Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare Essay

â€Å"I am always directed by you† – Mariana â€Å"I am directed by you† – Isabella. Both these lines are addressed to the Duke. What do they suggest about women status in this play? What other evidence can you find to support your view? Measure for Measure is a play written by William Shakespeare in the seventeenth century which crucially presents the role of women. Women were viewed as pure and were not expected to be promiscuous, but dependent on men with few options or choices. Shakespeare’s interpretation of women in Measure for Measure very much reflects society’s opinion of women at the time, where men had more freedom and should be given more respect than women. The society at that time was a patriarchal one, where a male was a considered a God like figure and ultimately the leader, and below him was the king and then the nobles. However, although the society gave men more rights than women, Measure for Measure demonstrates that men also had more responsibilities. This is shown through the situation with Claudio and Juliet, as although they are both equally to blame for Juliet’s pregnancy, it is Claudio facing the death penalty. The women of Measure for Measure are generally quite low in the ranks of importance and respect; they are not spoken of with any importance. Juliet is the object of Claudio’s sexual release and Mariana is the long lost forgotten fiancee of Angelo, who was abandoned by him when she lost her dowry in a shipwreck. The only woman who kind of breaks the trend of the lowly women is Isabella, who has the courage to stand up to Angelo for her chastity. In the first half she is pushed between Angelo and Claudio while she decides what to do and refuses to respond Angelo’s advances, then in the second half, she takes her orders from the Duke which shows that on the other hand she is still obedient toward the Duke, following all of his instructions. In Act V, Scene 1, the Duke shows his opinion of women when talking to Mariana, he says: â€Å"Why, you are nothing then: neither maid, widow nor wife†. According to the Duke’s point of view, the other woman who truly is free is Mistress Overdone as she earns her own money and is able to get some freedom; at least she doesn’t have to stay at home cooking. The main female character in Measure for Measure is Isabella; she represents a very pure female character. This is first seen at the start of the play by the fact that she is training to become a nun and by the strong Christian values she appears to have. This is then emphasized later when she is told her brother’s life will be saved if he agrees to sleep with Angelo. She refuses this offer, placing her chastity and her Christian values above her own life. This illustrates that a woman’s purity is highly valued, while a woman being promiscuous is not accepted. Mariana is another female character in the play and she is quite different to Isabella. None of these three men, Angelo, Claudio or the Duke, seem to think that her Choice matters- her body is to be bargained for whether for lust, life or love. When the duke asks Mariana to allow him a private discussion with Isabella, she replies, â€Å"I am always bound to you†, as if she is speaking to an old friend. And again, when the duke tells her he respects her, she answers that she knows it and has found it to be true, suggesting a long-term relationship. This statement also shows that she is his subject. The adjective ‘bound’ means that she is obliged to do as he wishes and also compelled to do so. She uses the adverb ‘always’ to him which shows that she will always follow his example and will do his will in any condition. Her absolute trust is manifested when she agrees to entrust her chastity as the Friar asks. In the Jacobean society Shakespeare lived in, women would have always done as they were bid by order of men, but especially if the order was given by a man of religion. These words show the absolute compliance that the Duke is able to gain through becoming a disguise (pseudo-)friar. The Duke abuses this religious power to gain insight into people’s souls for his own ends. He knows that Angelo wishes Isabella to ‘give up the treasures’ of her body and uses the two women to gain more power over Angelo. The same applies to when Isabella says to the Duke, â€Å"I am directed by you†, this statement also shows how women respected men and how men were above in authority. As mentioned above, there are no independent women in Measure for Measure, this is not strange, considering the setting and Shakespeare’s own era; there are prostitutes and nuns who are given no chance to control their own lives most of all they seem to have no choice in any matter.

Differences Between Laptop and Netbook

What are the Difference between Laptop and Netbook? So what is the difference between laptop and netbook? A laptop (also called a notebook) is computer which has been designed to be made portable, featuring a screen hinged to a keyboard. A laptop includes a battery for portable power and a touchpad instead of a mouse for input. Mini laptops (also called a netbook, subnotebook or ultraportables) take these ideas further still, creating a new market above handheld computers, smartphones and personal digital assistants.The primary characteristic of these are smaller size and weight, which are pretty similar to the average diary, as well as costing less than a standard laptop with prices starting at around ? 150, an excellent solution during the credit crunch! Mini laptops aren't as powerful as bigger notebook computers, and lack the power for big, demanding programs as well as an optical disc drive – so no CDs or DVDs. None the less, connectivity is a central focus for netbooks. Internet downloads are quickly catching up on hard media products, so perhaps it's not such a loss.In short, the difference between laptop and netbook is a netbook is smaller, lighter, cheaper (on the whole) and simpler. New mini laptops are expected to sell in the region of 5. 2 million units by the end of 2008, 8 million during 2009 and up to 50 million by 2012 – a ten fold growth. Industry analysts are torn whether or not subnotebooks will cannibalize the laptop market, some suggesting that a mere 10% market share will be taken. However, in this economic downturn, people will always look for cheaper products and with mini laptops available from ? 150-200, perhaps there is a big market after all.So is it game over for the standard laptop and pc? Unlikely; whilst mini laptops can perform dozens of tasks to identical or similar standard of larger computers, they will (for the time being) be limited by battery size, processing power and storage space, the difference between la ptop and netbook is pronounced enough not to make the former obsolete. Furthermore, when using a computer over a prolonged period of time, it would make sense to use a bigger screen and a faster processor of a desktop replacement laptop or a PC, particularly for demanding programs' such as games.And finally, similarly priced but laptops, of varying quality, are available for around ? 200-300 leading some industry analysts to believe that the consumer focus will be on functionality and not merely size and weight. At the opposite end of the spectrum, mobile phone manufacturers and providers are tapping into the netbook market with the Samsung NC10, LG X110 and Carphone Warehouse launching the Webbook – a branded laptop made by Elonex. Vodafone has linked arms with Dell with its Inspiron Mini 9, offering 3G mobile broadband contracts. Orange have followed suit with by cosying up with Asus and the Eee PC 901.

Reflection About My First Year of College

After ending this first year of college I experienced a lot of things and I will remember most of them for the rest of my life. I have experienced some good things and some others that have not been that good, but probably that is part of college and being away from home. Obviously, I would like to have changed some of those, but some others I would not have changed. I am going to start talking about all the things I would like to have change.During this first year I have lived good and bad moments, but I have learnt a lot about all I lived. I would like to say that one of the things that have affected me the most is living so far from home. I am not used to live away from home and it has been a problem during the all year, especially at the beginning. I missed my family a lot, because we were so close and I missed my friends as well. The other thing I would have change would definitely be my dorm. This year I probably lived in the worse dorm we have on Ohio.I know for fact that it i s one of the oldest ones and it has not been renovated for more than a few years. First of all, the all hall smelled pretty bad. I do not know exactly what it was but it smelled old and it seemed dirty. Another part of it was the rooms. The rooms were small and badly distributed. They had one bed almost next to the other, and then they had just one desk for two people. Another bad thing about my dorm would be the bathrooms. We did not have a private bathroom, and they were pretty badly built.We only had four showers for the whole floor. It means twenty or twenty five people for four showers. The last thing I want to mention that I do not like about my dorm is about the laundry. When I first got in my dorm and I put my first laundry, I took my clothes out of the dryer and they were one or two sizes smaller than usual. After that I thought they would get smaller every time but they did not. Finally, the only thing I like about the rooms is that they have a sink. It is always nice if y ou can wash your hands and brush your teeth in your own room.I came to the United States to play soccer and this year has been a hard year for me. I have not played like I would like to have done it. Probably because of all the things I said above that have not gone very well. This is the reason why this year has not been perfect. After all, I have learnt about it and I am ready to come back next year and try my best again. Definitely I would have changed my first year of tennis and I would like to have been more successful. Moving on I am going to talk about the experiences I would not have changed.The most important one is my friends. I made a lot of friends here through the year and I would not change them for anything. I really like people from the United Stated, I think they are so friendly and they try to help you anytime. I will always remember when I first got here at ohio I was kind a lost on campus and everybody could tell that and most of them tried to help me. Another im portant thing that has affected me is the language. But I want to say that I would not have changed that.I am from Spain and as everybody knows the main language is Spanish, not English. It is true that a lot of people there speak English but when I came I did not know this language really well and I had to work so hard to be able to speak and write it like now. I still think I have a lot to improve but I speak it much better that last semester. I have to say it has been an important issue because I was pretty scared to come in the United States because I knew I had to understand people, talk to them, and write for school.Later on I realized that the only way to improve quickly in another language is by moving to the country and interacting with the people. Finally, I would not have changed my roommate. We are both from Spain and I knew him before we came here in the United States. I have known him since we were twelve because both of us play tennis. That is why we came to ohio, to be able to play tennis and study at the same time and together. I think I was lucky because we had a room together because it must be really hard to live and share a room with somebody that you do not know.I think every country has its own culture and if you have a roommate from another country it can be a little bit hard. Like I said before, I got lucky to share a room with him and even though I knew him from Spain you really only get to know someone when you live with them. It has been hard but we had so much fun and we really enjoyed the experience. In conclusion, I had a lot of fun this year at Ohio, and there are some things I would have changed but I think I learnt from them and I will learn more about other experiences that will happen next year.

UPS International Strategy through 2012 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

UPS International Strategy through 2012 - Essay Example After carefully assessing the scenarios from different aspects, recommendations are provided at the last of this paper. The largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, United Parcel Service (UPS), was founded on 28 August, 1907 in Seattle, Wash by 19-year-old   Jim Casey  and 18-year-old Claude Ryan as American Messenger Company. By the time, it progressed and expanded and now it is the world largest package delivery company. UPS employees about 415,000 people including 343,000 U.S. citizens and 70,000 International. Serving in more than 200 countries and territories, its total number of customers touches 8 million. In 2008, UPS delivered an average of 15.5 million pieces per day worldwide and earned revenue of $51.5(b). UPSs key services include logistics and distribution, transportation and freight, freight forwarding, international trade management and customs brokerage. UPS leads in providing less-than-truckload and truckload services coast-to-coast. UPS is running the 9th largest airline in the world with an AA balance sheet credit rating. (UPS Fact Sheet). Going global creates opportunities for companies to grow in new markets. One of the most important and difficult task for the top management is to create effective strategies for company and more difficult is the creation of an International Strategy. Basically, UPS was involved only in movement of goods, but by the time, it understood the new trends of markets and started providing various services including logistics and distribution, international trade management, customs brokerage, consulting, mail, e-commerce, and a variety of financial services. If we look into the history of this company, we will come to know that UPS has never stopped improving and expanding its businesses. UPS fully understand the importance of Global trade in present scenario of recession. CEO of UPS, Scott Davis,

Mangment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mangment - Assignment Example With the rapid approval of the unions in an unorganized organization, the AFL-CIO had taken these unions under the consideration of being legitimate unions, formed for the lower work team of an organization. After announced to be having a strong support of the AFL-CIO, the unions set up for marketing the work force that didn’t get themselves registered to the unions. Unions have used the government agencies and the media as a gateway to reach to the unorganized work force (Bridgesmith). The unions are set to maintain the conduct unbecoming of the employers who often pressurized the working class. Having polls via telephones to the prior information of the unregistered workforce and convince them towards the goals of the unions. The unions have been persuading many politicians under their banner and they are seeking a relation with the civic leaders of the population. As unions have been taking its measures to attract the workforce at their benefits, many of the organizations a ccepted the reality of having a mutual understanding with their work team. The organizations have undergone their supervisors on a new training of facing the workforce with more enthusiastically. The unions can disrupt the environment of an organization that affects the productivity levels of the production. Organizations of restrain to be entitled for a court summon, sent to them through the unions on the accusation of having an unorganized working atmosphere. â€Å"Many employers prefer a union-free workplace in large part because they feel that, without union intervention, they are better able to provide competitive wages and benefits and communicate directly with their employees† (Littler). In a more generalized view on the existence of the unions, it has marked a specific market. If anyone supports the ideology on the non existence of a union, then it is subtle to grab the fact that unions were formed under the tyranny of

Land Law problem question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Land Law problem question - Essay Example No individual joint tenant holds any specific share in the property. The following are features of joint tenancy: i) the presence of the ‘four unities’ which are unities of possession, interest, title and time and ii) right of survivorship. If land is conveyed to more that four persons, the first four of legal age named in the conveyance hold the legal estate as trustees (LPA 1925, s.34(2)) and joint tenants. If the transfer or conveyance contains the following phrases that the parties hold ‘as joint tenants’ or 'as tenants in common' or 'in equal shares’ or ‘equally’ or 'share and share alike' (words of severance). All these and similar terms negate a joint tenancy in equity as discussed in the case of Sleebush v. Gordon & Others [2004] All ER (D) 148 (Sep). But in the absence of contrary evidence, co-owners are presumed to hold the equitable interest as joint tenants in accordance with the principle â€Å"equity follows the law† as held in the case of Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17. However, this presumption can be displaced and should not be embarked upon except in cases of unusual nature. Until recently, where purchasers contributed unequally to the purchase price, there was an equitable presumption of a tenancy in common rebuttable by evidence of contrary intention as held in the case of Goodman v Gallant [1986] 1 Fam LR 513. ... Scarborow[2004] EWCA Civ 411 (business partnership), and Malayan Credit v. Jack-Chia MPH Ltd [1986] AC 549 (business tenants). One of the great benefits of a joint tenancy with right of survivorship is that the property does not have to go through probate. Probate is the legal process that occurs when one person dies, and a court deals with that person's property and debts according to a will or, if the person had no will, state law. Probate is often annoying and time-consuming. Joint tenants, however, do not have to go through probate for their property because the transfer of ownership is automatic. 1 Anent the desire of X to leave her share in the house to the charity in the will, my advise to her is that, under the doctrine of the right of survivorship (jus accrescendi), on the death of one joint tenant, the entire estate remains vested in the surviving joint tenants, who continue to be treated as a single unit. The deceased joint tenant’s interest ends on death and is sub sumed into the interests of the survivor(s) so that nothing passes to his beneficiaries. Unless the beneficial joint tenancy has been severed prior to death, the dead man’s estate will have no claim on the property in question. 2 The right of survivorship takes precedence over any disposition made in the deceased joint tenant’s will, or over any rules of intestacy. Hence, even if X will dispose her share in the house in her will, leaving this to the chosen charity, the same cannot be given credence. The law does not recognize an attempt at severance by will because of the right of survivorship. My advise to Z is that, if she will apply to the court for an order that No 6 Belitha Villas be sold, she has the onus of proving the severance since she was the one who is seeking

Cover letter Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Cover letter - Assignment Example I am one of the core group members that handle the media enquiries and assist the fresher seeking admission to the college. I was also a member of the negotiating committee that visited the Mayor to discuss and upgrade the communication strategies in the educational institutions. I was actively associated with the job up updating the website of my institution and expand its reach in tune with the latest developments and improvements. Communicating with the social medial platforms is also my responsibility. By pursuing the policy of ‘earn while you learn’ I have designed websites and also wrote their contents for the benefit of a number of organizations. These experiences have been quite challenging as the companies often sought my suggestions in proactive campaign-driven releases and responsive communications. I have tendered appropriate solutions to their crisis situations promptly and this has enhanced the reputation of those organizations. I have developed good grasp of their competing priorities. I am fairly conversant with the environment legislation and have read hundreds of articles on environmental protection and the role of the common man, organizations and the government in this regard. I know the type of messages to be given to different types of audiences and possess good oral and written communications skills. I can draft questionnaires on the relevant subjects and can conduct radio interview. I have also appeared in question-and-answer sessions in television programs. I have intense interest in environmental issues and about protecting flora and fauna of Mother Earth. I regularly participate in the conservation programs held in the city of Houston. I therefore seek the golden opportunity to work for a sterling organization like Clean Environment! America, to contribute to the propagation of green message and involve in the related practices. I am quite enthusiastic to leverage my

Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Ethics - Essay Example Egoism is also in conflict with conflict regulation. There are times when a moral choice requires one to act contrary to one’s own interest. The application of egoism would not allow this. UTILITARIANISM   People who prescribe to utilitarianism believe that one should always act in favor of what will provide the greatest amount of happiness for all people involved. The theory challenges one to measure happiness. This is difficult as happiness is subjective to each individual. Furthermore, utilitarianism condones terrible acts such as murder if those acts provide pleasure to the greatest number of people. Another concern is that there is no solid guide to follow and acts are often in conflict. Sometimes it is okay to do things like steal, other times it is not. Individuals must weigh the results of a particular action each time one encounters it in order to calculate the corresponding level of happiness for everyone involved and determine the proper course of action in each u nique scenario. CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE   The Categorical Imperative admonishes people to act the way they would want all other people to act. The theory assumes that people are rational and will act accordingly. Those who are irrational for any reason, including illness, would be exempt from practicing this theory. Moreover, actions taken by an individual may be in conflict when one considers perfect duties and imperfect duties. Bold statements of perfect duties such as never tell a lie govern behavior, but if a lie prevents someone from getting hurt one must do one to support the other when applying the categorical imperative. One could also stretch the rules to allow almost any action, because the rules are already broad in nature. NATURAL LAW   Natural Law theorizes that anything is moral that supports basic rights including survival, procreation, and maintenance of health. People may have trouble defining natural laws and determining how to apply them. In addition, oneâ€⠄¢s views on religion and the role of God in nature intertwine with the definition of Natural Law. Because one’s views on religion and the role of God in nature are determined on an individual basis, the theory is difficult to practice with any consistency across a group of people. Natural Law may also condone specific acts that many would view as immoral or unethical because they are not in conflict with any natural law. For example, many consider rape immoral, but one could argue that the act supports procreation if the intent of the act was to create a child. THEORY OF JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS-MAXI MIN   The theory of Justice as Fairness—Maxi Min suggests that one should balance opportunity with inequality. Equality is difficult to measure and one must reduce equality to embrace the lowest common societal denominator in order to apply this theory. In practice, however, this allows inequality on the other end of the spectrum. In practice, people must apply a veil of ign orance in order to apply the two principles inherent in the theory. People may find the veil of ignorance challenging to achieve. Additionally, the theory is difficult to apply on an individual basis and more aptly applies at a community level. WILL TO POWER - Existentialist Theory of Nietzsche   Nietzsche proposes that all humans naturally exert their will on others. Because each person acts selfishly, there are no altruistic acts. The desire to

T-Moblie Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

T-Moblie - Essay Example public, Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Poland, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and the Slovakia– including the US Virgin Islands, US, and the Puerto Rico. On the global level, the International subsidiaries of T-Mobile possess total subscribers which are roughly 150 million in number, which makes it the twelfth-largest service provider of mobile phone in the entire world in terms of subscribers. Besides this, T-Mobile bags the rank of the third-largest multinational and stand after Spains Telefà ³nica and UKs Vodafone. T-Mobile, in the year 2010, became the segment of the agreement of joint venture with the UK mobile-network provider of France Telecom, Orange UK. These companies combined and formed the largest mobile-network operator of UK and called itself Everything Everywhere. However, even after forming the joint venture, the Orange brands and T-Mobile go on to co-exist in the markets of United Kingdom. T-Mobile complies with all the laws which are applicable to the state and federal codes of laws and regulations. The management of the company does not indulge in any activity which violates the policies of the company such as non-retaliation, non-discriminatory and non-harassment policies. The unacceptable conduct in the company constitutes of violation of company laws and policies, removal of the property of company without permission, willful or neglectful damage or defacing of the company property, dishonesty, fraud, improper record keeping and all the related activities. Any criminal conviction amongst the employees results in their termination from the company. Besides this, all the secret trade laws and other legal information are kept confidential from others except the concerned parties. The company makes the decisions in the business by giving proper consideration to the social, ethical and legal regulations. The T-Mobile makes returns to the society through the afterschool community outreach program. The company makes efforts to

Automobility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Automobility - Essay Example She also thinks that automobiles enhance knowledge. She says that automobiles take us to any place from watching birds to visiting battlegrounds. She also says that automobiles enhance privacy and allow us control over our immediate environment. The reason why so many people are buying cars is because there are benefits in having a car, something that cannot be said about other means of transport. There are public transportations too such as buses and taxis. However, although these too have benefits, they do not provide privacy. Having a private car greatly increases one's mobility. The environmentalists may raise a hue and cry about the ill-effects of the car. But there is little they can do to provide alternatives (Loren Lomasky). Mathew Paterson argues that to explain the rise and subsequent dominance of automobility as a mode of transportation in contemporary societies it is necessary to examine: a) the political economy of automobility; and b) the cultural politics of automobility. How does Paterson's analysis differ from Lomasky's Matthew Paterson has used environment and the capitalist structure to highlight the reason for the rise and dominance of automobility. ... In due time the number of cars increased. Today, the population of cars is high enough to warrant their restriction by environmentalists. A richer class of people will by all means buy a car. Paterson emphasizes the centrality of the car to capitalism. Capitalism had major influence in projecting the value of the car. The capitalist ideology provided the boost to the car industry to evolve through a combination of factors that cover industrialization, taxation, employment and road construction (b) Cultural politics Transportation is not the only need for a car. The basic purpose in owning a car is indeed transportation. However, there is the aura of a culture that has evolved with the automobile. Paterson projects the social, cultural and ability to commute fast in a car that has shaped the need for a car. Unlike Loren Lomasky, he has not concentrated on the benefits of the car. He has instead focused on the underlying reasons for the evolution of the car as a necessity rather than a luxury that has made it so ubiquitous today. Paterson says that our dependence on cars must be understood from the culture that we have allowed to take root in our midst. In order to address environmental issues it is necessary to address this culture and correct the anomalies that have allowed the car to play a dominant role in our affairs (Automobile politics). Several of the authors we have read have argued that is not useful to think about "automobile" and "driver" as separate entities. Rather, they argue that we need to think about them as constituting an "assemblage," which has also been termed a "car-driver," a "driver-car," a "Carson" and several

Terry vs ohio Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Terry vs ohio - Research Paper Example Ironically, this chance presented itself in form of a case, the Terry versus Ohio case. Many other cases have taken place in federal and Supreme Courts, and the Terry versus Ohio case, which took place over 40 years ago, is applied. Some people argue against the terry versus Ohio outcome. This work, therefore shall give a detailed account of what led to the arrest, who was involved, the charges, the outcome of the case and thereafter look at several issues that arise and can be seen from this case. Background The events of that case began on the afternoon of 31ST October, 1963.A law enforcement officer in his civilian dressing making his afternoon tour, spotted two men from a distance. In his testimony, the officer, Mr. Martin McFadden told the court that he spotted two men in Euclid Avenue. He took keen interest in them as he had never seen them before, not that he knew everyone in that town, but he just took keen interest in them. For him, they appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He took his time to study them and that is when he realized their questionable actions and movements.3 These two men talked briefly, and then one of them walked along the corridor, stopping for some time to look through the windows of a particular and specific store. After this, the man went back to his company, and after some time, the other man did the same thing, walked along the corridor and stopped at the same store. This further increased the curiosity of the officer. After around six times of this repeated routine, the two men were joined by another man. More talking was done and then the newly arrived man left. The law enforcement reported to the court that after this man left, the two men who were there earlier continued with their earlier suspicious routine. They did this for about fifteen minutes and then left, following the direction that the other man had taken. This further increased the curiosity of the officer, who had been watching them from a close enough distance. According to him, he suspected that they were ‘casing a job’. He followed them and found them in the company of the man who had left earlier. After all, as he said in the court, McFadden had enough experience to tell when something wrong and suspicious was cooking. In his 39 years of service, dealing with pickpockets and shop breakers, the officer had learnt to read the signs of such people.4 Officer McFadden approached them and produced his identification. He asked them what their names were, but they officer did not comprehend what they said. They mumbled incoherently. They officer had a strong suspicion that these three men were up to no good, and that is when he grabbed one of the men, Terry and spun him round. He felt a gun in Terry’s overcoat pocket, but could not reach it. He ordered the three men to enter into the nearby Zuckers store and face the wall. The officer removed Terry’s overcoat, from which he recovered a 38 caliber revo lver.5 He also patted the other men’s outer clothing. He recovered a pistol from Chitton, the man with whom Terry had done the routine walks with. On the other man, Kartz, there was no weapon found. The two men

The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example for Free

The Cuban Missile Crisis Essay The Cuban Missile Crisis on October 14, 1962, marked one of the highpoints of the Kennedy administration.   The scandal caused widespread panic and indignation to the American people due to the surrounding environmental factors brought about by the cold war.   It revolved around the building of Russian bases on Cuban soil and the staging of nuclear weapons from these said structures.   One such depiction of this event is the movie Thirteen Days which is a most ample goldmine of organizational communications beautifully recreated on the silver screen. The crisis is viewed from the eyes of one Kenny O’Donnell, a Special Assistant to the President, who begs, barters and steals the information he needs to keep his friend and superior abreast of the volatile situation while not selling out his own ethics in the process.   This film depicts an excellent display of organizational communications in one of the most important and influential social groups during a time of trial and tribulation which brings out the best and worst in people. Organizational communications stems from the fact that large companies need to coordinate efficiently in order to achieve the goals set out.   For example, if a firm with 10,000 employees had to go to the president for each of their issues with work, he or she would never be able to do the tasks set out on the institution of the company.   The president’s plate would always be full and it would keep piling up with the new problems which spring up during operations.   The key to solving this problem is delegation.   The leader gets people he can trust to get the job done and specifies which fields to focus on.   This paper will show examples as based on the movie Thirteen Days and will provide an example in today’s modern setting. Communications can be defined as the meaningful interaction of people exchanging knowledge.   Good communications in business is the flow of information from the lowest employee to the person with the highest position in order to achieve objectives and vice versa.   The head can address the company as a whole but not all the information from each worker goes straight to the top otherwise there would be an information overload. Information gathering techniques can be in the form of feedback or focused group discussions.   The movie showed this as a U2 spy plane flying over Cuba taking reconnaissance photos as part of America’s regular monitoring of the region. In the film, when Russian rockets are discovered in Cuba, the information is sent up the pipeline because it was deemed important enough.   If the intelligence was about how the Russian prime minister drank his tea or whether he lights a cigar the proper way, it would be filed under miscellaneous information which would be pulled up only when the need arose.   The CIA analysts forwarded the pictures and interpretations to their section chiefs who make the decision whether the buck stops with them or not who then forwards it to the Director of the CIA who makes the call if it should be sent up the chain of command.   This signifies efficient leader-member exchanges. To find a solution, both cognitive and affective conflicts often come into play.   Cognitive conflict focuses attention on assumptions that may underlie a particular issue and which are often ignored.1   It was done by Adlai Stevenson, ambassador to the United Nations, when he voiced an option to the president which all of them as advisors were thinking but would not voice out since it would be political suicide.   This type of conflict allows the decision makers to weigh all their options before coming to a decision.   Affective conflict on the other hand deals with input which is detrimental to the solution process.   It lowers effectiveness with the input of distrust and controversy. The joint chiefs of the military acted as such towards the president since he would not give permission to execute the action they deemed to be the â€Å"only† option.   Even when the generals knew that the commander-in-chief would never agree with them, they tried to box him in by aggravating the situation.   For example, they ordered a low level intelligence gathering mission which would attract an armed response from the Russians.   JFK could not hinder them without a valid reason but he did work around them by getting in contact with the pilot who was flying the mission and asking him to not do anything or report instances which would force America to a nuclear war. The contradiction to this crisis was that the US stationed Jupiter missiles in Turkey near the Soviet border.   If this had not been done, they could have prevented the predicament they were in.   There was also a lot of bargaining going on from the president asking his advisors for other options to the ultimate solution which was the compromise reached by both superpowers to end the escalating conflict. In my opinion this movie is a goldmine of organizational communications reference.   It concretely depicts what to do and what not to do when decisions need to be made during â€Å"crunch time†.   It might not characterize every scenario but with a little stretch of the imagination, we can get and expound new ideas which we can utilize in our daily operations. We can learn a lot from this movie and apply it to any organization especially an engineering services firm.   As an example let’s use the solid waste disposal department and that the dump trucks did not come on time.   The men loading the trucks or the foreman even notices this and decides to kick it to upper management since the whole timetable for the project was delayed.   Now the manager has to decide where to get the trucks.   He or she could either, call another company then penalize the contractors with the cost of hiring another firm plus damages and never work with them again or be lenient with the firm and just deduct the penalty from what was supposed to be paid out for the usage of the vehicles. Advisors are called in to weigh options before a decision can be made.   Now if the trucks were delayed within an allowable amount of time, this information can be sent up the ladder depending on the foreman’s judgment.   If it is still within his scope of responsibility, he can give a warning to the trucking company that tardiness would not be tolerated or send it to one of the manager’s advisors or his corresponding supervisor. The chain of command ideally should work this way to achieve goals but other factors come into play.   In some cases the information does not go to the right person or nothing is being done.   We may not have the perfect structure for organizational communications but we can strive and learn from past errors in order to make decisions which the organization can count every time. References: 1 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1650/htmlcognitiveconflict.html last checked 08 March 2008

Successful brand extensions in the FMCG industry

Successful brand extensions in the FMCG industry INTRODUCTION Brand extension or brand stretching is a marketing strategy in which a firm marketing a product with a well-developed image uses the same brand name in a different product category. The new product is called a spin-off. Organizations use this strategy to increase and leverage brand equity (definition: the net worth and long-term sustainability just from the renowned name). An example of a brand extension is Jello-gelatin creating Jello pudding pops. It increases awareness of the brand name and increases profitability from offerings in more than one product category. A brands extendibility depends on how strong consumers associations are to the brands values and goals. While there can be significant benefits in brand extension strategies, there can also be significant risks, resulting in a diluted or severely damaged brand image. Poor choices for brand extension may dilute and deteriorate the core brand and damage the brand equity. Most of the literature focuses on the consumer evaluation and positive impact on parent brand. In practical cases, the failures of brand extension are at higher rate than the successes. Some studies show that negative impact may dilute brand image and equity. In spite of the positive impact of brand extension, negative association and wrong communication strategy do harm to the parent brand even brand family. Organizations frequently follow brand extension strategies. This paper investigates the impact of category similarity, brand reputation, perceived risk, and consumer innovativeness on the success of brand extensions in FMCG, durable goods, and services sectors. A set of hypotheses were developed and tested in a study amongst 153 consumers. The findings show that extensions into categories more similar to the original brand tend to be more readily accepted. Likewise, the reputation of the original brand is an important factor influencing the success of the extension. These findings are consistent across FMCG, durable goods, and services brands. However, perceived risk about the extension category was only found to enhance acceptability of extensions for durable goods and services brands. Innovative consumers are more positively disposed towards service brand extensions than FMCG and durable goods brand extensions. REVIEW OF LITERATURE In his paper, Hem Leif E a set of hypotheses were developed and tested in a study amongst 701 consumers. The findings show that extensions into categories more similar to the original brand tend to be more readily accepted. Likewise, the reputation of the original brand is an important factor influencing the success of the extension. These findings are consistent across FMCG, durable goods and services brands. However, perceived risk about the extension category was only found to enhance acceptability of extensions for durable goods and services brands. Innovative consumers are more positively disposed towards service brand extensions than FMCG and durable goods brand extensions. (Factors Influencing Successful Brand Extensions By: Hem, Leif E.; de Chernatony, Leslie; Iversen, Nina M.. Journal of Marketing Management, Sep2003, Vol. 19 Issue 7/8) In his paper, Thamaraiselvan, Raja, projects the intense competitive environment where companies launch new products to satisfy constantly changing consumers preferences. The new products are prone to failures due to many factors. Companies take efforts to reduce new product failure rates to maximize their returns for their stakeholders. A brand extension, leveraging existing brand names to new product categories is one such strategy to reduce the risk of new product failures. This study primarily focuses on how consumers evaluate brand extensions for FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and service product categories in Indian market conditions. It explores how exactly the consumers evaluate different product categories based on factors like, similarity fit, perceived quality, brand reputation and perceived risk. It brings out the impact of brand reputation of the core brand and perceived service quality on the brand extensions evaluations. It highlights the role of perceived risk invo lved in the extended product category in brand extensions evaluations. Most importantly, this study establishes the relationships among similarity fit, brand reputation, perceived service quality and perceived risk in extended product categories through appropriate multivariate analysis. (How do Consumers Evaluate Brand Extensions- Research findings from India. By: Thamaraiselvan, N.; Raja, J.. Journal of Services Research, Apr2008, Vol. 8 Issue 1 ) In his article, Park, examines two factors that differentiate between successful and unsuccessful brand extensions: product feature similarity and brand concept consistency. The results reveal that, in identifying brand extensions, consumers take into account not only information about the product-level feature similarity between the new product and the products already associated with the brand, but also the concept consistency between the brand concept and the extension. For both function-oriented and prestige-oriented brand names, the most favorable reactions occur when brand extensions are made with high brand concept consistency and high product feature similarity. In addition, the relative impact of these two factors differs to some extent, depending on the nature of the brand-name concept. When a brands concept is consistent with those of its extension products, the prestige brand seems to have greater extendibility to products with low feature similarity than the functional b rand does. (Evaluation of Brand Extensions: The Role of Product Feature Similarity and Brand Concept Consistency. By: Park, C. Whan; Milberg, Sandra; Lawson, Robert. Journal of Consumer Research, Sep91, Vol. 18 Issue 2 ) In his research paper, Hem Leif, projects that the most successful brand extensions are considered to be those having high perceived similarity between the parent brand and the extensions, and being well known in the marketplace. However, previous research has mainly examined the effects of overall measures of perceived similarity between a parent brand and an extension. Correspondingly, little is known about the effects of different areas of consumer knowledge. This study investigates the effects of three types of perceived similarity (usage, associations, competence) and three areas of consumer knowledge (original brand, original category, extension category) on evaluations of brand extensions. The results indicate that some types of perceived similarity and knowledge are more important than others. These findings imply that brand managers need to identify and measure the relevant types of perceived similarity and knowledge that will affect evaluations of brand extensions in order to design effective communication strategies for extensions. (Effects of different types of perceived similarity and subjective knowledge in evaluations of brand extensions. By: Hem, Leif E.; Iversen, Nina M.. International Journal of Market Research, 2009, Vol. 51 Issue 6 ) In his article, Swaminathan, focuses on the impact of a new brand extension introduction on choice in a behavioral context using national household scanner data involving multiple brand extensions. Particularly, the authors investigate the reciprocal impact of trial of successful and unsuccessful brand extensions on parent brand choice. In addition, the authors examine the effects of experience with the parent brand on consumers trial and repeat of a brand extension using household scanner data on six brand extensions from a national panel. In the case of successful brand extensions, the results show positive reciprocal effects of extension trial on parent brand choice, particularly among prior non-users of the parent brand, and consequently on market share. The authors find evidence for potential negative reciprocal effects of unsuccessful extensions. In addition, the study shows that experience with the parent brand has a significant impact on extension trial, but not on extension repeat. (The Impact of Brand Extension Introduction on Choice. By: Swaminathan, Vanitha; Fox, Richard J.; Reddy, Srinivas K.. Journal of Marketing, Oct2001, Vol. 65 Issue 4 ) INDIAN FMCG INDUSTRY The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of $13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organised and unorganised segments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labour costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as well as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to convert consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer upgrading in the matured product categories. With 200 millio n people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the food-processing industry. The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy and creates employment for three million people in downstream activities. Within the FMCG sector, the Indian food processing industry represented 6.3 per cent of GDP and accounted for 13 percent of the countrys exports in 2003-04. A distinct feature of the FMCG industry is the presence of most global players through their subsidiaries (HLL, PG, Nestle), which ensures new product launches in the Indian market from the parents portfolio. Demand for FMCG products is set to boom by almost 60 per cent by 2007 and more than 100 per cent by 2015. This will be driven by the rise in share of middle class from 67 per cent in 2003 to 88 per cent in 2015. The boom in various consumer categories, further, indicates a latent demand for various product segments. For example, the upper end of very rich and a part of the consuming class indicate a small but rapidly growing segment for branded products. The middle segment, on the other hand, indicates a large market for the mass end products.The BRICs report indicates that Indias per capita disposable income, currently at $556 per annum, will rise to $1150 by 2015 another FMCG demand driver. Spurt in the industrial and services sector growth is also likely to boost the urban consumption demand. HOUSEHOLD CARE The size of the fabric wash market is estimated to be $1 billion, household cleaners to be $239 million and the production of synthetic detergents at 2.6 million tonnes. The demand for detergents has been growing at an annual growth rate of 10 to 11 per cent during the past five years. The urban market prefers washing powder and detergents to bars. The regional and small un-organised players account for a major share of the total volume of the detergent market. PERSONAL CARE The size of the personal wash products is estimated at $989 million; hair care products at $831 million and oral care products at $537 million. While the overall personal wash market is growing at one per cent, the premium and middle-end soaps are growing at 10 per cent. The leading players in this market are HUL, Nirma, Godrej Soaps and Reckitt Colman. The oral care market, especially toothpastes, remains under penetrated in India (with penetration level below 45 per cent). The industry is very competitive both for organised and smaller regional players. The Indian skin care and cosmetics market is valued at $274 million and dominated by HUL, Colgate Palmolive, Gillette India and Godrej Soaps. The coconut oil market accounts for 72 per cent share in the hair oil market. In the branded coconut hair oil market, Marico (with Parachute) and Dabur are the leading players. The market for branded coconut oil is valued at approximately $174 million. FOOD AND BEVERAGES The size of the Indian food processing industry is around $ 65.6 billion, including $20.6 billion of value added products. Of this, the health beverage industry is valued at $230 million; bread and biscuits at $1.7 billion; chocolates at $73 million and ice creams at $188 million. The size of the semi-processed/ready-to-eat food segment is over $1.1 billion. Large biscuits confectionery units, soya processing units and starch/glucose/sorbitol producing units have also come up, catering to domestic and international markets. The three largest consumed categories of packaged foods are packed tea, biscuits and soft drinks. The Indian beverage industry faces over supply in segments like coffee and tea. However, more than half of this is available in unpacked or loose form. Indian hot beverage market is a tea dominant market. Consumers in different parts of the country have heterogeneous tastes. Dust tea is popular in southern India, while loose tea in preferred in western India. The urb an-rural split of the tea market was 51:49 in 2000. Coffee is consumed largely in the southern states. The size of the total packaged coffee market is 19,600 tonnes or $87 million. The total soft drink (carbonated beverages and juices) market is estimated at 284 million crates a year or $1 billion. The market is highly seasonal in nature with consumption varying from 25 million crates per month during peak season to 15 million during offseason. The market is predominantly urban with 25 per cent contribution from rural areas. Coca cola and Pepsi dominate the Indian soft drinks market. Mineral water market in India is a 65 million crates ($50 million) industry. On an average, the monthly consumption is estimated at 4.9 million crates, which increases to 5.2 million during peak season. With the presence of 12.2% of the world population in the villages of India, the Indian rural FMCG market is something no one can overlook. Increased focus on farm sector will boost rural incomes, hence providing better growth prospects to the FMCG companies. Better infrastructure facilities will improve their supply chain. FMCG sector is also likely to benefit from growing demand in the market. Because of the low per capita consumption for almost all the products in the country, FMCG companies have immense possibilities for growth. And if the companies are able to change the mindset of the consumers, i.e. if they are able to take the consumers to branded products and offer new generation products, they would be able to generate higher growth in the near future. It is expected that the rural income will rise in 2007, boosting purchasing power in the countryside. However, the demand in urban areas would be the key growth driver over the long term. Also, increase in the urban populatio n, along with increase in income levels and the availability of new categories, would help the urban areas maintain their position in terms of consumption. At present, urban India accounts for 66% of total FMCG consumption, with rural India accounting for the remaining 34%. However, rural India accounts for more than 40% consumption in major FMCG categories such as personal care, fabric care, and hot beverages. In urban areas, home and personal care category, including skin care, household care and feminine hygiene, will keep growing at relatively attractive rates. Within the foods segment, it is estimated that processed foods, bakery, and dairy are long-term growth categories in both rural and urban areas.

Impact of Demographics on Population Health

Impact of Demographics on Population Health Santos, Juan Nicholas V. 12000773 The demographics of a population have significant impacts on health planning, implementation, and evaluation of health interventions. One of the relevant factors that affect the following is age. 20% of New Zealanders are aged 0-14 and 25.7% are 55 years old and above. These age groups are the age groups that are more in need of healthcare and they comprise 45.7% of the New Zealand population. This means that the healthcare planning of New Zealand likely revolves around these age groups without overlooking the needs of the other age groups as well. The political climate in New Zealand is relatively stable compared to the Philippines. The New Zealand population see their government as a body that is protecting them and their interests. The New Zealand government protects the population by providing free healthcare for residents and citizens. They also give benefits and housing to residents who are unemployed, and this also affects the health of the population. The healthcare facilities in New Zealand are accessible to every member of the population and they do a very good job in taking care of the population especially people who belong to the workforce through the ACC. New Zealand is very tolerant towards the religious beliefs of the population. This affects the health planning, implementing, and evaluation because most religions have some sort of restriction on their followers. For example, some religions do not allow blood transfusions and this directly affects the health of the individual especially in a life threatening situation. The tolerance of New Zealand to different beliefs has a positive impact on health because you will feel accepted within the society. This leads to a positive outlook and will lead to improved self-esteem, which will then lead to increased productivity at work or in school. This affects the health planning of New Zealand because of religious restrictions. Since New Zealand is very tolerant and respectful of the religions of the population, they formulate a plan around these restrictions in order for the intervention to be available to all. Human Values that are being applied in New Zealand affect the overall health of the population. Honesty, equality, and fairness are enduring values in New Zealand. This affects the implementation of health interventions because nobody is trying to get a leg up on other people. New Zealanders believe in equal opportunity for the population and this is also related to health because there is an equal opportunity for access to healthcare. This affects the implementation because it makes the implementation phase easier for the healthcare professionals in making sure that everybody who needs healthcare is addressed. In comparison to the Philippines, when there are 100 blister packs of medicine for 100 people, more often than not there will be a shortage towards the end of the line because people who get theirs first tend to get more than what they are supposed to get. Ethnicity plays a major role in health because there are diseases that are more prevalent among specific ethnic groups. For example, sickle cell disease is more prevalent among Africans than any other ethnicity. This affects the health planning because even though they are a minority in New Zealand, we still have to give consideration to their being at risk to specific diseases. For the Maori people, they give importance to their language and land and they believe that the land and their language protect them from illness. This may affect the health planning and implementation because we have to adapt our interventions to the Maori way in order to be respectful of their culture. It will be easier for us to simply adapt our interventions to their culture rather than adapt their culture to our interventions. Traditions are very important especially with regard to health intervention evaluation. This is because traditional beliefs related to health are often contradictory to western medicine. Muslims, for example, refuse to take their medications from 6am to 6pm during the Ramadan. This hinders our ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the medicine because the timing of the intake of medications is very crucial in determining the effectiveness. They also traditionally believe that they should not disclose their medical history because they may have a less chance at marriage. This hinders our ability to properly assess and identify genetic predisposition to illnesses. A B The public concept of health and illness is shaped by proper health education. The public generally views health as just a state of physical well-being rather than a holistic view on health. Because of this, people tend to disregard symptoms of mental distress or social exclusion without realizing that these also contribute immensely to their health. This also affects the way the public views an illness. The public will view illness as just a state of physical sickness or disease. These misconceptions affect our planned health interventions because what we may view as important to their health, they may not place any importance on. For some people, as long as their bodies can function, they are healthy without taking into consideration the health of their mind or their inclusion within a community. CD The importance that the public puts into health is vital in getting our interventions across to the population because even if we put all our effort, if the population is not interested in what we are doing, our planned interventions will fail. Here in New Zealand, the Maori population places an importance on health. However, according to the ministry of health, 23% of Maori adults fail to see a physician due to the cost. It is somewhat contradicting because 41% of Maori adults are smokers in spite of the fact that 23% of them cannot go to a physician when they need to. Their attitude to healthcare professionals is also a factor on their health because when they have a good doctor-patient or nurse-patient relationships, it encourages them to come back again for a follow-up and enables them to trust their healthcare providers with confidential information that may have an effect on their health. Though New Zealand is a developed country with one of lowest rates of corruption in the world, inequalities still exist especially when it comes to health. There are still people and ethnic groups here in New Zealand that does not have proper access to healthcare. I think culture has the biggest impact on the planning and implementation of health interventions in New Zealand. The Pakeha, Asians, Maoris, Pacific Islanders, and other ethnicities all live in New Zealand as one thriving population. But of all these, the Maori and Pacific Islanders have the highest prevalence of smoking adults, and the lowest life expectancy among all the ethnic groups present in New Zealand. According to the National Health Committee, 39% of all Maori students leave school without earning their qualifications. This is an alarming figure because this only happens to 14% of students from all of the other ethnic groups combined and we all know that if the population has a proper education, this will lead to better socioeconomic status which will then play a major role in determining an individual’s health status. â€Å"References Goodyear, M. (2008) The Significance of Demographic Changes for the Health of the Population and its Need for Health and Related Services. Retrieved from http://www.healthknowledge.org.uk/public-health-textbook/health-information/3a-populations/demographic-changes CIA World Fact Book. (2014) Age Structure. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2010.html The National Advisory Committee on Health and Disability. (June, 1998). The Social, Cultural, and Economic Determinants of Health in New Zealand: Action to Improve Health.

A View From The Bridge Essay-Arthur Miller -- English Literature:

A View From The Bridge Essay-Arthur Miller â€Å"A View From The Bridge† is a story with many themes and aspects such as love, The American Dream, Justice, Law and Family Honour. The story â€Å"A View From The Bridge† is about an Italian American community living in Red Hook, New York. The Italian American community in Red Hook are mainly all immigrants living in the country unlawfully. I will briefly describe the play. Alfieri, an Italian-American lawyer in his fifties, enters the stage and sits in his office. From his desk he talks to the audience and he introduces the story of Eddie Carbone. Alfieri compares himself to a lawyer in Caesar’s time. Eddie walks down the street to his house As Eddie reaches his front door two fellow Longshoremen, Louis and Mike greet him. Eddie’s niece, Catherine reaches out of the window and waves to Eddie and Louis. When Eddie enters the house he gently scolds Catherine for flirting with the boys. Eddie thinks she should be more reserved and not †walk so wavy†. Beatrice, Eddie’s wife, is also home. When Beatrice and Catherine set the table for dinner, they convince Eddie to let Catherine take a job as a stenographer down by the docks but Eddie didn’t want her to take the job because he thinks the men will take advantage of her and he wants Catherine to finish college. Eddie informs Beatrice that her cousins Marco and Rodolpho will be arriving early from Italy. Beatrice and Eddie plan to hide Marco and Rodolpho while they work in the country illegally to send money back home. Marco and Rodolpho arrive at the house and a brief reunion. Marco tells the Carbone family that he has three children and a wife back home that he will be sending money to. Rodolpho is the younger blond... ... sight of a man destroying himself, while those around him are as powerless as the audience to prevent it. This is hinted at by the beginning of the play. This play shows a whole range of emotions and tackles many issues such as The American Dream, Justice, Law and family Honour. In the end I thought that because Eddie and Catherine cared deeply for each other this led to Eddie being jealous of Rodolpho and over protective of Catherine, which split the relationship between Catherine and Eddie but also led towards the death of Eddie. All the characters in the play then suffered a tragedy because nobody gained anything in the play or achieved their dreams but mostly lost things instead of gaining things. Family honour might have been satisfied, but only through Eddie so that also proved to be negative because only Eddie dealt with it and nobody else did.

Implications of Modernist Thought in Tender Is the Night Essay

Implications of Modernist Thought in Tender Is the Night      Ã‚   The implications of modernist thought in F. Scott Fitzgeralds' Tender Is the Night, become apparent when conceptualizing crime and punishment. Besides the murder of the Negro in the Parisian hotel, the idea of crime is plastic; adultery, deceit, moral depravity barely have consequences. Actions committed with good intentions often end in despair, such as the marriage of Dick and Nicole Diver. Similarly, seduction and dissimulation are not often met with ensuing punishment. Actions, whether they be morally right or wrong, tend to remain in a staid state without the traditional response. The modernists place characters in various moments and situations that do not necessarily conclude in the set conception of "punishment."    Nicole and Dick Diver both commit "crimes" of infidelity during their marriage. While Dick's tryst with Rosemary ceases without any succinct culmination, Nicole sleeps with Tommy and ends her marriage to elope with him. Neither crime however, is met with a punishment. While Dick slowly loses his manner of attraction and wiles with women, he sinks into apathy and alcoholism. Fitzgerald does not seem to be punishing Dick in any way for his fleeting romance with Rosemary; rather, his empty life is almost an inevitability, another set of moments without weighty cause or effect. Nicole's actual instant of infidelity is described as a "moment" - not as a crime, a moral dilemma or anything deserving traditional punishment. She drifts into her affair in the same way she tends to her garden or glances at her children. Her love for Tommy Barban is simply situational; Dick was no longer fulfilling her in the manner she expect... ...s vision of Rosemary and his undying need for her body in his arms, he calls Nicole and demands that they have dinner and see a play in the evening. The crime is masked completely by the conventions that surround their lives. The punishment, therefore, remains unclear. They both continue a farce of a relationship while lying to themselves and negating any concept of criminality in their own actions. The moments come and go, the crimes and punishments are vague and ephemeral. The crimes of each of all the characters eventually effect their own psyches - their lives are damaged by their apparent neglect of reality. Living in each moment without bearing the consequences has a acute effect on Dick, but mostly leaves Nicole, Tommy and Rosemary unbroken.    Works Cited Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "Tender is the Night" Scribner Paperback Fiction, 1933.   

Government Intervention in Market

The Market Structures The complete economic activities are handled in four different market structures, namely perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly and monopoly. The nature and degree of competition varies among the all the above-mentioned four markets. In summarized manner we can describe that as the number of sellers increases, each firms’ ability to charge high prices reduces.If number of buyers increases then buyers practice to purchase the goods at his choice price diminishes. The sellers have to face price competitions if the product is homogeneous and price and non-price competition exist if goods are differentiable. A large number of buyers and sellers make competition perfect. A homogeneous good with a number of sellers put the market in competition but a homogeneous good in a few sellers and a number of buyers leads the competition in another directions and put sellers in relatively good position.The complete knowledge of buyers and sellers regard ing market price and goods encourage fair competition on the other hand incomplete knowledge of product, alluring misleading advertisements and forced differentiation of the goods break the pure competition. Production of a good by a particular producer or a few producers put the economy in their hands (monopoly) but if only a few buyers or a union of the buyers is controlling (monopsony) the market then market becomes non-competitive.All of the above there are some peculiar goods, which are non-excludable (can be consumed by any one without paying the cost) and non-rivalrous (no one has exclusive right over its consumption), that are not produced by any profit making companies such as military service to protect the nation. Market Failure Causes From the above discussion it is very clear that except perfect competition rest three market structures are not fulfilling the optimal criteria of economy i. e. high over all economic growth, full employment and fair distribution of income among the different parts of the society.The reasons for such market failure or non-attainment of the Pareto optimality (efficiency in exchange/consumption, efficiency in production and overall Pareto efficiency) are as follows: 1. Imperfect Market: Whenever the market is imperfect as under monopoly, monopolistic competition or oligopoly, the perfect market will fail to achieve the Pareto optimal conditions. 2. Externalities: If the prices in a market do not reflect the true marginal costs and/or marginal benefits associated with the goods and services traded in the market then there must be present of some externality.If the productivity of an individual affects the benefits of the others is called the production externalities and if the consumption levels of others affect the welfare of the individuals then consumption externalities occur. 3. Public Goods:Because public goods are non-excludable and non-rivalrous, they are not sold in a free market like private goods. Therefore, th ey cannot be provided by private firms. 4. Increasing returns to scale:There are increasing return to scale or decreasing costs due to technical externalities that lead to market failure under perfect competition.When there are increasing returns to scale in a perfect competitive market, they lead either to monopoly or to losses. 5. Asymmetric or Incomplete information:In the real world, there is asymmetric or incomplete information due to ignorance and uncertainty on the part of buyers and sellers of goods. Thus they are unable to equate social and private benefits and costs. Type of Government Intervention At this stage Government intervention comes into effect and Government try to provide the following benefits: 1. Control non-competitive behavior of the firms. a. Taxation of monopoly profits (the Windfall Tax) . Regulation of oligopolies/cartel behavior c. Policies to introduce competition into markets (de-regulation) 2. Using Tax or subsidies or by environmental policies comba t externalities. 3. Provide public goods. a. Direct provision of public goods (military services) b. Price controls for the recently privatized utilities 4. Provide information and assure information flow by various law and policies. 5. Government changes the income distribution by society by imposing income tax and inheritance taxes etc. Why corn/ soybean or wheat like agricultural commodity market do not need government intervention:The agriculture commodity market for corn/wheat/soybean like commodities fulfill the conditions of perfect competitive market as a) Many small producers b) Homogeneous product c) Many buyers d) Free entry and exit e) All the producer’s face the same cost as they have equal access to the same technology. In the perfect competitive market a seller/producer has to simply determine how many units to produce and sell at the current equilibrium price. If a perfectly competitive firm earns short run economic profit, new firms enter in the long run and market supply increases hence the price decreases.As the price falls each firm’s economic profit diminishes. To restore the economic profit, existing firms make every effort to become more efficient, but their success encourages further entry in the market. Due to this continuous entry in the market in the long run each firm get a normal profit. If firms face the economic loss in the perfect competitive market and they are optimally efficient with current available technology then this environment compels some (weaker) firms to leave the market in the long run. As some firms exit, the market supply decreases and price increases.The process continues in the long run till each surviving firms earn a normal profit. The graph below demonstrates the longrun equilibrium in a perfectly competitive market, where profit equals zero: [pic] We observe that the following is the case for a perfectly competitive market in long-run equilibrium †¢ Profit (? ) = 0 because P = ATC. †¢ P = MR = MC = ATC. †¢ The firm is producing the quantity where ATC is at its minimum point. Technological Efficiency:At given cost of production (resources used) if the output produced is maximized then it is called technological efficiency.From the above diagram it is clear that the firm is technologically efficient as it is producing the output at the lowest point of its cost curve (ATC). It is natural as i) All profit maximizing firms want to increase their profit by minimizing the cost of production; as in the perfect competition they cannot raise the prices of homogeneous product. ii) As in long run profit equals to zero for a perfectly competitive firm, hence, if the firm does not choose to minimize the production-cost, ATC will increase and profit would be less than zero.Allocative Efficiency:It occurs when resources are allocated to the production of goods in such a manner that society is a well off as possible. Marginal social cost (MSC) captures the opportunity cost of using another input in the production of a good, where opportunity cost refers to the best alternative use of an input. If more of a good is demanded in the market, additional inputs (e. g. labor, electricity, etc. ) are required to produce additional output of that good. We can measure the cost of added production by looking at the marginal cost (MC) of producing one more unit of the good.The rule to achieve allocative efficiency is that the additional benefits received by consumers from consumption of a good equal to the incremental costs of producing another unit of that good. MSB = MSC To achieve allocative efficiency in the use of productive inputs, marginal social benefit must equal marginal social cost for a good or service. If marginal social benefit is greater than marginal social cost (MSB > MSC) then the benefits attained by consumers from the consumption of another unit of the good or service exceeds the opportunity cost of the allocation of additional inputs into the production of that good.In other words, when MSB > MSC, society wants more of the good produced and uses the market to signal that desire. How does the market convey this information? Since price (P) equals marginal social benefit (MSB) and marginal cost equals marginal social cost (MSC), we have the condition that: P = MSB = MSC = MC; or P = MC So the Pareto optimality conditions fulfilled. Hence the agriculture commodity markets for corn/wheat/soybean like commodities need not any government intervention. Local Cable TV or local gas company need government intervention:The local cable TV or local gas company in many countries works as a monopolist. The required conditions to be a monopolist are: 1. There is one seller or producer of a homogeneous product. 2. There is no close substitution of the product available 3. There is perfect competition in the factor market so that it can minimize the cost of the production 4. There are many buyers of the product but none of them c an influence the price of the product. 5. There is no threat of entry of exit. Given above assumptions, the price, output and profit under monopoly are determined by the forces of demand and supply.The monopolist has complete control over the supply of the product. He is also a price maker who can set the price to his maximum advantages. But he cannot fix the price and output simultaneously. Either he can fix the price and leave the output to be determined by the consumer demand at that price or he can fix the output to be produced and leave the price to be determined by the consumer demand for the product. Thus whatever price he fixes, whatever output he decides to produce are determined by the condition of demand. [pic]We observe that the following is the case for a perfectly competitive market in long-run equilibrium †¢ Profit (? ) >= 0 because P >= ATC. †¢ P >= MR = MC †¢ The firm does not produce the quantity where ATC is at its minimum point. Technologi cal Efficiency:Although each firm in monopoly want to reduce it’s cost of production to maximize the profit yet the industry/ market does not produce the output at the minimum point of ATC so the monopoly market is technologically not efficient. Allocative Efficiency:As we have already discussed that the condition to attain allocative efficiecy isP = MSB = MSC = MC; or P = MC But as P is greater than MC in the case of monopoly so it is inefficient on allocation basis, which is called deadweight welfare loss (social cost). We may say that the monopoly leads to misallocation and underutilization of resources and reduction in consumer’s welfare. Government may impose regulations to control a monopoly: For industries where the average total cost curve displays tremendous economies of scale, the government may decide that having a single provider is desirable.Using the measures of productive and allocative efficiency, regulators know that when left alone, a profit maximizin g monopoly produces less of the good or service than is desired by society and at too high of a cost. Regulated monopolies agree to adhere to government oversight in order to sustain their monopoly status. 1. Forbidding the formation of monopolies (e. g. , antitrust laws) 2. Forbidding monopolistic behavior (like predatory pricing) 3. Ensuring standards of provision. 4. Ensuring competition exists (e. g. deregulation) 5. Imposition of a lump-sum tax on a monopolist (shifts AC upwards), and supernormal profits are taken as tax. Governments may also regulate MC/AC pricing for monopolies. Effects of MC/AC regulating pricing by government intervention : Marginal Cost Pricing : Regulators set price where marginal cost equals demand. This is the most efficient solution as allocative efficiency is achieved: P = MC and therefore MSB = MSC. But the firm is losing money, as total revenues are less than total costs (see the figure given below).In the long run, if this condition prevails, the f irm will shut down and cease to operate, not especially a desirable outcome if the monopoly provides an essential good or service such as electricity or water. It is sometimes called optimal price regulation. It does not work with natural monopolies (they will not earn a profit, and would exit the industry). See the following figure. Average Total Cost Pricing : For natural monopolies, the regulator can force monopolies to charge the price where ATC crosses Demand.At this price economic profit will be zero, although there will be normal accounting profits. Sometimes called non-optimal price regulation. This is a more efficient outcome than no regulation at all. Price still exceeds marginal cost and therefore, marginal social benefits exceed marginal social costs. With average cost pricing, allocative and productive efficiency are not achieved. The firm earns accounting profits but no economic profits. Smaller deadweight loss than unregulated monopoly. See the diagram given below. [p ic]

Greatest Ambition Summary Essay

Morris Lurie was born in Melbourne in 1938. He is better known for his short stories though he has written some novels too. He has won several awards in Australia for fiction. The years spent away from Australia in voluntary exile form the subject matter of much of his writing. Background/Setting The main character is a school boy whose â€Å"greatest ambition† is to be a comic strip artist. The story explores the uncertainties and trials of being an adolescent with unsupportive parents. In the short story ‘My Greatest Ambition’ by Morris Lurie, we experience the disillusionment of a thirteen-year-old boy as he tries to live a dream that he initially thought would set him apart from all others. Nu’s illusion is set up when his father calls him a â€Å"prince† right before Nu’s meeting. It was the first time that his father had complimented him throughout the duration of the memoir. Even though his father was not directly trying to give Nu false hope, the effect of this praise on Nu seemed to point him to that direction. The reference to a â€Å"prince† relates to success and fortune, which would subconsciously give Nu the impression that he would prosper and become a successful comic strip artist at ‘Boy’ magazine. The disillusionment begins when he approaches the office. Nu expects the building itself to be grand and imposing but instead he sees a very mediocre building that â€Å"looked like a factory†. He outlines his disappointment when he says: â€Å"No neon, no massive areas of plate glass, no exotic plants growing in white gravel†. Each time he repeated the word â€Å"no†, it added to his growing sense of disappointment. He also uses repetition with the word â€Å"ordinary† as he describes the details of the building, which emphasises his realisation of disillusionment. When Nu is being toured around the factory he says, â€Å"†¦I was eating an ice-cream†, which indirectly makes Nu seem more immature and out of place. This contrasts from the illusion that Nu had earlier of himself â€Å"walking to work every morning†¦with a pipe in my (his) mouth.† Since his fantasy of being a grown man smoking his pipe and going to work had turned into being a 13 year old in a ridiculous suit eating ice-cream, the disillusionment becomes a more prominent factor in the story.

Art Forgeries Essay

When one enters into an art museum, one would expect all of the pieces of art to be that of the original. However, when an art lover does not know the difference between an original from a forgery, then they may have been fooled by both the museum and by the forger. No one can really look at a painting and distinctly know whether it is a forged piece of work or an original piece of work. Art forgeries may seem like an artist copying a well-known artists work, but it depends on how one looks at a particular piece of art. There are multiple reasons as to why art forgeries can be seen as something positive in the artistic world. Crispin Sartwell discusses about Jerrold Levinson’s definition of art from Levinson’s article, â€Å"Refining Art Historically,† in the Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism of 1990. To Levinson, art is something that is made to be intended to be â€Å"regarded† as a work of art (Sartwell). Luise Morton and Thomas Foster discuss Nelson Goodman’s definition of art from Languages of Art in Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism of 1991. Goodman says that it is about how one looks at an original and a forged art depends on the way we look at it (Morton and Foster). Both Levinson and Goodman make good points because they are both saying that all depends on the person’s perspective. Not everyone sees the same piece of art the same way another person does, so given a choice between an original or a forged piece of art, some may be able to tell the difference and some may not. The idea of having different perspectives on what is real art or what is not depends solely on an individual. Levinson and Goodman both see art by how the person intends it to be. According to Jonathon Keats who writes in The Daily Beast, art forgery helps take us out of our comfort zone, while the real art keeps us within our comfort zone. Keats writes that forgers credit their work to the original artist. In doing so, the artist’s work is more accessible to more people and that the artist who forged an original should be appreciated (Keats). Blake Gopnik writing in the New York Times says that the forgers can make recreate art with their hands; however, great art depends on the idea of the artist. The idea of the forger comes from the original artists, like Pollock and Rothko, setting up procedures and ideas for making art (Gopnik). The forger is able to recreate a work of art because of the way a particular artist wanted their art to be seen. On the other hand, Ross Bowden writing in the Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism of 1999 about Alfred Lessing’s essay titled, â€Å"What Is Wrong with a Forgery? † In Lessing’s essay, he disapproves of art forgery when talking culturally. Lessing believes that forgeries do not have that artistic integrity and lacks creativity. He continues to say that one can recreate an amazing artwork, but it will lack the imagination it takes to create the original piece of work (Bowden). Forgeries in the opinion of Lessing lack imagination and creativity, however, Gopnik and Keats see that an artist has the imagination and creativity to recreate a famous piece of work. If one lacks that imagination and creativity then they would not be able to get away with forgery. These forgery artists are capable of pulling off century old paintings and able to sell them to museums as originals. That takes imagination and creativity. W. E. Kennick brings up in the Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism of 1985 that every copy of an original piece of work is a forgery. Artists make their work in the style of others, but still make it their own. One is not actually forging a real piece of art, much less than copying or imitating that person’s style (Kennick). Gopnik also says that Andy Warhol’s works were sometimes made by him or sometimes made by his assistant. Warhol even attributed some of his work to other artists. An artist by the name of Marcel Duchamp made art out of bicycle wheels, urinals, already made sculptures, and other reusable items. Duchamp encouraged others to do the same and copy his style (Gopnik). Every artist can imitate or copy someone else’s work, although that artist who made the original work may no longer be alive, their work is still living on. Art forgeries can be looked at as some sort of crime because someone is recreating masterpieces and selling them to museums. However, if one stops to think about the fact that art forgeries are actually artists bringing masterpieces back, one would not think it was a crime. These artists are creative enough to be able to recreate an artwork and give art lovers the feeling of having a masterpiece in their home or be able to look at it in a museum. Art forgeries are a lucrative past time for those who love art and want to be able to see â€Å"their art† in a museum. It is a win-win situation for both the artist and the art lovers. Works Cited Bowden, Ross. â€Å"What is wrong with an art forgery? : An anthropological perspective. † Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism (1999): 333-343. Gopnik, Blake. â€Å"In Praise of Art Forgeries . † The New York Times 2 Novemeber 2013. Keats, Jonathon. â€Å"Why Forgeries Are Great Art. † The Daily Beast Kennick, W. E. â€Å"Art and Inauthenticity. † Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism (1985): 1-12. Morton, Luise H. and Thomas R. Foster. â€Å"Goodman, Forgery, and the Aesthetic. † Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism (1991): 155-159. Sartwell, Crispin. â€Å"A Counter-Example to Levinson’s Historical Theory of Art. † Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism (1990): 157-158.

To what extent are developmental states emerging within Africa and what policies could be adopted to support them?

Introduction This essay is concerned with analysing what role, if any, the model of the ‘developmental state’ can play within Africa. The concept of the â€Å"developmental state† has origins in the fruitful development in Eastern Asia. This research will look to examine the relevance of the existing model to contemporary Ghana. The paper will also look at the extent to which the favourable conditions for growth that existed in East Asia could ever be replicated in Africa (for a brief summary of the contemporary debate see: United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNESC), 2013). As a form of introduction to the topic, this study will start with a brief definition of a developmental state according to the literature before moving on to look at what characteristics make up a typical developmental state. A brief analysis will determine the extent to which there is agreement within the literature. From here, the paper will look at the origins of the â€Å"developmental state model† born out of the experiences in East Asia as well as exploring some of the major academic contributions to the developmental state debate. Here, the research will touch upon the relevance of these contributions within the African context. The second section will be the main critical analysis around the extent to which developmental states are emerging within Africa or whether the ‘impossibility theorem’ (Mkanadwire, 2001) continues to hold water. Following that, the paper will examine what policies are needed to support these fledgling developmental states, according to the literature. The third and final chapter will provide case studies from Ghana, examining whether this nation possesses any of the defining features that constitute a developmental state. The aim here is to show, via a practical example, that â€Å"developmental states† are possible in Africa but are also far from similar to East Asian examples. Here, the paper will also offer a critique to show the struggles and developmental threats for Africa as a counter argument that developmental states are emerging within Africa. Starting first with a definition of a developmental state, the study immediately encounter some points of contention. Firstly, as Mbabazi and Taylor (2005) point out, â€Å"the definition of a developmental state does not correspond directly with economic performance.† That is, a country which is performing well economically is not necessary ‘developmental’. Rather, the current accepted definition of a â€Å"developmental state† is one that is ideologically directed towards development, where the state â€Å"seriously attempts to deploy its administrative and political resources to the task of economic development† (Mbabazi and Taylor, 2005: 2). Traditionally. â€Å"developmental states† are associated with locations that have economic development as a leading governmental policy which has the potential to form bodies which can facilitate these policies and targets. To be classed as a developmental state, there must be a governmental ability to â€Å"weave formal and informal networks of collaboration† between civilians and public officials whilst promoting â€Å"macro-economic stability† and maintaining an â€Å"institutional framework that provides law and order, effective administration of justice and peaceful resolution of conflicts, ensures property rights and appropriate infrastructure investments, and advances human development† (Mkandawire, 1999, 2010; UNESC, 2013; 2). Others have added to the definition of a developmental state in that it must be willing to engage itself directly with the direction and pace of economic development using ‘market conforming’ mechanisms to allocate economic resources, rather than simply falling back on a uncoordinated, laissez-faire attitudes to market forces (Johnson, 1982: 319-20; Mbabazi and Taylor, 2005: 4; Meyns and Musamba, 2010 :13, UNESC, 2013: 2). Now that a clear definition of what a developmental state is, along with a taste of what key theoretical features need to be present has been established, this paper will take a step back to look at the origins of the developmental state in terms of East Asian experiences. Here, the study will see some of the main contributions made to the literature from leading scholars, which will shed some light on what are held to be the key theoretical features of developmental states. This will then be used as an entry point into the discussion about to what extent these theoretical features are feasible, and how it might be applied within the context of this research. As touched upon above, much of the contemporary discussion about developmental states has its roots in research conducted on the experiences faced by the East Asian tigers (for the original research see: Amsden, 1989; Haggard, 1990; Johnson, 1982). There seems to be a general consensus within the academic literate as to the key features that facilitate the Asian tigers to superior levels of growth and these are the following: Embedded autonomy of state bureaucracy: Put forward by Peter Evans (1989, 1995), he argued that strong state institutions have a significant influence towards the promotion of development in the Tiger economies because they avoided being ‘captured’ by vested interests. The East Asian states have professional bureaucracies, in which the employees had real opportunities for advancement so they avoided the temptation to engage in extra rent-seeking (income providing) activities. Simultaneously, Evans noted that the state administration remained attached to or embedded in society so that it did not become isolated and self-serving, so that it could continually redefine its policy goals and aims. Market conforming intervention Charlmers Johnson (1982), who studied Japan’s highly successful post-war recovery, found similar results to Evans. He notes that â€Å"small, inexpensive, professional and efficient state bureaucracies or pilot bureaucratic agencies†, like the Japanese Ministry for International Trade and Industry (MITI), which had authority over economic policy, allowed those states to promote civic interests whilst maintaining a high level of prestige and legitimacy (Johnson, 1982: 49). Most importantly for Johnson, however, was the fact that the government of Japan provided national administrators with the tools and authority to intervene directly in the economy under the condition that all work would stick to neo-liberal market principles (Johnson 1982: 315-316). Political primacy According to Adrian Leftwich; â€Å"politics is the dominant variable which determines the concept of the developmental state as well as the developmental success or failure in all human societies† (Meynes and Musamba, 2005:16). Leftwich (2000: 4) argues that developmental states possess the following six factors during their emergence: â€Å"The presence of development-oriented political elite who possess high levels of commitment and will to attain economic growth.† â€Å"A powerful, professional, highly competent, insulated and career-based bureaucracy† â€Å"Civil society is relatively weak and disorganised† â€Å"A high capacity for the effective economic management of both domestic and private economic interests† â€Å"An uneasy mix of repression and non-adherence to human rights† â€Å"Performance-based legitimacy of the governing political elite, and which takes precedence over procedural legitimacy† (Leftwich, 2000:174). It seems that Leftwich differs in his arguments from Evans, in that Leftwich observes an imbalance. Yet it can be seen that there exists a significant state body which has a powerful bureaucracy which can effectively take care of the interest of the private economic. Then, this leads to a frail society which has no way of influencing the ruling elite. Alternatives to neo-liberal economics: Conceptually speaking, the developmental state is often located in-between a â€Å"free market capitalist economic system† and a centrally-planned economic system â€Å"conjoining private ownership with state guidance† (Woo-Cumings 1999: 2). This means it is neither purely capitalist nor totally socialist. With regards to the relationship between the developmental state and â€Å"interventionism† is concerned, â€Å"the developmental state is an embodiment of a normative or moral ambition to use the interventionist power of the state to guide investment in a way that promotes a certain solidaristic vision of national economy† (Loriaux 1999: 24). Ha-Joon Chang, demonstrates that â€Å"economic development requires a state which can create and regulate the economic and political relationships that can support sustained industrialisation – or in short, a developmental state† (Chang, 1999:183). Therefore, the creation of the developmental state concept leads to the formation of a interventionist state. Are developmental states emerging in Africa Several African states have endured a surge in development across the independence years, that started from the early 1960s onwards (Woo?Cumings 1999: 19?20). However, subsequently, governance deteriorated and efforts to spread education stalled: â€Å"National armies discredited themselves through bloody coups and internal divisions along ethnic lines† (Woo?Cumings 1999: 19?20). Since those dark times, there has been increasing evidence to suggest that developmental states are now emerging in sub-Saharan Africa. However, existing literature expresses concerns with regards to if this the correct route for the African countries. For example, Woo-Cumings warns us that the developmental state can be â€Å"good in relation to its (economic) effectiveness but it can also be a grim model in terms of human rights and lack of democracy† (Woo-Cumings 1999: 19?20). After initial developmental optimism, by the 1990s, things had changed; â€Å"the African state had become the most demonised social institution in Africa, vilified for its weaknesses, its over-extension, its interference with the smooth functioning of markets, its repressive character, its dependence on foreign powers, its ubiquity, its absence† (Mkadawire, 2001: 293). The legacy this has left behind is an academic thesis that posits that the developmental state concept is â€Å"not feasible under prevalent conditions in Africa known as the impossibility theorem† (Mkadawire, 2001: 293). Lewis and Stein (1997) for example, when investigating the possibility of translating the Asian model and replicating it in the African context argue that â€Å"while greater political insulation of economic policy makers could reasonably be achieved in African countries, the extensive coordinated economic interventions of the East Asian states are far beyond the administrative capabilities of most African governments†. Scepticism has been widespread within the literature regarding the prospects for the formation of viable developmental states, owing mostly to the poor record of state-led development efforts during the immediate post-independence era of African governance. State intervention in the economy, according to Ake, became a way for the governing elite to accumulate wealth for themselves (Ake, 1996). Others have put forward that the African continent lacks â€Å"adequate political superstructure and the leadership necessary for implementing policy of a developmental nature† (Birdsall, 2007: 580). The ‘impossibility theorem’ is a collection of arguments that posits that the developmental state concept in Africa is not possible, and, in particular, demonstrates scepticism towards the East Asian development experiences and if these could act as a model for Africa (Mkandawire 2001) . Those who advance the ‘impossibility theorem’ also argue that this model is incompatible with globalization. They argue that the current â€Å"international regulatory architecture and the dominance of the neo-liberal paradigm† – supported by the World Bank, the IMF and the Washington Consensus – have created an environment that is largely â€Å"inhospitable for the viability of the developmental state approach† (Beeson 2006: 34-39). Yet, supporters of the emergence of African developmental states argue that â€Å"the poor performance and lack of potential for African countries to achieve rapid state-led development is due to a biased and unfair comparison of the achievements of the East Asian models† (Mkandawire, 2001, Chang, 2006, UNCTAD, 2007). The fact is, developmental states are emerging in Africa and there evidence for them to promote a developmental-state approach. It is now accepted that â€Å"market-based economies† need a successful state to function and develop. African nations are beginning to satisfy the fundamental needs of their people (Manzavinos, 2004). This journey of rediscovering the â€Å"role† of the state has been simultaneous with the recognition of that of economic institutions. Douglass North published a book in 1990 called, Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance, which argues against the idea that â€Å"institutions simply come about as a by-product of economic growth, and put forward that improvements in institutions are essential preconditions and determinants of growth† (Manzavinos, 2004). The final part of this paper now turns to the Ghana case-study in order to find out what policies could support the growth of African developmental states. Ghana was the initial nation in Africa to gain independence and has since undergone a stable transition since then. The Nkrumah were soon established as the popular legitimacy of the state, Ghana has since managed to escape the violence that has occurred in other Sub-Sahara states. As within all academic debates there are two sides to the argument: those that put forward that Ghana is a model of a developmental state and those who argue the contrary. Put simply, Ghana has failed to capture successful long-term development but that does not necessary mean it is not a developmental state. Ghana’s growth could be seen as a â€Å"mirage† rather than a â€Å"miracle† as some key structural changes as highlighted in the introduction of this paper have not occurred. However, Dzorgbo (2001: 5) observes that â€Å"it has confronted the challenge of increasing dependence on foreign aid, an exponential external debt, high rates of unemployment and poverty, and de-industrialization resultant from the elimination of protective measures†. In terms of what policies Ghana can implement to support itself as a developmental state; it could start with intervening with its fiscal and monetary policy as done by the East Asian tigers during their developmental phase. The main aim of this would be to reduce government spending; â€Å"The CCP adopted an exaggerated, bloated vision of development of which the crucial feature was the number of physical structures and general infrastructure that could be constructed rather than assessing the actual social and material needs of the people† (Osei, 1999: 6). This would mean that Ghana should instead rely on state monetary policy to restore macroeconomic balance and cease to continue along the path of government spending which is dependent on bank credit. This creates an environment which is â€Å"inhospitable to foreign and private investment because excess lending and inflation results in low (even negative) interest rates that further discourage future investment† (Os ei, 1999: 6). This paper puts forward that the policy that Ghana should adopt is one of state intervention in its monetary policy instead of a laissez-faire attitude to economics. However, in the case of Ghana it is easy to see why the over extension of the state could become a problem given that the Divestiture Implementation Committee, established in 1990 under the patronage of the IMF, â€Å"gradually auctioned off state enterprises to the highest bidder† (Rothchild, 1991; 206). As such, Ghana has an uncomfortable history of state interference within the economy. Once hailed as the frontier of Africa and in many ways similar to the Asian tigers, Ghana still must endure significant obstacles as such â€Å"formulas for success† set by the IMF and the Washington Consensus have continually failed to bring about change. Taking into account the dynamic and unpredictable periods of economic policy formation we must ask ourselves if it even possible to generalize a developmental theory for Ghana or even Africa as a wholeAke strongly disagrees; â€Å"because development paradigms largely ignore the specificity and historicity of African countries, it puts them in a position in which everything is relevant to them and nothing is uniquely significant for understanding them† (Dzorgbo, 2001:13). In conclusion, it can be seen that drawing on the experience of the East Asian tiger’s economies cannot be effectively applied to Africa as the contexts too different. As we have seen, developmental theory can be utterly misleading and inappropriate for Africa even if there is evidence to suggest that some nations of Africa ‘fit’ the developmental state model. References: Ake, Claude (1996). Democracy and Development in Africa. Washington, D.C. The Brookings Institution. Amsden, A. (1989). Asia’s Next Giant. South Korea and Late Industrialization. New York: Oxford University Press. Beeson, Mark (2006). Politics and Markets in East Asia. Is the Developmental State Compatable with GlobalisationIn, R. Stubbs., and G. R. D. Underhill (eds.), political Economy and the Changing Global order, 3rd edition, Ontorio: Oxford University Press Birdsall, Nancy (2007). Do no Harm. Aid, Weak Institutions and the Missing Middle in Africa. Development Policy Review, 25(5), 575-598. Chang, Ha-Joon (2006). The East Asian Development Experience. The Miracle, the Crisis and the Future, London: Zed Books. Dzorgbo, D. (2001). Ghana in Search of Development: The Challenge of Governance, Economic Management, and Institution Building. Evans, Peter B. (1989). Predatory, Developmental and Other State?Apparatuses. A Comparative Political Economy Perspective on the Third World State. Sociological Forum, 4 (4), 561?587. Evans, P. (1995). Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Haggard, Stephan (1990). Pathways from the Periphery. The Politics of Growth in Newly Industrialising Countries. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Lewis, P. and Stein, H. (1997). Shifting fortunes: the political economy of financial liberalisation in Nigeria. World Development, vol. 25, no. 1, 5–22. Loriaux, M et al (1999). Capital Ungoverned: Liberalizing Finance in Interventionist States, (Ithaca: Cornell), pp 57-91 Mantzavinos, C., North, D. C., & Shariq, S. (2004). Learning, institutions, and economic performance. Perspectives on politics, 2(01), 75-84. Mbabazi, P., & Taylor, I. (2005). Botswana and Uganda as developmental States. The Potentiality of Developmental States’ in Africa: Botswana and Uganda Compared, pp. 1-15. Meyns, P. and Musamba, C. (2010 [eds]). The Developmental State in Africa: Problems and Prospects. Institute for Development and Peace, University of Duisburg?Essen INEF-Report, 101/2010). Mkandawire, T (2001). Thinking about developmental states in Africa. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 25 (3), 289-13. Osei, A. (1999). Ghana: Recurrence and Change in a Post-Independence African State. Peter Lang Publishing Rothchild, D. (1991). Ghana: The Political Economy of Recovery. Lynne Rienner Publishers United Nations Economic and Social Council (2013). ‘The Developmental State: What Option for AfricaAn Issues Paper’ in Economic Commission for Africa Governance and Public Administration Division Third Meeting of the Committee on Governance and Popular Participation (CGPP-III). Addis Ababa, Ethiopia , 20-21 February 2013 . UNCTAD (2007). Economic Development in Africa. Reclaiming Policy Space: Domestic resource mobilization and developmental states. Geneva: UNTAD. Woo?Cumings, Meredith (ed.) (1999). The Developmental State. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.