Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Sfl Genre Literature Review

Part II Traveling Uncharted Waters? Evaluating THE LITERATURE 2. 1 Introduction: Storm in a teacup This piece of my examination venture was full of nervousness, trouble and a feeling of being lost. Investigating the writing turned into my own tempest in a teacup, as I wound up woozily spiraling, being flung between not knowing on the one side, very nearly knowing at the other, yet constantly feeling wild, not being here nor there †¦ gotten somewhere close to finding, breaking down, combining and inspecting the master knowledge.Searching for writing and finding the writing, even with help, was a forlorn street. Never have I felt that the more I started to peruse and know, the less I believed I knew, lost and alone in the midst of such huge numbers of hypotheses, master information, information and discoveries. Thus this class venture turned into a thundering of contemplations, thoughts and hypotheses to be summed up, referenced and now and then even fiercely hurled aside. Explori ng the writing and reviewing rundowns was some tea, yet I was gradually dissolving, losing my own voice and encountering a feeling of losing of my own identity.In robot-like design I wound up talking and citing considers done by specialists in the field and afterward got mindful of another tempest preparing in my teacup: what miniscule commitment would I be able to make? Would I have the option to arrange importance for a specialist crowd in this type field? Would I effectively structure the data as per issues relevant to my examination, and would I have the option to recognize topics that are connected to my exploration question?As I endeavor to compose, my teacup torments and reminds me again that I have become the reverberating voice of specialists. So during this procedure I am riding a tempest of feelings, pondering whether I will stay a voiceless, composing drifter, I wonder †¦ Yet, oddly losing my own voice, helps me to remember our students and educators at school who f ace such a significant number of difficulties with this procedure called composing. Thinking about my writing, I considered putting to rehearse my insight into class hypothesis and this got one of my tempest lamps. Clearly, esearching the benefits of such a hypothesis ought to furnish me with instruments to deconstruct and vanquish this senseless tempest blending in my tea cup? Thus at last, as I let go, grasping this fermenting cup of tempest, I am relentlessly detecting that many tempest lamps have and will manage me in figuring out how to show to a specialist crowd my capacity to recognize, search, find and present an intelligible survey of the writing. Now the tempest is as yet fermenting, on occasion in any event, seething, never completely decreasing yet it is getting lesser in intensity.And along these lines, I am understanding this helter skelter composing storm blending in my teacup is somebody else’s tornado and perhaps both of these could be another writer’s cup of tea. This section endeavors to draw on writing from kind hypothesis, explicitly sort hypothesis dependent on Systemic Functional Linguistics. Hyland (2002) alludes to a class based way to deal with encouraging composition as being worried about what students do when they compose. This remembers a concentration for language and talk highlights of the writings just as the setting in which the content is produced.My essential goal is to investigate the writing on various ways to deal with showing composing and all the more explicitly in what ways a classification based way to deal with training composing could encourage the advancement of composing abilities at a multilingual elementary school. 2. 1. 2 Framing the issue Success after school, regardless of whether it is at a tertiary establishment or in the realm of work, is to a great extent subject to viable education abilities. To succeed one needs to show a scope of open abilities, for instance, tuning in, talking, perusing and composing tasks.But, in particular, the nature of one’s composing decides access to advanced education and generously compensated occupations in the realm of work. In these situations, achievement or passage is reliant on either finishing an English composing capability assessment or on the aptitude of composing successful reports. Be that as it may, composing aptitudes are even basic in the most broad types of business, for instance, waitressing requires recording client requests and working at a switchboard infers taking messages, recording reminders or notes.Therefore, figuring out how to compose at school ought to be equivalent with learning and procuring the arrangements and requests of various kinds of writings fundamental in more extensive society. On this point, Kress (1994) contends that language, social structures and composing are firmly connected. The composed language instructed at school mirrors the more well-to-do social structures and accordingly the stand ard composed variations are esteemed increasingly satisfactory by society.However, the sort of composing educated and esteemed at school , that is, verse, writing and expositions is aced by a not many students and the control of composed language is in the possession of a moderately hardly any individuals. Because of this lopsided access to the sorts of composing esteemed in the public eye, the capacity to utilize and control the various types of composing realizes prohibition from the social, financial and political points of interest associated with composing capability. Subsequently, in the push for more noteworthy value and access, composing guidance all inclusive has become a field of expanding enthusiasm for ongoing years.There have been various ways to deal with the instructing of writing throughout the entire existence of language educating for English as a first and second language, where first language alludes to English native language speakers and second language to stud ents who have English as a second or an extra language (see Kumaravadivelu, 2006; Hinkel, 2006; Canagarajah, 2006; Celce-Murcia, 1997) as anyone might expect, this extent of approaches has brought about numerous changes in perspective in the field of language instructing and in creating nations like South Africa, these universal patterns, approaches and ideal models shifts sway on neighborhood instructive patterns, as epitomized in instructive strategy archives. Ivanic (2004) contends that verifiably from the nineteenth and twentieth century formal talks have impacted a lot of strategy and practice in proficiency training. Such talks concentrated basically on educating of formal syntax, examples and rules for sentence development (pg 227). Thus, these talks saw language as a lot of abilities to be educated, learnt and aced, and esteemed composing that exhibited information about language, for example, rules of punctuation, sound-image connections and sentence construction.Therefore, those scholars that adjusted to the accuracy of syntax, letter, word, and sentence and text arrangement were seen as equipped authors. Moreover, Dullay, Burt and Krashen (1982) express that the most punctual work in the instructing of composing depended on the idea of controlled or guided creation and that language was viewed as something that could be definitively imagined in scientific categorizations and excused into tables masterminded over the two-dimensional space of the reading material page. This attention on the cognizant securing of decides and structures implied that educators were concentrating on grammatical features, requesting norms of accuracy, and being prescriptive about what were apparently language facts.However, such a methodology was seen as amazingly restricted in light of the fact that it didn't really create speakers who had the option to impart effectively. Thusly, in spite of the fact that students may ace the rundowns, structures and rules, this probably won't prompt the improvement of language familiarity or to the capacity to move such information into sound, strong and broadened bits of writing in school or past it. During the late 1970s increasingly utilitarian methodologies created. These were progressively worried about what understudies can do with language, for instance, satisfying the viable needs in various settings, for example, the work environment and different spaces. Instances of composing errands included rounding out employment forms, planning for meetings, and composing applications.However, these included negligible composing other than finishing short assignments ‘designed to fortify specific sentence structure focuses or language functions’ (Auerbach, 1999: 1). Additionally, such undertakings were instructed in homerooms and outside of any relevant connection to the subject at hand of issues that could rise in genuine settings. As the constraints of a formalist way to deal with language educating t urned out to be progressively self-evident, educators and scientists went to a more procedure arranged philosophy. This concentrated more on the creative cycle than on the item and upheld expressive self-disclosure from the student/essayist through a procedure way to deal with composing. Such a composing approach ‘focus[ed] on significant correspondence for student characterized purposes’ (Auerbach, 1999:2).As an outcome, the student is taken as the purpose of takeoff, and experiences a procedure of drafting, altering and redrafting; the teacher’s job is less prescriptive, permitting students to act naturally expressive and investigate how to compose. All things considered, the procedure approach won kindness with the individuals who were of the conclusion that controlled organization was prohibitive, seeing a liberal-dynamic methodology as increasingly appropriate for first language homerooms (Paltridge, 2004). This methodology was taken up by scientists inspire d by Second Language Acquisition (see Krashen, 1981; Ellis, 1984; Nunan, 1988), and in second language classes students were additionally urged to create thoughts, draft, survey and afterward compose last drafts.On the other hand, Caudery (1995) contends that little appears to have been done to build up a procedure approach explicitly for second language classes. Subsequently, it gave the idea that similar standards ought to apply concerning first language students, for instance, the utilization of companion and instructor editorial alongside singular educator student gatherings, with insignificant heading given by the educator who permits students to find their voices as they proceed through the creative cycle. This absence of bearing was featured by research in various settings

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Analysis of European Literature essays

Investigation of European Literature articles In a world wherein lives are formed by unalterable decisions and by coincidental occasions, a world wherein everything happens except once, presence appears to lose its substance, its weight. Henceforth, we feel the excruciating daintiness of being not just as the result of our private activities, yet in addition in the open circle, and the two definitely entwine. The epic rotates around the possibility of everlasting return. A lady would prefer to be troubled by the agonies a man brings her than to live with no weight at all due to the absense of adoration. The heaviest of weights is a picture of life's most exceptional satisfaction. Having totally no weight would be viewed as a figment if at any time it's conceivable. The total nonattendance of weight makes man be lighter than air, disappear from the earth, and become just half genuine; his developments are free as they are unimportant. All through the story, Tereza battles to win Tomas' heart totally without imparting it to any ot her individual and Toma! s battles to beat his dread and want of ladies, which brings about his consistent acts of unfaithfulness. The epic basically is about way of thinking and connections. It is about how ideas come to mean various things to every one of us and about the trouble of truly associating with another individual, all set under the shadow of the socialist government in Czechoslovakia. ... <!

Friday, August 21, 2020

Treatment for Cleft Lips and Palate free essay sample

This paper investigates the different choices for careful and clinical administration of congenital fissures and palates and the manners by which these intercessions can assist kids with these specific birth surrenders. The paper starts with an outline of the condition and reasons for congenital fissure and sense of taste. It at that point looks at treatment choices accessible and presents different other options. The author at that point talks about the particular language procurement issues identified with clefts and closes by getting to the adequacy of different medications and medical procedure. Congenital fissures and congenital fissures are among the most widely recognized of birth surrenders and whenever left untreated can prompt genuine discourse issues just as mental harm that can result both from those discourse and correspondence issues just as from the segregation that a youngster with a facial deformation may confront. In any case, while the outcomes of congenital fissures and palates can be serious and durable, these can be deflected by clinical intercession, particularly in the event that it is done as ahead of schedule as could reasonably be expected. We will compose a custom paper test on Treatment for Cleft Lips and Palate or on the other hand any comparable subject explicitly for you Don't WasteYour Time Recruit WRITER Just 13.90/page This paper investigates the different choices for careful and clinical administration of congenital fissures and palates and the manners by which these mediations can assist kids with these specific birth surrenders.

Monday, June 1, 2020

An Entrepreneurial Success Story Interview with Jon Medved

document.createElement('audio'); http://media.blubrry.com/admissions_straight_talk/p/www.accepted.com/iv-with-jon-medved.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download | EmbedSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | TuneIn | SpotifyTime flies. The Admissions Straight Talk podcast has hit the 100-episode mark! And in honor of our big milestone we invited a   most exciting guest yet. Want to know what one of the most prominent entrepreneurs of our times has to say about leadership, graduate education, and bodysurfing? For all this and more, listen to the recording of our interview with Jon Medved – CEO and founder of Our Crowd, venture capitalist, and serial entrepreneur. 00:03:43 – Jon’s solution to having too many shoeboxes: The world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform. 00:08:14 – What really matters to a VC when choosing a company to invest in. 00:10:17 – How a history major made it to the top of the business world with no formal business education. 00:14:09 – Qualities that young professionals need to cultivate. (Is luck quality?) 00:21:08 – Graduate education vs. common sense. 00:22:33 – Exciting new partnership between Wharton’s Social Impact Initiative and OurCrowd. 00:24:02 – A preview of the future of business and the world. 00:27:11 – Why Jon loves his job. (Who helps more people, Jon or Linda? Linda says â€Å"Jon.†) 00:28:28 – Entrepreneurs: Here is the best piece of advice you are going to get! Want to leave us a Happy 100th message? We’d love to hear from you! *Theme music is courtesy of podcastthemes.com Related Links: †¢ Our Crowd †¢ OurCrowd Partners with Wharton Students to Launch Impact Investing Platform †¢Ã‚  Wharton Essay Tips †¢ Jon Medved, OurCrowd CEO, Interviewed (Video) Relevant shows: †¢ The Stanford MSx Program for Experienced Leaders †¢ Which Schools are Good for PE/VC and VC-Backed Entrepreneurship †¢Ã‚  Entrepreneurship at UCLA Anderson †¢ Jeff Reid on Entrepreneurship †¢Ã‚  Business, Law and Beyond: An Interview with John Engelman

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Evaluating Microfinance Research Paper

Introduction In last few years, the randomized program evaluation has become the gold basis for evaluating the development programs and also the bread and butter of many development economists.   The evaluations sometimes uncover the valuable new information, but are contentious, and can also be prohibitively expensive to implement, for small NGO’s. Appreciating how the microfinance affects clients is not straightforward for the reason that there are several possible explanations for why, say, a borrower is doing well as compared to her non-borrowing peers. The credit may be helping–or conceivably the borrower was already comparatively prosperous and would have fared better even without the loan. These new papers clarify cause and effect by performing controlled experiments, in which a few parameters are arbitrarily varied and the effects measured. The idea of ‘experiments’ sounds good because it gives scientific legitimacy to what are in actual fact social phenomena marked by complex correlations, multiple variables, and extraneous and often invisible factors. Let us look at these reports to see just how ‘controlled’ they are. No discussion of microfinance can start without congratulating the recent awarding of one of this year’s Four Freedom awards to Muhammad Yunus. Since 1982 these bi-lateral awards which celebrate the Four Freedoms – freedom of speech and expression, freedom from want freedom of worship, and freedom from fear have been organized in collaboration with the Roosevelt Foundation in Zeeland.   Professor Yunus was given this prestigious award in celebration of his work in championing for the Freedom from want. The United States government’s principal aid agency, the Agency for International Development, universally known as USAID, is the leading donor for microenterprise development.   This aid reaches more than 3.85 million households and entrepreneurs worldwide through the USAID’s support of NGOs, credit union networks, and financial institutions, and credit union networks. America and microfinance Both the Americans and the Dutch, are familiar from their experience in developing countries that microfinance can be successful in that it empowers the poor by creating higher incomes and more jobs, promotes macroeconomic growth and stabilization. It also encourages the economic and social inclusion and also distinguishes that societies face similar challenges of poverty and unrestricted economic opportunity.   But how, then, can both countries use microfinance in the developed market economies to help eradicate poverty in our own countries? This is a noble and complicated question and many of the sharpest economic minds, are applying their expertise and experience to devising more creative solutions.    To appreciate the current microfinance paradigm in the U.S. today, one needs to first distinguish how the market economy influences the development and relevance of microfinance programs.   But while both the Grameen Bank and the U.S. share the goal of alleviating poverty, eac h must meet that the difference of opinion under fundamentally different economic conditions. For the microfinance programs in the U.S. it means competing in the financial market which is dominated by the healthy commercial credit.   Banks and other lending institutions in the United States have been slow to develop the microfinance concepts because they face strong competition, they have lower profit margins, and carry greater risks than mainstream lending practices ( Fuglesang, 243)The very nature of microfinance is the small financial transactions, such as weekly collection, which needs more labor, thus resulting in higher costs per loan for the financial institution. For any institutions seeking profit and financial resources, they are not able to recoup these transaction costs through the higher interest rates which are regularly charged in the developing countries due to American regulations.  But profitability is fundamental to the future growth of the American microfinan ce as it must compete with the more established financial services such as the credit cards and check-cashing which targets those with lower wage earnings.  In addition to the commercial lending infrastructure, the U.S. presents other systemic market challenges to the function and growth of microfinance tools and the business licensing requirements and market saturation stops many of the poor from successfully launching their personal service businesses such as food preparation, childcare, or hair care.   These challenges are firmly entrenched in the American economy and so too, is the American Dream.  The pull of the American Dream is very tough and in response, many microfinance providers label their services as microenterprise and aims at the microentrepeneurs. But sadly, insufficient collateral, poor credit, and the lack of business education can discourage the poor and other minorities from engaging fully in building the American economy better.   The microfinance princ iples supplies the framework for larger economic inclusion of the socially and the economically marginalized. But unfortunately the government’s programs are not big enough to make available the funding for all who applies for it.   In such a vacuum, not-for-profit and private lenders have biologically proliferated and tended to diversify their services, together with the savings, technical assistance, and business training. Currently, there are about 650 organizations that define themselves as involved in microenterprise development or microfinancing.   However, the definitions differ, but in the U.S. the terms most frequently refer to services for a business with five or fewer employees needing less than $35,000 in start-up capital.  Private, for-profit lenders have also stepped in to make available microfinancing services and with the technology now connecting lenders and borrowers, websites such as Circle-Lending and Prosper.com have produced a market for themselves by linking the private individual lenders with borrowers.   Even though these are normally classified as personal loans, they are a creative response to the requirement to finance innovative ideas.  Ã‚   The assimilation into the bigger economy through the small business ownership is an essential pillar for the overall social cohesion since it combats the feelings of alienation and strengthens the feelings of social belonging.   Women report an increased feeling of independence from receiving a business loan from a micro-lender and thus ensuing in running their own business.   This feeling of economic empowerment normally spills into other areas of civic participation, as well as the deepening of the community networks and some increased political integration. But despite the well-developed financial fields in both countries, some groups, mostly recent the immigrants and minorities, still do not have access to the capital they need so as to launch or augment their small bus iness and fully integrate into mainstream markets.   These persons do not want charity, but instead want opportunities and through the targeted loans to the poor, microfinance promises to generate new livelihoods and enhanced capability for self-improvement. In spite of how much developed a country’s economy is, the microfinance tools can often make the difference required so as to move the marginalized persons and families out of poverty and into the mainstream (Bhatt, 345) Social Impact – Profit vs. Development Benefits First, there is an intrinsic tradeoff between microfinance as a business and as a development tool. Microfinance will predominantly benefit one of two stakeholders commercial enterprises and their shareholders, or poor borrowers. So, how might one test this assertion? By evaluating the interest rates presented by MFI’s and asking the following questions may offer a few clues: How do MFI rates measure up to with what a money-lender was offering? And how do they measure up to those of Grameen Bank – which says it can offer lower interest rates by being ‘non-loss, non-dividend’? Is there a trend towards the higher interest rates and the higher the commercial pressure on an organization? Do the banks offer higher rates than independent MFIs, than grassroots NGOs? Did an MFI’s interest rates go up after it partnered with a bank? Have aggregate interest rates gone up over time, as the need to prove development benefits has gone down? This is an essential test, because if true it lets us to categorize MFIs into two groups and then test for development impact across them and it might also show that most MFIs today embrace the rhetoric of a ‘market based development solution’, by ignoring the fact that development benefits mount up only when the solution is priced somewhat below the market rate as set by the money-lender. This is to say that the major benefit of these providers is to develop the market by bringing in external funds, not any development impact, per se ((Adams, 456) Generating Enterprise – Equity vs. Debt My second contention is that microfinance is intrinsically flawed as a tool to create any sustainable enterprise. Studies show that microfinance ends up funding consumption of individuals and this may well be commendable in itself. But if our goal is to create an enterprise for a long-term economic growth how then can microfinance be more effective? The problem is that the incentives of MFIs are not leaning towards generating sustainable enterprise, but they are oriented basically towards the repayment of loans. However, the latter is not an indication of success of the former and one way to generate private enterprise through the market might then be to use the equity, not debt, to fund the micro and small entrepreneurs. So, here is another test. Do these organizations which take equity stakes in micro and small enterprises (MSE) have a better incubation success rate than the microfinance providers? A good example of a success microfinance success is the Grameen Bank which is a Bangledesh organization that gives small loans to the poor and needy families in order to help those families establish themselves. And for its success story, the Grameen Bank and its founder Muhammad Yunus were recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on (Fuglesang, 167) Micro lending But is micro finance effective and does micro credit decrease poverty? The Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (or CGAP) points out that investigational evidence documents that micro finance can alleviate poverty, improve the status of women, increase their education, and maternal health. The empirical evidence shows that, among the poor, those who are in microfinance programs and had access to financial services were able to progress their well-being both at the individual and household level much more than those who did not have right of entry to financial services. Particularly they point to the statistical evidence of a spectacular positive effect on poverty. For instance, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) clients increased their household expenditures by 28% and assets by 112 per cent and after more than eight years of borrowing. It was noted that 57.5% of Grameen borrower households were no longer poor as contrasted to 18% of non-borrower households (Ahmed, 45 ) In the city of Lombok, in Indonesia, the standard income of Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI) borrowers amplified by 112%, and 90% of households moved out of poverty while in Vietnam, the organization called Save the Children customers condensed the food deficits from three months to one month. And at Kafo Jiginew in Mali, customers who have been with program for as little time as one year were extensively less likely to have experienced a period of acute food insecurity than those that had experienced the food shortage in the shorter period. But those with the need to evaluate the economic and social impact and the appropriately named â€Å"double bottom line† of micro lending CGAP’s need not look far, but in the microfinance organizations. References Fuglesang and D. Chandler, Participation as a Process what we can learn from Grameen Bank, NORAD, Oslo, 1986. Adams, Dale W. , â€Å"The economics of loans to informal groups of small farmers in low income countries,† (Columbus, Ohio: Agricultural Finance Program, Dept. of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio State University, 1978). Ahmed, M.U. â€Å"Financing Rural Industries in Bangladesh,† The Bangladesh Development Studies, Vol.12, No 12, Special Issue on Rural Industrialisation in Bangladesh, 1984. Bhatt, N. Microenterprise development and the entrepreneurial poor: including the excluded? Public Administration and Development, (1997). 17, 371-386.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Comic Books Effects on Children Essay - 1341 Words

History 129 research paper 11/8/11 1,282 words What if I were to tell you that we could fix all of society’s problems today by getting rid of one of our most profitable media outlets and national past-times? You might ask which media outlet I’m talking about and that is comic books. Comic books have always received flak when it came to how influential they are to children, with scenes of graphic violence, criminal acts of mischief, and over-bearing sexual exploits. Many parents, schools, and communities have also noticed some of the crazy things that go on in comic books and have banded together to try and ban them because they are in fear that these comic books are poisoning our children’s minds to make them believe that committing†¦show more content†¦With no stable foundation or understanding of what society expects of you, it’s hard to live a life and make decisions ethically. A solid percent of the time, these kids that grow up in areas like those only have one option which is gang life. Does that lead to anywhere positive? Gang life leads to a life with constant stress and anxiety because of the thought that you never know when your time is up and to a brutal and unforgiving personality and way of looking at life. Gang-bangers have one objective in mind when it comes to their life and it’s themselves’. Now some of you may say well, â€Å"I’m looking out for my well-being too†, but do you steal from others or kill someone for the simple fact that they don’t wear the same colors as you? Not a right person in their mind would do this because they understand the importance of humanity as aShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Comic Books On Children942 Words   |  4 Pagessomewhat innate deep fear rooted in children that would become an overwhelming emotion when exposed to violence in society. Jones saw that comic books could be an avenue to lead children out of this emotion trap. Jones used his son as an example to show how effective this technique really works. â€Å"In the first grade, his friends started climbing a tree at school. But his son was afraid of falling†¦I took my cue from his own fantasies and read him old Tarzan comics, rich in combat and adventure †¦ThenRead MoreArgumentative Essay On Comic Books1642 Words   |  7 PagesEver thought how dumb comic books or graphic novels were growing up? Why such avid readers were called (myself included) nerds? Yet were smarter than you? Think back to how geeky their way of speaking was and they touched on such complexities even for a book! Shortly, reasoning will tell you why comic books are the best. Over the years, from the 20th to 21st century, research and documentation has been stacking up to prove that comic books make their readers smarter. Comics make you want to readRead MoreThe And The Dark Knight And Shows Like The Walking Dead Comic Book Based Properties1688 Words   |  7 PagesComic books, in todays rise of all that is geek it is hard to avoid hearing about the next comic that is being adapted into a movie or TV show. With films like The Avengers and The Dark Knight and shows like The Walking Dead comic book based properties are taking over most of pop culture today. Yet, despite all the attention on these properties there is still an overwhelmingly popular misconception that comics are â€Å"kids stuff.† Yet, unbeknownst to the overall public in western society comics areRead MoreThe Problem Of Drug Addicts1671 Words   |  7 Pagesthe impact that it has in our society and finally it should be addressed to the audience considered as the next generation, the children. Considering the criteria cited above, I had two ideas a comic book or a videogame; but, in the attempt of minimizing as much as possible the costs of the proposal, without compromising the effectiveness of the same, I chose the comic book. I- Previous Solution Surely, because of the severity of the drug problem, several solutions were extrapolated and implementedRead MoreThe Cartoon The Killing Joke 1376 Words   |  6 Pagesmovie this is from? It is actually from a wildly popular comic book called â€Å"The Killing Joke†. Although appearing to be childish, comic books show many adult themes such as violence, gore, and pornography, thereby making them unsuitable for children. Violence is a common theme seen in many different types of entertainment. We see it all the time in movies, T.V. shows, and video games. However, when there is violence present in comic books they tend to go beyond what we expect. It could vary fromRead MoreHistory Of American Comic Comics Superheroes1191 Words   |  5 PagesHistory of American Comic Book Superheroes. Before they become significant box-office phenomena and debut for TV serious, superheroes were short stories in printed media. Supermen, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman †¦were comic books superheroes. The idea of superheroes was long existed. However, as many comic books historians agreed, The Phantom, published in February 17, 1936, is considered to be the first comic book costumed hero. Since then, comic books superheroes were booming. In the mid-1940sRead MoreThe Superhero Effect: Idealism and Stereotypes in Comic Books1577 Words   |  7 Pagesparagons. In a medium such as comic books, however, these standards and perceptions are heavily distorted by the characterizations and settings. Particularly, the superhero genre absorbs the ideals we strive towards and regurgitates them in an extreme and unrealistic manner. The superhero genre is often reflective of societal changes in ideas and morals. These ideals are then molded into misleading representations that influen ce the behaviors of viewers. Comic books absorb elements of our societyRead MoreThe Comic Book MAUS1288 Words   |  5 PagesMAUS Introduction Since the publishing of the comic book MAUS, there has been a broad debate not only from the survivors of the Holocaust but within the Jewish community pertaining to the appropriateness and representational meaning of the Holocaust in the modern literature. Many people who participate in the discussions or read the book have perceived the comic fashioning of the book as trivial, hence making the book appear as mocking, derogatory and comedic. Nevertheless, this is not theRead MoreComic Books And Its Impact On Society1631 Words   |  7 PagesComic books has being one of the most popular segments of art and communication since it was created. During Human History, the comics were adapted to each time events. It is possible to notice not only in the creation of Captain America in the 40’s to support the soldiers in the World War II but also the attack to the World Trade Center Building in 2001. Sexuality issues were also inserted in the comics to debate contemporary subjects to show that comics can change, tell stories of real people andRead MoreThe Cold War Between The United States Of America And The Soviet Union1501 Words   |  7 Pagesinfluence worldwide. Various pieces of propaganda and articles written during the time had largely impacted American popular opinion and had powerful effects on the culture among young men and women of the 1940’s and 1950’s. â€Å"The Red Iceberg† comic book cover, published and presented during the Cold War era, was one use of media that perpetuated the negative effects of Soviet Union political influence while promoting the righteousness of the United States. The visual rhetoric presented in â€Å"The Red Iceberg†

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Causes of Revolutionary War Essay Example For Students

Causes of Revolutionary War Essay During the late seventeen hundreds, many tumultuous events resulted in Colonial opposition to Great Britain. The conditions of rights of the colonists will slowly be changed as the constriction of the parliament becomes more and more intolerable. During the Seven Years War England was not only alarmed by the colonists insistence on trading with the enemy, but also with Boston merchants hiring James Otis inorder to protest the legality of the writs of assistance (general search warrants) used to hunt out smuggled goods. let the parliament lay what burthens they please on us, we must, it is our duty to submit and patiently bear them, till they will be pleased to relieve us.. ... This is a very strong dictum, that in 1764, the colonists were of a submissive nature, and were weakly pleading for self-autonomy. This small fire of anger will become a huge conflagration as the rights are slowly rescinded. On October 19, 1765 the Stamp Act Congress and Parliamentary Taxation committees passed some laws that attempted to strengthen the grip of the English crown. I.That his Majestys subjects in these colonies, owe the same allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain that is owing from his subjects born within the realm, and all due subordination to that august body, the Parliament of Great Britain. This statement can be used as a summation of the entire document that the Stamp Act Congress had initiated. The statement depicts the colonists has having to be submissive and servile in the view of Great Britain, this policy angered the colonists very much, and was another component of the transition of the colonists rights and liberties. When the Declatory Act was passed in March of 1766, many colonies were attempting to claim that they were seceding from England. Whereas several of the houses of representatives in his Majestys colonies and plantations in America, have of late, against law, or to the general assemblies of the same, the sole and exclusive right of imposing duties and taxes upon his Majestys subjects in the said colonies. be it declared ., that the said colonies and plantations in America, have been, are, and of right ought to be, subordinate unto, and dependent upon the imperial Crown and Parliament of Great Britain;. The Parliament of course denounced the attempt at independance and still dogmatilcally passed the following law to show that the colonists were still british subjects. Again, the colonists were infuriated and later will resist the british imperialism on the All before, are calculated to regulate trade, and preserve prpromote a mutually beneficial intercourse between the several constituent parts of the empite, yet those duties were always imposed with design to restrain the commerce of one part. This statement by the colonist (John Dickinson), shows that th sole rason for new taxes is just for the British govt to make money, at the expense of the economy of the colonies. Dickinson makes a important distinction between the rights of the colonies and the authority of the parliament. Dickinsons comments were ubiquitous among the colonists, and thus infuriated them to rebellion, and the seizure of From necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual interest of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British parliament as are bona fide restrained to the regulation of our external commerce, for the purpose of securing the commercial advantages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members excluding every idea of taxation, internal or external, for raising a revenue on the subjects in America without their consent . The continental congress had presented its colonial rights. These rights enable the colonies to be more autonomous with exception to those several states who are under the british control. .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .postImageUrl , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:hover , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:visited , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:active { border:0!important; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:active , .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ue4956326e36c05fb2286e291e996955e:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: North Korea Essay One important element of the document, is the idea of taxation without representation; the said that raising taxes without consent was illegal and that the commercial benefits of the colony should be shared within the colonies, instead of England becoming more and more economically prosperous. The whole idea of mercantilism was about to be crushed, due to this idea, of self-autonomy with respect to colonial economics. Ye that oppose independence now, ye .

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Willy (death of a salesman) vs Essay Example For Students

Willy (death of a salesman) vs Essay Willy (Death of A Salesman) Vs Walter (A Raisin in the Sun)A good drama is based on a strong set of characters. For instance, a good collection of characters will lead the audience to identify the characters with something in the real world and get emotionally involved with the characters. Every individual has its own character, which is composed of personalities, behaviors and individualities. The audience compare characters to evaluate and relate the characters experiences to their own lives. By possessing the ability to understand characters identities from different dramas, the audience can draw comparisons. Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, and Walter Lee Younger from A Raisin in the Sun, play a big part in the outcome of their respective drama and show a lot of similarity in their principles while differences in personality lead them to different endings. We will write a custom essay on Willy (death of a salesman) vs specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Willy, a salesman, has high hopes for himself and his sons, but ends up with all his dreams crushed. Willy is the main character in Death of a Salesman. He is a father of two sons, Biff and Happy, and husband to Linda, a housewife. Willy often lapses into the past and talks to himself. He believes physical appearance to be the catalyst of a successful career; however, his sons, who are well built and attractive, turned out to be failures: Biff Loman is lost. In the greatest country in the world a young man with such-personal attractiveness, gets lost.(Discovering Literature, 1215) His high expectation for his sons and their failure hurt him. Willy pretends to be a successful man in front of his wife. In addition, Willy does not like his wife to mend stockings, because he feels guilty for giving stockings to his mistress and not his wife: Willy (angrily taking the stocking from her wife): I wont have you mending stockings in this house! Now throw them out! (Discovering Literature, 12 28) At last, Willy kills himself, because he needs to clear his conscience for being unfaithful to his wife and escape his problems. On the other hand, Walter, a chauffeur, dreams of being rich but his first try in business fails miserably. He is the husband to Ruth and father to Travis in A Raisin in the Sun. Walter lives in a time when segregation has just ended. Therefore, Walters desire to break free from his white employer is very strong. Walter is childish and immature. For instance, when he is forced to make a decision about his wifes pregnancy, he indirectly agrees to Ruths decision to abortion. His mother is disappointed by her sons weakness: If you a son of mine, tell her! (Walter picks up his keys and his coat and walks out. She continues, bitterly.) You†¦you are a disgrace to your fathers memory. (Discovering Literature, 1318) Then, Walter decides to joint venture with his friends to start a liquor store using the insurance money from his fathers death. His ignoranc e to the business world eventually costs him all his money. One of Walters business partners steals his money, and Walter learns from that incident but it comes at a high price. However, Walters mother thinks although the money is lost, her son has come out as a better person: He finally come into his manhood today, didnt he? Kind of like a rainbow after the rain†¦.. (Discovering Literature, 1359)Willy and Walter are very similar in many ways. For instance, they love their family. Walters intention to become rich is driven by his wish to give his family a better life: Walter (rising and coming to her and standing over her): You tired, aint you? Tired of everything. Me, the boy, the way we live-this beat-up hole-everything. Aint you? (Discovering Literature, 1295) Meanwhile, Willys love for his sons is unquestionable. Many instances in the play he would lapse into the past before he drifted apart from his sons: Remarkable. Ts. Remember those days? The way Biff used to simonize t hat car? The dealer refused to believe there was eighty thousand miles on it. (Discovering Literature, 1216) In addition, both characters share a desire to be successful. Willy is an admirer of his brother, a successful entrepreneur, and wants to be like him. Also, his brother offers Willy a place in Alaska, but Willy wants to be successful in his own city to prove himself: Willy: Well do it here, Ben! You hear me? Were gonna do it here! (Discovering Literature, 1253) At the same time, Walter wants to break free from his white employer and be a successful liquor merchant. Lastly, the final similarity is that both of them fail to become rich and known. Walter loses his money to a con man and Willy did not have the luck to become a successful salesman. .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .postImageUrl , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:hover , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:visited , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:active { border:0!important; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:active , .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91 .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u0b470e0230d5efdb39186a43161b3a91:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Edgar Allan Poe Essay IntroductionAlthough Walter and Willy are similar, they are also unique characters with different personalities. Although both of them are unsuccessful in becoming rich, how they deal with this failure is different. Walter is young and has more chances. So, he is able to recover from his disappointment in a short period of time. However, Willy is already an old man so his frustration is more profound which eventually, along with other circumstances, leads him to commit suicide. Both of them are also different in terms of their position in their family. Willy is the head of his family while Walter follows his mothers orders. Walter cannot make a decisi on without consulting and getting his mothers approval; however, Willy sets the rules for his house. Willy and Walter are characters with a strong drive toward success but inevitably due to lifes cruel fate ends up losing everything. They share the same fate but the outcome of their failure is different. Both Willy and Walter are good characters with strong personalities to capture the audiences attention. Inevitably, the viewers will make comparison between themselves and the characters because of their similar goal. Works Cited List. 1. Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman.Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays Second Edition. Ed. Hans P. Guth, Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, 1997. 1210-1286. 2. Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun.Discovering Literature: Stories, Poems, Plays Second Edition. Ed. Hans P.Guth, Gabriele L. Rico. Upper Saddle River, 1997. 1287-1359.

Saturday, March 14, 2020

PSYC110 week 5 written assignment Essays - Human Behavior

PSYC110 week 5 written assignment Essays - Human Behavior PSYC110 week 5 written assignment D01670103 PSYC110 week 5 written assignment Sensation seeking a personality trait associated with a preference for high levels of sensory stimulation, often achieved by engaging in risk-taking behaviors and adopting non-conventional lifestyles. I somehow feel that Im in a balance for sensation seeking. Sometimes I do feel like to do things that are out of my capability simply just to try out where my limits are. I used to hate smokers but I wanted to try it out myself so I started smoking and now I am a smoker, which I see it as a disadvantage because smoking is bad for health but I do enjoy the process of smoking. Back in my home country, people see others as a bad person when he or she has piercing and tattoo, but my point of view is not necessarily every person with a tattoo or piercing is bad people who commit crimes. I personally think that Im a good person and I do have tattoos and piercing, which does not mean that I am a bad person. Certain people achieve more in their lives than others, often because they are more driven to seek out accomplishments. These differences in the internal desire to achieve things is what the Achievement Motivation Theory attempts to explain. In other words, the theory outlines the internal processes within human beings that can explain why certain people are extremely driven to achieve while others are motivated by other things. When I was studying in Malaysia, the disadvantage of achievement motivation would be not getting to know each other as individuals and lacking the feeling for my classmates and my achievement motivation would be competiveness. Asian education system is very stressful compare to the US. I know that because I am one of the Asians who get good grades studying in the US but failing in most of my subjects in Malaysia and barely even passed my high-school diploma. The advantages for me would be when studying in a less stressful environment I will get better grades, but in my situation the disadvantages would be studying abroad where I have to leave my family and friends for some time. A trait can be thought of as a relatively stable characteristic that causes individuals to behave in certain ways. The trait approach to personality is one of the major theoretical areas in the study of personality. The trait theory suggests that individual personalities are composed of these broad dispositions. Unlike many other theories of personality, such as psychoanalytic or humanistic theories, the trait approach to personality is focused on differences between individuals. It is good for me to take a look at what was passed down to me from my father and mother as well as my grandparents. These are some of the things that make me who I am as an individual and as a man. When I look at myself as a whole I do understand who I am as well as where I from. For example, my parents thought me to be a good person, when I was a kid they often bring me out to do volunteer work to help out in orphanage and old folks home so I followed their footsteps and form a charity club in Malaysia wor king together with the Lions Club in Malaysia, gathered a large group of youth and spread the spirit around to continue helping those in need. When reading about the Trait Theory most people become dominating out of insecurity, or a fear of being weak. I've often heard children say that they "can't wait until they bare grown up, and then they can tell people what to do." It's a childish trait, so it makes sense that this desire would stem from childhood. Again, when reading

Wednesday, February 26, 2020

Radiation Absorbed Dose From 201 TI Thallous chloride Essay

Radiation Absorbed Dose From 201 TI Thallous chloride - Essay Example Thomas SR, Stabin MG Castronovo FP, Radiation-Absorbed Dose from 201Tl-Thallous Chloride. Journal of Nuclear Medicine Vol. 46 No. 3 502-508. 2005 by Society of Nuclear Medicine. 02-03-06. Radiation dosimetry for 201Tl-thallous chloride has been developed by several authors1. The International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP) dose estimates for 201Tl chloride have incorporated values of testicular uptake published by Gupta et al2 and Hosain and Hosain. 1. There is a problem when dosimetry is calculated in this way: the values for testicular uptake at 24h reported by these authors for adults are significantly higher than those reported by other authors e.g., Atkins et al, Krahwinkel et al., Rao et al. 4. Further, the authors estimated the possible contribution to radiation dose from several radioactive contaminants that are often present in 201 Tl preparations, and have evaluated the consequence of administration time relative to preparation. 1. The uptake of 201Tl in the testes after intravenous administration of an isotonic solution is not as high as estimated in some studies, which have formed the basis for recommendation of radiation dosimetry by the ICRP. 2. Since these data have been used to estimate testes radiation dose in children, the corresponding values are also higher; the authors hypothesized that even these values need to be revised downwards. 3. When Thallous chloride is provided as an isotonic solution, the possible contaminants are 200Tl, 202Tl, and 203Pb. With longer shelf life, the contribution of 200Tl decreases whereas that of 202Tl increases. The equipment necessary to perform this research are: (1)Diagnostic exercise myocardial scintigraphy (2)Quantitative testicular scintigraphy (3)Lead vinyl shield (4)201Tl standard vial with saline (5)MIRDOSE

Monday, February 10, 2020

The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne Research Proposal

The Minister's Black Veil by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Research Proposal Example veil, a message regarding the power of the symbol itself as a symbol and the importance of considering individual interpretation as a part of this meaning. Nathanial Hawthorne wrote from a deep immersion in the Puritan world, having had ancestors that landed on North American soil with a Bible in one hand and a sword in the other, ready to tame the wilderness (Swisher, 1996). His hometown of Salem, Massachusetts was the setting for the most brutal witch trials documented in this country and his education reinforced the beliefs espoused by such trials and the religion that made them possible. These influences figured strongly in his writings, often forming the basis of his tales. This is true whether he was writing short stories or longer novels, whether he was writing of times long past or of a more contemporary period and whether he set his stories in his homeland or moved them all the way across the sea into Italy. The way that Hawthorne used this influence reveals a deep questioning of the validity of the beliefs to which he’d been raised to adhere (Erlich, 1984). Few of his stories offer straight-forward tales that are easil y understood on first reading. Some, like his short story â€Å"The Minister’s Black Veil†, leave a great deal open for speculation. The meaning of the minister’s black veil has been debated since the story was first printed, but it seems clear that the veil is intended to symbolize something much greater than a quick assessment might imply. The story itself seems simple enough. It opens as the village people are called to the church for a normal Sunday mass and the minister emerges wearing a heavy black veil. The veil permits his mouth and chin to be seen, being just long enough to be touched by his breath, but keeps his eyes constantly shrouded from the rest of the world. The congregation responds to this strange appearance of their minister as he takes his place in the church, delivers his sermon and then attempts to

Thursday, January 30, 2020

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Essay Example for Free

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Essay Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam graduated in aeronautical engineering from the Madras Institute of Technology in 1958 and joined the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). In 1962, Kalam joined the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). In 1982, he rejoined DRDO as the Chief Executive of Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP). Dr. Kalam is credited with the development and operationalization of Indias Agni and Prithvi missiles. He worked as the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister and Secretary, Department of Defence Research Development from 1992 to 1999. During this period, the Pokhran-II nuclear tests were conducted. Dr. Kalam held the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India from November 1999 to November 2001. Dr. Kalam took up teaching at Anna University, Chennai from November 2001. He is a prolific author. His books, Wings of Fire, India 2020 A Vision for the New Millennium, My journey and Ignited Minds Unleashing the power within India have become bestsellers. He is a favourite with children all over the country and has met children all over the country and has encouraged them with his learned talks. Dr. Abdul Kalam was conferred with the Degree of Doctor of Laws, Honoris Causa by the Simon Fraser University, Canada. He also wrote a book named â€Å"Turning Points: A journey through challenges† which was published by Harper Collins India. The book tells us about his story with details from his career and presidency that are not generally known. He speaks on certain points of controversy offering insight into an extraordinary personality and shows a vision of how a country with a great heritage can turn out to be great with perseverance, confidence and effort. Dr. Kalam has received a host of awards both in India and abroad. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1981, Padma Vibhushan 1990 and the Bharat Ratna in 1997. He is of the view that we should work wholeheartedly to make India a developed nation by 2020. Besides being a bachelor, Kalam is a strict disciplinarian, a complete vegetarian and teetotaler. Among the many firsts to his credit, he became Indias first President to undertake an undersea journey when he boarded the INS Sindhurakshak, a submarine, from Visakhapatnam. He also became the first president to undertake a sortie in a fighter aircraft, a Sukhoi-30 MKI.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Free Will and Determinism Views Essay -- Free Will, Determinism

The aim of this essay is to prove the reliability of and why Libertarianism is the most coherent of the three Free Will and Determinism views. It refers to the idea of human free will being true, that one is not determined, and therefore, they are morally responsible. In response to the quote on the essay, I am disagreeing with Wolf. This essay will be further strengthened with the help of such authors as C.A. Campell, R. Taylor and R.M. Chisholm. They present similar arguments, which essentially demonstrate that one could have done otherwise and one is the sole author of the volition. I will present the three most common arguments in support of Libertarianism, present an objection against Libertarianism and attempt to rebut it as well as reject one main argument from the other views. As a result, this essay will prove that one is held morally responsibly for any act that was performed or chosen by them, which qualify as a human act. The Libertarian view contends that one’s actions are not predetermined but rather that people have free will, a precondition for moral responsibility. Basically, human acts are not determined by antecedent causes. Libertarianism is one of the views under Incompatibilism along with Hard Determinism. The opposite of these views is Compatibilism. An example of Libertarianism is: right now, one has the choice to either stop or continue reading this essay. Under this claim, the fact that one can choose between either is not determined one way or the other. Campbell’s view on Libertarianism is quite simple. He suggests that one needs to judge people by their inner acts or intentions to understand free will. To have freedom one must have a precondition of moral responsibility as well as a categorical ana... ...ime or space. Nevertheless, as I stated earlier, for something to be determined I believe that God is required. So, by saying that one needs to eliminate a God and other requirements to have free will, then one falsifies determinism, thus making this view incorrect. All in all, each view about the philosophy of free will and determinism has many propositions, objections and counter-objections. In this essay, I have shown the best propositions for Libertarianism, as well as one opposition for it which I gave a counter-objection. Additionally, I have explained the Compatabalistic and Hard Deterministic views to which I gave objections. In the end, whether it is determinism or indeterminism, both are loaded with difficulties. Nonetheless, I have provided the best explanation for free will, determinism and to the agent being morally responsible for their human actions.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

International and Transnational Crimes

International/Transnational Crimes Saphia Christopher Strayer University CRJ 330 Professor Ackerman International crimes can be described as â€Å"crimes against the peace and security of mankind†. International crimes are based on international agreements between countries or on legal precedents developed through history, and include offenses such as such as genocide, torture, and enslavement of populations. These are among the acts identified by consensus among nations as being illegal everywhere. Dammer & Albanese, 2011). The Foca rape case verdict in February 2001 was the first time that individuals were convicted for rape as a crime against humanity. The Foca rape case was prosecuted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (the ICTY) in an effort to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against humanity in the war in Bosnia. Prior to the Foca rape case no one had ever been convicted of rape as a crime against humanity.Rape causes serious b odily or mental harm and international criminal tribunals have indicated that rape can constitute genocide when it is directed toward destroying a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Under international law the crime of rape is a physical invasion of a sexual nature, which is not limited to a physical invasion of the body and may involve acts where there is no penetration or even physical contact (Parker, 2010). The prosecution in the Foca rape case argued the use of rape in attacks on civilians was widespread and systematic.To support this allegation the prosecution worked to show that the tactic was repeated and continuous (systematic) and that what had happened in Foca was a representative sample of Serbian methods of ethnic cleansing in Bosnia (widespread). The court ruled that these acts of rape were recognized as crimes against humanity because they were part of a systematic and widespread campaign and the acts included elements of enslavement (Parker, 2010). Transnat ional crimes are offenses whose inception, acts, and impact involve more than one country.These crimes usually involve the provision of illicit goods or illicit services, or the infiltration of business or government (Dammer & Albanese, 2011). Transnational organized crime is not stagnant, but is an ever-changing industry, adapting to markets and creating new forms of crime. In short, it is an illicit business that transcends cultural, social, linguistic and geographical boundaries and one that knows no borders or rules. Drug trafficking continues to be the most lucrative form of business for criminals, with an estimated annual value of $320 billion.In 2009, UNODC placed the approximate annual worth of the global cocaine and opiate markets alone at $85 billion and $68 billion, respectively (UNODC, 2012). Jacob Saul Stuart, 39, pleaded guilty in November 2011 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. DEA and HSI special agents, using court authorized wiretaps, determined Stuart's smuggling ring was transporting and distributing up to 2,000 pounds of marijuana and as much as 440 pounds of cocaine every month. The operation involved smuggling marijuana into the U. S. rom Canada, where it was distributed across the country to California, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia and New Jersey, among other locations. Proceeds from the marijuana sales were then used to purchase cocaine in Southern California. The cocaine was delivered to members of the outlaw motorcycle gang Hells Angels in British Columbia for distribution in Canada. Over the course of the investigation, officials seized more than $2 million and 300 pounds of cocaine; and more than 2,200 pounds of marijuana from locations across the country. Jacob Stuart was subsequently sentenced to fifteen years in prison (DHS, 2012). ReferencesDammer, H. and Albanese, J. (2011). Comparative criminal justice systems. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning Parker, J. (2010). Rape as an I nternational Crime. Retrieved October 22, 2012 from: http://www. opednews. com/articles/1/RAPE-AS-AN-INTERNATIONAL-C-by-Janet-Parker-101204-241. html N. A. (2012) Transnational Drug Ring Leader: Department of Homeland Security. Retrieved October 22, 2012 from: http://www. ice. gov/news/releases/1210/121019seattle2. htm N. A. (2012) Transnational Organized Crime: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Retrieved October 22, 2012 from: http://www. unodc. org/toc/en/crimes/organized-crime. html

Monday, January 6, 2020

Economic and financial integration in emerging markets - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 16 Words: 4898 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? A EUROPEAN POLICY ABSTRACT: This paper extends to test if the short and in the long run. Weak indica- the same short-run increase in cyclical tions are found that this may happen par- volatility arising from financial integration tially due to the anchoring of expectations is observed in this specific sample of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“emerg-provided by the EU Accession, and to the ing markets. This work finds signs that, more robust institutional framework contrary to other emerging markets, this imposed by this process onto the countries in does not happen: for the future Member question. States, financial integration, similarly to the KEY WORDS: Enlargement, European outcome observed in mature market Union, financial liberalization, booms, 81 economies, reduces cyclical volatility both in busts, cycles, volatility. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Economic and financial integration in emerging markets" essay for you Create order 1. INTRODUCTION Financial and capital flows liberalization can play a fundamental role in increasing growth and welfare. Typically, emerging or developing economies seek foreign savings to solve the inter-temporal savings-investment problem. On the other hand, current account surplus countries seek opportunities to invest their savings. To the extent that capital flows from surplus to deficit countries are well intermediated and, therefore, put to the most productive use, they increase welfare. Liberalization can, however, also be dangerous, as has been witnessed in many past and recent financial, currency and banking crises. It can make countries more vulnerable to exogenous shocks. In particular, if serious macroeconomic imbalances exist in a recipient country, and if the financial sector is weak, be it in terms of risk management, prudential regulation and supervision, large capital flows can easily lead to serious financial, banking or currency crises. A number of recent crises, like those in Ea st Asia, Mexico, Russia, Brazil and Turkey (described, for example, in IMF (2001)), and, to some extent, the Argentinean episode of late 2001, early 2002, have demonstrated the potential risks associated with financial and capital flows liberalization. Central and Eastern Europe has a somewhat different experience, when compared to other emerging regions, concerning the financial liberalization process, as the process there seems to have been much less crisis-prone than in, for instance, Asia or Latin America. This maybe, at least partially, because the current high degree of external and financial liberalization in the Central Eastern European countries (CEECs), beyond questions of economic allocative efficiency, must be understood in terms of the process of Accession to the European Union. The EU integration process implies legally binding, sweeping liberalization measures-not only capital account liberalization, but investment by EU firms in the domestic financial services, and the maintenance of a competitive domestic environment, giving this financial liberalization process strong external incentives (and constraints). Those measures were implemented parallel to the development of a highly sophisticated regulatory and supervis ory structure, again based on EU standards. This whole process happened also with the EUs technical and financial support, through specific programs-like the PHARE one, for these so-called Accession, and the TACIS, for the former Soviet Union ones- and direct assistance from EU institutions, like the European Commission, the European Parliament and the European Central Bank (also, on a very early stage of the transition process, the influence of the IMF in setting up policies and institutions in several countries in the region-an intervention widely considered to haven been successful-was important: see Hallerberg et al., 2002). Additionally, EU membership seems to act as an anchor to market expectations (see Vinhas de Souza and HÃÆ' ¶lscher, 2001), limiting the possibilities of self- fulfilling financial crises and regional contagion (see Linne, 1999), which had the observed devastating effects in both Asia and Latin America (even a major event, like the Russian collapse of 1998, had very reduced regional side effects). Several regional episodes of financial systems instability did happen (see Vinhas de Souza, 2002(a) and Vinhas de Souza, 2002(b)), but none with the prolonged negative consequences observed in other region (which was also due to the effective national policy actions undertaken after those episodes). This studys main aim is to expand the Kaminsky and Schmukler database (see Kaminsky and Schmukler, 2003), from now on indicated as KS, to include the Accession and Acceding Countries from Eastern Europe (namely, for Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Rom ania, Slovakia and Slovenia). In their original work, KS build an extensive database of external and financial liberalization, which includes both developed countries and countries from emerging regions (but not from Eastern Europe). With that, they create different indexes of liberalization (capital account, banking and stock markets: see Table I below) and using them individually and in an aggregate fashion, test for the effects and causality of this process on financial and real volatility, for the existence of differences between regions, and for the effects of the ordering of the liberalization process. One underlying hypotheses of this work is that the existing regulatory and institutional framework in Eastern Europe, plus a more sustainable set of macro policies, played an important role in enabling liberalization to largely deliver the welfare enhancing outcomes that it is supposed to. Such an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“anchoring role of the European Union in the CEECs, through the process of EU membership, and through the effective imposition of international standards of financial supervision and regulation, may indicate that, beyond multilateral organizations like the IMF or the OECD, a greater, pro-active regional stabilizing role in emerging markets by regional actors, for instance, the United States, or by some regional sub-grouping, like Mercosur, may also be welfare enhancing for other à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“emerging regions. 2. CAPITAL ACCOUNT The achieving of capital account liberalization happened rather swiftly in most of the countries in our sample: by the mid 1990s, all bar Bulgaria and Romania had been declared Article VIII compliant (for those two countries, this happened in 1998: see Table II below). One of the main driving forces behind this was the process of European Integration, for which external liberalization is a pre-requisite: in the early to mid-1990s, all the countries had signed Association Agreements with the European Union (frequently preceded by trade liberalization agreements with the EU, also called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Europe trade agreements, usually with years given to the countries to prepare for their full implementation) and formally applied for EU membership. Another additional factor supporting liberalization was IMF and OECD membership: four of the larger countries in our sample became OECD members during the second half of the 1990s. Another factor to be considered, is the endogenous decision process to liberalize in a sustainable fashion. 3. BANKING SECTOR Financial integration, in the form of the opening up the banking sector to foreign banks, is seen as being positive, on a micro level, as foreign banks are usually better capitalized and more efficient than their domestic counterparts (of course, the domestic banking sector eventually catches-up: for an indication of this process at the ACs, see, among others, Tomova et al., 2003). Also from a macroeconomic perspective, financial integration maybe positive for the Eastern European countries, both for long run growth and, as there are indications that foreign banks do not contract either their credit supply nor their deposit base, in helping to smooth the cycle (see de Haas and Lelyveld, 2003: they find some indication that this is linked to the better capitalization base and prudential ratios, as better capitalized domestic banks behave similarly to foreign banks). Given the bank-centered nature of virtually all the financial systems of the future Member States, this is particularly important for them. In most of the member states, the initial stage of the creation of the two-tier banking system, modeled on the Western European à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“universal bank system, was characterized by rather liberal licensing practices and limited supervision policies (aimed at the fast creation of a de novo commercial, private banking sector: see Fleming et al., 1996, Balyozov, 1999, Enoch et al., 2002, SÃÆ' ¶rg et al., 2003). This caused a mushrooming of new banks in those countries in the early 1990s. Parallel to this, a series of banking crises, of varied proportions, affected most of those de novo banking systems, due to this lax institutional framework, inherited fragilities from the command economy period (the political need to support state-owned, inefficient industries, with the consequent accumulation of bad loans and also the financing of budget deficits), macroeconomic instability, risky expansion and investment strategies and also sheer inexperience, both from the investors and from regulators. Progressively, the re-capitalization, privatization and internationalization of the banking system (mostly into the hands of EU financial conglomerates), coupled with the implementation of a more robust, EU-modeled institutional framework, did away with most of those problems. Two of the worst cases where the set of Baltic banking crises and the Bulgarian episode, which are described in more detail below. Other smaller banking crises happened in Estonia in 1994 and 1998, and in Latvia in 1994. Caprio and Klingebiel, 2003, report smaller episodes of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“financial sector distress in the Czech Republic (94-95), Hungary (93), Poland (91-93), Romania (98-00), Slovakia (97) and Slovenia (92-94). The initial proliferation of banks was, quite naturally, followed by a process of consolidation and strengthening-parallel to the privatization of the remnant state-owned components of the financial system- of the banking sector in most of those economies (in Bulgaria, from 81 banks in 1992 to 35 in 2001, in the Czech Republic from 55 in 1995 to 38 in 2001, Estonia, from 42 in 1992 to 7 currently, while Hungary had 33 banks in 2002, showing only a very slight decrease from the early 1990s, Latvia from 56 in 1994 to 23, Lithuania from 27 in 1993 to 13, in Pola nd from 81 in 1995 to 71 in 2001, in Romania from 45 in 1998 to 41 in 2001, in Slovakia from 22 in 2000 to 19 in 2001, and in Slovenia, where the number fell from 25 to 21 during 2001 alone). This consolidation process was frequently led by foreign companies, which now hold the majority of the assets of the banking system in virtually all of them-contrary to the situation in the current EU Member States-bar Slovenia. This process now has a component of regional expansion of the Eastern European banks themselves, or, more precisely in most cases, the regional expansion of Western banks via some of their locally-owned subsidiaries (see SÃÆ' ¶rg et al., 2003, ibid). The share of banking assets to GDP, nevertheless, is still far below the Euro area average (which stood at around 265% of GDP by end 2001), compared with 47% in Bulgaria, 136% in the Czech Republic, 72% in Estonia and Latvia, 32% in Lithuania, 63% in Poland, 60% in Hungary, 30% in Romania, 96% in Slovakia and 94% in Slovenia (data also for 2001). Another peculiar feature of the banking system in the region is that foreign currency lending -usually euro-denominated-to residents is very high, especially in the B altic republics: with 80% of total loans in Estonia, 56% in Latvia and 61% in Lithuania. Also, the Baltic countries have substantial shares of deposits by non-residents, with over 10% in Estonia and Lithuania and close to 5% in Latvia (Latvia, with its close trading ties to Russia, has a particular strategy of selling itself as a stable financial services center to CIS depositors: see IMF, 2003(b), ibid). The supervision system has also substantially improved, and, following recent international-and EU- best practice, is now centered in independent universal supervisory agencies in the most advanced of those countries (Reininger et al., 2002, ibid., estimate that the formal regulatory environment for the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland is actually above the EU, and that its actual enforcement level is at its average;Liive, 2003, gives a description of the Estonian experience that culminated in the creation of the EFSA -Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority- in January 2002). 3.1 BANKING CRISES IN EASTERN EUROPE The Baltic bank crises were, to different degrees, linked to liquidity difficulties related tolerations with Russia (in the November 1992 Estonian case, by the freezing of assets held by some Estonian banks in their former Moscow headquarters, while the Latvian and Lithuanian episodes of, respectively, March and December 1995, were caused by the drying-up of lucrative trade-financing opportunities with Russia, whose export commodities, at that time, were still below world price levels) and regulatory tightening (Latvia, Lithuania), compounded by the elimination of credit opportunities with the implementation of the Estonian and Lithuanian CBAs (Currency Board Arrangements). In Lithuania, as in Bulgaria, the financing of the budget deficit also played a role. In the Estonian and Latvian cases, around 40% of the assets of the banking system where compromised, in the Lithuanian and Bulgarian cases, around a third. The Bulgarian 1996-1997 crisis eliminated a third of its banking sector, and led the country to hyperinflation (reaching over 2000% in March 1997, see Yotzov, 2002). Its roots lie in the political instability that preceded it (which, on its turn, led to inadequate real sector reform, with state-owned, loss making enterprises being financed via the budget deficit or through arrears with the, at the time, still mostly state-owned part banking sector: those arrears were, in turn, partially monetized by the Bulgarian National Bank -BNB- and the largest state bank, the State Savings Bank -SSB). Periodic foreign exchange crises (March 1994, February 1997) and bank runs (late1995, late 1996, early 1997) were part of this picture. The implementation of tighter supervisory procedures during 1996 (giving the BNB the power to close insolvent banks), and a tightening of policy actually led to more bank runs. A caretaker government in February 1997 (before a newly elected government took power in May) paved the way to longer lasting reform and the implementation of t he CBA, with its tighter budget constraints towards both the government and the banking sector. This reform process happened with the support from multilateral institutionsamely, (namely the IMF). 4. STOCK MARKETS The existence of stock markets is assumed to be beneficial for economic performance. In principle, it provides a way for companies to raise capital at lower costs than through simple banking intermediation, and because it is not as restricted a source of capital as internal financing. Also, it is assumed that the existence of alternative modes of finance may reduce the likelihood of credit crunches caused by problems with the banking sector (see Greenspan, 2000). Additionally, the existence of external ownership is (or was, given the recent problems with market-based governance in the US and the EU, and the shift towards a more regulated environment) assumed to provide better governance for the management of firms. The majority of economic analyses seem to support the position that a diversified financing mix is positive for economic growth and stability. As described in the previous section, all the financial sectors in the Member States are bank-centered, with stock markets playing marginal roles in most of them (and, in some, a very marginal role: in Bulgaria, Slovakia and Romania, their average market capitalization in GDP terms is below 5%: see Figure I below). All of these countries had (re-)established stock markets by the mid-90s (see Table III above). About half of the future Member States used them to drive the initial process of re-privatization, either via mass issues of voucher certificates for residents (the most famous case of this strategy was the Czech Republic), or via IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) re-privatization processes, to lock-in domestic and foreign strategic investors (see Claessens at al., 2000). In the voucher-driven privatization, the initial large number of investors and traded stocks in those stock markets was soon concentrated in a rather limited number of institutional investors-domestic and foreign- and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“blue chip stocks. In the IPO-driven markets, the number of stocks and investors actually tended to increase with time, albeit from a rather concentrated base. Even in the largest ones, nevertheless, market capitalization, as a GDP share, was and remains rather low (see Figure I below), and far below the EU average (around 72% of GDP). Only in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Slovenia the average market capitalization is above a 20% GDP share, while in Romania is below 1% in several years. Also, the average market turnover is equally below the one observed in comparable EU economies. Similarly to what is observed in the banking sector, the initial regulatory environment was deliberately lax, and the regulators were plagued by much the same problems of inexperience and limited number of staff and resources. This does not mean that domestic agents in those countries lack access to the financial services supposed to be provided by stock markets: the very process of opening up, the increase in cross-border trade in financial services, the harmonization of rules for capital trading with the EU (including the ongoing efforts of the Lamfalussy Committee towards a single European market for securities: according to the current proposal, small and medium size firms would be able to use a simplified prospectus valid throughout the EU and choose the country of its approval), plus the development of information technology, all imply that is not actually necessary-nor economically optimal, given economies of scale-for each individual country to have its own separate stock market. One must also recall that the current national stock markets in the mature developed economies are themselves the result of process of consolidation-and closing-of smaller regional stock markets (as was observed in Bulgari a in the early 1990s), which still today coexist with larger, dominant national stock exchanges even in some mature markets, like Germany and the US. Nevertheless, the observed tendency of domestic larger companies, with presumed better growth prospects, to list abroad (see Table IV below), due to the obvious cost and liquidity advantages of the larger international stock markets, does seems, on balance, to deprive those stock markets of liquidity (see Claessens at al., 2003). On the other hand, nonresidents seem to play a major role in most of those markets (accounting for 77% of the capitalization in Estonia, 70% in Hungary and half of the free-float capitalization in Lithuania). All the specific questions described above concerning the way those stock exchanges were founded and their later developments, plus their relative smallness and shallowness, affect the dynamics of their stock market indexes (SMI), and are clearly reflected by them (as one may see in Figure II, below). This, coupled with the rather limited duration of the series, may affect their adequacy as proxies of financial cycles. Source: Datastream, modified by the authors. The price indexes here were converted to US Dollars and re-based to a common reference period were they equal 100, May of 1998. The country codings are as described in the Annexes. 5. ESTIMATED INDEXES The construction of the index for this new sample of countries was the core of this work. A comprehensive effort was done to crosscheck the information collected from papers and publications with national sources. Below we present the estimated monthly index, for the period January 1990 to June 2003 (see Figure III). The base data for its construction was collected from IMF and EBRD publications, and then exhaustively verified both with national sources and with works written about the individual countries and the region. This is an index that falls with liberalization, where maximum liberalization equals one and minimum three (in this sense, one could actually see it as an index of financial repression). As an additional robustness check, the year-end value of the index here constructed was regressed on the combined EBRDs yearly indexes of banking sector reform and non-banking financial sector reform. The results from a panel regression with the index constructed here on the LHS and the EBRD index on the RHS yield a coefficient of .60, and correlations among the individual country- specific index series range from -0.91 to -0.35. As one may see from Figure III above, the process of integration and liberalization was almost continuous throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. The spikes in the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Full Liberalization Index in the early 1990s do not indicate reversals: the merely reflect the entry into the sample of the newly independent Baltic republics. As former members of the Soviet Union, they à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“enter the world as highly closed economies, but those countries introduced liberalization reforms almost immediately from the start. After this, a slight increasing trend, that does reflect a mild liberalization reversal, is observed, starting mid-1994 and lasting until early 1997, from when a continuous liberalization trend is observed. Noteworthy here is the fact that virtually none of the obvious candidates for a reversal of liberalization (the 1997 Asian Crisis, the collapse of the Czech monetary arrangement in 1997, the collapse of the Bulgarian monetary arrangement in 1996/97, the 1998 Russian Crisis, the 1999-2001 oil price shocks-as all those economies are highly dependent of imported energy sources) seems to have driven these mild liberalization reversals. Comparing the Full Index constructed here with the one constructed by KS, for similar time samples, one may observe that the ACs start substantially below the average level of other emerging markets- i.e., they are more liberalized, but both the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“entry of the initially less liberalized former Soviet republics, plus continuous liberalization efforts in the emerging market KS set reverse this situation. A similar liberalization reversal trend in both the ACs and the merging market set is observed from early 1994, but it is actually slightly st ronger on the ACs sample, until its reversal in 1996. By the end of our sample, the ACs are clearly below the final value for the emerging set in KSs sample. This sort of remarkably fast pattern of the ACs à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“leapfroging towards best international practice is also observed in several types of institutional frameworks, like, for instance, monetary policy institutions and instruments (see Vinhas de Souza and HÃÆ' ¶lscher, 2001): a process that virtually took decades for Western central banks was compressed in a half a dozen years in the Future Member States. Nevertheless, by the end of the sample, both emerging and ACs are still above the level of mature, developed economies. Analyzing the individual components of the index (see Figure V), one may see that, abstracting again from the initial spikes in the index, which are, as explained above, caused by the addition of new countries to the sample, the 1994/1997 reversal of liberalization was essentially driven by the Fi nancial Sector liberalization component. As will become clear with the country specific analysis below, this was related, in most cases, to-and here it must be stressed that those were rather limited reversals-to the banking crises that plagued several countries in our sample in the early to mid 1990s. Comparing now the individual components of the Full Index constructed here with the ones from KS, again for emerging and mature economies, it becomes clear that the reversals observed in Figure IV were driven by different sources in the emerging set (increase in capital account restrictions) and ACs set (financial sector): see Figure VI. All the indexes for mature economies are, again as one would expect, substantially lower. One could, in principle, aggregate the countries in our sample in three different groups: rapid liberalizers (the ones that followed a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“big bang early approach, without major reversals: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), consistent liberalizers (the ones that followed a more delayed path, but also without major roll backs: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) and cautious liberalizers (the ones whose liberalization path was either openly inconsistent or downright mistrustful: Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia). 5.1 COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY LIBERALIZATION PATH. In Bulgaria, virtually no sign of a liberalization reversal is observed, even during the substantial stress experienced by the country during the banks runs of 1996/97 and the ultimate collapse of the floating regime in 1997 (beyond ad hoc restrictive measures adopted by the banks themselves). As in most of the countries in my sample, the stock market is the last one to liberalize, but does so in a faster fashion. Nevertheless, this is in most cases a data quasi-artifact that arises from the later (re-)constitution of the stock exchange itself. In the Czech Republic, a limited reversal of the financial sector liberalization is observed from late1995 to late 1997, namely, via the imposition of limits on banks short-term open positions towards on-residents, as a way to limit the exposure of the financial sector to the inflows brought about by the hard peg and the potential gains with interest rate differentials. After the peg was replaced by the current float regime, this restriction i s duly removed. In Estonia, again, virtually no sign of a liberalization reversal is observed, even during the bank runs of the early 1990s, the unwinding of the 1997 bubble, nor during the 1998 Russian crisis. Again, the stock market is the last one to liberalize, but one more time, this arises from the later constitution of the stock exchange. In Hungary, also no signs of any liberalization reversal are observed. Hungary was an early reformer, introducing some liberalization measures already during the late 1980s, but the profile of its reform path is much more discounted through time, as compared, for instance, with the Baltic countries. In Latvia, a rather limited reversal of the financial sector liberalization is observed from mid 1996all the way to early 2003: resulting from the 1996 banking crisis, specific aggregate lending limits to regions (i.e., limits on exposure to non-OECD countries, bar the other Baltic republics) are imposed. In Lithuania, a limited reversal of the f inancial sector liberalization is observed from early 1998, also resulting from the experienced banking crisis: reserve requirements on deposits on foreign accounts by non-resident are introduced; In Poland, no signs of any liberalization reversal are observed. Similarly to Hungary, the profile of its reform path is much more discounted through time; In Romania, no signs of any liberalization reversal are observed, but the reform path is a decidedly slow and cautious one: at the end of the sample, it has the highest (i.e., less liberalized) score for the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Full Index of all countries in the sample: 1.60 (see Table V). In Slovakia, no signs of any liberalization reversal are observed. Here, the reform path is characterized by a broad stagnation since the Czechoslovak partition till 1998/1999, when, after a change in the political leadership, reforms are re-started, reaching after that levels similar to the other à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Vise grad countries in a rather quick fash ion. In Slovenia, one of the most consistently cautious Member States concerning the advantages of integration and liberalization, reversals are indeed observed in all three indexes, since early 1995in the capital account and financial sector components, and from early 1997 in the stock market one. Since early 1999, with the entry in effect of the EU Association Agreement, across-the-board further (re)liberalization measures have been introduced. 6. FINANCIAL CYCLES AND LIBERALIZATION The financial cycle coding which is used by KS defines cycles as a at least twelve month-long strictly downwards (upwards) movement, followed by a equally upwards (downwards) 12-month movement from the through (peak) of a stock market index, measured in USD, as they should reflect returns from the point of view of an international investor. As described in the stock market section of this work, one must be warned that there are specific factors in the countries in our sample that may affect the effectiveness of a stock market index as an adequate proxy of financial cycles, at least for the sample here considered. Beyond that, these series have a rather limited time extension (our sample covers the 01:1990-06:2003 period). Adapting KS criteria to the limited time dimension of our sample, we use a less stringent definition of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“cycle, the same algorithm as above but with a 3-month window for the cycle (Edwards et al., 2003, use a 6-month window). With this we get 118 obse rvations for all countries in our sample. Of these 118 cycles, 61 are upward, with an average of 7.51 months duration, and 57 are downward, with an average of 8.20 months of duration. 7. CONCLUSION The main aim of this paper was to extend the index developed by Kaminsky and Schmukler, 2003, for a specific sample of countries, namely, the previously centrally planned economies from Central and Eastern Europe, and to perform a similar analysis on them. Our results do lend some support to the basic assumption of this study: in spite of all the limitations of the time series used (their shortness, the fact that they were buffeted by several country-specific and common shocks), a re-estimation of KSs core regressions strongly supports the notion that financial liberalization does generate benefits both in the short and in the long run, measured via the extension of the amplitude of upward cycles and its reduction for downward cycles of stock market indexes. Importantly, these results diverge from KS, as in their work à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“emerging markets experience a relative short run increase in the amplitude of downward cycles. Another noteworthy feature is that only minor liberalizat ion reversals, led by the financial sector component, were observed in the aggregate index. Also, those reversals do not seem to be driven by à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“contagion from shocks in other emerging markets (like the Asian or Russian crisis), but reflect country-specific shocks. When considering the individual components of the index separately, again signs of minor reversals in financial sector liberalization are observed, related to temporary reactions to the several banking crisis observed in the region. Concerning the importance of institutions and of the EU Accession, this papers initial assumption was that the mostly positive results above would come about due to the anchoring of expectation provided by the perspective of entry into the EU already by mid-2004 (or 2007, in the case of Bulgaria and Romania) for the countries here analyzed, and by the imposition of a more robust macro and institutional framework by the requirements of the Accession process itself. Signs of this ar e not found in the KS regressions, perhaps because the liberalization index itself captures the effects of the EU Accession process. Finally, using a different framework than KSs to assess the affects of liberalization on financial, real and nominal volatility, most of the econometric results seem to support the previous ones, but they seem to indicate that the capital account liberalization is the element that most consistently and significantly reduces volatility. On this final section, the majority the econometric results seem to support some specific role for the EU Enlargement process in reducing volatility.