Monday, September 30, 2019

Site Layout Planning Ealing W5 5rf

Real Site Layout Map Site Layout Briefing It is important to maintain a high standard of duty, facility, resource management, in accordance to the Health and Safety & CDM Regulations, in order to convey a better atmosphere for all members of staff and workers. The following will analyse all aspects of our Construction Management Project Plans, to ensure how we will create a satisfying duty of care to all members of the construction team working for the UWL Student Accommodation Project 2012/2013. Site LocationUniversity Of West London, Park Road Via St Marys Road, Ealing, W5 5RF. The new building will be constructed on an unused field area, and car park, belonging to the university. The construction site is bounded by protected trees, at the south side of the building, parallel to a public building (YMCA), and the boundary on the west and north side of the building, which leads to the main and side road. The projected building will be built within the white box on the Real Site Layou t diagram, and Blue of the Map Site Layout diagram. Site Setup and LogisticsIn order to meet the CDM and Health and Safety obligations, it will be necessary to afford a fully functional and compliant temporary site accommodation arrangement as part of the site setup. Prior to commencement on site, the site setup will include perimeter site hoarding equipped with appropriate safety and way-finding signage, lighting installations, and set of gates for vehicle entrance. The perimeter safety segregation system (I. e. Heras Fencing) is to be erected and equipped with appropriate safety and way-finding signage.Clearly defined access routes will be defined both within the site and the surrounding roads and sites in accordance to the management plans and with particular attention to the segregation of pedestrians, plant and vehicle. The delivery, storage and distribution of materials will form part of this plan. Site Accommodation & Welfare Facilities After having judged the situation at th e site, with the documents of the feasibility report, there isn’t sufficient space to have (as promised), an accommodations site on the premises of the project.The temporary site accommodation will be located in the student car park of the University. The site accommodation will include suitable and sufficient sanitary conveniences. Supply of Water will be available through the water pumps of UWL into the rooms, toilets, sinks†¦ The room will be kept clean and tidy by the occupiers, and will be checked by a warden, so this rule isn’t breached, and is kept in an orderly condition. Adequate supply of drinking water will be put in few places as part of welfare facilities through drinking water fountains, and kitchen facilities.For Health and Safety reasons, water fountains and supply of drinking water will be marked with an appropriate signage, and sufficient number of cups will be provided. Washing Facilities will include: * A supply of clean hot and cold, or warm, water (which shall be running water so far as is reasonably practicable); * Suitable means of cleaning, such as soap, shampoo, and; * Suitable means of drying: towels, hand dryers, blow dryers. Washing Rooms will be ventilated, and given required lighting.They also will have to be kept cleaned and maintained. In order to minimise costs in welfare facilities, instead of having separate washing facilities for men and women, the multiple bathrooms will be individually shared, with an internal lock to prevent others coming in. This is more efficient as the number of males will dominate those of females. The accommodation will acquire changing rooms & lockers and sufficient spacing in these facilities, especially when the workers have to wear special clothing for his/her work and duty.Work may be on-going during rain; hence, facilities for drying areas for clothes, and seating will be set up in the accommodation. Lockers will also be provided near the changing areas in order to keep work uniform, clothes that haven’t been torn during the work and personal belongings safe. Damages to these will be at the occupier’s liability, not the site officer/warden/security/manager. Rooms and Resting areas will be prepared to be satisfying to all users. The rooms will be a hostel style living accommodation for all males, and separate ndividual rooms for females. Within 4 cabins as posted on the site layout, hostel dorm for males will consist of 14 beds, 7 in each cabin, and on cabin with 5 small rooms for ladies. Premises for accommodation will be handed to those living most further away, and to those who operate and work on a 24 hour shift. Others will have to live at their own homes, and travel to the site, or find accommodation in hotels nearby, with the assist of the construction team. Traffic Control Staff will control traffic into and out of siteNo Temporary light signals will be used, as it will delay public traffic times, won’t be efficiently used, and will cost more money to hire. Vehicle Movement into and out of site will occur around the Pink outline. Trucks and heavy machinery have been seen going into this outline and moving out safely and securely. Parking on Park road will be stopped until Kerrison Road, to ease movement of heavy machinery into site through Park Road, and make sure that cars do not get effected by any flying debris, which could lead into court appearances.Health and Safety Report The construction industry has the highest rate of accidents in the workforce. The diagram on the left proves data collected in 2008, which shows the multiple numbers of fatalities in the construction sector in comparison to other Work Sectors. In the production of the UWL Student Accommodation St Mary’s Road Ealing, our aim is to reduce accidents and fatalities as much as possible. Accidents are naturally occurring and unpredictable but controllable.This Health and Safety report will analyse the CDM Regulations 2007, and will in-corporate on how efficiently to use the Regulations in our project. This Health and Safety Report is a part of Risk analysis, hence following according to the H&S structure will reduce the for-see-able risks. Safe places of work Access & movement in and out of the construction site must be safe and practical. Walking distances must be short at all working times to cut down non-productive times amongst each of the workers on the field. The rea marked in yellow is the region where staff and workers will be making most movement. During the construction periods, it is important to keep the walking distances at a minimum, not only to cut down on non-productive time, but it will reduce damages to humans by falls, trips, falling and fallen debris. As the construction process is underway, the space will become more confined and little, due to the presence of the new building, hence, it is important to take vital care when crossing the site in such a tight area, to be further aware of accidents and to respect the Health and Safety Regulations.The area does consist of enough working space for all members of the team to work in a safe manner. Good Order and Site Security Every part of the construction must be kept in good order in the means of tidiness and cleanliness. The construction site will consist of a perimeter identified by suitable signs and be so arranged that its extent is readily identifiable, and be fenced off. See also fencing in the Site Layout Report for more information about fencing around the perimeter of the site. Sharp materials, such as projected nails, must be placed in good storage areas to reduce piercing people.Other construction projects, according to the CDM Regulations, do not allow timber with projected nails on site due to the Hazard danger of such equipments, therefore our alternative advice is to keep sharp objects, and all other materials that is a potential risk if not taken care of, to be stored appropriately, and used when ne eded. Site Security areas have been denoted on the Site Layout Plans. These sites will operate on a 24h basis. Construction materials and recourses are a high value for money, and hence, vandalism in construction is high at a time of economical downturn.Therefore, guards will be on patrol for 24 hour on the two areas located on the Site Plan. The site security will have to control the site premises, take care of all the site equipments, watch out for theft, and vandalism on non-operational times. During Operation periods, security will have to take control of vehicle movements in and out of the building, help with vehicles turning around, and check all the staff and worker’s badges before being let onto the site. Security check and report accidents and fatalities in the Risk Assessment and Health and Safety documents.Stability of Structure It is important to make sure that any part of the structure that may become un-stable with different load bearings or high wind loads, bec ome notified to all members of the team on site, who may be affected if un-cautioned. Foundations, buttress, and temporary supports, such as scaffolding, must be designed & used, to make sure they can adapt to the calculated load bearings and impact loads, so the building can remain stable, and none of the supports fail to collapse the building or the supports itself fall from a high distance.The load bearings, wind loads, impact loads, and snow loads have been calculated by the civil engineers, will provide exact figures, as to which the contractors will abide to, and design the supports in the safest manner. Excavation During the Excavation process, it is vital that nothing collapses into the region of excavation. There must be sufficient spacing between people, pile foundations and plants on the site. Neighbouring roof-tops must be checked to make sure that during the excavation process, nothing falls from these buildings into the excavation which may cause potential hazards for this stage of construction.The most potential building that may cause an issue for such reasons is the YMCA building next to the site, and its roof top must be verified. Excavation process must be inspected at the start of the shift, followed by regular interval checking, and finally at the end of the shift. Any material trapped in the excavation will cause a high health and safety issue for the employees, and also will affect the stability of the building a few years from completion. Reports of Inspection Dates when the QS and the Health and Safety Assessor will come and inspect the work have been noted on the Microsoft Project Scheduling, underneath the notes column.The QS will assess the progress of the work and supply information to the clients to supply the company with the income. Therefore in the inspection of the QS, if the project is working under the deadline, the income and profit will be below that of the project plan. The Inspection Report will be mentioned to the perso n in charge of the operations of the factors that needs to be amended to satisfy that report before further work can be carried out in a safe manner. Energy Distribution Installations Energy will come from the UWL campus Ealing.If more is required, then an electricity generator will be brought onto the site (shown on the left). The generator will need to be checked and revised before usage for safety requirements. Electric cables will run safely on the site, away from danger of being but off by plants, or by congestion. Gas will be distributed to Welfasre facilities from UWL. The student Car park has been cut off from Student and UWL staff, so that they are not at risk from un-known un-told danger, which the staff of the construction unit would be aware of whilst using the facilities.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Class conflict in A Streetcar Named Desire Essay

Class conflict is represented throughout the play, A Streetcar Named Desire in various ways through characters, symbols, ideas and language. Characters such as Blanche, Stella, Mitch and Stanley are used throughout the text to represent the upper and lower classes, as well as the conflict between the two classes. Symbols, ideas and language help to define the different classes as well as helping to represent the conflict between classes. The language (dialogue) of the characters, symbolic use of names, animal imagery and colour (clothes) and the ideas of cultural capital help to define what the lower and upper classes are. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams was written in 1947. The story takes place in New Orleans, and can be read as being during any year between May and September. The story revolves around Blanche Dubois and her conflict with Stanley Kowalski. Blanche’s character represents the old aristocratic south and the upper class of the play through her manner and cultural capital (her education and sophisticated dialogue). She’s cultivated and bound by heritage (Belle Reve) and tradition. The upper class is associated with intellectual strength. Stanley represents the new industrial south and the lower class of the play through his job at the steel mill, use of slang and his ignorance. His society is based on force and ingenuity. The lower class is associated with physical strength. From the beginning, the conflict between the two classes is prominent. The working class is predatory and survives and triumphs with two elements, which the upper class lacks, vitality and strength. The conflict of class is evident and we see how Blanche and the old south are fragile, and it’s only a matter of time before Stanley, the new south crushes it’s opposition. Class conflict is effectively represented through clothes and the symbolic use of colour and animal imagery. The conflict becomes evident during the first scene when we first meet Blanche and Stanley. Blanche is dressed in her white proper clothing (â€Å"†¦She is daintily dressed in a white suit with a fluffy bodice, necklace and ear-rings of pearl, white gloves and hat†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Scene One), whilst Stanley is dressed in dirty denim work clothes (â€Å"†¦roughly dressed in blue denim work clothes†¦ carries his bowling jacket†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Scene One). Blanche is often dressed in white, pale, timid  colours, whereas Stanley is dressed in bright bold colours. Stanley’s bright colours overpowers Blanche’s pale colours. Blanche is symbolised as the aristocratic moth and Stanley the common cave man. The symbol of colour helps the reader construct the inevitable doom of the fragile upper class (Blanche) by the strong lower class (Stanley). These symbols of colour and animal imagery related to each character, helps reinforce the conflict between the Old South (upper class) and the New South (lower class). The language (dialogue) of each character and symbolic use of names help in constructing ideas of class conflict in this play. Blanche speaks in a quiet, refined voice and uses sophisticated language (â€Å"†¦- Only Poe! Only Mr Edgar Allan Poe! – could do it justice!† Scene One, Blanche). This constructs Blanche to be fragile and vulnerable, with the cultural capital of sophistication. Blanche uses her speech on a high level, searching for values and reflecting education in her manner. Stanley yells and hollers and uses unsophisticated language. (â€Å"[Bellowing]: Hey, there! Stella, Baby!† Scene One, Stanley) Stanley’s speech is often dotted with exclamations and short, to the point sentences. Stanley uses his speech to express his wants, likes and dislikes. This further constructs Stanley as loud and strong. Blanche is shown to be singing throughout the text, which in turn aggravates Stanley. This further shows the conflict between the two charact ers through language (dialogue). The use of names in this play helps in constructing the separate classes. The names Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski help construct different representations of class. The name Blanche means white and creates the irony of Blanche not being as white and pure as her name represents. In contrast the name Stanley offers no specific meaning in relation to meaning in the play. Secondly the name Dubois sounds aristocratic, with a possible proud heritage, whereas the name Kowalski sounds more modern. A Dubois speaks softly and flittingly, as the name is pronounced, whereas a Kowalski speaks loudly and brutally as the name is said. Kowalski’s enjoy loud, rowdy poker parties, whilst Dubois’s wince and prefer teas, cocktail parties and luncheons. The names of these two characters help in constructing the conflict between the two classes. The dialogue of Blanche and Stanley and the symbolic use of names help to construct class conflict in the play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Stella represents the old south being converted by the new south. Blanche fights for Stella to come back and be part of the old south again, accusing Stella of being blinded by desire for Stanley (â€Å"What you are talking about is brutal desire – just – Desire!† Scene Four, Blanche). Elysian fields is described as having an atmosphere of decay. This scenery is contrasted to the image of white pillars at Belle Reve. This contrast is to highlight the difference in the world Stella has chosen (lower class lifestyle), and the world she was brought up in (upper class lifestyle). Colour is used by Stanley to keep Stella part of the new south. (â€Å"†¦You showed me the snapshot of the place with the columns. I pulled you down of them columns and how you loved it, having them coloured lights going!† Scene Eight, Stanley). The class conflict between Blanche and Stanley is evident, through them trying to convert Stella. The idea of cultural capital is important when discussing class in the text. Blanche, Stella and Mitch possess an aspect of cultural capital. Blanche and Stella have cultural capital through their education, manner and heritage. Mitch is seen to be in between the old and new south. He holds his own cultural capital, enjoying the finer things of life, like poetry and music. We see how Mitch feels at ease when he is with Blanche, because of his love for the arts. Blanche, Stella and Mitch are also quite polite and have that air of gentility. Alternately Stanley is the only ‘main’ character to be without cultural capital. He has no manners and is rough and tough (â€Å"Mr Kowalski is too busy making a pig of himself†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Scene eight, Stella). He doesn’t value tradition or gentility. He values alcohol, violence and desire. Through cultural capital we see the conflict between the classes and their values. The use of language in the play works effectively to define between the two classes. The lower class is associated with slang, whilst the upper class is associated with sophisticated language. The symbolic use of names, animal imagery and colour are important in also contrasting between the two classes. Finally the idea of cultural capital works in highlighting the class conflicts between the upper class or old south and the lower class or  new south. In A Streetcar Named Desire the conflict of class is evident and we see how Blanche, the aristocratic south is fragile, and it’s only a matter of time before Stanley, the industrial south destroys every shred of Blanche, the old south.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Cement Industry

UAE is one of the prospering economies of the world whose per capital income is in par with some of the most developed nations of Europe. This is attributable to the oil revenues and the booming real estate market. This boom created a base for competition in the country market from different sectors like industrial sector especially mentioned the â€Å"Cement Industry†. Cement industry is fast growing due to the growing real estate market in the country and especially in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. At present, there are nine cement factories in United Arab Emirates and they produce 8. 5 million tons of cement every year. The emirate of Ras Al Khamah is the largest cement producer in United Arab Emirates. In our report, we studied the cement industry in UAE and analyzed them financially for the years from 2008 to 2010. Assuming that three main cement producers in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah will represent the whole cement market as they are the biggest cement producers according to the economic publications and their level of productions. The analysis included Union Cement Company (UCC), Gulf Cement Company (GCC) and Ras Al Khaima Cement Company (RAKCC). The choice of the companies based on the similarity of their core business and productions activities beside the fact that they all listed in Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange market (ADX) giving us the opportunity for fair comparison. Financial analysis for the companies based on their published annual financial reports in ADX has been conducted to check their financial performance for the years from 2008 to 2010. The analysis take in consideration the corporate governance mechanism conducted in each company to check the effectiveness of the corporate governance on their financial performance in the market. Assuming the average of the three companies will represent the market, an overall ranking of the best company in the market is conducted based on financial analysis ratios and their corporate governance mechanism implemnted.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Impact of Customer Satisfaction with In-flight Catering to Airline Research Proposal

Impact of Customer Satisfaction with In-flight Catering to Airline Reputation and Profit - Research Proposal Example This research proposal offers to explore an issue of in-flight catering and its impact to airline ratings, competitiveness, and profits of an airline. In-flight catering is one of the major services that have been associated with flights for a long time. This and other on-board services have been provided to long distance flight customers since the beginning of air passenger flights decades ago. In recent years, in-flight catering has come under increasing scrutiny by customers and the media with perceptions about meal quality being given greater attention. In most airline markets, different types of services are operated to cater for different kinds of customers. The services are largely differentiated in terms of cost and distance of flight. According to King, budget airlines and low-cost carriers offer limited on-board catering reminiscent of the flight costs of the airlines; customer expectations about catering service quality are therefore lower than in long-haul flights. Long d istance flights continue to offer significant on-board services including catering, these are open to customer scrutiny with regard to quality and in-flight catering is one of the services that has clearly affected airline ratings over the years. Customers have sometimes characterized airline food as being uninspiring and tasteless. With current competition levels it is evident that customers are increasingly taking notice of airline catering when choosing flights; this may have a bearing on airline reputation and profits over time.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Self Concept in International Students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Self Concept in International Students - Essay Example In order to understand how the change in self image is engineered we need to analyze the factors that create a persons self identity. The premise can be tested by the how social reforms have been brought which were first initiated by one or more than one philanthropist and then that idea gained currency after a period of tireless struggle. Women were not granted voting rights in past .Many individual women rights activist started an agitation and they achieved their objective. Soon society accepted not only the voting rights of women but also became more acceptable towards the issues of the equality of women. There are many approaches to understanding the society that permeates the environment that is inhabited by the self .One such approach is called the situational approach where the society is viewed as something which is constant mode of evolution. Nothing is permanent and flux is the by word of the world that we inhabit. This perspective gives a very subjective view of society which in turn is governing identity of members of a society. The other point of view with regards to self and society is called the structural approach According to This perspective society is constitutes of certain fixed paradigms that guide members of a society to act in particular fashion. The "patterned regularities that characterize most human action" (Stryker, 1980, p. 65) Individual selves are a microcosm of a society. Each self can be added up to get the whole picture of the society. The members of a society exist within these social structures. The actions of the people are governed by the concepts of who they are and to which social structure they belong. Social identity is the ideas thoughts processes and evaluation of oneself. These deductions are based upon what others think and expect out of us. Cooley Refers to this as "The looking glass self" (Cooley, 1902). The evaluation of the self identity is largely self esteem which has two component one deals with the worthiness and the other deals with the confidence and the acumen of the individual. Identity is governed by what role one is playing in the society .Since each member of society has multiple roles therefore he has multiple identities. The very same person has a different persona when he becomes a spouse a sibling an offspring or a friend. The overlapping social structures like religion race ethnicity geographical region and profession defines the concept of self .The identity are further dependent on the role that an individual is playing and what others expect out of him. It has been researched that strength of an identity is dependent on the number of people connected with that individual. The higher the number of people linked with an individual, more strong are the notions regarding the identity of selves The question arises who are international students .Those individuals who have left their countries of origin to study abroad due to various reasons come in contact with society which is alien to him .The self identity is

Leonardo Davinci aritist or scientist Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Leonardo Davinci aritist or scientist - Essay Example (Catholic Encyclopedia) Leonardo da Vinci is best described as one of the greatest minds of the Renaissance. He was born in a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 14th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. He was a multi-talented artist-scientist who excelled in various fields as painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scholar. "Leonardo was one of the greatest men of science in history, but the world which admired him as an artist did not discover the man of science until many centuries after his death" (Dibner, 380). He was chosen the 13th among the "Immortals of Science" by nearly 1,200 college and university presidents, editors of science periodicals, science editors of the world's great newspapers, and professors of science at scores of universities. (Dibner, 380) Leonardo's fascination with machines probably began during his boyhood. Some of his earliest sketches clearly show how various machine parts worked. As an apprentice in the studio of the artist Verrocchio, Leonardo observed and used a variety of machines. By studying them he gained practical knowledge about their design and structure. (Museum of Science) During the Renaissance, European artists began to study the model of nature more closely and to paint with the goal of greater realism. They learned to create lifelike people and animals, and they became skilled at creating the illusion of depth and distance on flat walls and canvases by using the techniques of linear perspective. (Holmes, 87) In the fifteenth century, Italy was not the unified country we know today; rather it was divided into many small independent states. Naples in the south was ruled by a series of kings. Popes of the Roman Catholic Church ruled the middle section. To the north different families controlled the largest and wealthiest city-states of Florence, Milan, and Venice. They fought wars against each other and against smaller neighboring states to increase their power. (Museum of Science) In that time of the renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci trained as a painter, and his amazing power of observation and skill as an illustrator enabled him to notice and recreate the effects he saw in nature. Leonardo was curious and observant, and wrote down and sketched so many of his observations in his notebooks. He was among the very first to take a scientific approach towards understanding of the world. (Museum of Science: Leonardo's Perspective) Leonardo wrote in Italian using a special kind of shorthand that he invented himself. He used "mirror writing", starting at the right side of the page and moving to the left. He did this probably to make it harder for people to read his notes and steal his ideas. Another reason is that he was hiding his scientific ideas from the powerful Roman Catholic Church; and also, writing left handed from left to right was messy because the ink just put down would smear as his hand moved across it; therefore he chose to write in reverse because it prevented smudging. (Museum of Science) As an artist, Leonardo borrowed almost nothing from the past - a few details in a candelabrum in the small "Annunciation" of the Louvre, rare sketches such as the "Dancers" of the Academy of Venice, a warrior's head at London (British Museum). Leonardo, therefore,

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Emerging market not mergers and acquisition Essay

Emerging market not mergers and acquisition - Essay Example It occurs when government decide to open up its market for global trade by way of minimising tax rate and other trade restrictions2. On the other hand, globalisation is described as growing financial integration of economies around the world. Globalisation is much comprehensive idea than trade liberalisation. It denotes increased global movement of products, services, money, information and human resources. This increased movement is made possible by increased trade liberalisation3. One key aspect of this trade liberalisation is regional integration. It is a manifestation of individuality and determination, combined with establishment of global institutions, which express a precise identity and determine shared international business activity within a specific geographic region. However, economists often argue that in the context of globalisation and international trade, if regional integration can hinder or facilitate trade liberalisation, moving onto the development of a new econom ic model of international growth4. Trade liberalisation is described as any activity that makes the business administration more unbiased and nearer to a trade system, which is unrestricted from government intervention5. During the past decades, trade liberalisation has been the hallmark of economic policy in the entire world. Practically, government in various nations have taken significant steps in order to broaden the role of multinational organisations when conducting their multifaceted economic activities6. The main objective of trade liberalisation is therefore to enhance the economic effectiveness of the entire nation by creating a transparent and unbiased system of inducements that shall remove export partiality, direct inhibitions to business and economic falsifications caused by trade administration. In general, trade labialisation comprise elimination of export barriers and quantitative restrictions (QRs) along with

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Risk managment and insurance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Risk managment and insurance - Essay Example Lencsis (1997) argues that the promotion of insurance solvency is the most vital goal of insurance regulation. It is of great importance to the regulators since it makes the outcome of insurance transactions certain and predictable. This is because, predictable results are the essence of insurance. As a result, the maintenance and promotion of the solvency of the insurer are at the regulators heart. The other explanation in this respect is that individuals insured are not capable of protecting themselves in respect of insurance transactions. This is due to the fact that insurance is more than a contingent promise that is to be provided in the future. As such, the promise is worth a company standing before it. Typically, a consumer cannot monitor or evaluate the solvency of an insurance company. Furthermore, insurance accounting and actuarial procedures are difficult and complicated, thus requiring a regulator to monitor the solvency of the insurance companies on behalf of the public (Lencsis, 1997). The other importance in respect of solvency regulation is that it ensures that the public is protected in case the insurance company becomes insolvent. Lencsis (1997) notes that the state of insolvency of an insurance company may cause a lot of tribulations and massive losses to the insured entities. Insurance solvency regulation is also of importance to the regulator especially with regard to life insurance, and to some extent property insurance, since they are responsible for sizable amounts of insured savings. Therefore, since the insurers’ operations parallel fiduciary operations, solvency regulation must be regulated for public interest (Lencsis, 1997). The solvency of an insurance company is very important to the regulators as it protects the insured from unscrupulous dealers and insurance companies that may become

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Human rights constitutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Human rights constitutions - Essay Example The intention of this study is government of a Republic of China that is not only reliable to have duties and powers but also imposes national constitutions containing various provisions which guarantee fundamental human rights of citizens and helps in strengthening relationships between state and individual. One of the main constitutions enforced in China instituting human rights is the People Republic of China. It is commonly known as People Republic of China Constitution, with no exemptions. However, some legitimate rights in China do not provide any guarantee which is worthless. Though presently it is enforced, in spite of fact either someone will be able to take judicial remedies, regardless of identifying by whom or how it will be committed, this is entirely a different issue. It is imperative to identify that either there should be a mechanism in China to enhance the effective enforcement of rights protected by constitution. Unless and until this is enforced, constitution will not result in a working or living element of social reality. Therefore in order to study the importance of these things in China it is imperative to identify effectual mechanism of constitutional enforcement, studying the relationship of politics and law which influences the progress of constitutional development tin China. China requires redesigning its constitutional reforms and should give more importance to the regime. (Abbott K W, 2000). 1.2 Human rights Human rights policy in China is based on two pillars. First is the system where member of states negotiate with the commissioner on human rights which was established in 1946 by social and economic council. Second is human rights treaty body and conventions which states commits through legal rectification and actions. This human rights policy has supported the state in protecting and promotion of citizens. Value oriented human rights practiced by China have laid the principles of statehood such as ethnicity, nation, culture, i deology and religion. It serves as a constrain between arbitrary and state hegemony, by protecting individuals rights and provides the foundation of building a relationship among citizens and states. It is the cornerstone for establishing constitutions in relation to human rights which are determined by international law and in public. It includes both WTO rules and ILO standards. Thus, human rights are highly controversial and political. All states are requires to protect and respect human rights and should do everything to fulfill their desires. In recent general assembly in China, stressed on the fact that these rights are indivisible, universal, interdependent, interconnected and mutually reinforcing. All states irrespective of differences in cultural, political and economic perspectives should protect and promote human rights. The human rights treaty body imposes China legal system to comply with the monitoring committees in order to ensure effectiveness in the system. State is obliged to submit a periodic report on treaty bodies, in order to review their objectives, present situation and supply assistance at national level. This will help to monitor the entire system effectively and to propose relevant changes in it (Dong Zhenang, 2000). 1.3 The importance of constitutionalizing human rights Importance of constitutionalizing human rights has increased in almost all the countries. Almost all the countries in the world have their own national constitutions. They not only emphasize on the rules and regulations led by the government but also emphasizes on legitimate obligations and rights of citizens. In relation to Chinese constitutional law all parties such as enterprises, state organs, individuals and political

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Descartes & Hume Essay Example for Free

Descartes Hume Essay Rene Descartes was a rationalist, meaning he thought that reason alone, not sensation or experience, was the source to attaining knowledge about the eternal truths of the universe, such as mathematics, epistemology, metaphysics and the existence of God. He excluded physics from this list, admitting that knowledge of physics only comes through experience (Descartes). Regardless, his rationalistic epistemology made it so that Descartes could only accept the truth about something if it was based upon a principle that was clearly and distinctly certain. Innate, a priori knowledge is fundamental to Descartes philosophy. A priori refers to any knowledge that is attained without appealing to sensation (O’Connor, Class Notes). Being a rationalist, he completely doubted every sensory experience he had ever had. Sensation is ever-changing and sometimes misleads or deceives us, so according to Descartes, trusting in an experience of sensation to provide us with any kind of universal truth would be foolish (Descartes). Whereas rationalism directly focuses on reason as being the only way to attain knowledge about the world, empiricism concentrates fully on all knowledge being a posteriori, or attained through experience and sensation. In an obvious way, David Hume’s empiricist epistemology directly contrasted Descartes rationalism, specifically by how he believed humans can attain knowledge. According to Hume, humans understand the world by experiencing different perceptions: impressions/sensations and ideas/thoughts. The amount of force and vivacity of the perception allows humans to differentiate between the two. Impressions and sensations are more forceful and lively since they are a product of direct experience. Ideas and thoughts are simply weak recreations of the original impressions that were perceived. While Descartes believes that certain ideas are innate, such as the existence of God, Hume absolutely denies the possibility of innate ideas. He claims that humans could never fully know or comprehend anything beyond our impressions. If an impression is not perceived, then it cannot be acknowledged. Since our knowledge is limited to the impressions we perceive, we have no real way of comprehending causality, instead it is often confused with correlation. Cause and effect events tend to occur in close temporal order, but that does not mean we can know whether those events are intrinsically related or not. Instead, we can only place our faith in the customs and habits of human life. Oppositely, Descartes believed we gain knowledge a priori, and we can only know that which we have clear and distinct justification for. In order to justify what we know, we cannot appeal to anything except for reason. Lastly, we must judge those justified ideas by applying Descartes’ specific and logical method of reflection. Thusly, by accepting Descartes’ method, the universal and eternal truths of the world can be known.

Friday, September 20, 2019

The Neoclassical Synthesis Hicks Economics Essay

The Neoclassical Synthesis Hicks Economics Essay Those who are strongly wedded to what I shall call the classical theory, will fluctuate, I expect, between a belief that I am quite wrong and a belief that I am saying nothing new. It is for others to determine if either of these or the third alternative is right. (ÃŽÅ ¡eynes, General Theory, p. v) It is usually considered as one of the most important achievements of the Keynesian theory that it explains the consistency of economic equilibrium with the presence of involuntary unemployment. It is, however, not sufficiently recognized that, except in a limiting case to be considered later, this result is due entirely to the assumption of rigid wages and not to the Keynesian liquidity preference. (Modigliani, 1944, p. 65) 11.1 Introduction Many economists, soon after the publication of the General Theory (1936), set out to formulate and, at the same time, to clarify the difficult and often confusing content of the book. Among the first models that were specified was that of John Hicks (1937 and 1983), which was to constitute the backbone of what today came to be known as macroeconomics.  [1]  In his article Hicks sought to express the central propositions of the General Theory in terms of equations and graphs in the effort to illuminate the relation between the theory of effective demand and liquidity preference. Furthermore, Hicks clarified these relations with the aid of two curves the SI and the LL, which later became known as the IS-LM curves. Hickss model became particularly popular in the US through the work of Paul Samuelson (1948) initially and subsequently through Alvin Hansen (1953). These two economists contributed more than anybody else to the popularisation of the Keynesian analysis and way of thought. The IS-LM conceptual apparatus has displayed remarkable longevity and resilience to various critiques and since the late fifties or early sixties continues to be part of the formal education of economists. At the same time, the IS-LM model plays a significant role by virtue of the fact that macroeconomic analyses, regardless of the approach, are cast to a great extent, in terms of the IS-LM representation of the economy. This is not to imply that the IS-LM model is without its problems; on the contrary, many economists expressed scepticism on the validity of the IS-LM as a representation of the General Theory and the way in which the economy works.  [2]   In what follows we present and evaluatse the Hicksian IS-LM model and continue with Keyness reaction to the Hicksian restatement of the General Theory. Next, we introduce Modiglianis version of the Keynesian model and the chapter ends with some concluding remarks. 11.2 Hickss Analysis of IS-LM Hickss analysis focuses on the relation between savings and investment and seeks to establish the simultaneous determination of income and the rate of interest in both the real and monetary economy. According to Keyness analysis in General Theory income constitutes the principal variable in his analysis; nevertheless one would continue to be in the spirit of Keynes by considering the important role of the rate of interest. Thus, Hicks argued that investment (ÃŽâ„ ¢ ) is a function of the rate of interest (i ) and also income (Y). Formally, we write the following function: I=I(i, Y) Similarly, for the saving function (S ), we have: S=S(i, ÃŽÂ ¥) The equilibrium condition is: I=S From the above equality, we derive the following particular functional formalisation, which is called IS and it is defined as the locus of points that determine a relation between the rate of interest and the level of income, when investment and savings are equal to each other. The IS curved is formed in the way we show in Figure 1, where we have the saving and the investment functions for each income level. i i2 i2 i1 I1=S1 I2=S2 I, S Y1 Y2 Y i A A B B I(Y1) I(Y2) S(Y1) S(Y2) IS (a) (b) Figure 1. Equilibrium in the Goods Market and the IS Curve Let us suppose that we are in an initial equilibrium point such as A and let us further suppose that income increases from Y1 to ÃŽÂ ¥2. It follows that the savings and investment schedules-both have positive their first derivatives with respect to income-shift to the right and their intersection at point Î’ determines the new equilibrium point. It is important to stress that the savings function is much more sensitive to variations in income, and therefore it shifts to the right by more than the investment function.  [3]  The two equilibrium points (i1, Y1) and (i2, Y2) are portrayed in Figure 1(b). In a similar fashion, we generate a series of such points, which when connected form the IS curve.  [4]   Hicks furthermore incorporates in his analysis the money market, where the supply of money (M) is exogenously determined, i.e., ÃŽÅ“=ÃŽÅ“0 /P, where ÃŽÅ“0 is the exogenously given nominal money supply and P is the price level. The demand for money depends on income and the rate of interest, i.e., L=L(i, Y). By invoking the balancing condition M=L, we arrive at M0=L(i, Y ) Figure 2 illustrates the equilibrium position in the money market, where the supply of money, for reasons of simplicity and clarity of presentation, is depicted with a vertical line indicating its exogenous character.  [5]  The demand for money, as we know, is inversely related to the rate of interest, a relation whose details have been analysed in the previous chapter. When income increases it follows that much more liquidity is required for the needs of transactions and therefore the interest rate will increase for any given level of money supply. In terms of a graph we have: (a) (b) M=M0/P L1(Y1) L2(Y2) LM Y i i i1 i1 i2 i2 M/P Figure 2. Equilibrium in the Money Market and the LM Curve We observe that with the supply of money given the demand for money for transaction purposes is directly related to income. The crucial question here is that while we refer to the money market the discussion is in terms of the bond market. In particular, we know that the excess demand for any good leads to an increase in its price until excess demand becomes zero and thus we get the equilibrium point. Since in the case of money market the equilibrium interest rate is derived in the market for bonds (see ch. 9), then how can the same interest rate equilibrate the money market? In Keyness analysis it seems that there is an implicit portfolio stock exchange constraint, which can be written as follows: (L M ) + (Bd Bs) = 0 Where Î’ symbolises the bond market, while the superscripts d and s symbolise the demand for and the supply of bonds, respectively. Consequently, we have the total demand for wealth (L + B d) equal to its supply (M + Bs). If we, further, suppose Walrass Law, then the above equality necessarily holds and if the rate of interest brings equilibrium in the market for bonds then on the basis of Walrass Law we conclude that equilibrium will be also established in the money market, that is L = M. As a consequence, we can follow Keynes, who argued that interest rates are determined in the money market. Because of the Walras Law, equilibrium in the bond market and equilibrium in the money market is one and the same. If, for example, i > i*, then Bd > Bs and because of the stock constraint we get L Returning to the above equilibrium relations, we end up with a system of four equations and four unknowns: Y, i, I, S. The equations IS and LM represent the reduced form of the above system of simultaneous equations, whose solution gives the equilibrium income together with the equilibrium interest rate. In the same figure, we present the interest rate that corresponds to the liquidity trap (iLT), where the demand for money is infinitely elastic. Consequently, the LM curve is essentially the solid line. i IS LM Y iLT i* Y* A B S>I M S>I M S M>L I II IV III S M>L Figure 3. Equilibrium in the Market for Goods and Money The intersection of the two curves at point B determines the equilibrium pair of interest rate and income. Any point above the IS curve indicates excess supply of goods and every point below the IS curve indicates excess demand for goods. As for the LM curve, every point to the right indicates excess demand for money and every point left to the LM curve indicates excess supply of money. The intersection of the two curves defines four quadrants, which are portrayed in Figure 3 above and in each quadrant we indicate the excess demand or supply in the goods and money markets. The mechanism that establishes equilibrium in the economy works as follows: let us suppose that for some reason the economy is out of equilibrium at a point on the quadrant II. In such a case, savings exceed investment and thus income has a tendency to decrease, while the demand for money is greater than the supply and the interest rate tends to increase. The changes are expected to lead the economy towards equilib rium at point B. In an analogous way, we can describe the mechanism that restores equilibrium at points in the other quadrants and this is left as an exercise. 11.3 Hicks and Keynes Hickss article was published in 1937, eight months after the publication of the General Theory. Keynes already knew the content of the article since he was among the first that the article was given to for comments before its publication to the Economic Journal. Keynes never disapproved directly and explicitly the presentation in terms of the IS-LM apparatus. Don Patinkin (1922-1995) in a series of articles argues the fact that Keynes never said anything negative for the formalisation of his theory by Hicks and that this ipso facto implies an adoption of this presentation on his part (Patinkin, 1990). If Keynes disagreed then he would have every reason to emphatically express his disagreement. After all Hickss presentation in a sense was provocative, since Keyness General Theory in it was viewed as a special case of the neoclassical true general theory. Post Keynesian economists claim that the fact that Keynes did not exercise a negative critique can be attributed to his idiosyncrasy that would not pay attention to anyones writings which might concern his General Theory. On the other hand, Keynes did not have any reason, to express, at least in the beginning, his strong disagreement to Hickss presentation. It is possible that he did not think that Hickss article would meet the success that it finally met (Put footnote 6 here).  [6]  It is certain that he disagreed with Hickss view as this can be judged by a careful reading of his correspondence with Hicks and from the article that he wrote in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (1937), where he summarised his views. Specifically, he placed special emphasis, once again, on the fact that economies are characterised by uncertainty. Hickss approach, is characteristically different from that of Keyness. We know from Pasinetti (1973) that Keynes followed a sequential analysis starting from the marginal efficiency of capital, and then to the interest rate, to investment and through the investment multiplier to the equilibrium level of income. By contrast, in Hicks, all of the above take place simultaneously, as we show in Figure 3. Furthermore, Hicks in his formulation of the demand for money refers to a single interest rate. In the General Theory, however, we know that Keynes refers to two interest rates, the current and the expected in the long run. Consequently, Keyness analysis is in sharp contrast to Hickss and on top of all we have the issue of uncertainty that permeates the General Theory and is completely absent in Hickss presentation. Another important difference is that Hicks does not refer to the problem of unemployment equilibrium which is so central in Keynes-and really differentiates him from the classics-. Instead, Hicks locates the difference between Keynes and the classics to the interest rate and the issue of whether it increases with investment or not (Barens and Caspari, 1999, p. 219). According to Hicks, in periods of stagnation the interest rate is particularly low and under these circumstances speculators are not willing to hold non-liquid assets; consequently, their demand for money is so high that it absorbs whatever quantity of money is available. Thus, every increase in the supply of money is counterbalanced by a corresponding increase in the demand for money and the rate of interest remains constant. Monetary policy therefore is completely ineffective and it cannot restore the economy to full employment equilibrium. Hicks notes, there are conditions in which the interest-mechanism will not work. The special form in which this appears in the General Theory is the doctrine of a floor to the rate of interest [the liquidity trap] as Sir Dennis Robertson has called it. (Hicks, 1957, p.287) If we suppose that the economy is in the liquidity trap  [7]  , then a monetary policy, regardless of how active it might be, cannot shift the economy beyond the initial equilibrium point. In terms of Figure 4, if the economy is in equilibrium at point A, an expansionary monetary policy will shift the LM curve, for example to the position LM΄, with no consequence what so ever for the initial equilibrium position. LM LM A B C IS IS IS Y i iLT Figure 4. Equilibrium in the Markets for Goods and Money Consequently, Hicks in his model claims that the General Theory is not so general as Mr. Keynes thought, but rather a special case of the neoclassical theory, where the liquidity trap has a prominent position. The truth, however, is that the idea of the liquidity trap is very hard to pin point in the writings of Keynes; of course, there are some sporadic hints in the General Theory, as for example is the following: There is the possibility, for reasons discussed above, that, after the interest rate has fallen to a certain level, liquidity-preference may become virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone prefers cash to holding a debt which yields so low a rate of interest. In this event the monetary authority would have lost effective control over the rate of interest. But whilst this limiting case might become practically important in future, I know of no example of it hitherto. (Keynes, 1936, p. 207)  [8]   However, Keynes does not discuss this case in any detail so as to claim that this is the hallmark of his theory. What is certain, however, is that the liquidity trap is more Hickss and subsequently Hansens (1953, pp. 122-3) idea rather than Keyness.  [9]  Consequently, the view that the liquidity trap is the essence of Keyness theory is due to the influence that the Hicksian model exerted on macroeconomics and much less to Keynes and his writings. Suppose, now, that for some reason investment increases, and then the increase in the rate of interest follows suit, a result which is consistent with neoclassical theory and with Hickss argument. It is true, that in Keynes the arrow of causality is different from that in neoclassical economics. However, it continues to be true that, under normal conditions, the interest rate increases when investment increases except for the case of the liquidity trap, where only income changes in every change in investment. The trouble, however, with Hickss view is that for Keynes the rate of interest is determined by monetary forces, while in the IS-LM framework the interest rate is determined by real forces. This is an issue that Keynes pointed out in his letter to Hicks. For example we read: From my point of view it is important to insist that my remark is to the effect that an increase in the inducement to invest need not raise the rate of interest. I should agree that, unless the monetary policy is appropriate, it is quite likely to. In this respect I consider that the difference between myself and the classicals lies in the fact that they regard the rate of interest as a no-monetary phenomenon, so that an increase in the inducement to invest would raise the rate of interest irrespective of monetary policy. (Keynes, 1973, p.80) A final point relates to the inclusion of current income in the investment function. Keynes objected to this idea for the reason that income was already included in the definition of the marginal efficiency of capital through the prospective yields. The following quotation from his letter to Hicks, shows that Keynes was not only acquainted with the IS-LM apparatus but also as a modern econometrician argued against the inclusion in the same specification of both income and interest rate. Specifically, Keynes notes: At one time I tried the equations, as you have done, with I in all of them. The objection to this is that it overemphasizes current income. In the case of the inducement to invest, expected income for the period of investment is the relevant variable. This I have attempted to take into account of in the definition of the marginal efficiency of capital. As soon as the prospective yields have been determined, account has been taken of income, actual and expected. But, whilst it may be true that entrepreneurs are over-influenced by present income, far too much stress is laid on the psychological influence, if present income is brought into such prominence. It is of course, all matter of degree. (Keynes, 1973, pp. 80-81). Barens and Caspar (1999) in their discussion of Hicks and Keynes note that while Hicks accepted all of Keyness points he nevertheless insisted in his own formulation for merely pedagogical reasons. 10.4 Modiglianis Synthesis Hickss model does not refer explicitly to the labour market; it is simply confined to demonstrating that there is equilibrium in only two markets that is the market for goods and the market for money. In his model, Hicks explicitly argues that the money wage as well as the general price level are exogenously given. Franco Modigliani (1944) extended Hickss model by including the labour market and the production function. Modigliani argued that the assumption of equilibrium with unemployment cannot be supported on the basis of the liquidity preference theory except for the particular case of the liquidity trap. In general, however, the Keynesian hypothesis can be supported on the assumption of the rigidity in the money wage. For Modigliani, the equilibrium in terms of the IS-LM model implies a pair of interest rate and money income that clears simultaneously the money and good markets. Consequently, we must take into account that the money income (ÃŽÂ ¥ ) is equal to the price level (P ) times the level of the real income (X ). As a result, we may write: Y=PX The level of real income (or output) is a function of the level of employment of labour (ÃŽÂ ). Consequently, we have: X=F(ÃŽÂ ) The level of employment in turn is determined at the point, where the marginal product of labour is equal to wage. Consequently, we have: w=PF-1 (ÃŽÂ ) Up until now we have a system of 7 equations (the three equations above together with the system of 4 simultaneous equations of the IS-LM) with 8 unknowns, that is I, S, i, Y, X, W, P. More specifically, we have the 4 equations of Hickss model: I=I(i, Y) S=S(i, Y) I=S M=L(i, Y) And the three new equations suggested by Modigliani: Y=PX X=F(ÃŽÂ ) w=P F -1(ÃŽÂ ) The system is overdetermined by one equation, the missing equation is the supply of labour. Modigliani in his article invokes Keyness assumption of the given money wage. More specifically, the money wage is given if, and only if, the economy is at a level of output less than full employment. We know that in the neoclassical analysis the supply of labour is a function of the real wage N=F(w/P) so the money wage can be written as w=F-1(N)P Formally, Modigliani stated his condition in the labour market in the following way: w=awo +bPF -1(ÃŽÂ ) Where, a=1, b=0 if ÃŽÂ  a=0, b=1 if ÃŽÂ  = ÃŽÂ f The last equation indicates that if the current employment in the economy is smaller than full employment (ÃŽÂ f ), then Keyness view for the rigidity of money wage holds indeed, that is we have (a=1 and b=0). Money wage is viewed as a datum a result of history or of economic policy or of both (Modigliani, 1944, p. 47). If, however, the economy is at full employment, then the money wage becomes flexible (a=0 and b=1) and the last equation becomes an ordinary supply of labour function. Consequently, the money wage will be determined from the supply of labour at the point of full employment. In Modiglianis presentation we find that the central assumption is the rigidity of the money wage, an assumption which, as with the liquidity trap does not really find any justification in the General Theory, where the nominal wage is being used simply to determine the price level. By contrast, in Modiglianis presentation the nominal wage has another important role to play. This is revealed if we express Modiglianis system of simultaneous equations in terms of wage units or alternatively in terms of labour commanded.  [10]  Thus, we have: investment is given in terms of labour commanded savings is given in terms of labour commanded equilibrium in the goods market equilibrium in the money market income given in terms of labour commanded the production function, which is by definition in real terms the real wage is equal to the marginal product of labour the supply of labour Hence, we have a system of 8 equations and 8 unknowns (I/w, S/w, i, Y/w, ÃŽ, N, w, P ). If, for a moment, we disregard the fourth equation and focus our attention on the remaining 7 equations, we observe that these can determine all the variables but one, that is the money wage. The result is that the supply of money determines the money wage; since this is the only variable that remains to close the system. Such a determination is due to the quantity theory of money. Consequently, Modiglianis system of equations is dichotomised into the real economy-which includes all the equations except the fourth one-and the money economy, that is the equation of equilibrium in the money market. The real economy gives solutions in real terms (7 equations with 7 unknowns, that is I/w, S/w, i, Y/w, X, N, w/P) while the money supply: determines the nominal wage, since the other variables are determined in the real economy. Consequently, the money supply determines the nominal wage and through the real wage it also determines the general price level. Thus, monetary policy may affect real magnitudes in the Keynesian model, contrary to Hickss reasoning according to which the money supply does affect the real economy. Modiglianis analysis leads to the conclusion that flexibility in prices and money wages establishes full employment in the economy. The mechanism that restores full employment works as follows: the existence of unemployment drives down nominal wages and therefore incomes fall. The demand for money for transaction purposes, being directly related to income, falls as well, and with a given supply of money the rate of interest falls as well. From thereon investment increases and the economy moves toward the full employment level of output. Modigliani managed to formalise Keyness argument about the results of the flexibility in money wages. It is important to stress that the pivotal variable in this formalisation of the theory of employment is the idea of inflexibility of money wage. A corollary of this theory is that the role of money is not neutral. For example, the increase in the supply of money affects the price level and reduces the interest rate and thus output and employment are increased. If the nominal wage were perfectly flexible, then moneys role would be neutral since it does not influence the interest rate i, or the liquidity preference L and output remains the same. Consequently, under conditions of a fully flexible nominal wage the increase in the supply of money leads only to an increase in the general price level. Consequently, ÃŽÅ“odigliani concludes that Keyness theory works only in case of inflexibility of the nominal wage. If, however, the money wage is flexible then we derive the usual neoclassical results, where the real economy determines the level of output and employment and the money economy determines the nominal variables of the economy. This does not imply a rejection of Keyness theory; on the contrary, economists accept the idea of inflexibility of the money wage as a stylised fact of modern economies and thus, Keynesian policy is viewed as both theoretically valid and necessary. The problem, however, relates to the theoretical consistency of the Keynesian system that once again became a special case of the general neoclassical model according to which the economy exhibits a sufficient flexibility in prices of commodities and the factors of production. 10.5 Summary and Conclusions In an overall evaluation of the two models we see that they both represent aspects or partial arguments of the General Theory. Nevertheless their major problem in terms of the General Theory is the simultaneity issue and also the treatment of uncertainty. In Hickss article we find an explanation of unemployment and recession as a result of the liquidity trap, which differentiates Keyness theory from the (neo)classical one. In Modigliani, by contrast, the recession is the result of the inflexibility of money wage and not of the lack of effective demand. Commenting on this kind of revision of the General Theory Paul Samuelson in the third edition of his popular text Economics, notes: In recent years 90 per cent of American economists have stopped being Keynesian economists or anti-Keynesian economists. Instead they have worked towards a synthesis of whatever is valuable in older economics and in modern theories of income determination. The result might be called neoclassical economics and is accepted in its broad outlines by all but about 5 per cent of extreme left-wing and right-wing writers. (Samuelson, 1955, p. 212). These efforts to cast Keynesian theory in terms of IS-LM, Samuelson called neoclassical synthesis, since it puts together the neoclassical analysis of investment and savings and the market for labour with the analysis of Keynes about the interaction between the money market and the real level of economic activity. The neoclassical synthesis became the dominant presentation of the General Theory. According to this view, when there is unemployment, then we have Modiglianis supply of labour function with a=1 and b=0, and as a result of the exercise of appropriate monetary and fiscal policy the economy approaches the level of full employment. When the economy approaches the level of output that corresponds to full employment, then once again the neoclassical theory becomes relevant. If our central controls succeed in establishing an aggregate volume of output corresponding to full employment as nearly as is practicable, the classical theory comes into its own again from this point onwards. (Keynes, 1936, p. 378) In general, economists of the neoclassical synthesis argue that although the economy returns to full employment through the price mechanism, nevertheless this is a long run process. Consequently, for immediate results active fiscal and monetary policies are necessary. Modiglianis ideas, which became the foundation of the neoclassical synthesis, and which essentially constitute a Marshallian partial equilibrium approach, became the object of criticism from Walrasian authors. They posited the following question: how is it possible to have equilibrium in all the markets but one? The protagonists of this critique of the neoclassical synthesis are Alex Lejonhufvund and Robert Clower, whose contributions we discuss in the next chapter. Other criticisms included the phenomena of unemployment and later of the stagflation in the late sixties or seventies. Some economists, the monetarists for example, tried to fix the weaknesses of the model and others such as the New Classical economists claimed that the premises on which the IS-LM framework is based are dubious, while New Keynesian economists in the 1980s revived the old Keynesian models by injecting realism and by basing them on microeconomic foundations which simply were not used in the initial models. Whatever happens to the current macroeconomic debates and the various criticisms launched against the IS-LM models, one thing is certain, that these will continue to be part of the formal education of future generations of economists. Questions for Discussion and Thought Write down the Hicksian system of equations. Draw a graph with the IS-LM system of equations and assuming a disequilibrium situation describe the dynamics of attaining equilibrium. To what extend does Hickss model represent Keyness General Theory? What was Keyness reaction to Hickss IS-LM representation of the General Theory? Discuss Modiglianis Neoclassical Synthesis. To what extent does his model differ from Keyness? What are the major similarities and differences between Hickss and Modiglianis models? Critically evaluate the following statement: I will assume all markets with the sole exception of the labour market are in equilibrium. Notes on Further Reading Hickss (1936) article is easy to follow, but the exposition of ideas (not visions) is really dry. The reader discerns an effort on the part of Hicks to express Keyness ideas in terms of equations and graphs without, however, the proper textual documentation. As we have mentioned, at the time that Hicks presented his article in the econometric society meeting at Oxford, two other related papers were presented in the same meeting by Meade and Harrod. Darity and Young (1995) present the details of these three articles a

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Evolution Of The First Amendment Essay -- essays research papers

The Evolution of the First Amendment The first amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.(encyclopedia) The inhabitants of the North American colonies did not have a legal right to express opposition to the British government that ruled them. Nonetheless, throughout the late 1700s, these early Americans did voice their discontent with the crown. For example they strongly denounced the British parliament's enactment of a series of tax levies to pay off a large national debt that England incurred in its Seven Years War with France. In newspaper articles, pamphlets and through boycotts, the colonists raised what would become their battle cry: "No taxation without representation!" And in 1773, the people of the Massachusetts Bay Colony demonstrated their outrage at the tax on tea in a dramatic act of civil disobedience, the Boston Tea Party.(Eldridge,15) The stage was set for the birth of the First Amendment, which formally recognized the natural and inalienable rights of Americans to think and speak freely. The first Amendments early years were not entirely auspicious. Although the early Americans enjoyed great freedom compared to citizens of other nations, even the Constitution's framer once in power, could resist the string temptation to circumvent the First Amendment's clear mandate. Before the 1930s, we had no legally protected rights of free speech in anything like the form we now know it. Critics of the government or government officials, called seditious libel, was oftenly made a crime. Every state had a seditious libel law when the Constitution was adopted. And within the decade of the adoption of the First Amendment, the founding fathers in congress initiated and passed the repressive Alien and Sedition act (1798). This act was used by the dominant Federalists party to prosecute a number of prominent Republican newspaper editors.(Kairys,3) When Thomas Jefferson was elected president in 1801 they also prosecuted their critics. More than 2,000 people were prosecuted, and many served substantial prison te... ...o preserve freedom of expression have taught us anything, it is that the first target of government suppression is never the last. Whenever government gains the power to decide who can speak and what they can say, the first Amendment rights of all of us are in danger of being violated. But when all people are allowed to express their views and ideas, the principles of democracy and liberty are enhanced. American democracy should mean more than the right to picket when you are really upset or pissed at the system and to vote every four years in elections devoid of content or context. Change will require, as it has in the past, recognition that free speech and democracy are political, not narrowly legal, issues. And it will also require an enlargement of our understanding of such rights to include public access to the various mass media. Bibliography Eldridge, Larry D. A Distant Heritage: The Growth of Free Speech in Early America. New York: New York University Press, 1994. Kairys, David. The Politics of Law In These Times. New York. Patheon Press, 1991. McWhirter, Darien A. Freedom of Speech, Press, and Assembly, Phoenix AZ: Oryx Press, 1994. The World Book Encyclopedia.1995.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Dissociative Identity Disorder Essay -- essays research papers

Dissociative Identity Disorder, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition (DSM-IV-TR), is â€Å"characterized by the presence of two or more distinct identities or personality states that recurrently take control of the individual’s behavior accompanied by an inability to recall important personal information that is too extensive to be explained by ordinary forgetfulness. It is a disorder characterized by identity fragmentation rather than a proliferation of separate personalities.† To qualify as dissociative identity disorder, also known as D.I.D., at least two personalities must routinely take alternate control of the individual's behavior, and there must be a loss of memory that goes beyond normal forgetfulness. This memory loss is often referred to as "losing time". These symptoms must occur independently of substance abuse or a general medical condition. â€Å"Dissociative identity disorder is a rare diagnosis, although people currently with a diagnosis of psychosis may in fact be experiencing what is associated with the disorder. Because of the rarity of the diagnosis, there is much misunderstanding and ignorance among people and mental health professionals. Special attention is given to the reality of coping with the difficulties that dissociative identity disorder creates.† D.I.D. has been mistaken quite frequently for schizophrenia (also called dementia praecox). Other misdiagnoses include borderline personality disorder, somatization disorder, and panic disorder, and can take 6-7 years, on average, from the first sign to the diagnosis. D.I.D. patients are often frightened by their dissociative experiences and may go to emergency rooms or clinics because they fear they are ... ... an adjunct to psychotherapy and/or medication. These include hydrotherapy, herbal medicine, therapeutic massage, and yoga. Meditation is usually discouraged until the patient's personality has been reintegrated. Treatment of D.I.D. is complex. Patients are often treated under a variety of other psychiatric diagnoses for a long time before being re-diagnosed with D.I.D. Many patients are misdiagnosed as depressed because their primary personality is subdued and withdrawn. The outlook for people with D.I.D. is usually very good, if they stick with the therapy that works for them. Some therapists believe that the prognosis for recovery is excellent for children and good for most adults. Although treatment takes years, it is often ultimately effective. As a general rule, the earlier the patient is diagnosed and properly treated, the better the chances for improvement.

Environtmental Movement Essay -- Environtment Nature Essays

Environtmental Movement Introduction Environment is the entirety of circumstances surrounding an individual or group. This includes external physical settings as well as social and cultural conditions. However, this concept has been contextually limited when applied to the environmental movement. The environment is principally associated with the â€Å"natural† world. This creates an exclusive movement which inevitably will hinder constructive transformation. The political landscape of this nation must be renovated in order to achieve an effective environmental movement that infiltrates everyone (Bullard, 1994). An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Concepts cannot be restrictive. Understandings and perspectives of the term environment need to expand in order to create a successful, sustainable environmental movement. History of the Environmental Movement A biased viewpoint of history by the dominant culture, ethnicity, and gender produces the exclusive atmosphere of the environmental movement. History is established and recorded from socially constructed knowledge. This creates a public culture that is not equally representative of society. However, a neutral interpretation and documentation of the world is impractical. Countless combinations of possible ingredients that compose environments create infinite realities; therefore, reality is relative—a cultural, social, and political construction. Society needs to work towards multiple systems of representation, polyphony of voices. Furthermore, all researchers and historians can overtly acknowledge their biases, utilizing hermeneutics. Objectivism is ironically fiction, because the researcher bases his or her conclusions o... ...isco : Sierra Club Books. Crosby, Alfred W. Oct. 1995. The Past and Present of Environmental History. The American Historical Review. Duncan , James and Ley, David (1993). Place/Culture/Representation. London : Routledge. Douglas, Ian, Huggett, Richar, and Robinson, Mike (1996). Companion Encyclopedia of Geography: the environment and humankind. London : Routledge. Bender Shetler, Jane. Class Lecture, 13 February 2002 . Atkins, Peter, Simmons, Ian and Brain Roberts (1998). People, Land, and Time: An Historical Introduction to the Relations Between Landscape, Culture, and Environment. London : Arnold . Routhman, Hal. Sept. 2002. Conceptualizing the Real: Environmental History and American Studies. American Quarterly, Vol. 54. Vidgor, Jacob L. 2002. Does Gentrification Harm the Poor? Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs Environtmental Movement Essay -- Environtment Nature Essays Environtmental Movement Introduction Environment is the entirety of circumstances surrounding an individual or group. This includes external physical settings as well as social and cultural conditions. However, this concept has been contextually limited when applied to the environmental movement. The environment is principally associated with the â€Å"natural† world. This creates an exclusive movement which inevitably will hinder constructive transformation. The political landscape of this nation must be renovated in order to achieve an effective environmental movement that infiltrates everyone (Bullard, 1994). An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Concepts cannot be restrictive. Understandings and perspectives of the term environment need to expand in order to create a successful, sustainable environmental movement. History of the Environmental Movement A biased viewpoint of history by the dominant culture, ethnicity, and gender produces the exclusive atmosphere of the environmental movement. History is established and recorded from socially constructed knowledge. This creates a public culture that is not equally representative of society. However, a neutral interpretation and documentation of the world is impractical. Countless combinations of possible ingredients that compose environments create infinite realities; therefore, reality is relative—a cultural, social, and political construction. Society needs to work towards multiple systems of representation, polyphony of voices. Furthermore, all researchers and historians can overtly acknowledge their biases, utilizing hermeneutics. Objectivism is ironically fiction, because the researcher bases his or her conclusions o... ...isco : Sierra Club Books. Crosby, Alfred W. Oct. 1995. The Past and Present of Environmental History. The American Historical Review. Duncan , James and Ley, David (1993). Place/Culture/Representation. London : Routledge. Douglas, Ian, Huggett, Richar, and Robinson, Mike (1996). Companion Encyclopedia of Geography: the environment and humankind. London : Routledge. Bender Shetler, Jane. Class Lecture, 13 February 2002 . Atkins, Peter, Simmons, Ian and Brain Roberts (1998). People, Land, and Time: An Historical Introduction to the Relations Between Landscape, Culture, and Environment. London : Arnold . Routhman, Hal. Sept. 2002. Conceptualizing the Real: Environmental History and American Studies. American Quarterly, Vol. 54. Vidgor, Jacob L. 2002. Does Gentrification Harm the Poor? Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs Environtmental Movement Essay -- Environtment Nature Essays Environtmental Movement Introduction Environment is the entirety of circumstances surrounding an individual or group. This includes external physical settings as well as social and cultural conditions. However, this concept has been contextually limited when applied to the environmental movement. The environment is principally associated with the â€Å"natural† world. This creates an exclusive movement which inevitably will hinder constructive transformation. The political landscape of this nation must be renovated in order to achieve an effective environmental movement that infiltrates everyone (Bullard, 1994). An injustice to one is an injustice to all. Concepts cannot be restrictive. Understandings and perspectives of the term environment need to expand in order to create a successful, sustainable environmental movement. History of the Environmental Movement A biased viewpoint of history by the dominant culture, ethnicity, and gender produces the exclusive atmosphere of the environmental movement. History is established and recorded from socially constructed knowledge. This creates a public culture that is not equally representative of society. However, a neutral interpretation and documentation of the world is impractical. Countless combinations of possible ingredients that compose environments create infinite realities; therefore, reality is relative—a cultural, social, and political construction. Society needs to work towards multiple systems of representation, polyphony of voices. Furthermore, all researchers and historians can overtly acknowledge their biases, utilizing hermeneutics. Objectivism is ironically fiction, because the researcher bases his or her conclusions o... ...isco : Sierra Club Books. Crosby, Alfred W. Oct. 1995. The Past and Present of Environmental History. The American Historical Review. Duncan , James and Ley, David (1993). Place/Culture/Representation. London : Routledge. Douglas, Ian, Huggett, Richar, and Robinson, Mike (1996). Companion Encyclopedia of Geography: the environment and humankind. London : Routledge. Bender Shetler, Jane. Class Lecture, 13 February 2002 . Atkins, Peter, Simmons, Ian and Brain Roberts (1998). People, Land, and Time: An Historical Introduction to the Relations Between Landscape, Culture, and Environment. London : Arnold . Routhman, Hal. Sept. 2002. Conceptualizing the Real: Environmental History and American Studies. American Quarterly, Vol. 54. Vidgor, Jacob L. 2002. Does Gentrification Harm the Poor? Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

“My Financial Career” by Stephen Leacock Essay

Write an short essay on the story â€Å"My Financial Career†. State whether you think the narrator will succeed or not in his financial plan. Give proofs. The man in â€Å"My Financial Career† is too nervous and inexperienced to succeed in his financial plan at the bank. The people in the bank particularly the manager and the accountant do not help him because the man said everything about the bank rattled him in the first sentence of the story. He is not confident when trying something new. He acted vaguely when he decides to open a bank account. He emphasized a few times on requesting to see the manager â€Å"alone† in which he should not be doing this because it makes him very suspicious. The manager fetched an accountant to help him open the account. After depositing his fifty-six dollars, he wanted to draw six dollars with a cheque. However he was too nervous that he made a mistake to draw all of his money out he had deposited. The accountant gave him a chance to correct it as he says â€Å"What! Are you drawing it all out again?† However because of his pride, he pretended to do it on purpose. Not only the man himself is responsible for this failure, the people in the bank are also factors that made him fail. Firstly, the clerks in the bank are not enthusiastic enough. They are not willing to help him initiatively. Secondly, the accountant is lacking zeal and acting coolly to him in which was making him even more nervous. Lastly, the manager of the bank was impatient and spoke to the man abruptly after realizing that the man was not a rich person, it made him feel very embarrassed. In conclusion the man failed because the lack of care from the people in the bank and his shyness, pride. He would not have failed if he was more insistent on getting his job done ignoring his pride or if the people in the bank helped him warmly. This is a humorous story but the writer wrote the story based on real situations. He tells us that people in big banks only cares about money, normal people with little money are not very important to them. The writer thinks both rich and poor people should be treated equally by banks and other companies.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Cambodia Typical Families Essay

Most of the people of Cambodia live in villages and farm the land or fish to obtain their food. To see the real life and culture of how over three- quarters of the people of Cambodia live, you have to leave the cities and visit the villages. Houses are either in groups or strung out along a canal, river road or hillside. They are the source of Cambodian pride and satisfaction. All major events – birth, marriage, and death – occur within the villages. Cambodians are very shy people but very warm and welcoming to visitors. Their society is conservative, and centered around the family and religion. However, Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Asia, with an average daily income of approximately US$1.30 a day. More than 80% of the people of Cambodia follow a traditional lifestyle in the countryside. The main occupants of a village are farmers and their families engage in traditional agriculture on small farm lots. The majority of farmers live in permanent villages known as sedentary villages. It may look idyllic, but subsistence farming is very hard. Most grow rice and basic crops. Each morning you can see workers walking to the fields carrying their tools and leading their water buffalo or cattle. At sunset they return to the shelter of the villages. Other villagers live in temporary shelters until the end of the growing season when they return to a village that is more permanent but which may be moved if new land is needed. These people are called shifting cultivators and they live in the more rugged upland areas. These people mostly belong to hill-tribes of Cambodia and live in the North-eastern provinces. Like almost all other countries in Asia, the Cambodian people’s main food is rice. Cambodian peasants have planted rice ever since the time of the Angkor Empire. At the present time they still implement their traditional techniques. Cambodia has a geographical advantage and is extremely blessed with good water resources. The people in the countryside still plant their rice seasonally. The most common time they would plant is in the wet or monsoon season. In the dry season, the only farmers who can plant their rice paddy fields are those near water. About 10% of the people of Cambodian run small businesses from their ‘shop houses’ (The front of their house is the shop, and the family lives behind this or above on the first story) and about 8% of people work for the government. Visitors will notice a huge gap between rich and poor. A few Cambodians are very rich, with big houses, expensive cars and servants, while the very poor live in small thatched houses and do not even have a bicycle. Country life follows the rhythm of the seasons around planting and harvesting the crops. After the rainy season you will see people climbing palm trees to obtain palm juice to make palm sugar. You can also see them fishing in the rivers and lakes to supplement their income. As in most other countries, rural people tend to marry younger (18 – 25 years for men and 16 – 20 years for women) and have more children (3 – 5). In contrast, urban men marry at 25 – 35ys of age and women at 20 – 25yrs and rarely have more than 3 children. Cambodians usually have 3 meals a day. Rice in some form is eaten at nearly every meal. Fish is the main protein. Poor people may have to make do with cold rice (left over from lunch time) and fish sauce for their evening meal. Despite the hardships of recent years, adult literacy has risen to 65%. It greatly varies over the country, and sadly less girls than boys continue with their education. Cambodia is experiencing a resurgence of traditional arts, especially classical dancing which was performed at the palace and folk dancing.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Polynomial Essay

 © ITT Educational Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -Change Date: 01/24/2011 Submission Requirements Format: Microsoft Word Font: Arial, Size 12, Double-Space Citation Style: Chicago Manual of Style Length: 1–2 pages Self-Assessment Checklist I have recommended the appropriate kernel that can be used by the organization. I have explained the advantages and disadvantages of using each of the kernel options with a valid rationale. Project Part 3 Task 2: Recommend a Software Management Plan Scenario The original task team at First World Bank Savings and Loan has concerns about the support and software management of the organization’s Linux-based infrastructure. The team wants you to recommend a software m anagement plan keeping in mind the various servers and the cost. Tasks You need to: Make a recommendation for a software management plan. Consider options available from the open source community and from vendors. If you select a  vendor, specify the software it will support and how it will support. Explain the need to install anti-virus software on Linux servers providing a rationale in support of your answer. Summarize a plan for applying patches and security updates to the Linux system. Submission Requirements Format: Microsoft Word IS3440 Linux Security STUDENT COPY: Project  © ITT Educational Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -Change Date: 01/24/2011 Font: Arial, Size 12, Double-Space Citation Style: Chicago Manual of Style Length: 1–2 pages Self-Assessment Checklist I have recommended a suitable software management plan.  I have explained the need to install anti-virus software on Linux servers.  I have explained how to manage critical and noncritical security-related updates. Project Part 3 Task 3: Monitor Logs and Baseline Scenario The task team at First World Bank Savings and Loan wants you to research appropriate monitoring tools for the organization’s Linux-based tiered infrastructure. Tasks You need to: Summarize the benefits of remote logging. Recommend tools for: o Alerting administrators when files in the operating system have changed. o Checking for rootkits. o Checking for new open ports, files, and system resources.  Explain how logwatch can be configured to  deliver a daily report from each server  summarizing events found in log files.  Recommend a schedule and a software application or service to periodically scan the servers to satisfy Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS) compliance requirements. Submission Requirements IS3440 Linux Security STUDENT COPY: Project  © ITT Educational Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -Change Date: 01/24/2011 Format: Microsoft Word Font: Arial, Size 12, Double-Space Citation Style: Chicago Manual of Style Length: 1–2 pages for the project task; 2–3 pages for the executive summary Self-Assessment Checklist for Project Part 3 Task 3 I have recommended a file integrity checker and explained the purpose of a rootkit checker. I have explained the use of common GNU’s Not UNIX (GNU) utility tools. I have described the configuration of logwatch and recommended a service or tool for periodic server scans.  Self-Assessment Checklist for Project Part 3: Executive Summary I have recommended appropriate kernel options for the organization and explained the pros and cons of each option.  I have described the importance of a software management plan. I have explained the use of installing anti-virus software on Linux servers. I have summarized monitoring and logging techniques used in a typical Linux infrastructure. I have described the importance of a suitable backup plan, while maintaining data confidentiality using encryption. Project Part 4 Task 1: Design a Backup Plan  For the various servers that are part of First World Bank Savings and Loan’s Linux-based infrastructure, you have to research and design a backup plan using open source and commercial software. You can create the design based on your discussions with peers in Unit 10 Discussion 1 titled â€Å"Creating a Backup Plan.† Tasks You need to: IS3440 Linux Security STUDENT COPY: Project  © ITT Educational Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved. -Change Date: 01/24/2011 Recommend software, both open source and commercial, to use for the backup plan. Explain reasons for your recommendation. Recommend a design of the backup plan. Answer the following questions: Will you use a dedicated server or a service provider for backups?  Will backups be stored on hard disks,  tape media, or any other media? Who will be responsible for verifying backups and restoring data? Summarize the need for encrypting backup data. Submission Requirements Format: Microsoft Word Font: Arial, Size 12, Double-Space Citation Style: Chicago Manual of Style Length: 1–2 pages for the project task; 3–5 pages for the executive summary Self-Assessment Checklist for Project Part 4 Task 1 I have recommended open source and commercial software options for the backup. I have designed a plan for full and incremental backups and explained the need for encrypting backup data.  I have designed a process for backup verification and restoring. Self-Assessment Checklist for Project Part 4: Executive Summary of the Project I have demonstrated how to secure a Linux platform using installed commands and other available open source software. I have explained the use of bastion hosts to secure architecture design. I have examined best practices to mitigate security risks to a Linux server using a suitable software management plan.  I have demonstrated the use of a layered security approach on Linux servers. I have described backup, recovery, and incident response in a Linux architecture. IS3440 Linux Security STUDENT COPY: Project

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Family Assessment and Nursing Process Essay

According to Stanhope & Lancaster (2001), a family nursing assessment is considered to be the cornerstone for family nursing interventions and is used in a systematic fashion for the identification of the family’s developmental stages and risk factors. There are many tools available that provide guidelines for how to best get to know a family and to determine their strengths and weaknesses. One such tool is the Friedman Family Assessment tool which provides a guideline for nurses to interview a family. Theory is also a necessary tool when assessing a family because it is theory that most powerfully explains clinical situations and provides guidelines when working with families (Friedman, Bowden, and Jones, 2003). The theory that will be applied to family assessment in this paper is the structural-functional theory. The structural-functional theory recognizes the interaction between family members within their internal and external environment (Friedman et al., 2003). Once a co mprehensive family assessment is complete and health issues are identified, the nursing process is implemented in order to render care that is imperative for assisting each family member to achieve an optimum level of wellness (Gilliss & Davis, 1993). In compliance with HIPPA regulations of strict confidentiality, the fictitious name of Listo will be used to identify the family that is assessed in this report. The Friedman Family assessment model will be followed as a guideline to discuss the family’s identifying data, the structure-function of the family members, and how the family handles stress, coping and adaptation. Lastly, key assessment data will be used in the nursing process in order to assess, diagnose, plan, intervene, and evaluate a family member’s diagnosis. The Listo family is an extended family that is composed of a marital dyad, their two adult sons, the maternal grandmother and the son’s girlfriend who is in her second trimester of pregnancy. The husband and wife have been married for 30 years and their sons are ages 23 and 26years old. The husband identifies his ethnicity as Italian. His primary language is English and he  was born and raised in California. His parents migrated to the United States from Italy in the early 1940’s. Because they migrated at such a young age, his patents have acculturated to the American way of life, but still feel strongly about their cultural heritage (McCallion, Janicki, & Grant-Griffin, 1997). The wife identifies her ethnicity as Caucasian. She was also born and raised in California. Both husband and wife grew-up in the Catholic faith and attended church primarily on holidays. In their mid-thirties, they accepted Christ as their personal savior and became born again Christians; first the husband and then a few months later the wife. The husband owns a painting business for residential properties and the wife sales residential real estate and works for a local real estate company. They are considered a lower-middle class family. The major distinguishing characteristics of the lower-middle class family are respectability, achievement, hard work and honesty (Friedman et al., 2003). Neither husband nor wife has a college degree. Both are hard-working and are proud that they have provided financially for their sons who have both received a college education. Previously, the 25 year old son and his girlfriend were living together and were a dual income household. They both moved in with his parents when the girlfriend had to quit her job because of complication she suffered during the first few months of her pregnancy. They plan to marry once they are financially stable. The son is currently working as a physical fitness coach for a college football team and contributes financially to the family. In June of this year, the 22 year old son graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and moved back home. He is currently looking for employment and hopes to move out within the year. The grandmother is 76 years old and has lived with the family for the past year due to the progression of her COPD. FAMILY STRUCTURE According to Friedman, Bowden and Jones (2003), the concept of analyzing the structure of a family refers to how the family is organized, how the components are arranged and how they relate to each other. The four main structures of the family are roles, values, communication processes and power and decision-making. The role theory is the structure that is the focus of the Listo family. Family roles play a critical part in the organization of the family and because of this the family nurse must understand role relationships in order to be able to promote healthy role behaviors and identify role problems (Friedman et al., 2003). According to the role theory, a family member will play many roles in a family. There are both formal and informal roles within the family structure. Formal family roles include the more obvious roles such as mother-wife, father-husband, and father-son. The less obvious roles are that of encourager, harmonizer, initiator, scapegoat, compromiser, etc. Informal roles are more likely to be based on personality than age or sex (Kievit, 1968). Within the Listo family, the husband-wife dyadic relationship is complimentary exhibited by a contrasting relationship (Friedman et al., 2003). As the formal role of wife, Mrs. Listo is the leading dominant personality and makes most of the decisions in the family including decisions about the children and the household finances. She is also the main source of income for the family. As the formal role of husband, Mr. Listo is more of a follower, a position he appears to be content with. According to Friedman, Borden, and Jones (2003), there is a strong element of dependency between the husband and wife in a complimentary relationship. This is true for the Listo family; they have a close bond and seem to be comfortable with their husband-wife give and take relationship. Assessment of the Listo family revealed numerous informal family roles. The grandmother takes on the informal role of recognition seeker. As explained by Friedman, Bowden, Jones (2003), the recognition seeker goes to great lengths to draw attention to self. When questioning the grandmother about other members of the family, she continued to turn every conversation back to a subject that involved her as the center figure. The two Listo boys have the informal role of caretaker. During the interview the grandmother continued to ask the boys to get her purse, find her glasses, and bring her some tea. When the boys were out of the room, the grandmother complained about how lazy the boys are and that they don’t understand her condition and what she’s going through with her COPD. The husband has the informal role of  follower. He goes along with the wishes of the family and if there is a dispute over how or what to do, he just listens and only participates in the conversation if he is directly asked a question. The wife has the informal role of Initiator-Contributor. She motivates the children with ideas and ways to accomplish goals and solve problems. According to Kantor and Lehr (1975), the Initiator-Contributor causes movement in the family and is characterized by the initiation of action. The girlfriend has the informal role as the encourager. She gives compliments freely and often. She appears to be genuinely interested in listening to others and she rarely draws attention to herself. â€Å"The greater the perceived clarity of role expectation the higher the quality of role enactment† (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 324). When evaluating the quality of each role, it was determined that the family members clearly understand their roles and are content with the expectation that is attached to each role. The exception was the 23 year old son, who exhibited role conflict with his duties as caregiver for the grandmother. After having the freedom of college life, it has been difficult for the 23 year old to be living back at home and having specific expectations put upon him. According to Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003), the youngest son is experiencing intersender role conflict, which happens when there are conflicting expectations regarding the enactment of a role. FAMILY HEALTH FUNCTION According to the Structure-Function theory, a function is an outcome or consequence of the structure. Function is described as being what the family does. Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003) describe 5 specific functions: affective, socialization, reproductive, economic and health care. The focus of the Listo family assessment is the function of health care. The Friedman Assessment Model was used as a guide. According to Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003), health practices and health care services are extremely varied from family to family. Families are diverse in the way they conceptualize health and illness and when to seek health care. The Listo family prides themselves on how healthy they have been. Until recently, the family had what they described as â€Å"catastrophic† medical insurance. The mother and father are both independent contractors and do not have insurance through their place of employment. Their insurance policy carried a $1,500 deductible. This high deductible deterred the family from visiting the doctor for regular check-ups. The Listo family falls under the umbrella of â€Å"underinsured† which has prevented them from receiving comprehensive health care. With the wife’s real estate doing so well over the past couple of years, the Listos now have an insurance plan that covers standard check-ups and dental care as well. The 25 year old son receives health coverage from his employer and the girlfriend has private insurance. With so many years without health care access, the Listo family has not participated in health management. According to Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003), the family needs to be in direct partnership with health care providers. Clients also need to be the ultimate decision makers and managers of the health issues that affect their lives. Health education is needed so that the Listo family can feel empowered to direct their own health care (Friedman, et al., 2003). The 2 sons exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet that includes fruits, vegetables and grains and are in good health. The girlfriend takes charge of her health and the health of unborn child by keeping all of her scheduled appointment, asking important questions, and following the guidelines agreed upon between her and her physician. The husband is overweight and has hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The hypertension and hyperlipidemia are controlled with medication. The husband is not consistent with getting his check-ups and having his blood The wife is slightly overweight which she attributes to a bad diet and lack of exercise. Generally, the Listo family is in good health. In the case where the family is healthy, health promotion is the goal of family nursing (Friedman, et al., 2003 p. 436). One goal for the Listo family is health promotion. The one member of the Listo household that is chronically ill is the Grandmother. She admits that her COPD was caused by 40 years of smoking 1-2 packs of â€Å"Camel† no filter cigarettes a day. Each year in the United States,  hundreds of thousands die prematurely due to living unhealthy lifestyles (Friedman, et al., 2003). As the caretakers for the grandmother, the Listo family is at risk for role strain. The grandmother’s condition is progressive and as time goes on she will become more dependent on the family members for care. Orem’s self-care model is applicable to this family. According to Orem’s self-care theory, nursing care is required when an adult is no longer able to care for themselves. It also states that nursing care may need to be directed toward the caretakers (Friedman et al., 2003). FAMILY STRESS, COPING, AND ADAPTATION The Listo family is resilient and they have recovered, adjusted, and adapted to stressful situations in their family. This is why The Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment, and Adaptions Model best describes the way the Listo family deals with stressors. According to this theoretical framework, there are four basic assumptions about the family: First, it’s a natural part of life to encounter hardship and changes. Second, families develop strength and capabilities that cause them to grow and develop as a family unit. Third, the strengths and capabilities gained during a stressful event provide protection for the family and allow the family to adapt to the new situation. Fourth, families benefit from the contribution they make to the network of relationships and community during times of family stress (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1991). The stressors that have caused the Listo family to gain strength and capabilities and to grow as a family are many. Some current stressors are caring for a chronically ill family member, unmarried son’s girlfriend is pregnant, son and girlfriend moving in with the family, financial insecurity due to self-employment, and youngest son is unemployed. SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL COPING STRATEGIES. According to Friedman, Bowden and Jones (2003), there are two types of coping strategies; internal and external. Internal family coping strategies are when the family becomes reliant on their own resources such as pulling together and creating more structure and organization in the home, whereas with external coping strategies the family relies on community, extended family, neighbors and friends. Most often, the Listo family uses an internal family coping  strategy. They have restructured their lives so that each member can contribute to the care of the grandmother since she moved into the family home. They have also pulled together and reorganized their home to accommodate the son’s girlfriend. When business is slow for the parents, the eldest son contributes financially to assist with finances. The husband and wife also use external family coping through spiritual strategies such as having faith in God and prayer (Friedman et al., 2003). The Christian faith is where the husband and wife draw comfort and peace in times of stress. Their faith in God is strong. They believe that the Lord will guide them during a crisis and will not allow them fall. â€Å"Numerous studies have shown the clear linkage between spiritual well-being and an individual’s or a family’s enhanced ability to cope with stress and illness† (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 486). The Listo parents believe that their enhanced ability to cope with stress and illness comes from their personal relationship with Christ. DYSFUNCTIONAL COPING STRATEGIES. According to Friedman, Bowden, and Jones (2003), Dysfunctional families most often unconsciously choose to use coping strategies that have been passed down through the generations. These defensive coping strategies usually do not relieve stress nor eliminate the stressor. The Listo family’s dysfunctional coping strategy is authoritarianism. This happens when the family members submit to a dominant, ruling figure. The husband and sons are very submission to the authority of the wife-mother. They sons are adults in their twenties, but they constantly call their mother prior to making any relevant decisions in life. The husband also defers to his wife for any family decision. The dominant figure, Mrs. Listo, is also dependent on her subordinates because it satisfies her need for power and control (Friedman et al., 2003). The family adores their mother and the husband also speaks very kindly of her. She is domineering, but very loving and often lavishes the family with gifts. INTERVIEW NOTES BASED ON THE FRIEDMAN FAMILY ASSESSMENT MODEL IDENTIFYING DATA 1. Family Name: Confidential (Listo is the fictitious family name) 2. Address and Phone: Confidential 3. Family Composition: see Family Genogram (Figure 1) 4. Type of Family Form: Extended Family Father – Painter, Mother – Real Estate Agent, two unmarried adult sons Grandmother, Son’s girlfriend 5. Cultural (Ethnic) Background: Caucasian American and Italian (English Speaking) 6. Religious Identification: (Born-again Christian) 7. Social Class Status: Lower-middle class, family works hard to pay the bills. Income sources: Painting business – father, Real estate business – mother, Sports Trainer – son, grandmother – social security Father and mother have high school education Two sons – first generation to receive a college degree 8. Social class mobility: stationary at this time. Limited income and live paycheck to paycheck. The parents are supporting the grandmother, 2 sons, and son’s girlfriend. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGE AND HISTORY OF FAMILY 9. Family’s developmental stage_: Stage VI: Families launching young adults_ 10. Extent Family is Fulfilling Developmental Tasks: parents were empty nesters until 1 month ago when the eldest son moved back home with his girlfriend who is 5 months pregnant, the youngest son just graduated college and moved back home, and the grandmother moved in less than a year ago. The parents are adjusting to having children back in the home. 11. Nuclear Family History: both father and mother come from traditional nuclear families. 12. History of Family of Origin of Both Parents: Both husband and wife come from nuclear families in which the father was the provider and the mother was a homemaker. ENVIRONMENTAL DATA 13. Characteristics of Home: home is a little crowded with all the members currently living there. The youngest son shares a room with his grandmother. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths with a medium size kitchen with attached family room. The home is clean and well organized. 14. Characteristics of Neighborhood and Larger Community: The neighborhood has similar single family homes that were all built around the same year. The lawns are well maintained and the streets are clean. The neighbors participate in a neighborhood watch group to keep the area safe. Children can be seen riding the bikes and skateboards on the block. The city is in the Foothills, not far from Los Angeles and the home is in walking distance to the market and other shopping. 15. Family’s Geographical Mobility: The family lived in a more affluent area when the boys were growing up. At that time, the husband had steady work as he was partnered with a contractor who built estate homes. Approximately 10 years ago the partnership broke up and the husband found it difficult to market himself. The house went into foreclosure and the family borrowed  money from family to help them purchase the home they’re in now. The family is stationary in their current geographical setting. 16. Family’s Association and Transaction with Community: The mother and father are involved in the local church. They attend regularly and volunteer to help with special events. They know some of their neighbors, but they don’t get together with them socially. The younger son volunteers at the YMCA working with youth. There are 4 vehicles in the family, so the family is not dependent on public transporation. FAMILY STRUCTURE 17. Communication Patterns: According to Mrs. Listo, a majority of the conversation between the father and the sons revolve around sports and is void of any discussion of an intimate matter. The father tends to be quiet until the subject of baseball comes up and then he sits up straight and gets enthusiastic about the conversation. Mrs. Listo often interrupted the conversation of other family members to make an announcement about subjects she feels are relevant. The grandmother doesn’t seem to have an audience when she’s trying to communicate to family members. She continues to converse even when it’s obvious no one is really listening to her. Mr. Listo appeared to get annoyed with the grandmothers complaints, but he didn’t verbally communicate his feelings. There were some obvious gender differences in communication. 18. Power Structure: The mother is dominant and the father is passive. This marital relationship would be considered complementary. When asking each member of the family who the dominant figure was, each stated that it was the mother. The mother also said that she was the dominant figure in the house. No one in the family seems to be discontent with where the power lies. 19. Role Structure: The formal roles are father-husband, mother-wife, son-brother, grandmother, and girlfriend. Informal roles: follower- father, initiator/contributor – mother, family caretaker – mother /sons, encourager – girlfriend, grandmother- recognition seeker 20. Family Values: Respect, honesty, hard-working, college education, Christianity, giving to help others (volunteering), helpful commitment and trust. FAMILY FUNCTIONS 21. Affective Function: The husband wife relationship is close and the mother and eldest son seem close. The relationship between the youngest son and mother seems to be strained due to the 23 year old wanting his independence. See Family Attachment diagram 22. Socialization Function: The father and mother have been married for 30 years and have raised their 2 sons. The mother stayed home with her sons until they were both in elementary school. The mother is a homemaker/real estate agent. Attending church was mandatory when the children were growing up. Once they reached the age of 18, the parents didn’t require that their sons attend church. The boys are now adults, but are currently living at home. They show respect for both parents and authority and appear to be well-adjusted. The father and mother are excited about the upcoming birth of their first grandchild. Health Care Function: The father has controlled hypertension and hyperlipidemia. The wife is slightly overweight, but has no medical condition. She admits to eating too much sugar and fried foods. The two sons are healthy. The pregnant girlfriend had difficulty in her first trimester, but she is doing well now. The grandmother is in poor health. She has COPD that is progressing to the point where she is on constant oxygen. The family has not been consistent with regular check-up until recently when they upgraded their medical insurance coverage. FAMILY STRESS, COPING, AND ADAPTATION 24. Family Stressors, Strengths, and Perceptions: stressors: financial struggles, sons that don’t practice the Christian faith, eldest son is  unmarried and expecting his first child, youngest son doesn’t have employment and will be moving out of the home as soon as he does, grandmother has COPD. Strengths: Mother and Father have a strong faith, the children are respectful, the eldest son helps financially, they have paid down their debt and are building credit, the family is managing their health 25. Family Coping Strategies: There number one source of peace and comfort comes from their relationship with God and their faith – external source of coping. The family members help each other out financially and emotionally- Internal source of coping. 26. Family Adaptation: The family is resilient. They take one day at a time and face the challenges as they come. They readjust their lives when stressors come along and they seek God’s plan to help them learn and grow through the stress of circumstances. Overall, the family adapts to the stressors that come their way and become closer as a unit as a result. NURSING DIAGNOSIS RELATED TO MANIFESTED BY KEY ASSESSMENT DATA & RATIONALE FOR RANKING (1) Ineffective self Health management (father) Lack of health care access. For the past 25 years, the family has had inadequate insurance and does not qualify for state assistance. They have avoided doctor visits as much as possible due a high deductible and out of pocket expense Uncontrolled hypertension & hyperlipidemia, obesity, sedentary life-style, poor diet, inconsistent medication adherence, infrequent check-ups This is ranked first because the father’s lack of maintenance could lead to Cardiovascular disease and Myocardial Infarction. Although the grandmother’s disease (COPD) is incurable and progressive, it is the father who has the capability to change the outcome of his condition with health maintenance. If the father’s condition deteriorates, he will not be able to run his business and the family will suffer financial strain. (2) Risk for caregiver role strain Caring for the grandmother who has a progressive disease (COPD) Physical exhaustion, frustration, emotional fatigue, isolation The mother works full time and runs the household. She is exhausted by the end of the day, but still needs to make time to care for her mother. There are multiple doctor appointments every week than she or her son the grandmother to. Most days the mother has nothing left over for herself and is too tired to socialize or go out. The youngest son is frustrated that he is expected to help care for the grandmother. He is looking for work so he can move out and get away from the situation (3) Dysfunctional Family Communication Wife and husband, Husband and sons, Grandmother and family Husband does not voice his opinion to his wife. Husband and sons only communicate about impersonal information. No one listens to the grandmother and the grandmother only discusses negative issues and complaints. The husband is submissive to the wife. He doesn’t voice his opinion or challenge decisions that he disagrees with. He avoids any kind of confrontation. The Father and the son’s keep the conversation on the surface. They don’t talk about feelings or ideas. The grandmother has gotten into the habit of complaining and possibly doesn’t know how to show care or concern for others. She is overwhelmed by her condition. (4) Ineffective family coping The youngest son’s frustration over his caregiver role The youngest son’s outbursts and his threats to move out as soon as possible. The youngest son is 23 years and has just moved home after having the freedom of living in a dorm at a university. Because he is the one member of the family that is not currently employed, he has the responsibility of caring for the grandmother during the day and taking her to all of her doctor appointments. His way of coping is closing himself in his room and threatening to leave the house forever. (5) Risk for complicated grieving Potential loss of significant person (grandmother) Inability of the family members to discuss the course of the grandmothers COPD. The youngest son verbalizes anger over caring for his grandmother. The family does not discuss the end result of grandmother’s COPD. When there is a decline in the grandmother’s functioning or an exacerbation of her condition, the family refers to it as just a temporary set-back. The youngest son refuses to be social with the grandmother because he resents  that he is needed to care for her. It is likely that he will have some guilt feeling and more difficulty with grieving after her death. FAMILY NURSING PROCESS The word â€Å"process† refers to a deliberate and conscious act of moving from one point to another toward goal fulfillment (Friedman et al., 2003, p. 174). The nursing process moves systematically from assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation and is said to be interrelated and continuously cyclical of thought and action (Friedman et al., 2003). After a trusting relationship was established, the first step in the Listo family assessment was gathering information in a systematic fashion using the Friedman Family Assessment Model. The information was then classified, and analyzed to interpret their meaning. The following document outlines the nursing process as it relates to the Listo family. MAIN DIAGNOSIS PLANNING (GOALS) INTERVENTION (IMPLEMENTATION) RATIONALE FOR INTERVENTION EVALUATION Ineffective self Health Management (father) Short-term goal: The father will discuss his fear and inhibition to implementing a health regimen prior to the end of the nurses’ visit with the family. (1) Assess the client’s feelings, values, and his reasons for not adhering to the prescribed plan of care (2) Assess the father’s family patterns, economic issues, and cultural patterns that may be influencing compliance with a given medical regimen. (Ackley, J. G., Ladwig, G. B., 2011). Change theory is applicable to the Listo family: According to this theory, the nurse works with families to facilitate change. These changes can include structure as well as health behaviors. (Friedman et al., 2003). (1) Evidence Based Practice: assessment of an individual’s preferences for participation in health care decision making encourages involvement in decision making at the preferred level. (Ackley, B.J., & Ladwig, G.B., 2011) (2) Evidence Based Practice: Adherence to a treatment regimen is significantly influences by the family’s culture, spiritual beliefs and family norms (Ackley, B.J., & Ladwig, G.B., 2011) Short-term goal achieved: the father discussed his reluctance to manage his health. He admits that his own family was proud of how healthy they were without involving health care professionals. Another reason he explained for his lack of involvement in his own care is his fear that a regular check-up would reveal something serious. He verbalized his understanding that it is better to discover an illness early for prevention. He expressed a desire to be more involved in his own care. Long-term goal: The father will visit his health care provider within the next 30 days in  order to decide on a therapeutic regimen that is congruent with health goals and lifestyle. (1) Help the client to choose a healthy lifestyle that will address his condition and to encourage appropriate diagnostic screening tests (2) Review how to contact health providers that are listed under his insurance plan and how to address issues and concerns regarding self-management. King’s Theory of Goal Attainment is applicable to the father in this family. In King’s model, the nurses’ goal is to help the client maintain their health so they can adequately function in their role. (Friedman, et al., 2003). (1) Healthy lifestyle measures, such as exercising routinely, maintaining a healthy weight, eliminating smoking and limiting alcohol intake can help to reduce the risk of chronic illnesses. (Ackley, B.J., & Ladwig, G.B., 2011) (2) Evidence Based Practice: people with chronic illnesses need to know how to obtain interventions that are needed to address issues and concerns regarding self-management. (Ackley, B.J., & Ladwig, G.B., 2011) Recommend: Revisit the family in 30 days to follow up on the fathers visit to his health-care provider. Evaluate the father adherence to his therapeutic regimen and his lifestyle goals. Conclusion The Friedman Family Assessment Model served as a guide to complete a comprehensive assessment of the Listo family. Nursing theories, including  the structure-function theory, helped to analyze the data collected. 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