Media, Citizenship, Public Opinion and Spin Essay

Media, Citizenship, Public Opinion and Spin - Essay Example The television can be considered as public media also as there are entertainment channels in the television. When any media is capable of reaching of a large amount of gathering, it can be considered as mass media. The mass media includes the parts of cyber media like web sites, pod casts and blogs when they are capable to attract a vast amount of people. In general the commentators refer the mass media to the mass society. The mass society is formed due to lack of social connections influenced by good organization and susceptible to the influence of mass media techniques. The citizen will be a part of society and even the mass society. The person who have citizenship can be considered as citizen. The mass media influences the citizens. It is defined as a membership in a political community. The community may be a city, town, village, state, nation or a province. The person who have citizenship will have right to political participation. There are some citizenships that have no political participation. These citizens are the people, who are protected by the so called political community. These protected people by a particular community do not have political participation and thus have no direct influence on the community. When their number increases the citizens of the community may develop grievance against them and thus they can be influenced and influence the citizens in such a manner. 2 When the mass media When the mass media is considered, both type of citizens are influenced, but the citizens who have political rights only can influence the structure and course of the community. This is due to the public opinion. The public opinion can be considered as the collective opinion of the people of a community or a majority opinion of the people of a political community. Mass media is capable of creating, building and influencing the public opinion. 1930s can be termed as the era that gave birth to mass survey research in America. Polling companies, surveying companies analyzed the public on a variety of important issues. The polls are regarding the information on public opinion.3 2. Citizenship A citizen is an important and fundamental component of the political community. He is not only a component or constituent but the community is built with them. The participants, leaders and followers of the community come under the definition of a citizen. World wide there are different definitions and laws regarding citizenship in various countries. The common point in all those laws and definitions is that a citizen have a right to vote in a political society and he enjoys some rights ensured by constitution. Whatever may be the law and the definition the citizen is the person who influences the course of the political leadership and the in turn influenced by the media more particularly mass media. When it comes to United States, the citizens are of fundamentally three types. The native Americans, the people who left their home country looking for a better life and the naturalized citizens. The native Americans are the people who are citizens by birth and living in America from an unspecified time. When it comes to the people who left their country in search of a better life will be American citizens after living in that country for a stipulated period of time and by satisfying

Baroque Arts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Baroque Arts - Essay Example The artistic styles adopted by Bernini and Poussin both show a huge number of differences that may be attributed to the divergent background of these two artists. Good examples of the respective arts by these two artists are The Sacrament of Penance that displays a sinful woman requesting, while on her knees, for supplication, and The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa that shows Teresa’s face with an angel’s embodiment. These are examples of religious paintings that show a wide disparity in form of art used by these two artists who graced the world of art at an almost same time.Priorities: while Bernini was of Italian origin-a stronghold for the Catholic Church, Poussin hailed from France. As such, Bernini’s artistic displays were mainly centered on religious beliefs. His subject matter was majorly focused towards bringing out a religious theme. His executed works, in form of paintings and sculptures, were as well showed a major interest in myths of human, and in general s ocietal existence. Bernini considered dynamism in creating his sculptures and aimed at inviting the viewers to form a part of the scene that was being displayed. Energy and a sense of motion always formed a part of his paintings and sculptures as these were a part of human existence. The figures created by Bernini occasionally possessed a strain of muscle, a flow of hair, swirling motions among others and were always constructed in a diagonal format to emphasize to the audience the essence of movement in the society.

The Kite Runner And Hamlet Tragedy

The Kite Runner And Hamlet Tragedy In the novel The Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseini and in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare the characters suffer tragedy as a result of the world that they have created for themselves. Despite the sufferings, in the end they find redemption. The characters do not act until they are pushed by it, the lack of action causes them to suffer. The conflict between father and son causes Amir and Hamlet to suffer. And Amir and Hamlet betray other characters and they both end up in tragedy. The man of action is rewarded while the man of inaction suffers tragedy. Amir and Hamlet are both hesitant in making decisions. Hassan, Amirs best friend and also his family servant, unconditionally helps Amir throughout the novel. Hassan is a brave Hazara boy who makes sacrifices for Amir. For you, a thousand times over Amir Agha. (Pg.1). Like Hamlet, Amir is very moderate in taking action. Amir witnesses Hassan get rapped before his eyes, but he just stands and watches it. In the end I ran. I ran because I was a coward. I was afraid of Assef and what he would do to me. (Pg.68). In this case, Amir is frightened to act because he is afraid of Assef, a bully, and what he would do to him. Similarly, Hamlets delay of action causes him to suffer. Despite the fact that Hamlet is aware of the flaw throughout the play, he does not act. Hamlets uncertainty about whether or not trust the ghost causes him to be very slow in acting, and this leads him to his downfall. Hamlet often does not act and when he does, he acts unwittingly. As a result, Hamlet accidentally kills Polonius which leads him to his downfall. Hamlet himself realizes the complexity of him own action and he says, How stand I then, that have a father killd, a mother staind, excitement of my reason and my blood, and let all asleep, while to my shame I see all the imminent death of twenty thousand men. (Pg.231) Hamlet criticizes his own inaction by comparing himself to Fortinbras. Hamlet is impressed by Fortinbrass motivation to action that Hamlet himself lacks. Amir and Hamlet suffer from inaction that leads them toward tragedy. The tension between father and son, agonizes Amir and Hamlet. The relationship between Amir and Baba, Amirs father, and Hamlet and King Hamlet suffers the characters. At the beginning of the novel, Amir cannot fulfill Babas expectations of becoming his favoured son. Baba values sports and respected jobs, such as becoming a politician, more than anything else in his life. Baba is a self-centered man and he does not respect Amirs values and wants Amir to become like him. A boy who wont stand up for himself becomes a man who cant stand to anything.(Pg.22). As the time progresses Baba finds out that Amir has no qualities like him, and sometimes he even doubts whether Amir is his real son. This creates isolation between Amir and Baba. Furthermore, their isolation builds a tension between them which causes Amir to suffer. In contrast, the relationship between Hamlet and King Hamlet is considerably strong which provokes Hamlet to take revenge of his fathers death. I am thy fathers spirit; d oomd for a certain term to walk the night. Revenge his foul and most unnatural murder.(Pg.65). The ghost wants Hamlet to seek revenge for his fathers death. Hamlet loves his father, but he is uncertain about the ghosts existence. This puts Hamlet through dilemma and causes him to suffer. Amir is very obsessed with Babas expectations from him. Sometimes he curses himself for being his son. I wish I could open my veins and drain his cursed blood from my body.(Pg.27). Baba conceals his secret from Amir, and later on in the story he dies with his untold secret. Rahim Khan, Babas old business partner and his best friend, is a wise man who helps Amir with his advices throughout the story. Rahim Khan tells Amir Babas untold secret. He tells Amir that Hassan is his half-brother. Amir is angry because he hadnt known the truth in his whole life and he had been treating Hassan unfairly. But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.(Pg.58). Baba conceals his secret to protect h is reputation, at the same time he is hurting Amir and causes him to act unwisely. Therefore, the inconsistencies between father and son suffer Amir and Hamlet. The betrayals alter characters lives, it causes them to suffer throughout the story and in the end it helps them to decide wisely. In The Kite Runner Amir betrays Hassan, his best friend. Later on, he faces the consequences of his betrayal and he chooses to redeem himself. Amir disguises the fact that he had witnessed Hassan being sexually assaulted. He deceives others when he is asked about Hassans wellbeing. This makes Amir feel dreadfully guilty, because he is being unfaithful to Hassan and their friendship. According to Baba, telling lies is the worst of all sins. When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wifes right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you lie, you steal someones right to the truth.(Pg.16). Amir is influenced by his guilt of betraying Hassan that he can no longer bear Hassans presence in his life, he arranges a conspiracy to drive Hassan out of his life. The absence of Hassan in Amirs life profoundly suffers Amir. He constantly remembers t he good time he had with Hassan in childhood. Most importantly, every thought of Hassan reminds Amir of his disloyalty. When Amir is told that Hassan is his half-blood brother, he regrets his unfaithfulness to him. In comparison, Hamlet betrays Ophelia, his lover. Hamlet is so overwhelmed with his fathers death that he completely forgets about his affections toward Ophelia. You should not have believed me, I loved you not. Get thee to a nunnery.(Pg.141). Hamlet betrays Ophelia by claiming that hed never loved her. Also, Hamlet murders Polonius, Ophelias father, which drives Ophelia insane. Ophelia commits suicide as a result of Hamlets betrayal, this causes Hamlet to suffer. In the novel, Amir instigates to seek forgiveness. Rahim Khan tells Amir that Sohrab, Hassans son, is captured by Taliban in Afghanistan, and he wants Amir to save Sohrab. There is a way to be good again.(Pg.173) Rahim Khan is aware of all the secrets in Amirs life and he tells him that has only one chance to re deem himself from his guilt, it is to save Sohrab and fulfill Hassans wishes. Despite all the obstacles on his way, Amir chooses to save Sohrab. He achieves redemption when he succeeds to save Sohrab and adopt him as his own child. Amir and Hamlet betrays other characters in the story, and in the end they both find redemption. In conclusion, Amir from The Kite Runner and Hamlet from the play Hamlet suffer tragedy as a result of their own actions. Amir and Hamlet are very hesitant in taking actions and when they act, it causes them to suffer. Babas characteristics and his expectations from Amir create conflicts between them, which causes Amir to suffer. Similarly, Hamlets search for his fathers revenge puts him in a dilemma. Finally, Amir and Hamlets betrayal to others causes them to suffer and lead them to their downfall.

Trends of the Malta Insurance Market Essay -- Automobile, Insurance

Today's business world is complex, unpredictable, uncertain and volatile. One of the key elements of this volatility is the swift change all around us. Taking into consideration the motor insurance industry, changes have been also made during the years. Under motor insurance, there are three types of cover available. There is the third party only, which is obligatory as it is the least required by law; it covers your liability to third parties for damage or injury to property arising from the use of your car. In addition to third party liability cover, one can also choose to be covered and protected against damage or loss arising from fire or theft, which is known as Third party fire and theft. If you add protection against accidental damage to your vehicle to the ones mentioned above, you are covered with the comprehensive. Latest statistics shows that car ownership and traffic volume are in the rise once more and this has been the agenda of the government. The number of people owning cars has grown since 1980, thus this represents good news for car manufacturers and insurance firms alike. Also it has come at an environmental cost that there is a rise in carbon emissions. In the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) newsletter of November 2011, the section of the insurance statistical review of 2010 shows that figures released by the MFSA in respect of insurance companies in Malta show an increase of 45% in total gross premiums written over the period of 2009-2010. The accident and health group of classes recorded an increase in premiums written of 85% over 2009. The motor insurance premia increased by 39% Going back to the 20th century, motor vehicles made their first appearance, but there was no need for insurance in an... ...efore increases the number of claims. The market is developing and it has come to a point where customers can go into price comparison sites such as confused.com or moneysupermarket.com and by simply typing in a query, the consumer is presented with a variety of insurance prices from which they can acquire their insurance at competitive rates. Works Cited http://www.esurance.com/insurance-resources/senior-car-insurance-myth http://www.streetdirectory.com/etoday/negative-effect-of-globalization-pcecwf.html http://www.carinsurancehub.com/car-insurance-and-credit-crunch.php http://www.talkonce.co.uk/the-history-of-motor-insurance/ http://www.autoinsurancequote.com/articles/customization-adding-tweaks-to-your-vehicle-may-affect-your-auto-insurance.html http://www.carinsurancecomparison.com/will-customizing-my-car-affect-my-car-insurance-rates/

Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation Essay

Beech-Nuttagum’s roots go back to 1891, to the Mohawk Valley town of Canajoharie, New York. It was founded there by Walter H Lipe, his brother and 2 friends (see company web site for more specific info). as The Imperial Packing Company; its first product was Beech-Nuttagum ham based on an old Lipe family recipe. Ham and bacon were the company’s main products for its first seven years. The company was incorporated as the Beech-Nuttagum Packing Company in 1899. In 1900, the company’s sales were $200,000. Engineers from Beech-Nut patented the first vacuum jar with a design that included a gasket and top that became a standard of the industry and could remain intact in transit. During the first 25 years of the 20th century, the company expanded its product line into peanut butter, jam, pork and beans, ketchup, chili sauce, mustard, spaghetti, macaroni, marmalade, caramel, fruit drops, mints, chewing gum, and coffee. [edit] Timeline * 1891, founded as The Imperial Packing Company. * 1931, Life Savers Limited acquired Beech-Nut. * 1968, Beech Nut-Life Savers merged with Squibb (part of the Olin Corporation) to form the Squibb Beech-Nut Corporation. * 1973, part of the company, selling only baby food, was sold to a group led by lawyer Frank C. Nicholas. * 1977, Beech-Nut Food Corporation became the first baby food company to have an entire product line without added salt. * 1979 Nicolas sold the company to Nestlà ©. * 1987, Beech-Nut Nutrition Corporation paid $2.2 million, then the largest fine issued, for violating the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by selling artificially flavored sugar water as apple juice. John F. Lavery, the company’s vice president for operations was convicted in criminal court and sentenced to a year and a day in jail; Niels L. Hoyvald, the president of the company, also convicted, served six months of community service. Each of them also paid a $100,000 fine.[1] * 1989 Ralston Purina acquired Beech-Nut from Nestlà ©. * 1997, all Beech-Nut products now free of added refined sugar. * 1998, Milnot Holding Corporation, one of the portfolio of companies owned by the private equity investment firm Madison Dearborn Partners, acquired Beech-Nut from Ralcorp Holdings (a spin-off of Ralston Purina). * 2002, Beech-Nut became the first baby food manufacturer to produce a line of baby food with DHA and ARA, two essential fatty acids found naturally in breast milk. * 2005, Madison Dearborn sold Milnot, and Beech-Nut along with it, to the Swiss branded consumer-goods firm Hero Group.[1] * 2007, Beech-Nut announced its intentions to move all of its manufacturing and corporate operations to Florida, New York by fall 2009.

It’s a Wonderful Life

Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life is considered one of the sentimental favorites of our time and a staple of the Christmas television season. The movie was considered something of a failure at the time, since it failed to earn a profit when stacked up against the expenses of filming. However, it is now recognized as one of the most important films made to date. Part of the appeal may lie in the timing – the film’s initial release came on the heels of World War II. After years of bloodshed in Europe and Asia, the sentimentality of a hopeful Christmas story might have been what resonated with the American public. (A man, suicidal and depressed on Christmas Eve, is approached by an angel for a walk through the moments of his life – the classic â€Å"darkest before dawn† theme that has always struck a chord with audiences may have been especially poignant after the end finally came in the long war. Though the movie might have been considered a flop at the time, the small moments of beauty have helped it become an enduring classic, such as the little things that changed while George, the main character, was not living but busy walking down memory lane with Clarence the angel – the difference in the wind is appreciated not only by George, but by those in the audience. I would recommend this movie to friends or classmates; it is an important part of iconic cinematography and serves as both a forerunner and a counterpoint to some subsequent â€Å"modern classics†, such as American Beauty, a much more sinister film that nevertheless impresses upon its audience the importance of appreciating all the small blessings one has been given in life, no matter how dour the outlook might be at a particularly dark time. Because of its place in the collective consciousness, It’s a Wonderful Life definitely deserves a mention in the Top 25.

Testing the hypothesis that monetary policy responds to stock market movements The WritePass Journal

Testing the hypothesis that monetary policy responds to stock market movements Abstract Testing the hypothesis that monetary policy responds to stock market movements AbstractIntroductionMonetary policy should or should not responds to stock market movementsSupporting the hypothesisRejecting the hypothesisTesting significant coefficientsTesting a good fitTesting autocorrelationTesting heteroskedasticityTesting misspecificationGeneralized method of moments (GMM)Interpreting resultsConclusionReferencesRelated Abstract This paper highlights a problem in using the OLS model of Taylor’s rule, including lagged value of fed funds rate and stock indexs return to address whether the monetary policy should respond to asset prices movement or not. However, to know more exactly about the direct or indirect relationship between stock prices and the monetary rules, the more efficient method of Generalized method of moments (GMM) needs to be carried out based on an instrument list of output gap, growth rate of real GDP and inflation. The combination of two above methods gives reasonable results in our empirical framework. In order to derive accuracy empirical result, two country (US 1990-2009, UK 1990-2009) data would be provided in the paper. Introduction In modern macroeconomics, there is a considerable amount of interest in understanding the question whether the central banks should response or ignore asset price volatility. This question has been a controversial issue since the Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan sparked it, as one of irrational exuberance as early as 1996, then was followed by Bernanke and Gertler (1999), Cecchetti (2000), Adam Posen (2006) and many other authors. No agreement has been reached but what all researchers agree on is the necessity of further research on the nature of asset price movement, how they affect the economy and the effect of money policy on volatilities. This paper attempts to estimate this multilateral relationship based on ongoing researches in this field. There are several reasons why the correlation between monetary-policy framework and asset bubbles is an important issue. From the perspective of central banks, dependable estimates of the reflection of asset prices to the policy instrument plays an essential role in formulating effective policy decisions. In reality, the effect of the short-term interest rates on asset prices has caused much of transmission of inflation targeting. Moreover, the attention of financial press for the Federal Reserve performance states the significant influence of monetary on financial markets. Hence, a well-performed economy does need to have accurate estimates of the reaction of asset prices to monetary policy. In order to approach these issues, we develop an OLS estimation using simple regression Taylor Rule (1993) and apply Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) to deal with the relationship between monetary policy and asset price movements. The paper proceeds as follows. Section 2 presents the theoretical framework, in which empirical debates from recent authors including supporting and rejecting are particularly discussed. Data and Testing Method and Empirical Framework are described in section 3. Section 4, empirical framework, is going to present the descriptive statistics with testing procedures of hypothesises. Results on the responsiveness of stock prices and interest rates to monetary policy coming through all of the actual testing process from data collection are presented in section 5 and section 6. Theoretical Framework How a central bank should set short-term interest rates Taylor (1993)[1] estimated policy reaction functions and found that monetary policy can often be well approximated empirically by a simple instrument rule for interest rate setting. The following is one variant of the Taylor rule: it = r* + Ï€* + ÃŽ ²(Ï€t – Ï€*) + ÃŽ ³(yt – yN) where ÃŽ ² , ÃŽ ³ 0; r* is the average (long-run) real interest rate. Taylor (1993) found that ÃŽ ²=1.5 and ÃŽ ³=0.5: it = r* + Ï€* + 1.5(Ï€t – Ï€*) + 0.5(yt – yN) The Taylor rule is acknowledged by all to be a simple approximation to actual policy behavior. It represents a complex process with a small number of parameters. Monetary policy should or should not responds to stock market movements In recent decades, in line with the development of stock market, which provide information about the current and future course of monetary policy goal variables – inflation, employment, and output, the monetary authority should respond to equity price. A more controversial role of equity prices in the monetary policy process concerns whether the monetary policy should or should not take a direct interest in stock market. It has attracted many researchers to discuss about the usefulness and test the validity of the hypothesis that monetary policy responds to stock market movements. Those researches have created many different results of both supporting and rejecting the hypothesis. Supporting the hypothesis Some of the supporters for the hypothesis that the reaction to misalignments in stock prices would have impact on the monetary policy rules are Cecchetti et al. (2000), and Jeff Fuhrer and Geoff Tootell (2004). Cecchetti used a linear rational expectations model, focusing on the output gap and inflation expectations some primary elements in the policy rules- to support the hypothesis. Hence, the result showed that if the estimation errors are positively correlated, both inflation and misalignments with a positive coefficient increases the impact on the monetary policy. By contrast, Jeff Fuhrer and Geoff Tootell took the regression from the form of Taylor policy that used correlations among the funds rate and the gap measure, a four-quarter moving average of inflation, the real GDP and the lags of stock prices. After that, they used GMM to estimate the regression. Because the data used are ex-post, the policy actions should be taken to the stock prices movements. However, there are still some contention is that this counter-argument is not entirely valid and these come from several antagonists like Bernanke and Gertler with their predominant abstractions (1999 and 2001). Rejecting the hypothesis There have been a significant number of advocates against the responsiveness of central banks to asset price movement in their policy formulation so far. Two of the most important contributors in this field are Bernanke and Gertler with their two seminal studies (1999 and 2001). On the basis of non-optimizing models of monetary policy, where coefficients of interest rates on GDP and inflation is selected specifically, Bernanke and Gertler generated the result that inflation-targeting policymakers should not take asset prices into account other than changes in expected inflation are foreshadowed. Adam Posen (2006), likewise, has argued that central banks need not target asset prices, but would be well advised to monitor them, when those bubbles get very far out of line. By studying the correlation between periods of monetary easing and property bubbles, he found the hypothesis that quantitative easing would result in asset volatility unsupported. These results are challenged among other researchers including Roubini Nouriel (2006), Andrew Filardo (2004), especially Stephen Cecchetti (2000). Cecchetti arrived at the different results, even though one portion of the testing method he employed was the same with Bernanke and Gertler (1999). Data and testing method U.S. Data selection The data that being selected reflects the period from Q1/1990 to Q4/2009 in the U.S., including time series of Inflation: Cpi all Items City Average   /Index Number /Base year: 2005 /averages   /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash Fed Funds Rates: Discount Rate (end of Period)   /percent per annum /stocks   /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash Real GDP: Gdp vol 2005 Ref., Chained   /U.s. Dollars ,billions of .. /averages /constant prices (seas. /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash SP500 stock index: Finance.Yahoo.Com, the quarterly close price index. Stock Index SP500 is chosen because it is typically weighted averages of the prices of the component stocks. Very often dividends are excluded from the return calculation of the index. The composition of most indices changes occasionally, so that a long time series will not be made up of return from a homogeneous asset. In this paper, we prefer the continuous compounded definition of using logarithm because multi-period returns are then sums of single-period returns. This could make time series of data more smoothing and increase the exactness of estimation[2]. The regressions take the form of Taylor rule, augmented to allow partial-adjustment or â€Å"interest rate smoothing†, or more simply the conclusion of a lagged fed funds rate, as discussed in Clarida, Gali, and Gertler (1998). We begin with the regression, in which the fed funds rate responds to contemporaneous observations on a â€Å"gap† measure (either the unemployment rate or a Hodrick-Prescott detrended real GDP gap[3]), a four-quarter moving average of an inflation measure, the growth rate of real GDP, and lags of a variety of stock price measures. Unit root test for f – log(fed funds rate) Possibly, there is some omitted variables causing autocorrelation. We need to use unit root tests for random variables. Null Hypothesis: F has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 4 (Automatic based on SIC, maxlag=11) t-Statistic   Ã‚  Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -3.380296   0.0148 *MacKinnon (1996) one-sided p-values. As might be seen from the graph, there is a downward trend of fed funds interest rates. The unit root test gives an idea that there should be an inclusion of a lagged dependent variable  Ã‚   Inflation – 100*(log(CPI)t-log(CPI)t-4) Delta_Y – 100*(log(real_gdp)t-log(real_gdp)t-1) GAP – a Hodrick-Prescott detrended real GDP gap U.K. Data selection The following covers the period from Q1/1990 to Q4/2009 in U.K, including time series of   Inflation: Cpi all Items City Average   /Index Number /Base year: 2005 /averages   /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash Bank of England Interest Rates: Discount Rate (end of Period)   /percent per annum /stocks   /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash Real GDP: Gdp vol 2005 Ref., Chained   /U.s. Dollars ,billions of .. /averages /constant prices (seas. /Cnt: United States   /Source: IMF, Wash FTSE 100 stock index: Finance.Yahoo.Com, the quarterly close price index. Stock Index FTSE 100 is chosen because it is typically weighted averages of the prices of the component stocks. Very often dividends are excluded from the return calculation of the index. The composition of most indices changes occasionally, so that a long time series will not be made up of return from a homogeneous asset. In this paper, we prefer the continuous compounded definition of using logarithm because multi-period returns are then sums of single-period returns. This could make time series of data more smoothing and increase the exactness of estimation[4]. The regressions take the form of Taylor rule, augmented to allow partial-adjustment or â€Å"interest rate smoothing†, or more simply the conclusion of a lagged fed funds rate, as discussed in Clarida, Gali, and Gertler (1998). We begin with the regression, in which the fed funds rate responds to contemporaneous observations on a â€Å"gap† measure (either the unemployment rate or a Hodrick-Prescott detrended real GDP gap[5]), a four-quarter moving average of an inflation measure, the growth rate of real GDP, and lags of a variety of stock price measures. Unit root test for f – log(fed funds rate) Possibly, there is some omitted variables causing autocorrelation. We need to use unit root tests for random variables. Null Hypothesis: I has a unit root Exogenous: Constant Lag Length: 1 (Automatic based on SIC, maxlag=11) t-Statistic Prob.* Augmented Dickey-Fuller test statistic -1.281177 0.6347 As might be seen from the graph, there is a downward trend of fed funds interest rates. The unit root test gives an idea that there should be an inclusion of a lagged dependent variable. Inflation – 100*(log(CPI)t-log(CPI)t-4)        Ã‚   OUTPUT_GAP   – 100*(log(real_gdp)t-log(real_gdp)t-1) Empirical Framework U.S. Data test section Methodology Following the Taylor’s rule, a regression of the model below is going to be estimated: It = a + bIt-1 + cGapt + dΔyt + zÏ€t + ∑ekst-k (1) In which: It: the quarterly average of the daily observations on the federal funds rate Gapt: the Hodrick-Prescott detrended real GDP gap Ï€t: the four-quarter moving average of the rate of inflation in the consumer price index Δyt: the quarterly percentage change in real GDP st-k: the quarterly percentage change in a stock price index, lagged as k intervals We choose this specification to begin with because it represents a simple augmentation of the canonical Taylor rule, without worrying about the potential simultaneity between the current funds rate and the current stock prices[6]. Importantly, (1) differs from (0) since we consider more lagged values of the fed funds rates (It-1) and the asset price movements (∑ekst-k). When we estimate equation (1), we set the following null hypothesi { H0: ek = 0 H0: ek # 0 If we accept the above null hypothesis, we may safely claim that monetary policy is not accepted by asset price movements. If we reject the above null hypothesis, we may safely claim that asset price movements play a role in determining monetary policy. We start estimating equation (1) by using only one lag of st and then we proceed from specific to general to decide the correct number of lags (in other words, we estimate the model again by including more lags until we meet a lagged regressor, which is not significan Eview results of estimating equation (1) using 1 lagged value of st Dependent Variable: F Method: Least Squares Date: 02/07/11  Ã‚   Time: 23:57 Sample (adjusted): 1991Q1 2009Q4 Included observations: 76 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. C -0.123706 0.082768 -1.494617 0.1395 F(-1) 0.852312 0.051377 16.58952 0.0000 GAP 0.010505 0.028245 0.371928 0.7111 DELTA_Y 0.129730 0.040953 3.167808 0.0023 INFLATION 0.064981 0.026331 2.467884 0.0160 S(-1) 0.010320 0.003063 3.368900 0.0012 R-squared 0.918894   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 1.194237 Adjusted R-squared 0.913101   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.658791 S.E. of regression 0.194203   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion -0.364172 Sum squared resid 2.640028   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion -0.180167 Log likelihood 19.83853   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hannan-Quinn criter. -0.290634 F-statistic 158.6138   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Durbin-Watson stat 1.742329 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000 It might be noted that the coefficient to s(-1) of 0.010320 is positive and statistically significant (p-value=0.0012 much lower than ÃŽ ±=0.05).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Eview results of re-estimating equation (1) using 2 lagged value of st Dependent Variable: F Method: Least Squares Date: 02/07/11  Ã‚   Time: 23:59 Sample (adjusted): 1991Q1 2009Q4 Included observations: 76 after adjustments Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. C -0.150214 0.086749 -1.731607 0.0878 F(-1) 0.869165 0.053967 16.10563 0.0000 GAP 0.008441 0.028311 0.298142 0.7665 DELTA_Y 0.148092 0.044741 3.310002 0.0015 INFLATION 0.064308 0.026332 2.442183 0.0172 S(-1) 0.009965 0.003082 3.232900 0.0019 S(-2) -0.003290 0.003233 -1.017793 0.3123 R-squared 0.920094   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Mean dependent var 1.194237 Adjusted R-squared 0.913145   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  S.D. dependent var 0.658791 S.E. of regression 0.194153   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Akaike info criterion -0.352758 Sum squared resid 2.600980   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Schwarz criterion -0.138085 Log likelihood 20.40479   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hannan-Quinn criter. -0.266964 F-statistic 132.4186   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Durbin-Watson stat 1.789665 Prob(F-statistic) 0.000000 We may note that the second lag of s (s(-2) of -0.003290) is not significant (p-value of 0.3123 much higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05) whereas the first lag s(-1) is still positive and significant (p-value=0.0019 lower than ÃŽ ±=0.05). This implies that the correct choice about the number of lags implies that we need to include only the first lagged value of the stock index’s return. Testing significant coefficients The statistically significant positive coefficient to s(-1) implies that the asset price goes up Fed should increase interest rate. Inflation and real GDP growth rate are significant (p-values are 0.0023 and 0.0160 less than ÃŽ ±=0.05) whereas gap is insignificant (p-value of 0.7665 much higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05). However, there are some conflicts with the theory if the gap is removed out of the specification.   Indeed, R-squared and Adjusted R-squared show that the model explains the dependent variable more than 90%. It is necessary to examine the model by applying GMM (the generalized method of moments). Testing a good fit As we can see, R2 of 0.918894 and Adjusted R2 of 0.913101 show that the model explains above 90% changes of fed fund rates. F-statistic also depicts that all regressors are jointly significant. This seems to support the view of Cecchetti et al. (2000).                  Testing autocorrelation Durbin’s h test, with n=76, we have   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   d = 1.742329   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   h=(1-d/2)√(n/(1-n/error(b))) = 1.2559142007 z-critical = 1.96 We cannot reject H0 of Durbin’s h test and conclude that this model does not suffer from serial correlation. Breusch-Godfrey Serial Correlation LM Test: F-statistic 1.001164   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. F(4,66) 0.4134 Obs*R-squared 4.347625   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(4) 0.3610 Both the LM statistic and the F statistic are quite low, suggesting that we cannot reject the null of no serial correlation (p-value of 0.3610 is much higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05). Therefore, both Durbin’s h and Breusche-Godfrey test conclude that this model does not suffer from autocorrelation. The analysis above lets us to give a positive answer to the first question we posed before. The significance of the lagged value of s implies that asset price movement plays a role in refining monetary policy. Testing heteroskedasticity Both Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey statistic (16.19839) and F statistic (3.792163) are quite high, suggesting the rejection of the null hypothesis of the heteroskedasticity test (p-values of 0.0063 and 0.0043 are much less than ÃŽ ±=0.05). As can be seen from the test results, coefficients of gap, delta_y, and s(-1) are insignificant. Contrastingly, the inflation might have certain impact on the variance of the error terms. Heteroskedasticity Test: Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey F-statistic 3.792163   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. F(5,70) 0.0043 Obs*R-squared 16.19839   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(5) 0.0063 Scaled explained SS 55.18278   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(5) 0.0000 With White’s test with no cross products, the p-values of both White’s statistic (0.0895) and F statistic (0.0879) are higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05 and these tests do not conclude a rejection of no heteroskedasticity. Heteroskedasticity Test: White F-statistic 2.009014   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. F(5,70) 0.0879 Obs*R-squared 9.537445   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(5) 0.0895 Scaled explained SS 32.49105   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(5) 0.0000 In White’s test with cross products, both White’s statistic F statistic with p-values nearly zero illustrate that there is a conclusion of a rejection of no heteroskedasticity. Therefore, there is evidence of heteroskedasticity. Intuitively, delta_y*s(-1) and inflation*s(-1) do not have a significant impact on the variance of error terms (p-values are 0.3398 and 0.2187 much higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05, respectively). This might imply that the relationship between delta_y and inflation with s(-1) should be examined in GMM application. Heteroskedasticity Test: White  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  F-statistic 7.540388   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. F(20,55) 0.0000 Obs*R-squared 55.68978   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(20) 0.0000 Scaled explained SS 189.7174   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prob. Chi-Square(20) 0.0000 The graph of residuals also shows that the model does not fit the data precisely (there are more and more underestimates and overestimates, especially from 2000 to 2009). Testing heteroskedasticity possibly implies that the traditional view as the equation (1) might be violated by heteroskedasticity of cross products. The co-efficiencies are still unbiased and consistent. This has a wide impact on hypothesis testing neither the t statistics or the F statistics are reliable any more for hypothesis testing because they will lead us to reject the null hypothesis too often. This is possible reason to examine whether the relationship between the stock index’s return and fed funds rate is direct or indirect. Testing misspecification In Ramsey RESET test, since the p-values of 0.1056 (Likelihood ratio) and 0.1245 (F-statistic) are both higher than ÃŽ ±=0.05, we cannot reject the null hypothesis of correct specification. Notice, as well, that the coefficient of the squared fitted term is not significant (t-stat = 1.555220). Ramsey RESET Test Equation: LAG1_V Specification: F C F(-1) GAP DELTA_Y INFLATION S(-1) Omitted Variables: Squares of fitted values Value df Probability t-statistic   1.555220   69   0.1245 F-statistic   2.418708 (1, 69)   0.1245 Likelihood ratio   2.618454   1   0.1056 Generalized method of moments (GMM) We will evaluate whether the asset price movement plays a role directly or indirectly through its effects on inflation and output growth. We can do this by using a GMM estimator, which is an instrumental variable approach. By applying the forward-looking extension for Taylor rule, the instrument list of gap (a Hodrick-Prescott detrended real GDP gap), delta_y (the growth rate of real GDP) and inflation (inflation rate) will be taken to perform GMM. Dependent Variable: F Method: Generalized Method of Moments Date: 02/13/11  Ã‚   Time: 14:11 Sample (adjusted): 1991Q1 2009Q1 Included observations: 73 after adjustments Linear estimation with 1 weight update Estimation weighting matrix: HAC (Bartlett kernel, Newey-West fixed   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  bandwidth = 4.0000) Standard errors covariance computed using estimation weighting matrix Instrument specification: GAP(+1) GAP(+2) GAP(+3) DELTA_Y(+1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  DELTA_Y(+2) DELTA_Y(+3) INFLATION(+1) INFLATION(+2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  INFLATION(+3) Constant added to instrument list Variable Coefficient Std. Error t-Statistic Prob. C 0.111616 0.401825 0.277772 0.7820 F(-1) 0.658808 0.294358 2.238116 0.0285 GAP 0.065476 0.072798 0.899426 0.3716 DELTA_Y 0.169216 0.215013 0.787001 0.4341 INFLATION 0.050838 0.045147 1.126059 0.2642 S(-1) 0.028287 0.029343 0.964010 0.3385 Interpreting results The relationship between inflation and real GDP with fed funds rate As OLS’ result, the growth rate of real GDP and inflation affects positively the dependent variable and it is statistically significant, while the gap is not. However, it might be spurious if the gap is removed because the heteroskedasticity testing shows that the OLS model (1) is no longer the most efficient estimator[1]. The relationship between FTSE100 and Bank of England interest rate As GMM’s result, it is important to pay attention to the coefficient associated to s(-1). As OLS’ result, it is positive and significant but this time it is not statistically significant in GMM’s result. This implies that the asset price movements affect the way in which the monetary policy is set only indirectly and not directly.   Consequently, asset price movements have impact on fed funds rates indirectly. Conclusion In conclusion, the results of this project show that the hypothesis that refer to whether the volatility of the stock price would affect the monetary policy, in some mood, is proved to be indirectly impact the policy making. These results might be caused by the limitation of this project. Compare to Cecchetti et al. (2000) who focused on using some estimation of primary elements in the policy rules, including the output gap and inflation expectations to produce the hypothesis. He supposed that these elements would have to depend on some estimation of the evolution of stock prices providing that the asset prices affect the economy’s path. However, we build up two models to by OLS and GMN to test the hypothesis. For GMM, we compare the data and observe that the co-efficient are insignificant. At this time, we switch to OLS model, surprisingly found that the co-efficient of GAP is insignificant. Moreover, it is still controversial to clear about the strength of the endogeneity test for GMM estimation because we do not have another test to compare with. This is the reason why the instrument list we choose is still controversial. However, the data we estimate is enough that is perfectly applies to the line with the theory of Taylor rule that is approximately well estimated, significant of R, Two of the most important contributors in this field are Bernanke and Gertler with their two seminal studies (1999 and 2001). On the basis of non-optimizing models of monetary policy, where coefficients of interest rates on GDP and inflation is selected specifically, Bernanke and Gertler generated the result that inflation-targeting policymakers should not take asset prices into account other than changes in expected inflation are foreshadowed. Adam Posen (2006), likewise, has argued that central banks need not target asset prices, but would be well advised to monitor them, when those bubbles get very far out of line. By studying the correlation between periods of monetary easing and property bubbles, he found the hypothesis that quantitative easing would result in asset volatility unsupported. Therefore, the results of t his project may reflect the nature. It is likely that the volatility of stock price would have effect on the monetary policy. In order to meet the needs of inflation targeting which is proved by the classical economy theory that slightly inflation could stimulate the real economy, the central bank authorities do evaluate these two factors when making monetary policy decision to maintain the asset price is neither too high nor too low so does the inflation rate. References Jeff Fuhrer and Geoff Tootell. â€Å"Eyes on the Prize: How Did the Fed Respond to the Stock Market†. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Discussion Papers, April 2004, No. 04-2. Bernanke, Ben and Gertler, Mark. â€Å"Money Policy and Asset Volatility†. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review, Fourth Quarter 1999, 84(4), pp. 17-52. Bernanke, Ben and Mark Gertler â€Å"Should Central Banks Respond to Movements in Asset Prices† American Economic Review, May 2001. Posen, Adam S. (2006) â€Å"Why Central Banks Should not Burst Bubbles†, Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, working paper 01/06. Filardo, Andrew (2004) â€Å"Monetary Policy and Asset Price Bubbles: Calibrating the Monetary Policy Trade-Offs,† BIS working paper No.155, Basel. Roubini, Nouriel, (2006), â€Å"Why Central Banks Should Burst Bubbles†. International Finance 9, no.1 Cecchetti, Stephen ; Genberg, Hans; Lipsky, Jonhn and Wadhwani, Sushil. â€Å"Asset Prices and Central Bank Policy†. LondonInternationalCenter for Monetary and Banking Studies, 2000 Stephen J.Taylor. â€Å"Asset Price Dynamics, Volatility, and Prediction†. PrincetonUniversity Press 2005. Dimitrios Asteriou and Stephen G.Hall. â€Å"Applied Econometrics – A modern approach†, Palgrave Macmillan, revised edition 2006, 2007. H.Studentmund. â€Å"Using Econometrics: A practical Guide†. Pearson 2000, International Edition, 5th edition. Jeff Fuhrer and Geoff Tootell. â€Å"Eyes on the Prize: How Did the Fed Respond to the Stock Market†. Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Discussion Papers, April 2004, No. 04-2. Bernanke, Ben and Gertler, Mark. â€Å"Money Policy and Asset Volatility†. Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Review, Fourth Quarter 1999, 84(4), pp. 17-52. Bernanke, Ben and Mark Gertler â€Å"Should Central Banks Respond to Movements in Asset Prices† American Economic Review, May 2001. Posen, Adam S. (2006) â€Å"Why Central Banks Should not Burst Bubbles†, Institute for International Economics, Washington, DC, working paper 01/06. Filardo, Andrew (2004) â€Å"Monetary Policy and Asset Price Bubbles: Calibrating the Monetary Policy Trade-Offs,† BIS working paper No.155, Basel Roubini, Nouriel, (2006), â€Å"Why Central Banks Should Burst Bubbles†. International Finance 9, no. Cecchetti, Stephen ; Genberg, Hans; Lipsky, Jonhn and Wadhwani, Sushil. â€Å"Asset Prices and Central Bank Policy†. LondonInternationalCenter for Monetary and Banking Studies, 2000 Stephen J.Taylor. â€Å"Asset Price Dynamics, Volatility, and Prediction†. PrincetonUniversity Press 2005 Dimitrios Asteriou and Stephen G.Hall. â€Å"Applied Econometrics – A modern approach†, Palgrave Macmillan, revised edition 2006, 2007. H.Studentmund. â€Å"Using Econometrics: A practical Guide†. Pearson 2000, International Edition, 5th edition.

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Philip Morris Co - Case Study Example Production of a good quality product, testing it properly, marketing it in a proper way ensuring that no unethical means are used are some of the aspects of business ethics. In short, business ethics are the rules to ensure that the business causes no harm to other businesses, people and society in any way, be it morals and values or any other way. Being such a big international organization, Philip Morris holds great social responsibility. Adding to it the fact that it is a tobacco company, this social responsibility is even doubled. Many ethical issues are posed on it every day and the way it tackles these issues and makes its decisions accordingly, is one of the main factors that make it the leader of the tobacco market. Corporate social responsibility is defined by many people in many ways. Some define it as carrying out the business responsibly and properly giving the society economic benefits, while other define it as striving to solve world's different problems. In either case, corporate social responsibility refers to the act of an organization acting as a responsible part of the society and helping it in one way or the other. When talking about Philip Morris's Corporate Social Responsibility, the main issue is the question that w... Looking at these facts and statistics, it is not surprising if Philip Morris cannot be classified as a socially responsible company no matter how philanthropic campaigns they lead and how many worthy causes they serve to. In cases like Philip Morris, where the corporate goals and interests of the society go in totally different directions, it is very important for the company to incorporate corporate social responsibility in its corporate strategy in a much more integrated way as compared to any other organization. This is extremely important for companies like Philip Morris, the leader of a market that literally kills people. This issue, if not handled properly, can become so serious for the organization that it can become an issue for its survival in the market, since the society would always tend to reprimand any such business that poses such hazards to it and is totally incongruent to its values and interests. Ethical Issues associated with Marketing Practices Although ethical issues are frequent in almost all areas of the business for a tobacco company like Philip Morris, but the major issues are posed in the arena of marketing of its product. In 1998, after the conflicts of four years, the US government and Tobacco Market Leaders settled on an agreement. It tackled with the two most important and growing issues in the society; public health and underage access to the tobacco products. The settlement also required the industry to take necessary steps to ensure the reduction in underage access and underage consumption of the tobacco products. It created a National Foundation and a Public Education fund to make people aware of the hazards attached to tobacco consumption and educating them accordingly.

International Law and Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Law and Institutions - Essay Example The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Since the 1990s not only has the Security Council agreed to authorize humanitarian intervention, there have also been interventions without authorization from the Security Council such as the intervention in Northern Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti, Yugoslavia/Kosovo and East Timor. These latter interventions have arisen as a result of a perception of the Security Council’s failure to act or ineffective action where there has been concern about the severe deprivation of human rights. For example, the failure of the UN to broker political peace in Somalia led to the US Operation Restore Hope in 1992, which for the first time in American history, saw American troops committed to a military operation for a cause completely unrelated to protecting their national interest. The operation’s goal was to open supply routes for food relief efforts and prepare the way for a UN peacekeeping force to preserve the security of these routes. The challenge, it seems, must be to leave open the option for humanitarian intervention in extreme cases of human suffering, where the reasons for action seem morally imperative and politically sound but the Security Council is unable to act, while at the same time to avoid jeopardising in a fundamental way the existing, hard-earned, international legal order, including the central role of the Security Council.  Ã‚  ... must be to leave open the option for humanitarian intervention in extreme cases of human suffering, where the reasons for action seem morally imperative and politically sound but the Security Council is unable to act, while at the same time to avoid jeopardising in a fundamental way the existing, hard-earned, international legal order, including the central role of the Security Council.1 The Security Council is bound by the Charter. However as the US has cogently argued the Charter is too narrow. It envisaged only those situations where a state might call on the help of the international community or where international peace was threatened. It did not take into account the situations observed since then in the killing fields of Cambodia, Rwanda and Srebrenica. In 2004, 10 years after the genocide in Rwanda, the Canadian Foreign Minister, Bill Graham was reported by the BBC to have said: We lack the political will to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place the type of measures that will prevent a future Rwanda from happening2 Although the primary responsibility lies with the state, where a population is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure, and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it, the principle of non-intervention should lead to a larger principle, that of the international responsibility to protect3. There are essentially 2 criticisms of the UN: its relevance and its structure. As can be seen from the US ignoring the UN over Iraq and the UN's admission of failing to act in time to the obvious threat in Rwanda, there are many reasons for questioning its relevance. Its structure goes back to 1945 where the victorious powers of World War II decided to stamp their

Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 36

Marketing - Essay Example The UAE has resulted to using an unexpected way of public service delivery; using unmanned drones. This is highly innovative. This is because it uses the most updated technology, which does not require a human. This implies that the margin for errors when delivering these services is considerably slim. This means more efficiency with regard to speed. Although the drones will still be used in defense, the UAE is also applying them in healthcare and education. This is also an innovative service because it is customer oriented. In the past, most services were profit oriented. However, with the launch of this service, UAE government has indicated that its attention is directed towards the welfare of the population. The drones could be used in times of disasters to deliver certain services. This would ensure that the services get to the scene as soon as possible as opposed to other means such as ground travel. In addition, in spite of the fact that is in its initial launch phase, the gove rnment has decided to use the public to improve its efficiency by asking them to contribute ideas which would be rewarded. This is innovative because previous governments did not encourage input from the public. There are several differences between social innovation, frugal innovation, and reverse innovation starting with what they incorporate. Social innovation incorporates the most recent strategies and ideas in delivery of social services that may range from education to communal health. A perfect example of social innovation is the open ideo, which seeks to provide immunization using technology. Frugal innovation, on the other hand, is the reduction of complexity of a product so as to affect its distribution and production. For instance, this may incorporate the Tata Nano which was introduced in India to cater for the non-four wheel customers who used non-safe two wheel

International Law and Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

International Law and Institutions - Essay Example The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Since the 1990s not only has the Security Council agreed to authorize humanitarian intervention, there have also been interventions without authorization from the Security Council such as the intervention in Northern Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Haiti, Yugoslavia/Kosovo and East Timor. These latter interventions have arisen as a result of a perception of the Security Council’s failure to act or ineffective action where there has been concern about the severe deprivation of human rights. For example, the failure of the UN to broker political peace in Somalia led to the US Operation Restore Hope in 1992, which for the first time in American history, saw American troops committed to a military operation for a cause completely unrelated to protecting their national interest. The operation’s goal was to open supply routes for food relief efforts and prepare the way for a UN peacekeeping force to preserve the security of these routes. The challenge, it seems, must be to leave open the option for humanitarian intervention in extreme cases of human suffering, where the reasons for action seem morally imperative and politically sound but the Security Council is unable to act, while at the same time to avoid jeopardising in a fundamental way the existing, hard-earned, international legal order, including the central role of the Security Council.  Ã‚  ... must be to leave open the option for humanitarian intervention in extreme cases of human suffering, where the reasons for action seem morally imperative and politically sound but the Security Council is unable to act, while at the same time to avoid jeopardising in a fundamental way the existing, hard-earned, international legal order, including the central role of the Security Council.1 The Security Council is bound by the Charter. However as the US has cogently argued the Charter is too narrow. It envisaged only those situations where a state might call on the help of the international community or where international peace was threatened. It did not take into account the situations observed since then in the killing fields of Cambodia, Rwanda and Srebrenica. In 2004, 10 years after the genocide in Rwanda, the Canadian Foreign Minister, Bill Graham was reported by the BBC to have said: We lack the political will to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place the type of measures that will prevent a future Rwanda from happening2 Although the primary responsibility lies with the state, where a population is suffering serious harm, as a result of internal war, insurgency, repression or state failure, and the state in question is unwilling or unable to halt or avert it, the principle of non-intervention should lead to a larger principle, that of the international responsibility to protect3. There are essentially 2 criticisms of the UN: its relevance and its structure. As can be seen from the US ignoring the UN over Iraq and the UN's admission of failing to act in time to the obvious threat in Rwanda, there are many reasons for questioning its relevance. Its structure goes back to 1945 where the victorious powers of World War II decided to stamp their

Theme of Fahrenheit 451 Essay Example for Free

Theme of Fahrenheit 451 Essay The theme of Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury contains a setting of a world where society itself was destructive. In this story characters and society are portrayed to be soulless and self-centered. Immoral things such as killing in this society have no affect on characters and ignorance is considered as the norm. By the setting containing an environment where life has no importance and entertainment is more valuable, this aspect does affect the characters’ attitude, decisions and general behavior entirely. There are a few examples that describe perfectly how the setting impacts the character such as Clarisse, Mildred and Guy. Even though all characters are set in a dystopia, not all characters react the same way. Most characters are consumed by their surrounding, while the setting reflects others. In the scene where Montag and Clarisse had their first encounter, the mood is set as romantic and relaxing. The city streets are empty and calm with the moon shining down and creating a silhouette as the wind lightly blows through them. It isn’t a cold night but refreshing. Clarisse walks slowly towards him enjoying every moment of the wind brushing against her body and hair. Everything seems to be in slow motion where there is no cars rushing down the road. The streets are quite and full of tranquility. The only characters that are walking down the street are Clarisse and Montag. This setting reflects on the true nature of Clarisse’s personality. The setting describes a relaxing atmosphere where everything seems to fall into place and this is how Clarisse attitude is towards life it self. The general behavior of this character shows how the little things are what matters, enjoying the surrounding and admire the small things, which was no longer appreciated. Unlike Clarisse, Mildred is a city girl who needs to feel the rush. Her attitude towards life made her fit perfectly in the society she was set in. only caring for the thrill and anything that would keep her distracted at the moment. In the scene where Guy shows Mildred the hidden books he has collected throughout the year, one can see how the setting explains Mildred’s behavior towards her husband and society. In the scene where both character is located in their home everything seemed to be separated, Mildred had her parlor while Guy has an empty room. The atmosphere is dry and cluttered, giving the feeling of a non-welcoming home. In the scene when Guy takes the books out from the ventilator to show Mildred, the secret he has been hiding from her for so many year, Mildred looks down to the books as if the floor has open and let out a family of rodents. She slides down the wall as if the universe crashed into million of pieces. Fearful of what lies ahead, she trembles and as ks Guy to stop himself before he get any deeper then what he is in. This setting not only shows the emptiness between Mildred and Guy but also how weak and influenced by society Mildred is. One of the scene were setting can be seen as a huge impact is when Guy Montag is in the subway. This scene is described as a dark place with jet-black tiles. The atmosphere is full of emptiness and helplessness. Guy Montag is shown to be an emotional mess, confused by his thoughts and physically numb. As he looked at the Bible and tried to understand as much as he could from the book, he remembered a moment in his childhood when he was tying to fill a sieve with sand. This memory compared the words of the Bible to the sand. He felt as if the words were slipping out of his mind because he couldn’t concentrate over the loud announcement repeating itself in the train stations radio. When he notices he wouldn’t collect any information because of the distraction Guy went into frenzy. Guy yelled trying to over come the voices of the train station radio. The place itself is a trap to Montag and he is not able to breathe or concentrate. Slowly, Montag gives up and hopes someone will come to his rescue, to take him back to his old life when things were simpler. One can see how the setting causes anger and frustration in Montag. This setting shows how Montag’s internal point of view can be express through the tiles of the subways. This setting supports Montag’s frustration and sees how it affects his behavior in general. As shown through out the essay setting contains a huge impact on the characters. Setting is nothing more then an extension of the character itself. The best example is the setting of Guy Montag in the train. Everything seems to foreshadow an event were something bad is going to happen from the tiles to the atmosphere of the place that was described. Though the characters play out the events of the story, the setting is what makes the character react and behave the way it does. In scene when Montag meets Clarisse the setting is what showed her true behavior and all the aspect of Clarisse. A setting is more then just a place but in general it is what impacts the characters to behave and react as they do in the story.

Clinical Outcome after DMT Discontinuation

Clinical Outcome after DMT Discontinuation Background: Stable disease course may prompt consideration of disease-modifying treatment (DMT) discontinuation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Objective: To investigate the clinical outcome after DMT discontinuation and to identify predictive factors supporting decision-making. Methods: We included 221 RRMS patients, who discontinued DMT after à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾12months and had documented follow-up à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾2years after discontinuation. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) regarding relapse and disability progression after DMT discontinuation were calculated from Cox regression models. Results: Age >45 years at discontinuation (HR=0.47, CI=0.23-0.95, p=0.038), absence of relapses for à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years on DMT before discontinuation (HR=0.29, CI=0.10-0.82, p=0.020) and absence of contrast enhancing lesions (HR=0.46, CI=0.28-0.78, p=0.004) were independent predictors of absence of relapse after discontinuation. Age >45years and absence of relapses à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years on DMT combined had an HR of 0.06 (CI=0.01-0.44, p45 years and longer disease duration were significantly associated with disability progression after discontinuation. Conclusion: While freedom from further disease activity is generally unpredictable, there is a subset of patients (age à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45years, DMT intake à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾4years without evidence of clinical or radiological disease activity) having a high likelihood of remaining relapse-free after DMT discontinuation. However, close clinical monitoring for recurrent disease activity is mandatory after discontinuing treatment. MS is an autoimmune, demyelinating, inflammatory neurological disease that develops from a complex interplay of both genetic and environmental factors. The mechanism of demyelination in multiple sclerosis may be activation of myelin-reactive T cells in the periphery. T cells are activated following antigen presentation by antigen-presenting cells such as macrophages and microglia, or B cells. These T cells then express adhesion molecules, allowing their entry through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These invasive perivascular T cells can secrete proinflammatory cytokines, including interferon gamma and tumor necrosis factor alpha which contribute to the inflammatory processes in the central nervous system. Furthermore, antibodies against myelin also may be generated in the periphery or intrathecally by activated B cells. Ongoing inflammation leads to epitope spread and recruitment of other inflammatory cells (ie, bystander activation). Activated microglia may release free radicals, ni tric oxide, and proteases that may contribute to tissue damage. In summary, MS has 3 characteristic features; Inflammation leading to the infiltration of Perivascular lymphocytes into the central nervous system, demyelination of neurons and the subsequent formation of Central Nervous System lesions (Plaques) The CNS lesions mainly affect the white matter and they are both disseminated in time (DIT) and in space (DIS). White matter help transmit information between regions of grey matter, where the processing occurs. Therefore symptoms of MS are highly dependent on the location of the lesion in the CNS. In 1996, 4 main types of MS were defined, be the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, according to the clinical course of the disorder; Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS) Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS) Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS) Progressive Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis (PRMS) The treatments for MS are split into 3 main types that target 3 different aspects of the disease, namely treatments for MS exacerbations/attacks, treatments for specific MS symptoms and treatments to prevent relapses and disease progression. The last group of treatments are the focus of this study. Despite having no cure for MS there are treatments that significantly reduce both the frequency and severity of relapses in some patients and slow the progress of neurological deficits in MS. These are called Disease Modifying Therapies(DMT). The goal of these therapies is to decrease the extent of damage and scarring to the myelin sheath associated with relapse and in doing so prevent the progression of disease and are especially useful for patients with RRMS. This study focuses on the first line injectable treatments, Beta interferons and Galatiramer Acetate. Interferon beta balances the expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory agents in the brain, and reduces the number of inflammatory cells that cross the blood brain barrier therefore it also improves nerve regeneration. Galatiramer acetate resemles myelin basic protein, thus acting as a decoy for the immune system to target and in doing so protects the myelin surrounding axons in the CNS. Despite their usefulness, DMTs are not suitable for all MS patients due to their side effects. Thus they are only prescribed to patients with RRMS or SPMS who meet certain criteria. Specifically, Beta interferon give rise to headache, chills, fever and pain and redness at injection site while, Glatiramer acetate results in redness and hardening of skin at injection site and rarely palpitations or flushing after injection. Due to these many side effects many patients who experience few or no relapses over a long period of time and have a stable disease course frequently enquire if they can discontinue their DMT without the risk of relapses coming back and the disease and disability progression of MS getting worse. Therefore this study was designed as an observational cohort study that aimed to understand the effects of discontinuation of DMTs on the primary and secondary endpoints; occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation o f DMTs respectively and thus and thus provide predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs 0-What is the research question? What is the Primary Outcome? The primary outcome of the study is understanding the effects of discontinuation of DMTs on the primary and secondary endpoints; occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation of DMTs respectively. What are the Secondary outcomes? The secondary outcome of the study was to use and analyse the findings derived from outcome one to discern any factors that would minimize the adverse effect of discontinuation of DMTs and thus provide predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs. Is the research question clear and properly addressed? Yes it is as the paper aims to answer the question of whether discontinuation of DMTs in patients with RRMS would largely affect the clinical outcomes in any adverse manner and through that discern any predictive factors that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs. 1 Are the methods valid? 1a Details of Assignment of patients Are the inclusion and exclusion criteria clear? Patients for the study were selected form the Innsbruck MS database (IMSD), which contained 1708 patients, through a careful screening process. The exclusion criteria included patients with PPMS or SPMS, patients who received DMT for less than 12 months, patients who discontinued DMT for less than 6 months, patients with less than 2 years of follow up available and patients with a documented pregnancy during the follow-up period. After all these exclusion criteria were applied, the patients who still remained were included in the study, thus 221 patients were included in the study Was randomisation done properly? Randomising before the aforementioned selection process selection process could have influenced the decisions about eligibility and introduced a source of bias and if a large number of randomly selected patients turned out to be ineligible it would have led to a very small sample size and thus significantly lowered the power of the study. Randomisation after the aforementioned selection process was not carried out for this study since this study was designed as an observational cohort study and all the patients in the inclusion list were discontinuing DMTs due to one of 3 reasons indicated in the study; namely adverse events, patients decision (including desire of pregnancy) or (3) stable disease course (subjectively defined by the treating physician and/or patient). Randomisation would have been more essential in a case control study that compared the effects of DMT discontinuation in one group against a matched control group of MS patients who continued taking DMTs. This is explored further in the future works section as a possible continuation from and improvement on this study. Was assignment concealed from Drs? (at the assignment stage) Due to the fact that the study was designed as an observational cohort study and the highly specific inclusion criteria the assignment was not concealed from Drs. Was the sample size big enough? The sample size for this study comprised all the 221 patients in the inclusion list. This was a relatively small sample size for a cohort study. However considering the large numbers of exclusion criteria and the fact that the study focused on a specific subset of MS patients; namely patients with RRMS who were being treated with either Interferon Beta or Galactemer Acetate for more than 12 months, who are not pregnant and had a greater than 2 year follow up, the study does have a high predictive power. For this subset of MS patients the studys results provide a good predictive power yet this does not extend to any MS patients outside this subset. The usefulness of this study is further undermined by the fact that just a month before this was published a similar study was done by the MSBase Registry with a case control design looking at 426 DMT stoppers, which is almost double the sample size in this study thus providing a far larger power. 1b Accounting for patients entered into the trial How complete was the follow up? The median follow up period was 3.8 years with maximum follow up period being 26.9 years and minimum follow up being 2 years. How were patients lost to follow up dealt with? As part of the exclusion criteria, patients who were lost to follow up either due to discontinuation of DMT for less than 6 months or because patients had less than 2 years of follow up available or because patients had a documented pregnancy during the follow-up period were excluded from the study and thus also excluded from the calculation on the results of the study. How were patients not receiving assigned treatment (non-compliers) dealt with ? During the follow up period 69 of the 221 patients restarted DMTs after the 6 month cutoff imposed in the exclusion criteria. If DMT was restarted during this observation period, the primary endpoint was considered to be reached at the time point of reinitiation of DMT and thus the patients were still used for calculating the final results. Is there likely to be residual bias because of any of the above? Since data for the study was collected retrospectively at the first visit this does introduce a potential source of bias due to the lack of data completeness for some variables. Moreover, since this study was not conducted in a case control manner there is a possibility that important unmeasured variables could have had a confounding effect on the observed results. However, since data was collected prospectively from then on it serves to minimize any sources of residual bias by attempting to correct for any confounders. The fact that all the patients were selected from the Innsbruck MS database, which mainly represents the demographics of western Austria and its geographical catchment areas and the fact that there was no randomization carried out also introduces a potential source of selection bias and restricts the predictive power and usefulness of this study 1c Blinding How far was it carried out for patients, doctors, other study personnel? In this study blinding was not carried out as all eligible patients in the inclusion list underwent the same intervention which was the discontinuation of DMT. Furthermore, the fact that this study was designed as an observational cohort study meant that blinding was not entirely necessary 1e Apart from experimental intervention were the groups treated equally? Apart from the discontinuation of DMTs all the other decisions about the patients care was left up to their respective doctors and any MS specific interventions or healthcare concerns, such as pregnancies, were noted in the regular follow ups. 2. What are the results? 2a Were outcomes measured in a standard valid reliable way ? The primary and secondary endpoints of this study were the occurrences of relapses after discontinuation of DMTs and disability progression after discontinuation of DMTs respectively. A relapse was defined as patient-reported symptoms or objectively observed signs typical of an acute central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory demyelinating event, current or prior to the visit, with duration of at least 24 hours in the absence of fever or infection, separated from the last relapse by at least 30 days.27 Disability progression was defined as a confirmed EDSS increase in 0.5 sustained for 6months. MRI was only included in analysis if performed within a maximum of 6months prior to discontinuation of DMT (MRI at discontinuation) and if there was another MRI available for comparison performed 1-24months prior to MRI at discontinuation (MRI before discontinuation). MRI parameters obtained were increase in T2 lesion load and presence of gadolinium-enhancing lesions. Increase in T2 lesion load was defined as à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾1 either new or size-enlarged T2 lesion in MRI at discontinuation compared to MRI before discontinuation. 2b Are results comparable at different sites ? These crietria for measurement and reporting of data helped standardize the measurement of the outcomes among the multiple study sites. 2c How large was the treatment effect ? Relapses Primary Outcome: Bivariate testing showed a correlation between absence of relapses after DMT discontinuation and younger age at discontinuation (r=à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬â„¢0.352, p There was no association with disease duration (p=0.327). Secondary Outcome: ROC analyses indicated best possible cutoff values of 45 years for age at discontinuation (sensitivity: 65%, specificity: 85%) and 4 years for duration of DMT intake without a relapse (sensitivity: 60%, specificity: 81%) 14/56 (25%) patients aged à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45 years at discontinuation suffered a relapse after discontinuation of DMT compared to 84/165 (50.9%) of patients Age >45 years and absence of gadolinium-enhancing lesion before discontinuation of DMT were found to be independent predictors of absence of relapse after discontinuation of DMT, each about cutting the risk for future relapse in half. Absence of relapses for a period of 4 years or longer on DMT reduced the risk of future relapse to under a third. Sex and EDSS at discontinuation did not have any significant impact. Patients aged >45 years with absence of relapses for a period of 4years on DMT had a cumulative hazard ratio (HR) of 0.06 (CI=0.01-0.44, p Disability Progression Primary Outcome: Bivariate analysis exhibited a statistically significant correlation between disability progression and EDSS at discontinuation (r = 0.212, p = 0.002), disease duration (r = 0.172, p = 0.004) and age at discontinuation (r = 0.123, p = 0.042), but not for duration of DMT, occurrence of relapses on DMT and presence of gadolinium-enhancing lesions. Secondary Outcome: After inclusion of these variables in a multivariate cox regression model, higher EDSS at discontinuation, age >45 years at discontinuation and longer disease duration were the only significant independent predictors of disability progression after discontinuation. Patients aged à ¢Ã‚ ©Ã‚ ¾45 years with absence of relapses for a period of 4 years on DMT did not have a significant reduction in their risk for disability progression How precisely is it measured (95% CIs)? Categorical variables were expressed in frequencies and percentages, parametric continuous variables as mean and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and nonparametric variables as median and range. Comparisons regarding primary and secondary endpoints were made by bivariate correlations (Kendalls tau) and Fishers exact or chi-square tests as appropriate. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to define the best possible cut-off values of continuous variables for prediction of the primary endpoint. Survival analyses were performed using cox regression models for comparison of prognostic factors over time and assessment of possible confounders. A two-tailed p-value 2d What is the clinical significance of the results and how precisely is it measured?  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   The secondary outcome of this study has a higher clinical significance than the primary outcome. The results show that 3.   Are the results applicable to your patient(s)? 3a Are your patients similar to the study patients? 3b Were all the outcomes that are of interest to your patients considered in the trial? 3c Are the benefits worth the potential harms and costs? In the future a different study design can be used to tackle the same research question. A further case control study, like the one done by the MSBase Registry, that compared the effects of DMT discontinuation in one group against a matched control group of MS patients who continued taking DMTs could be carried out to minimize any effects of confounders and biases that may have affected the results of the cohort study. A future cohort study could include a larger sample size that would be more representative of a larger proportion of the patients with MS. Choosing from a more diverse patient demographic would also provide a greater amount of predictive power over the cultural diverse population of MS patients that are found in the local London boroughs. A similar study could be repeated with a fully prospective design so as to eliminate any selection biases that may have arisen due the retrospective nature of initial data collection. Furthermore, the retrospective nature of this study also led to only 168 of the 221 selected patients having MRI data available within 6 months before discontinuation of DMT thus reducing the predictive and representative power of many conclusions derived from MRI comparison data. Thus, more detailed and complete analysis using MRI data could have been obtained if the study was designed to be entirely prospectively conducted without the retrospective data collection. Focus on newer DMTs Since this study only focused on the first line DMTs which only account for a portion of the RRMS patients receiving DMT future work can focus on the other available newer DMTs. The data on the post-injectable DMT disease course may not be generalisable to the newer agents thus it is essential to conduct DMT discontinuation studies on other oral or intravenous DMTs available to patients which have a larger range of side effects and arguably have more severe side effects. Furthermore even though this study provides some predictive criteria that may help clinicians and patients make the decision to discontinue DMTs, To definitively answer the question about safety of DMT discontinuation in this patient subset, a randomised trial is required. The first randomised DMT discontinuation trial in MS is was scheduled to start recruitment in 2016 and its findings should provide more conclusive evidence about the safety and viability of DMT discontinuation in the patient subsets identified in this study both in terms of number of relapses and disability progression.

My Dream of Becoming a Veterinarian Essay -- Admissions Essays

My Dream of Becoming a Veterinarian As far back as Dawn can remember she has always dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. It all started when Dawn’s parents gave her, Samson, Doberman pinscher puppy as her first pet. They grew up to become best friends. At age 12, her best friend had developed a tumor on his chest. It devastated Dawn that she could do nothing for her friend. She had no way of helping him. This was just one of the signs that everything she had felt in her heart was meant to be. For her, to become a veterinarian, so she could help animals. While in high school, she volunteered in vet’s office so she could be closer to animals. After high school, she had planned on going to college to follow her dream. However, life had other plans for her, she discovered she was pregnant. Following her dreams had to go on the back burner for now. Dawn tried to find a job that would support her & her son. All she could find was minimum wage jobs with crazy hours. Therefore, she went to a local college & signed up for classes, she was going to major in Accounting. She was good at math in high school; she thought that Accounting would be a great job. It was not her dream job but in the end, Accounting would pay the bills. At the end of her first year of college, she discovered she was again pregnant with her second son. After the birth of her second son, she was involved in an abusive relationship with the father of her son. Dawn took time off from school to get her life in order if not for her for her children. After getting her life in order, she graduated from college with an Associates Degree in Accounting. After getting her degree, she worked several jobs such as an Accounts Payable Clerk, an Administrative Assistant, an Offic... ...ght thing. Soon, she started believing herself. She decided she was going to attend the same schools she had planned to attend back in high school, Morehead State University & Auburn University. Dawn started to doubt herself again. How could she make in a school with people ten years younger than her? What would they think of her going back to school at her age especially for what she wanted to do? How will she ever make it? However, Dawn being the determined person she is wasn’t going to let anything stop her this time. It was now or never plus she wasn’t going back to school for them she was going for her & her family. She has to keep her mind heading in the right direction. No matter what Dawn feels, she will always be a little bit scared. But you just cannot live by being scared; life will happen the way it is supposed to happen you just have to enjoy the ride.