intermediaries are not a veil, but rather the contrary. In this paper, we survey the results of recent academic research on financial intermediation (Gorton and Winton, 2000). 2.3 The Existence of Financial Intermediaries The most basic question with regard to financial intermediaries is: why do they exist? This question is related to the theory of the firm because a financial intermediary is a firm, perhaps a special kind of firm, but nevertheless a firm. Organization of economic activity within a firm occurs when that organizational form dominates trade in a market. In the case of the savings-investment process, households with resources to invest could go to capital markets and buy securities issued directly by firms, in which case there is no intermediation. To say the same thing in a different way, non-financial firms need not borrow from banks; they can approach investors directly in capital markets. Nevertheless, most new external finance to firms does not occur this way. Instead it occurs through bank-like intermediation, in which households buy securities issued by intermediaries who in turn invest the money by lending it to borrowers. Again the obligations of firms and the claims ultimately owned by investors are not the same securities; intermediaries transform claims. The existence of such intermediaries implies that direct contact in capital markets between households and firms is dominated. Why is this? is the central question for the theory of intermediation (Gorton and Winton, 2000). Bank-like intermediaries are pervasive, but this may not require much explanation. On the liability side, demand deposits appear to be a unique kind of security, but originally this may have been due to regulation. Today, money market mutual funds may be good substitutes for demand deposits. On the asset side, intermediaries may simply be passive portfolio managers, that is, there may be nothing special about bank loans relative to corporate bonds. This is the view articulated by Fama (1980). Similarly, Black (1975) sees nothing special about bank loans. Therefore, we begin with an overview of the empirical evidence, which suggests that there is indeed something that needs explanation. 2.4 Empirical Evidence on Bank Uniqueness What do banks do that cannot be accomplished in the capital markets through direct contracting between investors and firms? There is empirical evidence that banks are special. Some of this evidence also attempt to discriminate between some of the explanations for the existence of financial intermediaries discussed below. To determine whether bank assets or liabilities are special relative to alternatives, Fama (1985) and James (1987) examine the incidence of the implicit tax due to reserve requirements. Their argument is as follows: Over time, U.S. banks have been required to hold reserves against various kinds of liabilities. In particular, if banks must hold reserves against the issuance of certificates of deposit (CDs), then for each dollar of CDs issued, the bank can invest less than a dollar. The reserve requirement acts like a tax. Therefore in the absence of any special service provided by bank assets or bank liabilities, bank CDs should be eliminated by non-bank alternatives. This is because either bank borrowers or bank depositors must bear the tax. Since CDs have not been eliminated, some party involved with the bank is willing to bear the tax. Who is this party? Fama finds no significant difference between the yields on CDs and the yields on commercial paper and bankers acceptances. CD holders do not bear the reserve requirement tax and he therefore concludes that bank loans are special. James revisits the issue and looks at yield changes around changes in reserve requirements and reaches the same conclusion as Fama. Another kind of evidence comes from event studies of the announcement of loan agreements between firms and banks. Studying a sample of 207 announcements of new agreements and renewals of existing agreements, James (1987) finds a significantly positive announcement effect. These contrasts with non-positive responses to the announcements of other types of securities being issued in capital markets (see James 1987) for the references to the other studies). Mikkelson and Partch (1986) also look at the abnormal returns around the announcements of different type of security offerings and also find a positive respons e to bank loans. Tables 12 provide a summary of the basic set of results. There are two main conclusions to be drawn. First, bank loans are the only instance where there is a significant positive abnormal return upon announcement. Second, equity and equity-related instruments have significantly negative abnormal returns. James (1987) concludes, banks provide some special service not available from other lenders (p. 234). 2.5 Mechanisms to Improve Financial Intermediation Recent developments in growth theory have stimulated renewed interest in the interactions of financial intermediation and growth. While most of the existing literature analyses the risk- sharing function of financial intermediaries, Raju Jan Singh, 1997 focused on the asset-valuation activity of banks. Following the early contributions of Goldsmith (1969), McKinnon (1973) and Shaw (1973), a general equilibrium endogenous growth model is presented, in which financial intermediaries increase the amount of accumulated capital, improve the mobilization of savings and enhance the efficiency of resource allocation. As in Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990) and King and Levine (1993b), banks are shown to be able to improve their lending efficiency by evaluating projects. Unlike the models presented by these authors, the banks evaluation capacity is not assumed to be exogenous. The ability of banks to gather the information needed to undertake this evaluation is linked to proximity, and the notion of geography may thereby be introduced. A link between proximity and faster growth rates can thus be shown, consistent with the observations of historians such as Cameron (1967). Furthermore, Singh, 1997 showed that a bank can improve the efficiency of its lending by opening branches. A poor branch network would thus affect negatively the economic growth rate, as Cameron (1967) suggests in the case of France in the 19th century. By contrast, relaxing regulations limiting the setting up of branches would promote faster growth, as Jayaratne and Strahan (1996) observe in the case of the United States. The size of the financial sector is therefore not the only important variable; its structure and the distribution of its deposits matter likewise. The model presented by Raju Jan Singh, 1997 could be extended in various ways. The contract offered by the bank to its potential borrowers could be enriched by the inclusion of other variables besides the interest rate. For instance, collateral requirements might be considered. Cash-flow or corporate net wealth could also be introduced as additional sources of information for banks. In this context, the proportion of entrepreneurs being evaluated might appear to be dependent on the size of the latter only, and not only on the proximity of a bank branch. 2.6 Effect of Financial Intermediaries The finance-growth nexus can be theoretically postulated only within the endogenous growth framework. Financial intermediation, by reducing information and transaction costs, can affect economic growth through two channels; productivity and capital formation. With regard to the first channel, it is generally argued that financial intermediaries by facilitating risk management, identifying promising projects, monitoring management, and facilitating the exchange of goods and services, can promote efficient capital allocation leading to a total factor productivity improvement (Levine, 1997). For example, Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990) shows that financial intermediation provides a vehicle for diversifying and sharing risks, inducing capital allocation shift toward risky but high expected return projects. This shift then spurs productivity improvement and economic growth. Diamond and Dybvig (1983) argues that households facing liquidity risks prefer liquid but low-yield projects to illiquid but high-yield ones, while financial intermediaries, through pooling the idiosyncratic liquidity risks, would like to invest a generous portion of their funds into illiquid but more profitable projects. Bencivenga and Smith (1991) argue that financial inte rmediaries by eliminating liquidity risks, channel households financial savings into illiquid but high-return projects and avoid the premature liquidation of profitable investments which favours efficient use of capital and promotes economic growth. The impact of financial intermediation on growth through the second channel-capital formation-is ambiguous. Tsuru (2000) argues that financial intermediation could affect the savings rate, and then capital formation and growth, through its impact on four different factors: idiosyncratic risks, rate-of-return risks, interest rates and liquidity constraints. By reducing idiosyncratic risks and relaxing liquidity constraints, financial intermediation might lower the savings rate and negatively affect growth. By reducing the rate-of-return risks through portfolio diversification, financial intermediation might negatively or positively influence the savings rate, depending on the risk aversion coefficient (Levhari and Srinivasan, 1969). Finally, the development of financial intermediation might raise the rate of return for households savings, which also has an ambiguous effect on the savings rate due to well-known income and substitution effects. In addition, financial intermediaries effi ciency amelioration could cut the financial resources absorbed by themselves, and raise the portion of households savings converted into productive investment which favors capital formation and growth. In conclusion, the theoretical literature shows that the development of financial intermediation affects economic growth mainly through its impact on the efficiency of capital use and the improvement of total factor productivity, while its growth effect through the savings rate and capital formation is theoretically ambiguous. 2.7 Introduction to Rural Financial Services Rural financial services refer to all financial services extended to agricultural and non-agricultural activities in rural areas; these services include money deposit/savings, loans, money transfer, safe deposit and insurance. Demanders/beneficiaries of rural financial services are mainly households, producers, input stockists/suppliers, traders, agro-processors and service providers. Rural financial services help the poor and low income households increase their incomes and build the assets that allow them to mitigate risk, smoothen consumption, plan for future, increase food consumption, invest in education and other lifecycle needs. These needs can be broadly categorized into working capital, fixed asset financing, income smoothing and life cycle events. Access to credit and financial services have the potential to make a difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Inspite of the importance of a savings account, 77 percent of Kenyan households have no access to a bank account (Kodhek, 2003). In the late 1990s, most mainstream commercial banks closed down some rural branches in order to cut costs and improve profits. The non-traditional financial institutions have emerged to fill the gap created by the mainstream banks which locked out low income and irregular earners. 2.8 Financial Intermediation in Rural Areas Financial intermediation is crucial for the development of rural villages. If these intermediations are used properly, they can help the rural residents increase their income. Likewise, banks and financial intermediaries may be able to recover expenses and make a profit by attracting deposits and granting rural loans. Several reasons are given in favour of financial intermediation. It is argued that rural financial markets (RFMs) reduce the cost of exchanging real resources. Financial intermediations also enhance a more efficient resource allocation. Firms and individuals may have different investment and consumption alternatives. Thus, some of them want to save at the time others plan to invest. Banks satisfy both desires. In addition, financial intermediation causes gains in risk management. Rural producers are typically subject to large variations in income and expenditure. Rural production heavily depends on the weather and price fluctuations. For example, expenditures may be hea vy at planting periods while income is realized with harvest. Therefore loans and savings are important and inexpensive ways to manage at least part of households risks. Moreover, financial intermediation may allow a farmer to undertake larger investments. For instance, a loan may permit a rural producer to buy a tractor before being able to save enough money to buy one with cash. Likewise financial intermediaries can benefit large number of households by accepting their short term deposits and providing a fewer borrowers with longer-term loans. In fact, savers, borrowers and intermediaries gain from this transformation of term structures that take place through intermediation. In addition financial intermediaries that deal with borrowers as savers reduce the information asymmetry characteristic of RFMs. By observing the savings patterns of customers, they obtain information about the income and wealth of clients. By that banks are better able to assess the quality of borrowers and reduce default risk. The drawback is that there is a general tendency for governments in less developed countries (LDCs) to interfere in RFMs. Thus few observers of formal RFMs in LDCs are satisfied with their recent performance. Markets are highly fragmented; they provide little services to rural residents; political interest interferes with RFMs operations; and official lenders are frequently on the edge of bankruptcy. RFMs in LDCs do not work like the classic competitive markets. On the contrary, some imperfections are characteristic of rural banks. These imperfections lead to a variety of problems. For example, the available information is imperfect or asymmetric. These are classic problems of RFMs. Borrowers differ in the likelihood of default. However, it is costly to determine the risk of default of each borrower. This problem is conventionally known as the screening problem or sometimes it is called the adverse selection problem (see Srinivasan, 1994, p. 15). Moreover, it is also costly to ensure that borrowers take actions that facilitate repayment. This situation is known in the related literature as the incentive problem or moral hazard problem. This problem turns out to be particularly severe when rural banks lend money at concessionary interest rates. That is the way most governments run credit programmes. If a farmer receives cheap money he will not display enough effort to ensure repayment. For instance, in the presence of high interest rates, borrowers may select investment projects that have higher potential pay-offs but a greater risk. These sort of economic activities (investments) require more effort from the borrower to be successful. Finally, it is also costly to enforce the credit contracts. This factor gives rise to the enforcement problem of rural financial markets. There is very little or no penalty in default cases in rural areas of LDCs. Therefore, seldom are the borrowers expected to be sanctioned for loan delinquency. Often it is found that some rural borrowers may be able but unwilling to repay. In addition, in many LDCs property rights are poorly defined so that actions against collateralized assets are ineffective. Governments of many LDCs often, for political reasons, engage in credit relaxation programmes, which diminish borrowers incentive to make their projects successful. Therefore, it is not surprising that government-run credit suffers from a tremendous default problem. The final result is that RFMs have not developed as real and effective capital markets. In the absence of capital markets, individuals turn to moneylenders. The common belief is that moneylenders charge monopoly interest rates, which capture borrowers returns from credit. To overcome those problems innovative credit policy interventions are required. Some few new financial institutions are now being successful to combat market imperfections. Among such institutions are the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and some of its replications. For instance, group lending allows the financial institutions to transfer risk and transactions costs to credit recipients. It also permits some banking firms to monitor borrowers with other borrowers. 2.9 Current evidence: what we know 2.9.1 Challenges to Rural Financial Intermediation Hoff and Stiglitz (1990) and Besley (1994) have identified three major constraints to financial market development: information asymmetries between market participants; lack of suitable collateral; and high transaction costs. Risk related to agriculture, and to government and donor policies towards agriculture, should be added as a fourth major constraint to rural finance counting for the poor. Demirguc-Kunt and Levine (2004) noted that efficient contract enforcement, related to a supportive legal framework and robust internal operating systems in formal financial intermediaries (FFIs) is very important in the development of the financial sector and the economy as a whole. Constraints to the development of rural financial markets are discussed in more detail below. 2.9.1.1 Information Asymmetry This occurs when borrowers have more information about the out-turn of their investment and greater capacity to repay loans than lenders (Stiglitz and Weiss, 1981). FFIs usually attempt to reduce this problem by screening out high-risk borrowers from their track record (including credit performance, transactions on deposit accounts, cash flow statements and other accounts). However, in the case of most rural customers, this is not possible, because many keep no record of their transactions and/or do not use payment facilities of banks. In addition, access to borrower information is impeded by a lack of efficient transport, communications infrastructure and well-functioning asset registries and databases. 2.9.1.2 Risk High, and often covariant, risks in the rural economy are related to the dominance of agriculture, which accounts for a high percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (one third in the case of Africa) and employment (two-thirds in Africa) (UNDP Human Development Report, 2000). The long gestation period for many agricultural investments and the seasonality of output usually lead to uneven cash flow and variable demand for savings and credit. Agricultural production is largely dependent on the weather and the use of productivity-enhancing inputs is very low (both leading to yield or production risk), especially in sub-Saharan Africa where the average consumption of fertilizer is only 1015 kg per hectare, compared to about four times that on the Indian sub-continent (Pinstrup- Andersen et al., 1999). African yields are therefore very low and have risen only slightly since the 1980s (Badiane et al., 1997). Lack of credit is a major factor limiting the ability of smallholders to procure a

New Right Ideology In Unsettling The Welfare State

New Right Ideology In Unsettling The Welfare State Explain and assess the role of New Right ideology in the unsettling and reconstruction of the welfare state during the late 1970s/early 1980s.   Following World War II, the party in power at the time; Labour, saw a need for a welfare system that would systematically look after the socially poor at the time. Labour ideology at the time included, the idea of tackling poverty, promoting equality, making sure social rights where maintained and making sure that the socially poor (working class) could ensure a better life and try and lift them out of relative poverty. The idea for the welfare state was not just for the benefit of the working class. The idea was of universalism, welfare for all in times of need social welfare for everyone, not just the poor. The earliest example of universal welfare would be the introduction of the National Health Service in 1947 and a National insurance taxation, a form of income for people to fall back on if one was struck with unemployment, illness retirement and other negative factors that stopped someone from working. The state uses the idea that it is required to help and support the economic markets and the family and provide help is areas in the markets and the family failed or couldnt meet needs. The state initially believed that the welfare state should not be the main source of support for the individual rather a helping hand alongside with the working wage of a full time employed male, and that wage the mothers/wives can support the family whilst the male was at work. The idea of the welfare state was seen to be a social insurance to the nuclear family set up and that by keeping up with continued employment and providing a contribution (National Insurance Tax) that one would have acquired a welfare record to be eligible to claim if was deemed necessary. (Cochrane Clarke, 1993, p.23) These newly formed institutions of welfare were brought about by the Beveridge report of 1942 and saw that a stable Keynesian style economy (this was the idea the governments should and could intervene within its own economy. It should be able to manage employment levels and the demand for goods and products by the government setting up new taxations such as national insurance and new spending policies i.e. new benefits) would deliver full time employment for males. (Cochrane Clarke, 1993, p.25) His report established key principles of a welfare system, by trying to support the three main cause of relative poverty; old age, sickness and unemployment. The report put forward a plan to have social security, provided by contributions as a right with no forms of means testing. (Hughes Lewis, 1998, p.23) The report concluded that employees and employers should contribute to a national insurance so if anyone fell into these three categories through no fault of their own, they could draw f rom the state until the person came to better fortune and was back in full-time employment. The idea of the welfare state was that it should not be a way of life, meaning that welfare was kept to a minimum and that voluntary unemployment would be penalised (Cochrane Clarke, 1993, p.25). The welfare state was not put in place to help discourage people looking at getting employment. The welfare state was built upon the assumption that there would be full employment for all (males) making sure that an individual would provide contributions and this in turn would make sure the welfare state wasnt costing. However, people who were not in full-time employment who were drawing on the welfare state may not have made enough or any contribution to the welfare state causing it to become tested. The key to political settlement that Beveridge put forward for the structure for the welfare state was that was there to provide financial and social welfare (universally), be able to provide a politic al voice including ideology of social democracy. The report also outlined the fact that there should be an a acceptance that the state needed to manage and sustain the economy which included that there has to be a high level of male employment with the eventuality of bigger economic growth. The report also suggested that there should be a social normative within the nuclear white family, e.g. male works full-time providing a sustainable wage and sustaining a social wage, whilst the mother/wife stays at home as an employed housewife. The welfare state from the ideas and recommendations for Beveridge showed that the relationship of the state to the people ideologically represented as one of unity. (Hughes Lewis, 1998, p.35). Since 1945 to the mid 1970s the Beveridgean welfare model alongside with the Keynesian economic model created a system that helped support those most in need and for a time which worked well in strong economic growth in Britain. For many in politics at the time (social democratics) it was a necessary move to allow the government to intervene in the free market. They believed the market was run by a few powerful individuals and wanted to give back political freedom and that the market gave non deserving rewards and that they werent governed by moral principles (www.s-cool.co.uk/alevelsociology, p.1, 2010) by redistributing income from the wealthy to the relative poor, helping the working class by providing new opportunities and trying to restrain small powerful government that only really benefited the rich. However from the mid to late 1970s, the main ideological features that Beveridge suggested were starting to become questioned and the thought of change was being brought forward. This was partly due with the economic situation that Britain now found itself involved in; recession, in which recession undermined the ideas that underpinned Beveridges reforms. The reforms needed a good and stable economic grounding and by which from the mid 1970s was not there anymore. With questions over the state in which welfare was being provisioned and the state of the economy at the time, was concluded a attack on the welfare state and system for the provision of welfare for many reforms and changes. By the mid 1970s Britain was being choked by recession. Britains welfare outgoings were far greater than it incomings due to mass unemployment making individuals dependant on social welfare from the state, that by now could not afford to keep up with welfare needs. Criticisms of the welfare state led to the unsettling of the welfare state. The idea that Beveridge put forward as one of the main ideas of the welfare state of being universal, for everyone, in reality, the welfare state saw that many social groups were actually being missed out by the welfare system, for example disability, the fact that a disabled person could not engage in full-time employment, racial exclusions; by the 1970s Britain was a different society with more immigration, the welfare system had not been updated to include different races, only white males where included in the old welfare model, and women and the movement of feminism. Back in 1942, Beveridge built his welfare model on the idea that white males would be in full-time work and providing contributions to the welfare state in the form of national insurance and other contributions such as pensions. The fact that women did not contribute into the welfare state or a pension meant that women were still relying on the men to provide. With social changes such as the rise in single parent families, women could not benefit from social welfare in the way in which Beveridge conceptualised. With the election of the New Right Conservatives in 1979, brought about changes in the social welfare and the welfare state (Hughes Lewis, 1998). they set about cutting social expenditure. They did this because they believed that to do so would regenerate private profitability, but also because they believed that reducing public reliance on state provision was a matter of principle. The new ideology of the New Right sought to liberate Britain. The idea that Britain had a huge tax burden from the old Labour ideologies from mid 1940s. M. Friedman quotes the state should not be used to bring about any social objectives, no matter how laudably such objectives may be (Glennerster, 1995, p71) Many New Right commentators suggested and argued that the capitalist economic system is capable and would ensure the provision of wealth and happiness for everyone, the market would make sure that there would be an equilibrium between wages and prices so that wages would be able to meet the supply and demand economic model of the time. Another thought of the New Right was that governments shouldnt intervene within the free market through taxation as it would cause many restraints on private business. And most of all, the welfare state at the time was too expensive to keep up, with the example of a loan granted to the Labour government by the IMF in 1976 to keep up with welfare ne eds. The Conservatives sought to reconceptualise the welfare state by changing the relationships between the state, the individual, social welfare and the markets. The new right sought to change and redefine social terminology such as a person who claimed social welfare was to be called a welfare citizen, compared to what the new right ideology thought, the individual should now be coined a welfare consumer in relationship with the state. The new right believed that the state should change from being the provider of social welfare and in turn that the state should only enable social welfare, i.e. the state should be one of many providers of social welfare, not the only provider, leading to the idea that the markets should have a lending hand in providing a source of welfare which led to the idea that social welfare should be prioritised by the market, not the state.

Goal setting Essay -- essays research papers

Why Should I set my goals? Saying I’m going to have $5 million by retirement is not goal setting. Although it might sound like I have a goal, not developing a realistic path toward fulfilling it will, unfortunately, turn my supposed goal into what it really is--a pipe dream. And pipe dreams are rarely realized. Goals, however, when properly set can usually be met. Goal setting is the term commonly given for the process of setting and working towards specific, defined goals. Pretty simple really. What is difficult, however, is getting people to sit down and actually do it, even though it fits with human nature. When we want to go on a trip, we look at a map and plan our route. If we get lost, we recheck our map. When we want to build a model, we orderly follow the steps. When all is done, our human nature wins out: we reach our destination, and the model is correctly built. By learning the skills of goal setting, developing success habits, and maintaining a goal-setting routine we can have the map to success. A map that will guide us straight to the achievement of all the goals we desire and deserve. Where Do I Start I started by getting it into my mind that I deserve success /complete my certification, and that success is something I can achieve. I have a strong belief that I can reach this success, and prepared to determine the path towards that success. I am willing to accept that I can finish the certification, and I'll enjoy being successful, and I am willing to es... Goal setting Essay -- essays research papers Why Should I set my goals? Saying I’m going to have $5 million by retirement is not goal setting. Although it might sound like I have a goal, not developing a realistic path toward fulfilling it will, unfortunately, turn my supposed goal into what it really is--a pipe dream. And pipe dreams are rarely realized. Goals, however, when properly set can usually be met. Goal setting is the term commonly given for the process of setting and working towards specific, defined goals. Pretty simple really. What is difficult, however, is getting people to sit down and actually do it, even though it fits with human nature. When we want to go on a trip, we look at a map and plan our route. If we get lost, we recheck our map. When we want to build a model, we orderly follow the steps. When all is done, our human nature wins out: we reach our destination, and the model is correctly built. By learning the skills of goal setting, developing success habits, and maintaining a goal-setting routine we can have the map to success. A map that will guide us straight to the achievement of all the goals we desire and deserve. Where Do I Start I started by getting it into my mind that I deserve success /complete my certification, and that success is something I can achieve. I have a strong belief that I can reach this success, and prepared to determine the path towards that success. I am willing to accept that I can finish the certification, and I'll enjoy being successful, and I am willing to es...

Judicial Process of Jack Kevorkian :: essays research papers fc

INTRODUCTION Jack Kevorkian was born on May 26, 1928 in Pontiac, MI. He attended the University of Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with a specialty in pathology in 1952. In 1970, Jack Kevorkian became the chief pathologist at the Saratoga General Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. An advertisement was placed in the Detroit papers in 1987, which described Jack Kevorkian as a â€Å"physician consultant† for death counseling. In 1989, Kevorkian invented the Thanatron, which translates from Greek to English as the â€Å"Death Machine.† The Thanatron was Kevorkian’s tool that he used in many physician-assisted suicides. The machine operated through the use of intravenous drip to administer various doses of fluids to facilitate the death of a patient. Typically, the first dose, which is administered by the patient, was a drug called thiopental. This drug acts as a sleeping agent that sends the patient’s body into a comatose state. Once the p atient is asleep the lethal dose of potassium chloride is administered to stop the heart within minutes. The patient dies as a result of a heart attack. Jack Kevorkian has assisted in the suicide of at least 120 patients. In calculating the demographic data of these patients, I have concluded three different findings with respect to underlying patient illness, age and gender of the patients. All of these patients have suffered from a terminal or debilitating illness. The three highest incidents of illness among the 120 patients were cancer, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The highest incidents of the 120 physician-assisted suicides occurred in the age range of 40 to 60 years of age. Approximately seventy percent of Kevorkian’s patients were female and thirty percent were male. As a result of Jack Kevorkian’s success in assisting in the suicide of these 120 patients, family members, law enforcement and the courts sought many legal inquiries. The state of Michigan, where most of the assisted suicides occurred, does not have a law against this practice. There have been several legal attempts to imposed criminal charges against Jack Kevorkian for his participation in these suicides. In June of 1990, Jack Kevorkian performed his first assisted suicide using the Thanatron. The patient was Janet Adkins, age 54, of Portland, Oregon. Adkins had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Murder charges were brought against Kevorkian as a result of his assistance in the death of Janet Adkins.

Literary Analysis: The Omnivore’s Dilemma Essay

In Michael Pollan’s, The Omnivores Dilemma everything we eat is somehow derived from corn. Dating back to the day of the Mayans when they were sometimes referred to as â€Å"the corn people† (Pollan 19). Pollan takes us back to the â€Å"beginning† of the industrial food chain. In The Omnivores Dilemma historical context, ideology, and setting do not do the reader justice in opening their eyes to the harsh reality that without the corn industry eating as we know it today would cease to exist. The use of historical context in The Omnivores Dilemma insufficiently details the actual origin of corn. Per Pollan’s writing he explains that â€Å"Squanto taught the Pilgrims to plant maize in 1621†¦.. † (Pollan 25), but the existence of corn dates way back much further than 1621. In a 1948 excavation of Bat Cave, New Mexico by then student of anthropology at Harvard University, Herbert W. Dick found small cobs of corn at the bottom of Bat Caves floor which were estimated to contain maize that had their beginning no later than 2000 B. C. (Mangelsdorf 148). Many different types of test have been used to determine how old the corn plant is, but only with solid evidence provided by archeologists has there been any real way to argue the actual evolution of corn. It is more than evident having conducted my own research about the origin and historical context of corn that Pollan merely â€Å"touched† on the subject matter of, where corn came from. In this day and age with many households having both the husband and wife, or single parent households, or just because of mere laziness, society as a whole doesn’t put as much thought into what we consume as they use to. For the most part what we consume is what is most convenient at the time we are hungry, but little do most of us know what it really is that we are eating†¦.. corn. As Pollan so bluntly states, â€Å"†¦. At the end of the food chain (which is to say at the beginning), I invariably found myself in almost exactly the same place: a farm field in the American corn belt† (Pollan 18) Practically everything we eat has corn in it or has been fed corn, and has been chemically altered before it reaches us. Everything from yogurt, chicken mcnuggets, and even beef contain corn of some form. Per one article, â€Å"Pollan wants us to know what it is we’re eating, where it came from, and how it got to our table†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The Wall Street Journal), only that even after having read The Omnivores Dilemma I still had questions, questions Pollan failed to address in his book. The only remotely interesting part of Pollan’s book is the setting; various corn farms. Though interesting it still insufficiently addressed many facts. In my opinion it would have been appropriate to add that in the U. S. alone there are over 400,000 corn farms and that the U. S. s the largest corn producer in the world, producing 32 percent of the world’s corn in the year 2010 ( www. ncga. com www. epa. gov). According to the National Corn Growers Association a good 80 percent of corn grown is eaten by both domestic and overseas livestock, poultry, and even fish. Also according to the NCGA Americans eat 25 pounds of corn a year. (www. ncga. com). Pollan details how corn travels â€Å"About a fifth of the corn river flowing out from the elevators at the Iowa Farmer’s Cooperative travels to a milling plant†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Pollan 86), but epically fails of informing us of the â€Å"bigger picture†. In conclusion, I found that by simply doing a little research on my own in the library or by searching online, not only could I find a wide range of actually interesting information on the ever so popular corn industry, but I wouldn’t fall asleep doing so as I did on more than one occasion trying to read The Omnivores Dilemma. The Omnivores Dilemma is not a book I personally would ever read again. Nor would I recommend it.