Argentina Pestle Analysis

Argentina government has a strong democratic setup. In 2011, President Fernandez de Kirchner won the presidency for the second time. Her government has been successful at introducing reforms to encourage regional trade and support private sector investment, particularly for the development of the country’s infrastructure, primarily through private-public partnership. The government has also announced the creation of the oil planning commission, emphasizing its interest in the oil industry1.The Fernandez government is increasingly reliant on interventionist policies that fail to solve underlying structural problems and has been involved in several inflation figures manipulation and corruption charges, including a commotion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerning inaccurate governance indicators impairing the economic outlook and deterring investment2. This has generated public discontent raising increasing protest against the government and a rapid decline in Fern andez popularity3.Argentina foreign policies are mainly concentrated on developing regional trading relations (Mercosur and UnaSur), the country has a good partnership with the UN and has been working on improving relations with the US, with particular interest to develop the technology and science sectors. Nevertheless, relations with the UK have deteriorated following an official complaint to the UN regarding the Falkland Islands4.ECONOMICFollowing the global financial crisis the Argentine economy has achieved a healthy recovery, predominantly through an increasing trade relationship with China, boosting substantially the country’s trade volume and generating a trading surplus5. However, the major concern for the economy is inflation and the great discrepancy of approximately 15% between official and non-governmental estimates. In addition, the government has increased regulatory intervention and thus reduced economic freedom and development.The government’s recent n ationalisation of oil giant YPF owned by the Spanish Company Repsol and of the private pension funds have furthermore hindered private and foreign investment. These factors combined with high public debt levels and low foreign-exchange reserves have constrained the potential for economic growth and left the country at increased risk of recession. Argentina has a strong automotive industry. The government is aiming to attract further investments into the country’s automotive sector by lessening the regulatory framework obstacles and offering subsidies and incentives6.SOCIALArgentina is a traditionally urban country and continues to experience high migration from rural areas. The urban centres enjoy a relatively high standard of living comparable to other Latin American countries, with notable healthcare and educational facilities. Argentina is facing the problems posed by an aging population. This is projected to affect government's social security budgets and generate fiscal burdens. Despite a comprehensive education system restructuring and an improving primary school education system, dropout rates continue to rise sharply7.This will eventually lead to a significant increase in the proportion of unskilled workers. TECHNOLOGICAL With a strong telecommunications industry and a growing IT market, Argentina has shown significant growth in both sectors. The government has implemented plans to augment IT service penetration in rural areas. In addition, it has supported biofuel R&D in an effort to preserve energy security and accelerate technological development8.Argentina’s energy industry is in a deplorable state as they are now a net energy importer, eroding the country’s foreign-currency reserves9. As a result, the government has shown an increasing interest in science and technology and in the biotechnology industry. However, as a result of inadequate investment in R&D, there is a low degree of innovation resulting in a reduced number of p atents granted. Moreover, the lack of respect for intellectual property rights and copyrights has exacerbated the problem. LEGALArgentina has a comprehensive legal and regulatory structure and a federal republican representative government, where each province has its own constitution. In addition, complex and bureaucratic business regulations and strong union and government ties have resulted in wages increasing at 25-35% annual rates. Furthermore, high taxes have been detrimental to investment. For instance, income and corporate tax rates are both set at 35% added to corporate social security tax of between 23% and 27%. These additional costs place an undue burden in industry10.Notwithstanding the introduction of criminal liability for money laundering offences, the judicial system requires an important overhaul to improve its effectiveness and to generate a conducive environment for new business ventures and investments.ENVIRONMENTALDespite having a remarkable biodiversity and va st natural resources, the Argentinian government has been overexploiting its natural resources as a side effect of the rapid economic development. Increasing deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats have been accelerated by soybean cultivation and beef production11.Water and air pollution are major problems, particularly around industrial metropolitan areas. Rising concerns over environmental degradation have resulted in ambitious schemes from the government to develop renewable energy sources. The government has initiated measures to collaborate with prominent multinational organisations to develop biofuel production with particular interest in ethanol from sugarcane pulp12. Moreover, the Argentine government, in partnership with Chinese investments is constructing the largest wind power project in Latin America and is projected to provide 4% of Argentina’s power requirements. ï » ¿Argentina PESTLE analysis POLITICALArgentina government has a strong democratic setup. In 2011, President Fernandez de Kirchner won the presidency for the second time. Her government has been successful at introducing reforms to encourage regional trade and support private sector investment, particularly for the development of the country’s infrastructure, primarily through private-public partnership. The government has also announced the creation of the oil planning commission, emphasizing its interest in the oil industry1.The Fernandez government is increasingly reliant on interventionist policies that fail to solve underlying structural problems and has been involved in several inflation figures manipulation and corruption charges, including a commotion with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concerning inaccurate governance indicators impairing the economic outlook and deterring investment2. This has generated public discontent raising increasing protest against the government and a rapid declin e in Fernandez popularity3.Argentina foreign policies are mainly concentrated on developing regional trading relations (Mercosur and UnaSur), the country has a good partnership with the UN and has been working on improving relations with the US, with particular interest to develop the technology and science sectors. Nevertheless, relations with the UK have deteriorated following an official complaint to the UN regarding the Falkland IslandsECONOMICFollowing the global financial crisis the Argentine economy has achieved a healthy recovery, predominantly through an increasing trade relationship with China, boosting substantially the country’s trade volume and generating a trading surplus5. However, the major concern for the economy is inflation and the great discrepancy of approximately 15% between official and non-governmental estimates. In addition, the government has increased regulatory intervention and thus reduced economic freedom and development.The government’s r ecent nationalisation of oil giant YPF owned by the Spanish Company Repsol and of the private pension funds have furthermore hindered private and foreign investment. These factors combined with high public debt levels and low foreign-exchange reserves have constrained the potential for economic growth and left the country at increased risk of recession.Argentina has a strong automotive industry. The government is aiming to attract further investments into the country’s automotive sector by lessening the regulatory framework obstacles and offering subsidies and incentives6.SOCIALArgentina is a traditionally urban country and continues to experience high migration from rural areas. The urban centres enjoy a relatively high standard of living comparable to other Latin American countries, with notable healthcare and educational facilities. Argentina is facing the problems posed by an aging population. This is projected to affect government's social security budgets and generate f iscal burdens.Despite a comprehensive education system restructuring and an improving primary school education system, dropout rates continue to rise sharply7. This will eventually lead to a significant increase in the proportion of unskilled workers.TECHNOLOGICALWith a strong telecommunications industry and a growing IT market, Argentina has shown significant growth in both sectors. The government has implemented plans to augment IT service penetration in rural areas. In addition, it has supported biofuel R&D in an effort to preserve energy security and accelerate technological development.Argentina’s energy industry is in a deplorable state as they are now a net energy importer, eroding the country’s foreign-currency reserves9. As a result, the government has shown an increasing interest in science and technology and in the biotechnology industry. However, as a result of  inadequate investment in R&D, there is a low degree of innovation resulting in a reduced numbe r of patents granted. Moreover, the lack of respect for intellectual property rights and copyrights has exacerbated the problem.LEGALArgentina has a comprehensive legal and regulatory structure and a federal republican representative government, where each province has its own constitution. In addition, complex and bureaucratic business regulations and strong union and government ties have resulted in wages increasing at 25-35% annual rates. Furthermore, high taxes have been detrimental to investment. For instance, income and corporate tax rates are both set at 35% added to corporate social security tax of between 23% and 27%. These additional costs place an undue burden in industry.Notwithstanding the introduction of criminal liability for money laundering offences, the judicial system requires an important overhaul to improve its effectiveness and to generate a conducive environment for new business ventures and investments.ENVIRONMENTALDespite having a remarkable biodiversity and vast natural resources, the Argentinian government has been overexploiting its natural resources as a side effect of the rapid economic development. Increasing deforestation and the destruction of natural habitats have been accelerated by soybean cultivation and beef production11. Water and air pollution are major problems, particularly around industrial metropolitan areas.Rising concerns over environmental degradation have resulted in ambitious schemes from the government to develop renewable energy sources. The government has initiated measures to collaborate with prominent multinational organisations to develop biofuel production with particular interest in ethanol from sugarcane pulp12. Moreover, the Argentine government, in partnership with Chinese investments is constructing the largest wind power project in Latin America and is projected to provide 4% of Argentina’s power requirements.

Analysis of American History X Essay

In this assignment, I was challenged to find important historical and cultural connections of the film American History X and analyze the important rhetorical of my findings. I went about choosing American History X by placing a poll on Facebook listing out the films that I had any slight interest in considering for this assignment and American History X won by a landslide. I was actually somewhat disappointed, because I wanted to do The X-Files, but I chose to stick to my promise and go with whatever text won. I watched American History X some years after its release in 1998. Although, I know I must have watched it sometime after I got out of high school because at the time of its release I was 12 years old and with the amount of violence in that film I know I did not watch it with my parents. From the little memory I had of the film from the first time, I could only recall that American History X had a lot to do with white supremacy and racism, that Edward Norton played the lead ro le and that the kid who played in the first Terminator was his brother and was all grown up. I hesitated watching the film again for quite sometime because I knew I would need to dedicate a solid two hours of mental energy towards it. One could argue that I was merely just procrastinating; however, I benefitted from having done so because future class discussions provided a foundation for how I could study the film. After reading about and discussing in class the topic of approaching a text organically, I decided to implement that mentality and view the film as objectively as non-object individual can. It is difficult to say whether it was that approach that ultimately led to my findings in the film, or if I would have discovered them anyway since it was my second time viewing the film. Everyone can appreciate that after the second and third time of watching any film you begin to pick up on things you missed the first time. In either case, I found the movie to be incredibly eye opening and I enjoyed having to research the history surrounding the film and, ultimately, the state of the nation during what was my childhood. American History X is a film that depicts a traditional white family in the mid 1990s, but spot lights the two brothers’ journeys into maturity. The movie focuses on the older brother Derek, played by Edward Norton, and how Derek’s Neo-Nazi associations in his life greatly influence his younger brother Danny, played by Edward Furlong. Fueled by rage of his father’s death, the film opens with a scene of Derek brutally killing three young black men who were attempting to steal his father’s truck. Derek is then sent to prison for 3 years during which time his younger brother Danny begins to follow in Derek’s footsteps with the Neo-Nazi organization. The movie flips between black-and-white scenes of the past and color scenes of the present. The black-and-white flashbacks attempt to illuminate Danny’s perception of Derek’s past life while intermittently presenting how Derek overcame is his own hatred. The color scenes portray the present and highlight the effects the hatred has had on the entire family. Overall, the movie critiques on not only the effects of urban racism and bigotry, but a lso the how minds of young people are so impressionable. The film even succeeds in creating a sense of sympathy for characters that are typically hated, Neo-Nazi racist skinheads, and paints them not as foolish, uneducated racist bigots, but instead as misguided intelligent human beings. On the surface the film discusses racism, violence, and bigotry, but upon closer examination I found a deeper message within the film. Watching it a second time, I realized that this film is really emphasizing the lack of critical thinking skills in young people, particularly in teenagers and young adults and how impressionable their minds are. Then, upon further research related to those very topics it touches on in the film, I discovered that the entire movie itself actually harbors an obscure form of racism that was reflected in many movies throughout the 1990s. Needless to say, even in today’s society we deal with these same issues of racism and intolerance for other people’s beliefs. However, within the most recent years it has evolved to focus more on the gay, lesbian and transgender community. History certainly can be seen as repeating itself as many of the arguments that gays and lesbians make regarding their civil rights and discrimination almost mirror the same arguments made back in the 1960s during the civil right movement. Reverend Dr. Phil Snider made this connection so blatantly clear in his speech that went viral on YouTube that he gave before the Springfield City Council of Missouri just a few weeks ago. In his speech, Dr. Snider cleverly took quotes directly from speeches given by white preachers in favor of racial segregation in the 1950 and 1960s and merely substituted select words and inserted ‘gays and lesbians’ (â€Å"Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech†). I think the twist of his speech highlights the main issues regarding any form of racism and discrimination and they most certainly could be applied to the issues of racism that America faced in the 1990s. The 1990s was saturated with debates over, court cases involving and numerous media outlets centering on the issues of racism and affirmative action. In May of 1992, Newsweek printed an article entitled â€Å"The Crossroads of Shattered Dreams† that summarized the conflicts of racism in the early 90s stating, â€Å"white[s] charge that affirmative action is unfair†¦blacks respond that it was unfair for them to be starved of opportunities by 300 years of slavery and discrimination.† That same year, the verdict of Rodney King’s case outraged the black community and sparked riots lasting six days with over 2,000 people injured and 55 people killed (â€Å"Riots Erupt in Los Angeles†). In March of 1996, the three white law school candidates charged that they were unfairly discriminated against and rejected for entrance into the school for less qualified minorities in the famous case Hopwood v. Texas Law School (â€Å"Hopwood v. University Texas Law School †). Just prior to the release of American History X in 1998, California enacted Proposition 209, which amended the state’s constitution to ban preferential treatment of any persons based on race or gender in public sector education, employment, and contracting (Parker). All of these enormously impactful events and numerous others shaped much of the discrimination that occurred in the 1990s. In fact, sociological research confirms â€Å"discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that have unintentional effects† or predispositions â€Å"linked to social stereotypes and does not so much stem from individual prejudices† (Tomaskovic-Devey). Nevertheless, the culmination of these types of incidents led to a demand for Hollywood to â€Å"headline positive characters of color† (Hughey 549). Producers and directors felt pressure to make-up for their own history of racist filmmaking and, consequently, this also gave rise to the development of a veiled type of racism within films referred to by Hughey himself as the â€Å"cinethetic racism†(550). Cinethetic racism in the 1990s was typically found in films that have a black character whose purpose in the film is to support the white protagonist. Typically this black character, coined the â€Å"magical Negro† by Hughey, was portrayed as the voice of reason, or having some other type wisdom, within the film and who selflessly helps the white character achieve his goals. â€Å"These films rest on friendly, helpful, bend-over-backwards black characters that do not seek to change their own impoverished status, but instead exhibit a primordial, hard-wired desire to use their magical power to correct the wrongs in a white world† (Hughey 556). The concept expressed in this quote is clearly evident in the film American History X during the many scenes of Derek in prison working in the laundry room with Lamont, a friendly black prisoner who attempts to befriend him. Eventually Derek is able let down his guard and the future interactions between them usually consist of Lamo nt humorously explaining how things work within the prison. There is one scene, however, that does somewhat contradict this concept of a â€Å"magical Negro† and, instead, causes Derek to experience a form of guilt. This contradiction is depicted in the scene of Lamont and Derek working in the laundry room and Derek very genuinely asks Lamont why he is in prison. Lamont explains how he was sentenced for assault on a police officer because he accidently dropped a TV on the officer’s foot that he was trying to steal. Derek initially resists and jokingly asks Lamont to tell the truth, but Lamont insists that he did not assault the police officer and only dropped the TV on the officer’s foot. This is the pivotal moment within the movie that shows Derek’s guilt and sympathy for the first time towards a black person. I think this is the most important scene throughout the entire film because it gives the audience exactly what they want: they want to see Derek experience this epiphany and for him to recognize how he has perpetuated discrimination against black people. But it does not take very long for the film to revert right back into the traditional cinethetic racist ways. In Derek’s last interaction with Lamont, the audience learns that during Derek’s stay within prison Lamont was protecting him from further beatings and rape after Derek chose to no longer affiliate with the Neo-Nazis within the prison. That scene ultimately preserves the concept of the â€Å"magical Negro† and that black people have this underlying desire to serve to the needs of white people. I liken this idea of cinethetic racism to what actors refer to the subtext of a script. Normally, the subtext refers to the underlying motives of a particular character, but this concept of cinethetic racism is like the â€Å"subtext† of an entire film. â€Å"Of greatest critical concern is how [magical Negro] films advantageously shore up white supremacist and normative orders while ostensibly posturing as an irreverent challenge to them† (Hughey 553). On the surface it appears to be a film that tries to defeat racism, but ironically there are hidden agendas that completely go against the moral of this story. Just as magical Negros are a disguised form of racism found in American films in the 1990s, there were also disguised forms of racism going on politically throughout the nation, more specifically in California. During the 1990s, racism and civil rights disputes were approaching the heights they reached in the civil rights era of the 1960s. However, after many decades of affirmative action policies attempting to right the wrongs minorities faced and with California experiencing an economic downturn, many whites became less tolerant of minorities receiving preferential treatment through affirmative action programs (Alvarez). Now the whites are claiming they were discriminated against in a form of â€Å"reverse discrimination.† What I find so interesting about the idea of â€Å"reverse discrimination† is that it implies that discrimination only naturally goes in one direction: whites against minorities. And, furthermore, that there will always be a certain level of racism, as if to suggest that there is a threshold for which it is acceptable, but also that it is the responsibility of the majority, white people, to keep it in check. Yet the moment any form of racism or discrimination is felt against whites, it is completely intolerable and demands political action. It was the supporters of Proposition 209 that argued that current affirmative action programs led public employers and universities to reject applicants because of their race, and that Proposition 209 would â€Å"return [us] to the fundamentals of our democracy,† as summarized in an article capturing the main arguments of Proposition 209 entitled â€Å"Prohibition Against Discrimination.† With in the same article it preached, â€Å"let us not perpetuate the myth that ‘minorities’ and women cannot compete without special preferences†¦vote for fairness not favoritism.† The fairness of Proposition 209 has been hotly debatably ever since it was enacted in 1997, but I think the dinner scene with Derek and his father in American History X most succinctly sums up the mindset of the many supporters of Proposition 209. The scene opens with a dinner table conversation between Derek and his father about the material he is learning for his English class. His father than expresses his distaste for such material with the following monologue: â€Å"All this stuff about making everything equal†¦ it’s not as easy as it looks†¦you gotta trade in great books for black books now? You gotta question these things Derek. We are not just talking about books here, we’re talking about my job. I got two blacks guys on my squad now that got their jobs over a couple of white guys who actually scored higher on the test. Does that make sense? They got their job because they were black not because they were the best? America’s about if you do your best you get the job†¦not this affirmative blacktion crap†¦.it’s nigger bullshit.† This dinner scene perfectly exemplifies the concept that 1) the moment whites feel they are being discriminated they instantly raise the red flag and 2) that â€Å"discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that have unintentional effects [†¦] and does not so much stem from individual prejudices,† as I stated earlier. Another aspect that I find so interesting about American History X was how writer David McKenna was able to pull directly from real life situations to add dialogue into this screenplay. McKenna and Edward Norton actually rewrote a portion of the script quoting from Governor Pete Wilson’s speech advocating Proposition 209 in 1995 (Goldstein). More importantly, it was used in a scene where Derek is trying to energize a group of young skin heads before they vandalize a grocery store owned by minorities. I find it so ironic that the character of a racist Neo-Nazi was reciting actual words from a speech promoting the removal of affirmative actions polices that were, allegedly, intended to reduce discrimination and increase equality. When I discovered this tidbit of information I was completely blown away. I had no idea how closely this movie reflected real problems going on in society in the 1990s. McKenna’s use of Pete Wilson’s speech is clearly an example of art ref lecting reality, but Pete Wilson’s speech was not the only source from reality in which McKenna got his inspiration. McKenna grew up in Southern California, where the film story takes place, and personally witnessed bigotry and racism (Bruce). From his encounters and extensive research, McKenna decided that the point he tried â€Å"to make in the script is that a person is not born a racist†¦[McKenna] wanted an accurate portrayal of how good kids from good families can get so terribly lost† (Bruce). Personally, I think McKenna succeeded in having that be the main message of the film: the impressionability of a young mind and that all behaviors are learned. The film simultaneously follows Derek’s upbringing and how he becomes involved in the Neo-Nazi organization and how his involvement with that group greatly influenced his younger brother Danny. The dinner scene I detailed above is the key scene from McKenna’s screenplay that supports the idea that racism is a learned behavior stemmed from outside organizational practices. However, despite how well received the movie was and the numerous nominations Edward Norton received for his performance, that is not the original message the director intended. Tony Kaye was the director of American History X and, ironically, he also turned out to be a major competing persuasive force throughout the entire film making process. Kaye battled with directors, producers, writer David McKenna and Edward Norton himself claiming that New Line Cinema never allowed him to create his vision of the film going as far as to take out full page ads in trade magazines bashing the film and even requested to have his name removed from the film entirely and replaced with the pseudonym â€Å"Humpy Dumpty† (Goldstein). In a statement made shortly after the film’s release, Kaye contended that Edward Norton edited a majority of the film in order to increase his screen time in the film and that the producers did not allow Kaye an â€Å"opportunity to present a black voice to provide depth and balance to the film† and furthered that he wanted the film to be an â€Å"homage to free speech and responsibility† (Leinberger). I think the main reason why Kaye’s original vision never made it to the film was because it clashed so much with McKenna’s original message. McKenna wrote the film based off of his personal experience witnessing acts of racisms in Southern California in throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Whereas, Kaye is not only much older than McKenna, but grew up in United Kingdom and had only been living in the United states for a few years before he got involved in the film at all, and, therefore, did not quite have the same outlook for the script (Topel). It should also be noted that this was Kaye’s first feature film and his previous directing experience came from extensive work with TV commercials and music videos (Goldstein). And while McKenna himself may not have been directly involved during the filming process, as most writers are not, I think Edward Norton and the producers all believed in and followed McKenna’s vision because of how much it related to the struggles that America was facing at that time. This is not to suggest that Kaye’s vision for the film was wrong, but that producers have to consider what the audience wants and expects to see. From studying American History X, I have learned how racism evolved in a very peculiar fashion. As racism, specifically towards black people, became less and less accepted by whites over the last 150 years, certain segments of society seemed to find ways to continue a small, but undeniable level of racism since it was no longer socially acceptable among the general population to outwardly express it with for instance, lynching. Racism and discrimination has certainly come a long way over the last sixty years, but it has definitely not been eradicated. In fact, some would argue that now whites are beginning to experience a type of â€Å"reverse discrimination† due unforeseen effects from affirmative action programs. In regards to American films however, one would have to sit down personally with directors and producers of 1990s films to determine if they intentionally created these magical Negro characters in order to perpetuate racism. Aside from the fact that it is highly unlikely that anyone would ever openly admit to that, I personally think that cinethetic racism and the magical Negro were just an unintended consequence of a fad that was going on throughout Hollywood at the time, the fad being to have black people portray certain qualities of wisdom and â€Å"magical powers† within films. In either case, it is very curious that a movie such as America History X meets the qualifications for cinethetic racism. In my opinion, for a film that was intended to enlighten the audience of the problem of racism in America, yet ultimately perpetuated a veiled version of it, could no more flawlessly fit into this concept of cinethetic racism. Also, the argument of whether or not reality reflects art or if art reflects reality is just as frustrating to argue as whether the chicken or the egg came first. But in the case for this film, I would contend that American History X, art, is reflecting reality. In fact, the notion behind cinethetic racism and the magical Negro tie in so neatly with the arguments for Proposition 209 and Gov. Pete Wilson’s speech that it is just uncanny. With a closer look into both, one can see that each share their own masked form of racism veiled as though whites are helping minorities. Art was imitating the subversive racism that was occurring in r eality. As an actor myself, I think it is unfortunate for director Tony Kaye that, for whatever reason, he was not able to get his original vision of the film produced. I think because of the numerous racially historical events that were occurring the 1990s that producing a movie which centered on the freedom of speech around racism as Kaye originally intended, was the last thing any audience wanted to watch in a theatre. All in all, I think film did a fabulous job highlighting historical events and attitudes going on throughout society during the 1990s, despite the fact that the film may be perpetuating racism at a subversive level. Works Cited American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. New Line Cinemas, 1998. Film. Alvarez, R. Michael, and Lisa G. Bedolla. â€Å"The Revolution Against Affirmative Action in California: Racism, Economics, and Proposition 209.† State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4.1 (2004): 1-17. Sage Publications, Inc. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. Bruce, David. â€Å"Racism in America=Hating Others.† American History X: A Hollywood Jesus Film Review. HollywoodJesus.com, n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Goldstein, Patrick. â€Å"Courting Trouble.† Edward Norton Information Page. N.p., 13 1998. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School†. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012 . Hughey, Matthew W. â€Å"White Redemption and Black Stereotypes in â€Å"Magical Negro† Films.† Social Problems 56.3 (2009): 543-77. www.jstor.org. University of California Press, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Leinberger, Gisela. â€Å"Film Director Tony Kaye Makes Statement at Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate; Director of ‘American History X’ Speaks to Film’s Issues.† PR News Wire. N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Parker, Beth H. â€Å"The Impact of Proposition 209 on Education, Employment and Contracting.† ERA: Prop 209 Impact. Equal Rights Advocates, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech. Perf. Rev. Dr. Phil Snider. Www.YouTube.com. YouTube, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Prohibition Against Discrimination or Preferential Treatment by State and Other Public Entities. Initiative Constitutional Amendment..† California’s 1996 General Election Web Site! . N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Riots erupt in Los Angeles.† 2012. The History Channel website. Oct 21 2012 . Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, and Patricia Warren. â€Å"Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling.† Contexts. American Sociological Association, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Topel, Fred. â€Å"Interview with Lake of Fire Filmmaker Tony Kaye.† About.com Oct 21 2012. Whitaker, Mark. â€Å"A Crisis Of Shattered Dreams.† Newsweek. 5 1991: 1. Web. 19 Oct. 2012..

Steve’s Needs as a student

Steve is a 20 year old male student; he lives away from home as he is in his final year at university. Steve lives in student accommodation with 6 other male students. The area he lives in is deprived of the city and the local housing is poor quality. There are busy roads and factories surrounding the area he lives in. He smokes up to 120 cigarettes per week and binge drinks a lot. He doesn't exercise at all and he eats unhealthily. Steve's housing is very dirty and messy therefore causing a lot of dust. This is affecting his asthma. Steve's Needs Steve has many needs to improve his PIES. Firstly for his physical health he should stop drinking so much as it will be affecting his liver. Also he should stop eating so unhealthy and get on a healthy diet and start to exercise regularly. He should also use the exercise as well as to get fit to loose weight so he is at a healthy BMI. For his emotional health he should make sure that he stays motivated to loose weight and drink less alcohol and smoke less and eventually quit. He should keep self-confidence in himself that he can loose weight and that he will look much better in the long run after all his hard work.Dying of Breast Cancer in the 1800s Lastly for emotional health he should have support from people in order to help him loose weight and get healthier. People offering him support should be his friends, family and the nurse and doctors who are helping him. These could include the dietician and the community nurse. For Steve's intellectual health he should make sure he concentrates more at university, in order to achieve a high standing grade. Also he should make sure that he gets educated on the risks of what he is doing to himself as he needs to realise what he is really doing to damage his body. Lastly for Steve's social health needs he needs to reassess his social life and stop going out more and maybe even find more supportive friends rather than people who find it funny that he gets into a complete state. Also he should take up a hobby in order to keep himself busy rather than turning to alcohol and causing himself harm. Steve should also think about how he spends his money and that he should stop spending it on alcohol and cigarettes and he should use it in a more useful way such as joining a gym or towards a hobby he may want to take up. Steve should also make sure his housing environment is clean as it is affecting his health as it is very unhygienic. Community Nurse Lisa is a community nurse. She is helping Steve to get healthier and giving him advice on how he can loose weight and get healthier. Roles Lisa works within the community but she is based in a doctor's surgery. A community nurse acts as a teacher and counsellor primarily, but also plays an important role in preventing widespread illness and disease in the community she serves. Lisa offers a supportive role; she supports patients as well as other professionals. She does visits to schools, GPs and home visits in order to spread awareness of illness disease and also to support people in any health issues they may have. Lisa is part of the PCT (primary care trust). She offers general health care to patients and she gives out general advice. The main roles that Lisa undertakes are monitoring people's health, providing nursing care to the sick and disabled, she is also a health teacher letting the community she serves in know about health risks and what you can do to prevent them. Also she is a councillor; giving an appropriate advice and broadening a client's insight about a problem so that appropriate decisions are made which can lead to a positive resolution of the problem. Tasks One of the tasks Lisa may undertake is screening tests to find out about their health such as she could look at the height, weight, BMI and blood pressure of Steve. Also she could do tests on Steve for his cholesterol levels and test their lung functions. These screening tests can help to promote good health. This is because if there is an issue involving the Steve's health then doing one of these screening tests Lisa may be able to notice the problem and then look at it in more detail. If the problem is noticed soon enough then Lisa will be able to inform Steve of what it is and help him sort the problem out and recommend him to a doctor or advise him on what he can do in order to retain a healthy state. Also a task Lisa may do as a community nurse is educating the community. She may give out education and advice on certain issues patients may have. These could include pregnancies, exercise, drinking, smoking, diet and contraception. A community nurse can also provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side effects and interactions. However if Lisa thinks that the patient needs more than just her advice such as Steve may need to see a dietician in order to plan out a healthy lifestyle and diet she may advise him to go see the specialist person as she may not be able to help him as much as the dietician can. She may also advise the patient to go to a specialist support group. Such as if she thinks that Steve is showing signs of being an alcoholic she may advice him to attend an AA meetings or if she sees that Steve is overweight and needs help in loosing weight she may send him to groups that are specialised in helping people loose weight such as weightwatcher meetings. Lisa may also give out leaflets to a patient in order to help them with their health issue and for them to learn more about what it may consist of and how they can help themselves to get better health. Such as giving Steve leaflets on stopping smoking. The leaflet would contain information of what stopping smoking consists of and what different methods he can use to stop smoking. If Lisa is incapable of giving the patient the knowledge they need she may have to refer them onto someone who will have much more knowledge about the issue. Such as if Lisa found that there may be an issue with a Steve's health that would need him to have more tests and more examining then she will refer him to a doctor who will have more knowledge on what the issue is and they will be able to advise give more advice to the Steve than Lisa may be able too. Lisa educating the community and giving them advice is another way to show that she is promoting good health to the community. The education she is providing will help people to see the first symptoms of serious diseases such as lumps on the breast, which should be checked out for breast cancer. This education of people finding out about diseases in the early stages will help a person to overcome the disease and get their good health back as soon as they can. Rather than having no education on looking out for the disease they may end up noticing the disease months down the line when it may be too late. Also if people are being given positive advice they may feel better about themselves and therefore their lifestyle may become of a better quality and more positive. Such as if she was telling Steve how much fitter and healthier he will be if he looses weight and cuts down his drinking and smoking. Also that he will look much better and people will find him more attractive. This positive encouragement will help Steve to take on Lisa's advice and make him want to loose weight so he can achievement a positive outcome. The advice may also help people to seek out more medical help in order for them to maintain good health, without the advice they have been given by Lisa they may not know what to do about their health issue and things could have got much worse. Another task that Lisa might do as a community nurse is minor treatments. Lisa will not have the full medical training and knowledge as a doctor may have so therefore she will not be able to administer extreme drugs to the patient or be able to attend to serious wounds. However she will be able to dress wounds and make sure they are kept clean. Such as if Steve has a minor injury from being out drinking all night and falling over as he was drunk. He will need the wound dressing and Lisa will be able to clean it to prevent infection and then bandage it up to avoid further damage. Skills Lisa will need a variety of different skills as a community nurse. Firstly she will need mathematical skills. These mathematical skills can be put to use when she is making sure that numerical data is interpreted properly. If the data is interpreted properly then patients will have a correct understanding of what is going on with their body. Also Lisa can put her mathematical skills to use when she is doing Steve's BMI. If she correctly uses her mathematical skills to work out Steve's BMI then Steve will see Lisa as a knowledgeable, reliable person. If he sees Lisa as this then he will be more likely to listen to her advice and trust her. If he is listening to her advice because she has shown him that she is correct at her job and can help him then that will be helping Steve needs. Lisa should also have good communication skills. She can put these skills to use when she is trying to get her message across to Steve. If she is giving Steve results from a screening test she must make sure that she doesn't upset him and that she knows how to correctly communicate with him in order to get the best outcome. If Lisa seems to be nice and helpful towards Steve and she looks like she knows what she is saying and she is comforting Steve when he finds out some shocking news then Steve will maybe become to like Lisa and understand why she is there for him. If he understands that she is there to help him then he is more likely to listen to her and in listening to her and getting her advice Lisa will be helping Steve to loose weight and cut back on the bad things he is doing to his body. This will be helping Steve's needs. Lisa will have to have medical knowledge as a skill to be a community nurse. She will have to have medical knowledge so when she is giving out medical advice she will need to know that what she is saying is accurate and correct. If her medical knowledge is accurate and correct and she has the skill to advise people on what they should do and help people with their descriptions she will be trusted and respected a lot more than if she didn't have any knowledge on what she was doing. The medical knowledge can come in useful when she is working with Steve and helping with his needs. If Lisa shows Steve that she knows what she is doing and her knowledge is correct then Steve is going to want to follow her advice on how he can get his body fitter and healthier. Steve needs to lose weight and if he wants to follow Lisa's advice then she will be helping with his needs. If she had bad knowledge and seemed as if she didn't know what she was doing Steve would be put off by this fact and may not want to or follow her advice as he may seem it to be incorrect, or that its her opinion and not a medical one. Lisa also should have good communication skills. She must make sure that she gets her message across to her patients such as Steve in a way that won't offend them and will make them feel confident that she knows what she is saying. She must make sure that if she is giving out results such as screening tests to someone that she is professional and makes the person feel comfortable. If Lisa puts this skill to use when working with Steve she will be helping with his needs. She will be doing this by communicating to Steve what is going on with his body in a positive non-offensive way then Steve is going to want to listen to Lisa and he will see what she is saying is important and that will help him in being confident that he is in the right hands to lose weight and get healthier. Qualities There are many qualities that Lisa should have to be a good community nurse. Firstly she should be patient with the patient. She should never rush them into anything she must make sure she remains calm and not stressed out with the patient. Some patients may need to lose a lot of weight and if they aren't doing it as quick as the community nurse would like, they must make sure they still remain calm and patient. If they start to rush a patient into loosing weight and telling them there not doing well enough or quick enough then they may lose their self-esteem and that could cause them to stop the course of treatment and therefore they won't be loosing any weight. However if Lisa is patient and calm with patients like Steve throughout the whole time they are seeing them which could be many months, Steve will more likely to become more confident that what he is doing is going to be beneficial and that he is doing everything correctly therefore Lisa will be helping him with his needs. Another quality that Lisa should have as a community nurse but also in helping Steve with his needs is being encouraging. If Lisa is encouraging then Steve will want to carry on with what he is doing as he is being encouraged to do so. If Lisa is giving him positive encouragement and keeps reminding Steve how much better he will look and feel when he is healthier and fitter then Steve will become more determined to listen to her advice and participate in what she is doing to help him. If he listens to her advice then his needs will be for filled. Lisa should also make sure that she is very friendly towards her patients and that she doesn't come across as being very nice then patients like Steve will be put off from talking to her. If Steve is put off from talking to Lisa then he is unlikely to listen to her advice. If he doesn't follow or listen to her advice then he won't have his needs met. However is Lisa is friendly and kind towards Steve and shows him that she cares about him as an individual then Steve is more likely to listen to her advice and encouragement and have his needs met. Dietician Roles Sue is a dietician for the NHS. She works in partnership with doctors and a nurses who can refer their patients to Sue to get specific help that Sue as a dietician can help them with. Sue will have specialist knowledge about diets and nutrition as she is trained in them areas. Therefore Sue will be very useful in helping Steve with his diet and loosing weight. A dietician plans nutrition programs and food programs for their patients. Dieticians such as Sue can help prevent diseases and obesity problems because they teach people about the role of food in their diet. They usually run food programs in institutions, such as hospitals and schools. A dietician promotes healthy diets through education and education programs. Another role that Sue may have is to be able to create a diet based on what the doctor prescribes. The dietician must be able to prepare and calculate a diet based on the nutrients a person needs. Tasks A few tasks Sue may have to do as a dietician is educate her patients. The education is often about appropriate diets and what diet may be appropriate for their health needs. Sue could educate Steve on what diet he could start to take and how it will benefit him. Sue can also educate her patients by telling them the different types of food groups and why their all individually important. She could educate Steve on what the different foods he eats do for him and maybe what food group he should start eating and why. Also Sue can educate her patients about the risks of an unhealthy diet and being overweight. Steve would benefit from this education very well as he may not understand the full risks of what he is doing to his body, but if Sue educates him on what he is doing to it and how bad it is then it may encourage Steve to take action. One of Sue's tasks may also be giving her patients a diet that they specifically need and that will fit into their lifestyle. She could give Steve a diet that specifically is for him and fits around his university timetable. Both hospital and community dieticians educate people who need special diets as part of their medical treatment, for example patients with kidney disease, food allergies, eating disorders, diabetes, HIV/AIDS etc. Another task that Sue may do is to run food programmes. Running food programmes in places such as schools can help the young pupils to get more knowledge on nutrition and what diets they should be taking in order to be healthy. Sue could run a food programme at Steve's university to show Steve that it is important to lose weight and be healthy, not just him but everyone. Another task that a dietician may have is giving out advice. Sue could give out advice on diets and nutrition in many different ways. A few of these ways could be giving out leaflets in a school or community place to get people to read into more detail on how important a healthy diet is. Also she could give leaflets out to her specific patients advising them on how to cope with their new diet etc. Sue could also show videos and tell about case studies in communal places such a school or a GP. These videos will show awareness of a what an unhealthy diet can do and what you can do in order to maintain a good health and how you can do it. One of a community nurse's tasks are to produce diet plans to suit the individual and what's best for them. If Sue produced a diet plan that was suitable for Steve in order to lose weight then that will benefit him a lot. A dietician also monitors weight, they do this in order to see how well the patient is doing on the diet they have been set. If the patients diet plan isn't working for them and regular weight monitoring shows this then Sue may change their diet to something else to see if that diet plan works. Constant updating is needed in order for Sue to see if she needs to change diet plans for the patients. A dietician might incorporate exercise into the process, but this would only be minimum information such as that they should exercise regularly and often after meals etc. Skills Sue should have mathematical skills as a dietician. She will need these skills in order to produce accurate diet charts and to accurately work out a person's BMI. If the information Sue produces is correct because she has accurately used her mathematic skills then she will be able to tell Steve what to do to get healthier and lose weight. Steve will then believe that Sue knows what she is saying, he will then follow her advice and start to lose weight, this will be helping with his needs. Therefore he will feel better about himself as he will look and feel great. Sue should also have good communication skills. Good communication skills are useful as the information is given face to face so therefore its important that the message is given across appropriately. Steve is more likely to listen to Sue's information as she will be giving immediate responses and making him feel comfortable. This will help him as he will understand what to do to get himself healthier and this will help him to lose weight leading to him having a good self esteem, again Sue will be helping with what he needs. Sue should also be able to have a skill in order for her to be able to give good advice. Sue will have to give good advice with reason behind the advice she has given, she will also have to have medical and nutritional knowledge to back up what she is saying this is because Steve will then know that she is giving a medical overview on his body and that it is a serious fact that he is unhealthy and needs to lose weight, not just Sue's personal opinion. The knowledge that Sue has is important as she will be letting Steve know she knows what she's doing and he will follow what she is saying and he will lose the weight he needs also he will get much fitter and healthier and he will then feel much better about himself, therefore his needs will have been helped by Sue. Sue should also have knowledge on nutrition and dieting. This knowledge she has on nutrition and dieting will help her to provide accurate and immediate advice to her patients. If she is providing accurate and immediate advice to patients they will feel confident that she knows what she is doing. If Steve believes that Sue has knowledge and accuracy on what she is telling him then he will trust her and he will want to take her advice and he will stick to diet plans she sets him, if he loses weight as a result of Sue's work she will be helping his needs. Qualities Sue should have many good qualities in order to be a good and helpful dietician. Polite and friendly should be one quality. She will need to make sure she doesn't offend the patient in what she is saying. She shouldn't say that they are ‘fat' and need to lose all their ‘chubbiness†. She should be polite and professional and use the correct terminology to avoid any offence. Steve is overweight and if Sue worked out his BMI and saw this she shouldn't call him ‘fat'. She should tell him that he is overweight and borderline obese. Even though it sounds worse if Sue uses the correct terminology then Steve is less likely to get offended and more likely to take things seriously. If he takes things seriously he is more likely to want to lose weight and therefore his needs will be met. Sue should also have being approachable as a quality. If the Sue is approachable and friendly and nice the message she must give to Steve that he is overweight and does need to diet may make him accept these things more lightly than just saying he's fat and needs to lose weight fast. If Steve can accept things more lightly and understand what Sue is saying to him then he is more likely to be confident and want to lose weight. If he loses weight then his needs will have been met. Sue should also make sure that she is relaxed and patient with her patients but that she is also firm. Things may get irritating if a patient is refusing to diet or doesn't seem to think they should lose weight. Sue should stay relaxed and patient but however she must make sure that she doesn't give in and she stays firm. Such as making Steve stick to his diet plan. She must understand that it may be difficult at first but must be consistent and firm with Steve and keep reminding him that his needs can only be met if he works with her and takes onboard her advice. Sue must also make sure she stays positive. Being positive is a quality that Sue needs. She must make sure that she tells them how much better they will look and feel after all their hard work and that it will be very beneficial. If she does this then her patients will then want to aspire for the positive goals. If she is negative and rude patients such as Steve may not listen to her and may not lose weight and may even start to gain weight. If Steve doesn't lose weight then his needs will not be met. However if Sue stays positive with Steve and makes sure that he is in a positive frame of mind and he is in a determined lose as she tells him of all the benefits then Steve's needs will be met as he will eventually lose weight and feel and look much better.

Lab 3 Determinates of Water Hardness

Determination of Water Hardness Using a Titrator Heather Crall Chemistry 1 SMT- 271044 10/17/2012 Abstract From seeing all of my results and conclusion I now see that I didn’t understand this lab very well and that its not easy when others try to help. Since I have hard water it tells me that my water flows over and through rocks and minerals, like limestone. Purpose The purpose of this lab is to become familiar with the concept of water hardness. We learn that hard water contains high levels of dissolved minerals that are in the form of metallic ions.Most of Ohio which is the state I live in either has moderately hard water or hard water. For as my town the city is moderate and the country is hard. Procedure 1) Put safety things on 2) Place the stopcock in the closed position on the end of the titrator and fill with 10 mL of EDTA solution. 3) Put a crumpled up paper towel under the titrator and allow a few drops of the solution to fall into the towel. This way it fills the ti p of the titrator then close and throw the towel away. Then place the 100 mL beaker under the setup. 4) Use the graduated cylinder to measure exactly 10 mL of tap water from your sink. ) Pour the tap water into the beaker then add 5 drops of pH 10 buffer solution. Swirl carefully the mixture in the beaker. 6) Read the volume of EDTA in the titrator and record the initial volume. Then slowly open the stopcock and add 1 drop at a time while swirling the mixture.7) Once the solution turns a pale blue-gray color turn the stopcock off then record the final volume in the titrator. 8) Repeat steps 4-7 and fill in Table 1. 9) Pour the rest of the contents down the drain Data Data Table 1: EDTA titration volume| | Initial EDTA Volume (mL)| Final EDTA Volume (mL)| Total Volume of EDTA Used (mL)| Trial 1| 9 mL| 7. mL| 1. 6 mL| Trial 2| 8 mL| 6. 6 mL| 1. 4 mL| Trial 3| 7mL| 5. 2 mL| 1. 8 mL| Average Volume of EDTA Used (mL): 1. 6 mL | Data Table 2: Water Hardness| Average Volume of EDTA Used (m L)| Concentration Ca^2+ ions per Liter of Water (mol/L)| Water Hardness (ppm CaCO3)| 1. 6 mL| 0. 015 mol/L| 1,500. 9 ppm CaCO3| Results A) Based on the analysis of your local water, would you classify its hardness as soft, moderate, hard, or very hard? Explain your answer. My water is moderately hard even though it’s the city we still have plumbing problems due to our soil and the minerals in our town.The country all has hard water so the deal with rust and bigger clogs than the city. B) Approximately how much calcium would you ingest by drinking eight 8-oz glasses of your local water? HINT: 1 oz(fluid ounces) =29. 57 mL 8oz= 236. 56 236. 56*8= 1,892. 48 mL Conclusion In conclusion it seems as though my results have come to show that I have very hard water when looking at the last graph but to have it say 1,500 tells me that my results is potentially incorrect. From what I understand it shows that the calcium carbonate is very high in my town.

Special Needs Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Special Needs Education - Essay Example By giving a workshop to parents regarding the education of children with special needs, not only would they be able to appreciate the efforts that regular schools do for the children, but also enlighten them in what they could do to support and encourage their own children’s learning process. Special Needs Education Workshop for Parents Many parents take it for granted that their own children are able to follow the school’s given curricula without any worries. However, for parents who may not be able to understand why their child is having a hard time coping with lessons in school, despite regularly attending classes and studying even after school, it may be that they have not realized that the child has learning problems. Putting the blame on the child or the educational system, or both may not be the best way in handling the situation. Not only does it creates a barrier between understanding the child better, but it also gives the child an idea that there is nothing t hat can be done to the situation (Porter, 2002). Thus, to improve the well-being of children with special needs as well as providing stability to the parents’ relationship with the child and the school, a workshop regarding the mechanics of how special education needs are addressed by regular schools, as well as how parents can participate in their child’s learning process would be a helpful tool in helping parents understand and support their child better in school. The main goals for conducting the seminar and workshop regarding the special education needs for children that have learning problems are: to introduce to parents the â€Å"IDEA†, an act that supports the education of children with special education needs through the public school system; to present to concerned parents how regular schools are able to provide quality education not just to children with normal or superior learning capabilities, but also to children that may have other needs that woul d allow them to learn lessons at the same rate as their peers; to let parents see the perspective of children with learning difficulties in dealing with their everyday schooling; to provide parents ideas which could help them assist and empower their children in coping with the regular educational curriculum of the school; and to enlighten parents of the important role that they have to play in order to become even more attuned with their children not just in the academics but also in their physical, social, psychological, and emotional well-being. In order for the parents to not only be informed but also get engaged with the topic itself, the program shall consist of four parts: the introductory part; the presentation proper; the question and answer part; and the workshop proper. The introductory part would be presented in the form of a video presentation that enumerates and explains laws that are concerned with the provision of additional adjustment of the school’s teaching methods to address the needs and support the abilities of children with special needs. The presentation proper would utilize a power point presentation so that the parents would be able to read the additional information with ease. The presentation will be mentioning in detail the services that are provided for specifically by the schools that their children are enrolled in, as well as other

Four Major Problems Faced by the US Economy Currently Based on Current Term Paper

Four Major Problems Faced by the US Economy Currently Based on Current Media Reports - Term Paper Example The 2008 financial crisis of United States affected the economies throughout the world and the macroeconomic factors were shaken up. The issue started with the debt crisis when the borrowers were unable to service their loans and thus faced difficulty in paying back the loans. This resulted in the housing market crisis when people ended up with bad loans which in turn resulted in people being deprived off their homes. The credit crunch also led to damage to investors confidence and investors and savers were unwilling to inject the money into the economy which resulted in shortage of money and cash, and this also resulted in the rise of unemployment. US Federal Debt/Deficit Since the financial crisis struck in the year 2008, the US debt has been very high. According to a recent news article, the United States debt is nearly as much as the total value of all its goods and services produced in the US during the financial year. CNBC reports that the total value of the US debt is $14.96 t rillion which means that the United States external debt as a percentage of its GDP stand at 99.46% (CNBC). This is a very high figure and indeed a very dangerous one because high leverage of debt can be very risky. As a matter of fact, it is suggested that every person born in the United States has a debt of $47,664 in the very second it is born. The figure on the left shows that the public debt in the US will surpass the 17 trillion mark by the end of 2012, and indicates how the debts are constantly on the rise, which can be a very alarming situation for the people. (US Government Spending) Not just the rising debts, but the economy also faces the difficulty of constant budget deficits which means the outlay of the United States government is greater than the receipts and this means that the US government has to search for sources to raise the finances. Since the past three years, the US federal deficit has been around the $1300 billion mark. (US Government Spending) Issue of Rais ing Finance As mentioned above, United States economy has become highly leveraged and the debt to GDP percentage is nearly touching the 100 percent mark. This increases the riskiness of the economy and damages the confidence of investors and savers to inject their money into the economy. Investors ask for high returns to take on risky projects and some do not even settle for higher returns due to the fact the people are naturally risk averse. A credit rating agency has downgraded the credit rating of the United States and has gone down from AA+ to AA. Since the credit rating is going down, the investors and savers are reluctant to inject their money into the economy (Yahoo!). This creates a problem for the United States because the US government needs to borrow the money to cover up for the budget deficits they are facing each year. When the government has to inject money into the economy and it is unable to increase its budget receipts, then it has to look for other sources of mone y to cover that deficit and this source is usually to borrow money. With the credit rating going down, less number of savers is ready to save their money and thus it creates a shortage of money for the US government. Not just to finance the budget deficit, the government also faces difficulty in raising the money to service or repay their previous loans. Housing The housing bubble emerged in the United States in the year 2005 when the property prices started to rise and they rose at quite high rates. This increased the

Keynesian Economic Policies before and after 1970 Coursework

Keynesian Economic Policies before and after 1970 - Coursework Example Friedman suggested that governments have a central bank monetary policy whose main aim would be to sustain the equilibrium of demand and supply of money in the economy. As opposed to the Keynesian economics which mainly focused on value stability of a country’s currency and the panic resulting from insufficient supply of money that led to alternate currency and collapse, Friedman and his monetary policy focused on stability of prices as a result of the equilibrium between money supply and the demand of money (Lipsey and Chrystal, 2007). The Keynesian economic principles dominated the macroeconomic world in the 19th century in to the early 20th century, in a period characterized by the rise of capitalism. This period is referred to as the Golden Age of capitalism. The golden age of capitalism, led by The US and other Western economic powers especially after the World War II, (from 1945 to mid 1970s) saw the rise of capitalist nations in to major economic regions of the world. K eynesian Economic Policies A prevailing economic principle in the 1930s and during the Great economic depression was that the economy would recover by itself without any interventions from the government. A British Economist, Keynesian, then suggested that governments should increase their spending and cut taxes so as to revive their economies during the depression (Eatwell and Millgate, 2011). Without government intervention, he argued that the economy would be greatly affected by high unemployment rates and would never recover. In his opinion, increasing government spending during an economic downturn would help to boost demand, as well as setting off the chain of the chain of demand by suppliers and workers whose incomes would have been affected by the increased expenditure by the government. Reducing the tax burden would also enable people to have more disposable income, which would help to boost demand in the economy. He also contended that the most appropriate fiscal policy in periods of high unemployment is to run a deficit budget (Eatwell and Millgate, 2011). Keynesian’s ideas were largely ignored by both the British and the US Governments at the time, until after the World War II (Eatwell and Millgate, 2011). After the war, Keynesians principles of a fiscal policy, government involvement in spending and cutting taxes with the aim of maintaining employment rates became the center of attraction in macroeconomics, both in the debate of national economic policies as well as in research. In the US, the Employment Act (1946) helped the government to start using Keynesian’s economic principles to regulate its economy and improve the employment rate. Application of Keynesian principles saw governments regain economic stability throughout the 1950s and 1960s as they recovered from the economic depression. The Keynesian economic theory was based on the principle of a circular flow of money in the economy (Eatwell and Millgate, 2011). This implies that when one person spends money, kit results in another person earning money. This would then raises the demand of the later, leading him to also spend the money and through buying of goods and services, leading to another person earning the money and so forth. According to Keynes, it is this circular flow of money that enables economies to function well. According to the Keynesian Theory, the aggregate demand created by