Snowstorm Lawsuit - 2055 Words

The Snow Storm Lawsuit Strayer University Identify and explain at least three legal considerations. The first legal consideration in this case is related to corporate liability. The hospital itself is negligent under this doctrine. Corporate negligence is the failure to provide the equipment, facilities, and staff to carry out the duties of the corporation in accordance with the established standard of conduct (Showalter, 2007). Corporate negligence is evident in this case in regard to the failure to ensure that sufficient healthcare personnel were available to provide the established standard of care to the patients in the facility. Moreover, the personnel that were required to remain at the hospital from the day shift were likely†¦show more content†¦Therefore, an increased incidence of falls and resulting injury are a foreseeable result of the staffing shortage. Identify and explain three ethical considerations. Leaders in healthcare organizations are often faced with a variety of ethical issues. Ethical considerations will be discussed from a leadership perspective. The ethical considerations related to this case are the responsibility to patients, responsibility to employees, and responsibility to the organization. Responsibilities to patients includes providing quality care that meets established standards, ensuring there are mechanisms in place to monitor and evaluate the performance of healthcare personnel, hiring and retaining competent professional staff that meet licensing and accreditation standards, and consistently reviewing, researching, and implementing evidence-based practices. This case fails to demonstrate ethical conduct in terms of responsibilities to patients specifically in regard to staffing, which, in turn affects quality of care. Responsibilities to employees include providing an adequate and safe work environment, ens uring that employees are equipped with equipment, facilities, and sufficient staff to perform their duties within the established standards of care, promoting the appropriate use of employee’s knowledge and skills, and providing a mechanism for employees to voice ethical concerns. This case fails to meet this ethical standard as evidenced by not providing sufficientShow MoreRelatedA Case Study of the Washington Hospital Center1328 Words   |  5 PagesAn overview of the case Washington DCs largest private hospital fired a total of 11 nurses as well as 5 support staff members who had failed to go to work at time when the back-to-back snowstorms that rocked and paralyzed the operations in the region. Several more members of the Washington Hospital Center also faced internal investigations and it was originally not clear how many employees would lose their jobs. 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A Report on Child Labor Free Essays

The reaction of a typical citizen of a western state to child labor is generally one of disgust. They dream up images of a shoe factory in South Eastern Asia with hundreds of children stooped over sewing machines slaving their youth away. Instead of going to school or playing these children are locked in dangerous workshops, paid barely enough to survive. We will write a custom essay sample on A Report on Child Labor or any similar topic only for you Order Now The truth of the matter is quite different. The average westerner does not realize that most often child laborers are working alongside their parents on small, family owned pieces of land. They are not tortured by a mean overseer, but rather surrounded by family and friends. My intent is not to paint a glowing picture or to diminish the fact that children would be better off in schools, but we must be realistic. Generally life for the child laborer is not as bad as many imagine and frequently their hard work is the difference from their family thriving and their family starving. Not only that, but when they work in the export-manufacturing sector of the economy their labor can fuel future growth of the economy, preventing their children or grandchildren from having to work in factories. This is not to say that we should do nothing to help child laborers, but rather that we should focus our aid in areas other than merely restricting the importation of items produced by them. We need to turn to more creative devices that will focus on improving the education and opportunity for education rather trying to focus on blindly banning child labor. In short, child labor is not the purely evil institution many feel it is and can even be useful in developing third world economies. At the same time we should still try to attempt to do more to develop those economies in order to not only end child labor but also to reduce all the forms of suffering which go on in the third world. Before examining child labor abroad we should look at it here in the United States. Throughout much of our country we employ thousands of, frequently illegal, immigrant laborers to work on farms producing our nation†s food supply. These laborers most often work in family units, with children working the fields side by side with their parents. When pesticides are used farm workers are often not warned or given insufficient warning to prevent their exposure to these dangerous chemicals. The result is that here in America, there exists a large number of children who work rather than going to school and while working are exposed to conditions similar or worse than that of third world factories. Little of this is done beyond the limits of the law. Agriculture has been granted many perks in labor law that would seem absurd in other sectors of the economy, despite the hazards involved in this type of work. All age limits imposed on other types of labor are reduced in agriculture. Outside agriculture 13 and 14 year old children cannot work more than three hours a day during a school week. These restrictions do not exist for farm workers; instead children from the age of 12 can work full days as long as they have their parents† consent. Even ten and eleven year olds can work as long as it is during short seasonal harvests, but they require special permission from the Department of Labor. Even these minimal restrictions can be avoided as many of these laborers do not speak English, do not know their rights, and are generally afraid of going to the authorities for fear of being deported from the country. Workers endure this system for an estimated average annual income of $7,500, a rate few Americans would be willing to accept. They are paid poorly, the rights they don†t know exist are abused, they are exposed to pesticides, and their children are not given the opportunity to get an education. This makes one wonder why they even come here. The answer is that the money they earn here is better than what they would make at home. Despite the abuse they suffer, it is worth it for the amount they get paid. Not only that, but here their labor is somewhat regulated by the government. Conversely, in Mexico regulation is often relaxed or nonexistent. It is better for children to work here where they at least are protected, even if minimally, than in Mexico where the same is not true. While working here they are able to send or take money home and support relatives. Evidence throughout the world has proven that when the opportunity for education is low or when the schools in an area are poor, the rate of children working is high. With this in mind we should work to improve education in Mexico. The family members supported by their farm-working relatives would be able to educate their children. This, in turn, would improve the economy in future years, making it no longer worthwhile to come to the United States to work. Better education in Mexico could make migrant farm workers in the United States a major source of growth for the Mexican economy. Internationally the situation is frequently similar. Eighty percent of child laborers abroad work in agriculture. Only eight percent of children work in manufacturing and of those only five percent manufacture items for export. This leaves a very small number of children worldwide that we can have much of an effect on through import restrictions. What we should do is try to limit the reasons that children work abroad, not just the demand for their labor. If a family will starve without the work of their children our efforts should be focused on increasing the wages their parents receive. The best way to do this is improving their level of education. It is too late to achieve this for the current generation, but we can use the labor of some children to improve the education of others to help future generations. Organizations like Rugmark, Kaleen, and Care Fare are excellent examples of where international efforts should be focused. Essentially they take funds from the sale of each rug sold internationally and invest those funds in schools and hospitals for children in the country in which the rugs were made. Organizations like Rugmark focus on banning child labor from the carpet making industry but that is not necessary. As long as they collect money from the sale of carpets they are able to improve the economy. With those funds they can invest in education for the rest of society. Taking children from the carpet making industry will only move them into other, unregulated industries that could be more dangerous and detrimental to their development. Using organizations like Rugmark and Kaleen would be improving the economy on the backs of children, but perhaps this is a price we must pay for improvement. One other problem in the third world that deserves examination is that of children working when their parents do not. There is a high correlation in South Asia between child labor and adult unemployment. The reason for this is not definite, but one can only assume that it is due to either the parents not wanting to work or employers preferring children to adults. It is known that employers frequently rather have children in their shops as they complain less and are more pliable. If they are unwilling to employ adults in they factories, then this is a matter for the governments of those states. They must enact and strictly enforce laws ensuring that children are not working in their parents place. It is one thing for a child to work in order to feed their family, but another because the parents are too lazy or an employer to greedy to hire them. Education could still be a force to decrease child labor here. As child labor is high when educational opportunity is low, the mere act of building a school and hiring good teachers could do much to decrease child labor in the near future. Parents might decide that if their children could get a good education and live a better life, that they should work instead of their children. The main idea of what has been outlined above is that the best tool for reducing child labor is education. This is an investment, and as such the rewards may not be reaped for decades, but it is still worth the effort. We should use education, even if it must be funded or supported by the work of children, to improve the economies of countries dependent upon child labor. This is a pragmatic solution and one that is not beautiful, but if we were to merely ban importation of items produced by children we would in effect be cutting off our collective nose despite our face. Without educational opportunities in third world states children not working will only be street children, doing nothing with their time. We should also not be unwilling to encourage cultural change when it allows parents to stay home and do nothing while their children labor away in factories. Education is not a creative solution to the problem of child labor, but it is really the best tool we have to save future generations from suffering. How to cite A Report on Child Labor, Papers

Newton PLC Finance & Financial Management

Questions: 1. Capital Expenditure Decision and Investment Criteria Newton plc The board of directors of Newton plc has to decide whether or not to invest in a manufacturing plant to produce a new product that has been developed on the basis of research undertaken within the company. The development of the product has been expensive and at a cost of 2.00 million has significantly exceeded the initial budget allocation for the product. One member of the board has argued that the company should not proceed with the investment as it is most unlikely that it will be able to recover what has already been spent on the product. The marketing department has suggested that the product should be sold at 14.00 per unit and it is anticipated that sales in the first year will be about 400,000 units, rising to 600,000 in year two. Sales are expected to remain at this level for the following three years and fall to 300,000 units in year six. It is thought that the product is unlikely to be competitive after six years given the rate of product innovation in the sector, and it will be withdrawn from the market at this stage. To manufacture the product an investment of 9.00 million will be necessary in new production facilities. This expenditure can be written off for tax purposes using a 25 per cent writing down allowance. The re-sale value of the equipment has been estimated to be about 2.50 million at the end of the six year anticipated product life. Use will also be made of some equipment the company already owns. This equipment is now fully depreciated for tax purposes, but would be sold today for 1.20 million. If used in the manufacture of the product its value expected to fall to 0.30 million by the end of year six. The production facility will be located in one of the companys factories that is not being fully utilised. The company has no alternative uses available for this space that is currently being rented out to another manufacturer for 80,000 per annum. The product will be charged 40,000 per annum for the space it utilises through the companys internal budgetary system. The fixed costs associated with the production are expected to be 250,000 per annum. Each product sold by the company is also allocated by the companys accountant an overhead charge of 5 per cent of the revenues it generates to cover head office expenses. The direct manufacturing costs are expected to be 7.00 per unit. The company will need to hold stocks of the final product at the start of each year equivalent to 20 per cent of the sales expected in the next year and also stocks of materials and components equivalent to 20 per cent of the production expected in the next year. The materials and components account for 4.00 per unit out of the 7.00 overall direct cost per unit. The increase in debtors as a result of introducing the product will be offset by the increase in creditors. The company requires a rate of return of 12 per cent on investments of this nature, and the tax rate is 25 per cent. a) Determine the investments net present value, the internal rate of return, payback period and discounted payback period. All key assumptions should be specified and explained very carefully.b) Interpret the NPV, IRR, payback period and discounted payback period, using the results of your evaluation of Newtons proposed investment to illustrate your answer. 2. Valuation of a Companys Shares Take the price earnings ratios for three companies traded on the London Stock Exchange from the data set given in the attached file. These companies are drawn from the FT 100, the hundred largest companies traded on the exchange, and the P/E ratios specified are for the end of each year from 2007 to 2013. The data also gives the P/E ratios for the index. Discuss the factors that might explain the differences in the price earnings ratios of the three companies you have chosen and the changes that have occurred in their price earnings ratios over the six year period. (Choose companies with a range of P/E ratios to give you one with a relatively low value, one with a relatively high value, and another with a middling value.) You should use the insights provided by valuation models on the determinants of the price-earnings ratios in your discussion, but you should also discuss the role of any other factors that might influence the reported values of price-earnings ratios of the companies you have chosen. Whilst you need to gather some information on the companies you choose it is not anticipated that you undertake an in-depth analysis of the companies. It is acceptable to make use of some possible reasons to account for the differences in the price earnings ratios as well as employing the information that you gather on the companies. 3. Rights Issue Barclays announced on July30 2013 that the company would make a rights issue in September of the same year. The rights issue was planned to raise approximately 5.8 billion, with the shareholders being offered one new share at a subscription price of 1.85 for every four shares they were holding. The total number of shares to be issued was 3,216,893,546, equivalent to twenty five per cent of the shares outstanding at the time of the announcement. The share price immediately prior to the announcement was 3.095 and this fell to 2.93 when the issue was announced, a fall of 5.3 per cent. The announcement of a rights issue did not surprise the market, but the size of the issue was larger than anticipated. The issue was the 4th largest issue ever made by a bank. The issue was designed to help the bank meet a requirement that Barclays increased the ratio of its risk capital to its assets to 3 per cent and at the time Barclays had a shortfall of 12.8 billion in its risk capital given the value of its assets. Other measures were also announced at the same time to explain how Barclays intended to cover the deficit. (Google Barclays rights issue 2013 to gain access to the press coverage of the announcement.) a) Explain and discuss the rationale provided for the rights issue. In answering the question take into account the financial performance and position of Barclays Bank at the time of the issue.b) Specify the terms of the issue, the anticipated ex-rights price and calculate the value of a right. Utilise the price just prior to the announcement to undertake your calculations.c) Demonstrate that an investor will in principle be equally well off from investing in the issue or selling the rights they have been allocated.d) Identify and comment on the markets reaction to the announcement of the issue. Can the price pressure hypothesis account for the markets reaction or does the information hypothesis provide a better basis for interpreting the reaction? 4. The attached file (Stock returns 2007- 13) gives 84 monthly returns for securities drawn from the FT ALL Share Index for the period January 2007 and December 2013. a) i. The data set provided identifies four equally weighted portfolios of one, five, ten, and fifteen securities. Determine, using the appropriate Excel function (see fx)) the standard deviation and variances of the monthly returns for each of the companies included in the portfolios. (Use the 84 months returns data in the calculations and use the Excel functions identified as Variance.P and Standard Deviation P.)Next determine the monthly returns on the four portfolios along with the standard deviation of these returns. The monthly portfolio returns are simply the average of the monthly returns for each security included in the portfolio.Compare the average value of the standard deviations of the returns on the securities included in each portfolio with the standard deviation of portfolios returns. Comment on the difference between the outcomes.Discuss the consequences of increasing the number of securities in the portfolios. Compare your results to those of the studies of nave div ersification.ii. Determine the variance of each security and the co-variances for each pair of securities in the portfolio of five securities using the relevant Excel function. Employ this information to calculate the standard deviation of the returns on the portfolio using the equally weighted portfolio risk equation. Compare your results to those obtained for the portfolio in part i above.b) Determine the betas for SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy), a utility company, and BarrattDevelopments, a construction company, by regressing the returns for each of the two companies on the returns for the FT ALL Share Index (the first column in the spread-sheet).i) Explain what the values of the betas (the slope coefficients in the regression) indicate and discuss the factors that might explain the differences in the values of the betas of the two companies.ii) Comment on the implications of the estimated value of beta for investors and the cost of capital for the two companies Answers: 1. According to all the board members of Newton PLC and the board of directors of Newton PLC, the development cost of the company cannot be recuperated. The amount of money spent by the management of the Newton PLC will be failed to recover. This is because the theory of agency, which causes the separation among the management of the organization, and the owner of the organization control the management of the organization (Balla, 2012). This makes a problem among the objectives of the directors of the organization and the main objectives of the company set by the management of the company. This will also hamper the performance of the organization in the market. This may also hamper the market share price of the company which may effect on the stake holders of the company and also to their share holders of the company present in the market (Davies and Crawford, 2012). While developing a new product for the company, the management of the company has considered a cost for the new product of the company, which is financially known as the sunk cost. If the management of the company has problem with the sunk cost then the management of the Newton PLC Company cannot develop their new product in the market which will hamper the goodwill of the company in the market (Edmonds, et al, 2013). This will also effect on the wealth of the share holders of the company in the market. Calculation is given on the appendix part: The assumptions are discussed in the following points For the development of the new product in the company, the management of the organization has considered 2 million as the sunk cost. During inflation, the price of the raw materials and the other components used for developing the new products are high. So, it has been observed that the selling price of the product is less than the cost price of the newly developed product of the company. Assuming all the prices and the estimated prices of the newly developed product are accurate (Harrison, et al, 2013). All the tax rates and the rate of return are considered as the constant rate. The rate of inflation during the completion of the project is constant. All the cash flows are considered as the nominal rate. The business risk are treated as the financial risk involved in the organization. It will bring a positive impact on the net working capital of the company. The opportunity cost of the newly developed by the management of the company is 80K and the management of the company has decided to allocate around 40K as the financial cost of the product to develop the product in the market. The incremental cost of the company is around 250 thousand, which is treated as the overhead cost of the newly developed product. The depreciation amount has been deducted from the calculation part of NPV and the amount of capital allowances has been included in the NPV calculation. This is because the amount of depreciation has been excluded as depreciation is a part of non-cash items. Net Present Value (NPV) From the calculation, it can be concluded that the net present value of the project is 6.899 million. This shows that the net present value is positive which means that the cash out flow for the project is lower than the cash inflow from the project (Horngren, et al, 2012). On the basis of cash flow, the NPV of a project has been calculated. NPV helps to understand the value of money as compared with time. NPV helps the management of the company to take decision whether to invest on a particular project or not. Internal Rate of Return (IRR) The meaning of internal rate of return is the return rate, which helps us to find out the zero return rates to calculate the NPV value of project. From the above calculation, it has been concluded that the discounted rate of NPV is around 15 % and the 15 % discounted rate is a positive rate, which gives a positive NPV for the project. Therefore, from the above calculation it can be stated that the discounted rate of IRR should be greater than 15 % (Kemp and Waybright, 2013). This method of IRR helps us to calculate the proposal of the investment whether to accept the project or not. This method of IRR helps us to compare among the other projects and to decide which project is appropriate to invest by the company. Payback Period: The payback period of the project is calculated and the results of the payback period are between the 2nd year and the 3rd year. This payback period of the project helps us to calculate that in how much time we can recover the amount of money invested initially in the project and found that the in between the 2nd year and the 3rd year, the initial investment can be recovered. Discounted Payback Period: From the above calculation, it has been observed that in between 3rd year and 4th year of the project life lies the discounted payback period. This discounted payback period will help to fid out the value of money with respect to time. Appendix: Appendix to answer of Q 1: Sale price per unit 14 direct cost -7 Contribution 7 000 T0 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Unit sale - 400,000 600,000 600,000 600,000 600,000 300,000 Revenue - 5,600 8,400 8,400 8,400 8,400 4,200 Cost of goods sold - (2,800) (4,200) (4,200) (4,200) (4,200) (2,100) Contribution - 2,800 4,200 4,200 4,200 4,200 2,100 Initial Investment (9,000) Scrap 2,500 opportunity cost "rent" - (80) (80) (80) (80) (80) (80) Fixed cost associated - (250) (250) (250) (250) (250) (250) Used equipment (1,200) 300 Net WC (880) (440) - - - 660 660 Taxation 300 (141) (558) (634) (691) (734) (704) Add Depreciation - 1,625 1,219 914 686 514 1,542 CF (10,780) 3,514 4,531 4,150 3,864 4,310 6,068 I = 12% (factor) 1.000 0.893 0.797 0.712 0.636 0.567 0.507 PV (10,780) 3,137 3,612 2,954 2,456 2,446 3,074 NPV 6,899 accept the project because it has positive NPV that means the shareholder wealth maximization I = 15% (factor) 1.000 0.870 0.756 0.658 0.572 0.497 0.432 PV (10,780) 3,055 3,426 2,729 2,210 2,143 2,623 NPV 5,406 accept the project because it has positive NPV that means the shareholder wealth maximization IRR is more than 15% where the project NPV will be zero Pay back between year 2 and 3 Discounted pay back between year 3 and 4 Tax working T0 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 Scrap value 2500 Contribution - 2,800 4,200 4,200 4,200 4,200 2,100 Tax = account dep. - (1,625) (1,219) (914) (686) (514) (1,542) Fixed cost associated - (250) (250) (250) (250) (250) (250) opportunity cost "rent" - (80) (80) (80) (80) (80) (80) Used equipment (1,200) - - - - - 300 Overhead 0 (280.00) (420.00) (420.00) (420.00) (420.00) (210.00) Taxable income (1,200) 565 2,231 2,536 2,764 2,936 2,818 Taxation @ 25% 300.00 (141.25) (557.81) (633.98) (691.11) (733.96) (704.38) Depreciation working on the 25% reducing balance T0 6,500 T1 4,875 (1,625) T2 3,656 (1,219) T3 2,742 (914) T4 2,057 (686) T5 1,542 (514) T6 (1,542) Working Capital T0 T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 300,00 Unit sale - 400,000 600,000 600,000 600,000 600,000 0 20% Final product 80,000 120,000 120,000 120,000 120,000 60,000 Direct cost price 7 7 7 7 7 7 Product Cost (A) 560 840 840 840 840 420 - 20% Material 80,000 120,000 120,000 120,000 120,000 60,000 Material price 4 4 4 4 4 4 Material Cost (B) 320 480 480 480 480 240 - Working capital 880 1,320 1,320 1,320 1,320 660 - Net WC (880) (440) - - - 660 660 2. Company selection: Tullow oil has the highest P/E ratio among all the hundred companies in 2010. However, in 2009 Vodafone group has the lowest P/E ratio. Adequate value we have selected for the Ashtead group. P/E ratio and earnings per share (EPS) considered using the following: P/E ratio: Current market price/Earnings per share Earnings per share (EPS): Net income- dividends preferred stock/average outstanding shares The differences between the three companies can explain the factors those are following: A. Due to the dramatic decreasing on EPS from 16.3 in 2009 to 5.51 in 2010, Tullow oil has the highest PE ratio in 2010. The declining results in EPS that affected in the financial statements in 2010. It is not so important for the financial statements, that market share price was higher in 2010 rather than in 2009. The Fluctuation in P/E ratio in 2010 has indicated that the EPS was the important factor by considering the market price in 2009. According to the annual report of the company, we can see that the profit of the company has drastically changed and decreased vigorously in 2009 compared to 2010 (Needles and Powers, 2012). In the financial statements, the issue of the shares is included as per the given standard of the financial statements. Therefore, the price and the issue of shares dramatically changed in the year 2010. For this, the P/E ratio has been increase and the EPS has fallen down drastically. B. the Vodafone group has the lowest P/E ratio in 2009 as mentioned above in the case study. In the previous year that is in 2009, the P/E ratio has decreased. In 2008, when market price was lower, the P/E ratio was higher than in 2009 while the market share price was higher in 2009 when the P/E ratio was lower. The market share price and the EPS are the factors that are influenced the P/E ratio. The increase on the market share price has a significant influence on the increasing earnings per share. Due to increase in the company profits compared to the other profits of 2008, EPS are increasing. To reduce the capital the company is repurchasing their shares from the market. From the Vodafones annual profit, we can see that they made profits in 2009 that of half already made in 2008. Due to the redemption of shares, the profit was half the EPS increased. With the increasing market share, the company can improve their performance in the international market so that they can improve the ir financial statements by showing the companys profit in it. C. In the year 2010, the three companies that selected Ashtead group has almost middle P/E ratio, which is 91. In 2009, the P/E ratio is 81 due to the market share price. The share prices are double in 2010, which are 172.9. It is happening due to the decline in the companys profit. Comparing to the previous year, the capital of the company is use to expand their business activities in the international market (Scott, 2012). Due to the increasing ratio of the market share, the company can increase their price earnings ratio that clearly states that if the company wants to make profit then they should increase their market share in the business activities. At an average price of 23p per share under share, option plans the ordinary shares re-issued out of treasury. The ESOT purchased 491,513 shares at a total cost of 0.4m and 8247,172 shares held in treasury were canceling during the year of the companies purchased shares, which held in treasury. Problems with P/E ratios: Due to the different accounting period, the P/E ratio can be deceptive as per the case of our selected companies. The company should clearly states their financial position so that due to different accounting period it cannot hamper the companys financial position in the market. Interpretation of financial results can be misleading in the case of the P/E ratio. When the company is already, declare their dividends for the stock market the company can improve their performance. Sometimes it is very difficult to compare the companys different business modules, products and different growth capabilities with the other companies in the market (Shim, et al, 2012). However, the calculation of the P/E ratios can be accurate but it can create problem when calculating the different business modules of the different companies. 3. The following are the three decisions taken by the manager of finance in an organization to improve the financial condition of the company: The capital of the organization should be raised to increase the capital funds of the company. This will help the organization to improve the level of optimization of the organization. If the value of NPV is positive, the finance manager of the organization should invest in that particular project. The finance manager of an organization should give dividend to their share holders in the market to attract more share holders for the organization (Weygandt, et al, 2012). The reasons why the organizations needs to increase their funds: To expand the business of the organization, the finance manager of the organization should invest money in projects. The finance manager of the company should increase the optimal level. If the share price of the company is high, the finance manager of the organization should split their shares in the market. The finance manager of every organization should take some responsibilities to raise their funds in the organization to minimize the risk involved in the project and to have a better capital structure of the organization. In the case of Barclay Bank, the reducing level of the organization should maintain in the market to help the management of the bank to increase the optimal structure. In the scenario of Barclay Bank, it has been observed that the management of the Barclay bank wants to minimize the gearing ratio of the organization to reduce all types risks associated in the organization which will help the management of the Barclay Bank to perform better performance in the market. The management of the Barclay Bank has decided to issue new shares in the market which will help them to increase the funds of the organization. This will also attract more investors towards the organization. Usually, most of the organization can raise their funds by issuing shares in the market through IPO (Williams, 2012). b) The management of the Barclay Bank has announced that they are offering a discount on their right issues. The price of the right issue of the Barclay Bank is 3.095 and they are giving a 40 % discount on the right issues of the Barclay Banks. Value of the right issue = price of theoretical value price of subscription In this case, 0.99 is the per right option. c) The investors can sell all the right shares of the Barclay Bank that can be illustrate as 400 shares. d) After the calculation, it can be concluded that the Barclay Bank are giving an extra discount to the original price of their shares. The discounted rate of the Barclay Bank is 8 %. But in the market, the management of the Bank are giving only 5 % discount on the original price of the shares. The price of the Bank will fall, if the market is efficient. Appendix: Barclays The right issue in 2013 Step 1: P0= 3.095 Ps= 1.85 number of existing number of share 12,867,934,184 number of new share to be issue 3,216,983,546 number of new share after right issue 16,084,917,730 the share price fall to 2.93 by % -5% value of the company before issue 39,826,256,299 amount to be raised 5,800,000,000 Step 2: to raise 5.8b we need to issue at least 3,135,135,135 Step 3: 12,867,934,184 3,216,983,546 4 which is 25% of the existing share 1 Step 4: Theoretical price after right issue 2.84 by % -8% Step 5: the value of the right option 0.99 theoretically no change in the wealth 1,238.00 assuming 400 shares If subscribe the issue 1,418.29 -185 1,233.29 -4.71 sell the issue 400 share 1,134.63 proceed of selling right 98.66 1,233.29 4.707 Reference List: Balla, D. (2012). CLEP financial accounting. Piscataway, NJ.: Research Education Association. Davies, T. and Crawford, I. (2012). Financial accounting. Harlow, England: Pearson. Edmonds, T., McNair, F. and Olds, P. (2013). Fundamental financial accounting concepts. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Harrison, W., Horngren, C. and Thomas, C. (2013). Financial accounting. Boston: Pearson. Horngren, C., Harrison, W. and Oliver, M. (2012). Accounting. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Horngren, C., Harrison, W. and Oliver, M. (2012). Financial managerial accounting. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kemp, R. and Waybright, J. (2013). Financial accounting. Boston: Pearson. Needles, B. and Powers, M. (2012). Financial accounting. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Scott, W. (2012). Financial accounting theory. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall. Shim, J., Siegel, J. and Shim, J. (2012). Financial accounting. New York: McGraw-Hill. Weygandt, J., Kieso, D. and Kimmel, P. (2012). Financial accounting. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. Williams, J. (2012). Financial accounting. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Pros and Cons of Immigration for the Immigrants

Thousands of immigrants from developing nations migrate to the United States hoping to secure jobs and lead better lives. Immigrants in the United States enjoy numerous economic benefits; nevertheless, they also suffer from a number of socioeconomic challenges. This paper will focus on the pros and cons of immigration to the United States.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Pros and Cons of Immigration for the Immigrants specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Most of the immigrants take the jobs that the Americans dismiss as poorly paid. Despite the nature of the jobs, immigrants get income from the jobs thus raising their living standards. One of the factors that makes people migrate is the desire for a better life. Hence, immigrants enjoy better living standards in the United States relative to their home countries. Most of the immigrants work in the middle and semi-skilled sectors. Consequently, they are assured of ge tting jobs easily since a number of new jobs keep on emerging in these sectors. The United States has a welfare system that caters for all people regardless of their background. Hence, all the immigrants enjoy health and education services at subsidized rates. This aspect in return cuts down on the cost of living. Apart from employment, numerous immigrants have started their own businesses in the country. Currently, Asians and Hispanics have established businesses across the United States. Some of these businesses even do better when compared to those owned by the Americans. The opportunity to invest in business helps the immigrants enhance their living standards. In spite of the economic benefits enjoyed by the immigrants in the United States, the immigrants face a stiff discrimination from the Americans. The Americans blame the immigrants for the seemingly soaring unemployment rates experienced in the country. In addition, increase in the number of immigrants entering the country leads to cheap labor. Most of the immigrants are willing to work for whichever amount of money as long as they get jobs in America; hence, they are willing to take the first job that comes their way. Consequently, some American employers take this opportunity to exploit the immigrants. For instance, such employers hire immigrants at lower wages instead of Americans who ask for higher wages.Advertising Looking for essay on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Immigrants in the United States face economic insecurity. In spite of the fact that most immigrants work in middle and semi-skilled jobs, the rate of job loss is higher amongst the immigrants than among the Americans. During the economic recess, many immigrants in the United States lost their jobs as companies embarked on cost cutting strategies. Job insecurity among the immigrants is high. In addition, most of the immigrants do not understand the employme nt policies of the United States. Hence, they do not realize when their employers violate their employment rights. Therefore, as aforementioned, some employers take this advantage to exploit immigrants and dismiss them whenever they do not require their services. Language barrier and literacy level inhibit the long-term socioeconomic mobility of the immigrants. Most of the immigrants do not understand English; hence, it is hard for them to interact and work freely with the Americans. Besides, as most of the immigrants are semi-illiterate, it is hard for them to secure jobs in the formal sector. Even though the immigrants enjoy some economic benefits in the United States, they are yet to overcome the numerous negative socioeconomic challenges that affect them. Discrimination and job insecurity are still high in the country; hence, it is hard for immigrants to acquire and retain stable jobs. This essay on Pros and Cons of Immigration for the Immigrants was written and submitted by user Kane Ross to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Attila Jozsefs Oedipus Complex Revealed Through H Essays

Attila Jozsef's Oedipus Complex Revealed Through H Essays Attila Jozsef's Oedipus Complex Revealed Through His Escapes From Reality Attila Jozsef's Oedipus Complex Revealed Through His Escapes From Reality Escaping reality is needed to write freely and creatively. Jozsef constantly escapes reality and writes beautiful poems. In his escapes, he acts like a father figure. He writes about how he misses his mother's love and yearns for his mother sexually. He gets upset and even mad because she isn't there for him. From his escapes we can psychologically determine that Jozsef has an Oedipus complex. A factor of the Oedipus complex is for the boy to be to his mother as his father is. Jozsef reveals this in his poems by trying to be the man of the house. Bringing home food is an example of what the man of the house does. Bring you potatoes, chicken, and a sack of millet (Jozsef 33). This was one of the things Jozsef does to imitate his father. From the first lines in the poem called Eulogy, he shows his yearning for his mother's affection and presence. I burn with a fever of ninety-eight point six degrees and mother you wont even nurse me (33). Jozsef's mother desserts him so early that he never has a chance to out grow the childish need for a mother. He flashes back at the way she treated him. You warmed my soup, blew it, and stirred it. And said eat and grow tall, my love (33). Like a child he wishes for her to be there to comfort and make him feel safe. The main idea of the Oedipus complex is that the boy wants his mother in a sexual way. Jozsef daydreams of her like a boy with a crush. I try to piece you together, from autumn scenes and a lot of women (33) Jozsef pictures her as his fantasy woman. I wear a pressed suit in my heart when I speak to you (62). He imagines dressing up to impress her. I mustn't think of your before my work is done, your dancing.(62) He can't get his mind of her and visions her dancing. All of these are ways of showing how much you love and miss your new girlfriend, but not your mother. Jozsef writes, You took it form me, and gave yourself and your breasts to the worms I should have eaten you(33), He lusts for her sexually. He reveals the accepting of his mother's death, and not being able to fulfill his desires. Now you lips taste only the dampness(33) He wants her lips to taste his. It can't be, so like all jealous lovers he gets angry. His anger is because of her death. She broke his heart, never allowing his fantasies to be fulfilled. You used to comfort me and scold me, but I see know that your words were all lies Your lips taste only the dampness- you lied to me on purpose(33). He gets disillusional by thinking he can still call her back and she will hear him. It's been five weeks, I don't know where you are.(62) I fell like cursing you, mamma, I cant hear you, yell at me You're terrible! You strive not to be, you ruin everything you shadow.(34) His anger and Jealous rages are an insight to his love for her. In his escapes from reality Jozsef strives to take his fathers place. Revealing the intense feelings he has for his mother's love and his sexual desire for her. He goes through all the stages that a person goes through when something tragic happens: Denial, anger, and finally acceptance. Jozsef's poems are intense because he has so much feeling behind them. His poems to reveal the reality of his desires, which is why we can presume his complex. Bibliography About atilla jozsef's inner thoughts

Building consumer demand by using marketing

Marketing munication can be increased by using social media sites. This assignment will describe about the chosen article â€Å"The use of social media: an exploratory study of usage among digital natives†. The objectives of the study will be mentioned in this assignment. Electronic word of mouth and web 2.0 has appeared as an event of significant interest to marketers.   The article will be critically analysed in this assignment to get better understanding about the chosen article. Individual reflection shows the work advance knowledge of subject which can be utilized in real life by marketing practioners. The main object of the article is to analyze the importance of social media in the academic life of students. The research report has described about the knowledge of students regarding social media platforms and in depth notion of customer generated contents. Next section explains the digital natives in terms of age and behavioural characteristics. Another objective of the article is to understand about web 2.0 and word of mouth munication. The explicit theory framework is used in this research to describe the master phenomena. The description about the web 2.0 and electronic word of mouth is made under this theory. It has been analyzed that the term of web 2.0 defines the platforms that are connective and offer users with the ability to incorporate various media within their content creation. Analytical technique, instructional instruments, social media platforms, consumer generated message viewership and customer generated message creation are used in this article to analyze the article (Steyn, Wallstrà ¶m and Pitt, 2010). The central concept of this article is word of mouth in marketing munication. This concept is clearly defined in this article. It has been said in this article that word of mouth is mature exercise as are people municating with one another. They have b e the major part for the marketing mix for panies (Li & Bernoff, 2008). The discussion has been made about the web 2.0 world of marketing in which word of mouth happens on all municative digital media sites. It has been estimated that more than 85% firm in united states are applying the word of mouth strategy. The word of mouth strategy es out in the business when the orientation provider has no risk in the business (Li, 2010). The main argument has been made on digital natives and it has been argued in this article that a higher educating marketing firm defined that technology has b e so advanced and as recognizable as a knife to this college age market segment. On the other side it has been argued that customers gradually more use digital media not for researching the products and services but for engaging with organizations they buy along with other customers who may have effective insights (Williams, Crittenden, Keo and McCarty, 2012). The specific hypothesis of this assignment is that Generation C who born after 1990 is truly digital natives. The key attributes of Generation C is that they how to live in an adequate manner and they are much involved in the puters and latest technology. The main strength of this assignment is used methodology. The sample has been collected from millennial aged undergraduate college students of United States of America (Packaged Facts, 2010). The minimum age is considered as 19 years old and the eldest age is 21 years old. It is the strength because the selected age is perfect to analyze the tentative study of usage among digital natives.   It would encourage them to encourage the campus events or they can use consumer produced content as a need of their jobs. The weakness has been found in this article is that there are so many students in selected sample who utilized their social media ecosystem for the reason of promoting their goods and services for those panies for which they are working. The risk has analyzed that the credible power in this the network of word of mouth will be eliminated for the extended time if the orientation provider lose the chance of the growth in the business. The hypothesis of this article is defined below: Qualitative research has been chosen for this article in regarding content analysis which permits the examination of the experience of social without unambiguous prospects.   Sample, analytical technique and instructional instrument are used in the article for researching on digital natives. In the context of sample, data has been collected from a convince sample of the undergraduate students who were studied in the marketing class. 74 students were selected for sample in which the youngest student was 19 years old and the eldest student was 21 years old. Content analysis is being used in the analytical technique in mass munication research which was considered as appropriate analytical technique for surveying the descriptions of process within the phenomenon of culture of social media. Instructional instrument is a written assignment which was given to all enrolled students. The main concept of this written assignment is to get the response of students about the usage of social media for marketing. It was the big approach to motivate students for using the social media by sharing their experiences. Evidence is provided in this article to define the social media platforms and providers. The table has given which shows the social media platforms used by students. There are various digital social media platforms available which is helpful for marketing. It has been found that 50% students are engaged with blogging and 96% of the students are active on Facebook and twitter. 70% of the students were connected with text messages because text messaging was in the content prompt. Another table has been reflected in this assignment which was categorized in segments and number of students. Segments have divided into spectator, creator, joiner, collector and critic. 73% of the students answered to more than one of the five segments. For instance, an individual can have seen himself in the condition of critic as well as spectator. The literature is the description about the chosen topic which describes the scope of the topic. The article has defined the digital natives and electronic word of mouth which includes the web 2.0. It defines the stages that are extremely interactive and offer the aptitude to put together dissimilar media in their content formation. On the other hand web 1.0 was defined by one way and unreceptive munication. It is characterized by a process in which people are continuously the provider and giver of information. The social media platforms enable the opportunities for attract that did not survive a decade ago. For instance, it has been analyzed that more than 700 billion minutes are used by so many users on Facebook (Trainor, 2012). There are approximately 30 million stories, images, videos and contents are being shared by people on Facebook (Facebook Statistics, 2010). You Tube is another social media where the number of uploaded videos are high and the views has increased by two bill ion per day (YouTube, 2010). It has been found that millions of people building trillions of bonding by social media each day. In that scenario, the role of Web 2.0 has made the electronic description of unfounded information munications. The digital native is the person who born during the age of digital technology and so well known with internet and latest technology from an early age. The article has described the Generation C consumers who love content creation and mashing. Generation C consumers prefer to municate in an adequate manner. The tendency of generation C students is to work more creative industries (Gil-Or, 2010). Consumer generated content is not encouraged mercially but it is a form of electronic word of mouth (Muà ±iz and Schau, 2011). Essentially, the opinion of customer is about the product and services and after satisfying with the services and products, customers share their views, experience and beliefs with other people by using web. The ou e of this articl e is fit in to the wider literature. According to Hansen, et. al., (2011), there is numerous different social media platforms that provided to students as instance to quick their thinking in the term of text messaging, podcasts, and social networking and discussion groups (Zahay & Fredricks, 2009). Moreover, to discriminating the platforms utilized by this group of college student customers, the description about the particular providers were asked to respondents. The article is aimed at universities’ students of USA. The research shows that student should judge the true suggestions of liberty of speech (Crittenden and Klepper, 2010). Another audience of this article is Generation C who born after 1990. The credibility of author is trust worthiness because the authors David L. Williams, Victoria L. Crittenden, Teeda Keo and Paulette McCarty are professors of top USA universities. â€Å"The use of social media: an exploratory study of usage among digital natives† is credible as it has been published in Journal of Public Affairs (2012). This journal article is published online in Wiley Online Library which shows the credibility of the journal article. The credibility of this article can be judged by viewing the number of references which is authenticated. The used language of author is clear and concise which can be understood by readers. The predominate mode of this article is analytical as author used qualitative research to explore the research topic. Sample, analytical technique, instructional instruments, social media platforms and customer generated message formation are being used in this research to show the involvement of people in social media. It can be r mended that further research should evaluate the statistics and search for disparity between and among a multiple characteristics of demographics. The texts can be improved by using the more analytical data because it has been found that the study of this article was unable to connect different countries of source in the shown data. The analytical source has been chosen for collecting data in which the written assignment and content analysis were considered. These approaches and sources did not enable the pilation of the data. It has been r mended that further research should report for the effects of national so it can see if there are differences in country majorly in the utilization of the specific platforms and providers. The implications of the article for marketing practioners would be effective because it has described the use of different social media platforms for encouraging the market growth. This article assisted me to expand my knowledge regarding web 2.0 and electronic word of mouth which has huge contribution in the growth of market. I can use these social media platforms in my business as marketing practioner. The limitations and future research have been described in this article which assists me that the ment of personal social media should not be posted from any internet sources until and unless it is private. It concurs with my own experience because people has b e advanced and give preference to online marketing instead of going outside. By using these marketing munication techniques, marketing practioner can attract the customers towards the provided services and products. It has been concluded that the entire objective of this investigative research is to evaluate the multiple of electronic word of mouth in the context of Generation C market segment and this segment is generally defined as digital natives. The critical analysis of the article has been done by evaluating the objectives, methods, evidence, credibility, style and audience. Individual reflection has shown the position of social media sites in the life of marketing practioners. Crittenden, V. and Klepper, K., 2010, Social media and the b-school.  BizEd, pp.72-73. Facebook Statistics, 2010, Facebook statistics, accessed on 26 th February 2018, from: https://www.facebook / press/info.php?statistics.   Gil-Or, O., 2010, Building consumer demand by using viral marketing tactics within an online social network.  Advances in Management,  3(7), pp.7-14. Li, C. & Bernoff, J. 2008, Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies. Harvard Business Press: Boston. Li, C., 2010, Groundswell. Winning in a world transformed by social technologies.  Strategic Direction,  26(8). Morrison, M. and McMillan, S., 2010, January. Oh, user, who art thou: an examination of behaviors and characteristics of consumers in the context of user generated content. In  American Academy of Advertising. Conference. Proceedings (Online)  (p. 77). American Academy of Advertising. Muà ±iz Jr, A.M. and Schau, H.J., 2011, How to inspire value-laden collaborative consumer-generated content.  Business Horizons,  54(3), pp.209-217. Muà ±iz, Jr, A.M. and Schau, H.J., 2007, Vigilante marketing and consumer-created munications.  Journal of Advertising,  36(3), pp.35-50. Packaged Facts, 2010, Millennials in the U.S.: trends and opportunities surrounding Gen-Y adults. accessed on 26 th February 2018, from: https:// www.marketresearch /product/display.asp? productid=2661911. Steyn, P., Wallstrà ¶m, Ã…. and Pitt, L., 2010, Consumer-generated content and source effects in financial services advertising: An experimental study.  Journal of Financial Services Marketing,  15(1), pp.49-61. Trainor, K.J., 2012, Relating social media technologies to performance: A capabilities-based perspective.  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management,  32(3), pp.317-331. Williams, D.L., Crittenden, V.L., Keo, T. and McCarty, P., 2012, The use of social media: an exploratory study of usage among digital natives.  Journal of Public Affairs,  12(2), pp.127-136. YouTube . 2010, Youtube, accessed on 26 th February 2018, from: https://www.youtube /t/press. Zahay, D. & Fredricks, E. 2009, Podcasting to improve delivery of a project-based internet marketing course. Marketing Education Review 19(1): 57–63.

Critique of the Formal and Informal Piece in Architecture Research Paper

Critique of the Formal and Informal Piece in Architecture - Research Paper Example The purpose of the sorting is to divert the audiences’ attention from playing it as a game to considering the architecture in it. This challenges the status of the environment used in the game as a level since the buildings in the game have become the focus of attention. The architects have given opinions on the design as well as the kind of materials that have been used for the construction of buildings in the video games. Considering the purposefulness of the article, it can be doubted that the article does not serve the interest of the audience that the Journal is primarily meant for i.e. the architects. From the language used in the article, it can be estimated that it is meant for the students and professionals of Architecture alike. â€Å"Tetris can teach us all a lesson in dimensional co-ordination and rotational symmetry† (Patel, 2009). The context was not quite appropriate. If any such sorting was supposed to be carried out, students and professionals in the field of Architecture would have appreciated more if real buildings had been sorted rather than the ones in the video games. Although the study of architecture through video games is a cost-effective way of study, yet it is not quite meaningful as the intent of the developers of the video games was not architecture but fun. Critiquing something on a certain basis for which it was not originally meant is inappropriate. Nevertheless, i f this aspect is overlooked, the critique is quite professional in its content and language. The architects have been very rational in their identification of the drawbacks in architecture introduced in the games. e.g. â€Å"Pagoda roofs sit atop concrete-clad high-density housing towers as a nod to both ancient Eastern building practices and prefabricated modular buildings in the West† (Patel, 2009).  

Bureaucratic structure and leadership Research Paper

Bureaucratic structure and leadership - Research Paper Example Fire Administration, 2013). This is a kind of appropriate leadership technique where there is an involvement of serious safety risks (such as working with fire, machinery, dangerous heights and toxic substances (NFPA International, 2002). With these considerations, the paper aims comprehend the different feedbacks provided by the staff in a fire department in a leading southeastern city. Bureaucratic/Organizational Structure Issues Impacting the Fire Department’s Effectiveness Bureaucratic leadership style is a framework which is grounded upon certain fixed rules and regulations. This leadership style is particularly observed to be useful in case of performing routine activities which is generally the work structure of fire departments. With reference to the feedback provided by staff of fire department in a foremost southeastern city, it can be determined that fire department follows bureaucratic style which is a fixed framework but on the job at times the fire fighters requi re to take a lot of flexible decisions which might not be possible within such a rigid framework. Thus, a question arises whether the bureaucratic leadership style is acceptable in this organization or not. ... People do not have any specific idea regarding what their jobs actually are. Public actually perceive them as "dead weight" because they actually are not visible as the department of police. There have been various problems regarding the organizational structure of the fire department (Cochran, n.d.). Though media has been one of the most connective allies of the fire fighter departments, there is a lack of awareness and education about what the fighter does. Thus, there should be proper exposure of the fire department to the public, in terms of establishing greater cultural relationships. Thirdly, the fire fighters generally follow the standardized rating of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It is observed from the feedbacks that the organizational structure or practices in the department bestow greater emphasis on the ratings of the ISO and less concern towards the needs of the communities. Fourthly, due to globalization new industrial buildings are setting up which is causing an increase in operations for the fire fighters. The fire services and equipment are getting increasingly expensive which may raise questions in the minds of the public regarding the quality of the service they are obtaining. Moreover, quick responses by the fire fighters may not be possible as some of the coverage areas are far from the stations. Training schedule needs to be structured properly so that multiple units of fire are actually not out of service at onetime leaving large areas of the city without protection. Nationally, there is a drop in the percentage of the number of fire fighters by nearly 10 percent from 880000 in 1984 to 790000 in the year 2001. This indicates that the

The current financial and economic situation Essay Example for Free

The current financial and economic situation Essay During my analysis of the current financial and economic situation, I uncovered how the effects of the situation are still being revealed. It is imperative to recognize that the situation is complex in nature and that is why we must comprehend how this dire situation came to be. We must also comprehend why we are seeing the consequences unfold, the various impacts of the financial bailout, and lastly how we might fix the situation. My research paper shall discuss in depth the effects of our ‘financial crunch’ on financial markets, such as on banks, credit unions, the stock market, the mortgage industry, and retail sectors. Because these key aspects of our culture have been negatively affected by the credit crunch, the middle class is feeling doubts about their capability to overcome this new harsh financial sphere that now exists. This paper shall carefully examine how the financial crunch has affected these individuals and thus the retail and sales industry. It shall also look at some top financial companies which require the bailout money in order to survive; for instance, Lehman Brothers, Bears Stearns, and AIG. Furthermore, we shall correlate how individuals unwittingly began to rely on credit as a means to obtain more expensive items that might otherwise be outside of their price range. In fact, we shall see that people began living beyond their means due to relying on credit versus cash purchases and this has lead to the financial mess that we are in today (http://www. economist. com/opinion/displayStory. cfm? source=hptextfeaturestory_id=11885697). In addition, I shall pin point key aspects of the financial bailout that were proposed to aid individuals in returning to their safe spending habits and thus aiding the financial retail markets. Our government is seeking to rectify the situation via the financial bailout and such governmental driven policies might in fact be essential for the development of new successful businesses and our infrastructure. The paper will need to distinguish if such policies and procedures can positively or adversely impact the financial and credit crunch situation that we find ourselves in. Towards the conclusion of the research paper, I will attempt to suggest how perhaps in hindsight we could have warded off this recession at an earlier time. My suggestions will holistically analyze how vital it is to see the â€Å"big picture† as a long term development and not simply focus on the short-term details of our dilemma. My in-depth analysis includes ‘re-valuing’ the American dollar, holding our politicians responsible for how they are spending or investing our tax dollars, absolutely educating people in how to stop relying on their credit cards for purchases, considering organic produce, and how â€Å"turning green† in the long run will be beneficial for everyone. Look more: problem and solution essay Our failure to tackle the beginning signs of the recession has indeed played a negative role in where our financial perspective lies today. Hopefully, the federal financial bailout that we find ourselves in having to come to terms will can help us learn from this experience and prevent it from occurring once again in the future. For these reasons the bailout became a pressing necessity (http://www. usnews. com/blogs/the-home-front/2008/10/3/5-reasons-the-house-passed-the-bailout-bill. html) What led to Our Current Financial Problems? The bottom line: It was the misuse of our money, risky endeavors of the mortgage and banking industry, and individuals turning to credit for the chance to procure non-essentials without paying upfront. Honestly, the true origins of this financial problem were due to being more careless with other people’s money than we are with our own money. This predicament was entirely supported by credit card companies and the mortgage industry seeking to make an easy buck. These entities were satisfied in granting high credit lines to individuals who they knew via trend and marketing analysis would be unable to pay their bills on time. This led to those corporations receiving millions based upon late fee charges and finance charges. As our public began to depend more and more on credit cards, they found themselves unable to surmount the incredible amount of debt that they had created (Velshi 16-18). Now with this situation, these individuals began to declare bankruptcy because they were unable to pay their bills and wanted the collection agencies to stop badgering them. This act was not something the credit card companies, banking industry, or mortgage companies had the foresight on how to handle. http://www. economist. com/finance/displayStory. cfm? source=hptextfeaturestory_id=11 885272 We saw that as prices rose, including oil prices, people were under pressure to meet their basic necessity payments, and began to make minimum payments on their credit debts. The fallout reflected in their credit ratings and scores dropping due to outstanding debts and responsibilities. This financial distress was seen early on by economists who were ignored businesses such as banking giants and mortgage entrepreneurs were busy making bucket loads of money. This was also shown in the economic bubble perspective, that consumer spending was slowing down because they were seeing their home values decreasing. The public had become used to the real estate market booming and decided to refinance their homes to lower their monthly mortgage payments. By doing this, they drew the equity out of their homes at the same time and spent this money in the retail industry. The retail industry saw such actions becoming common place and developed more lines of credit opportunities to compel people to get further and further into debt. The retail industry focused on charging late charges and finance charges to draw money out of people in this vicious cycle. The subprime mortgage industry and banking industries were similarly practicing unethical procedures. They used lax lending standards so they could make the most money as the home valued at higher levels and their return customers spent more to refinance to lower rates. When the introductory interest rates reverted back to the regular interest rates, individuals were faced with the impasse of either making their higher mortgage payments or trying to refinance on a home which they now owned more than it was worth. Such individuals were also weighed down with other debts, such as student loans, car loans, rising oil prices, increased costs in the retail sector, and the increase in the cost of living in 2001, which made it difficult to make timely payments. In the United States, we saw that home sales and prices fell sharply in March of 2007. Americans were also seeing high unemployment and the foreclosures began on homes. Overwhelming debt led to this severe economic situation and the recession that people were seeing. The stimulus and bailout is expected to help people face these problems. (http://money. cnn. com/2009/02/17/news/economy/obama_stimulus_meas_success/index. htm) For people overextended in their vicious debts, they now faced financial pitfalls as they had to select between making payments to debt collection agencies versus providing food for their families (http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/7523234. stm). The Aug 7, 2008 article, â€Å"Home Truths: A housing slump helped cause the credit crisis. But its effect on spending may have been exaggerated† the Economist illustrates that when the housing bubble burst, new homeowners were suddenly faced with the opportunity to purchase homes at much lower prices. This made it more affordable for young Americans to obtain homes at lower prices if they could qualify through the banks. This article shows that for current homeowners and landlords, this difficult economic situation leads to them cutting back on their spending in order to overcome this â€Å"loss of wealth. † (http://www. economist. com/finance/displayStory. cfm? source=hptextfeaturestory_id=11885272) As this housing and mortgage bubble has burst it has also cracked the illusion that debt was the answer to obtaining more material items. We arrived at this recession because of lax loaning practices and standards. We can see that the financial sector cared about making money versus the right decisions about who to lend money to or even how much money should be lent. This is why the financial bailout has arrived. Historically we have seen that past causes of a recession can be either external or internal in nature. For instance, internal causes include high interest rates, high taxes, high spending, mistakes by the fed to curtail financial concerns, corporate fraud, and investor reluctance to invest. On an external front, some past causes of a recession include global stock market falls such as in Asia or Europe, wars, and other such financial mayhem in the world. Overall, opinions are often divided as economists tend to disagree about when and if we are in a recession but currently they all agree that our economy is in bad shape and it has been for some time. While they hesitate to say what has toppled our economy and caused stagnation, they are certain that a variety of facts has led to our current financial predicament. Both the internal as well as external causes have resulted in a global domino affect around the globes financial and retail spectrum. The best reference we have for this situation is the Great Depression were economists saw a sharp decline in international trade . During the Great Depression large businesses were unstable and the governement via the New Deal was charged with the task of limiting how much power businesses had and giving more power to labor unions. Regulations were put into place which increased the amount of taxes paid by large corporates which generated revenue for the government and helped the government lower trade tariffs which had caused international markets to sell less. As people decided to save more in the face of those economic hardships they wound up actually saving less because businesses saw retail expenditures drop. They then decided to balance out there budgets they needed to layoff workers. As the article, â€Å"Causes of the Great Depression Political Perspectves on Causes and Cures†, states, â€Å" The increased savings (reduced spending) †¦. contributed to price deflation, perpetuating the Great Depression†¦. Businesses, cut back on investment spending because they were pessimistic about the future†¦. (led to) less investment, fewer jobs, less consumption and even less reason for business to invest. † http://www. experiencefestival. com/a/Causes_of_the_Great_Depression_-_Political_Perspectves_on_Causes_and_Cures/id/4905687 Role of the Financial Bailout for Lehman Brothers, Bears Stearns, and AIG Lehman Brothers: The nation’s 4th largest investment bank, Lehman Brothers, made poor investment decisions in its real estate holdings. Lehman Brothers, was one of the first investment banks granted the rights to borrow emergency money from Fed as a loan like commercial banks are allowed to. The true issue that arose with Lehman Brothers was that it was a insolvency risk (http://www. moneyweek. com/investments/stock-markets/what-went-wrong-at-lehman-brothers-03809. aspx). They had a large number of loans related to real estate and because such assets depreciated in value with the real estate market bubble burst, the face value of such properties was marked as a financial loss (Muolo 42-43, 143-144). When the company attempted to sell itself to Bank of America and Barclays, they were faced with their potential bidders requesting government support because they didn’t know the true scope of Lehman Brother’s financial losses. The Treasury department refused to grant this support, and both banks walked away from negotiations. After this occurred, Lehman was forced into filing for bankruptcy. (http://cbs5. com/business/lehman. brothers. crisis. 2. 816615. html) http://cbs5. com/national/lehman. brothers. shares. 2. 814040. html http://www. moneyweek. com/investments/stock-markets/what-went-wrong-at-lehman-brothers-03809. aspx Bears Stearns: Unlike Lehman Brothers, Bears Stearns was unable to get banks to lend money to them. As investors lacked confidence that the company could repay the prior loans granted to it, the reputation of this 5th largest investment bank faltered. The final element that led to its demise was that investors believed that the bank would be unable to adhere to the prior complex agreements that it had with the many other financial institutions that it did business with. Because such financial relationships with other banks was precarious and if the bank failed, those relationships could send a ripple effect through the economy the Federal Reserve was forced to agree to support JPMorgan Chase’s decision to purchase Lehman Brothers (http://www. usatoday. com/money/industries/banking/2008-03-17-bear-stearns-bailout_N. htm). The Federal Reserve agreed to â€Å" fund $30 billion of Bear Stearns assets that would be difficult to sell quickly, raising the possibility that taxpayers could be on the hook for part of the bailout†¦. As far as Wall Street securities houses go, Bear Stearns wasnt too big to fail, says Steve East, chief economist for FBR Capital Markets. (FBMC) It was too interconnected to fail. This collapse was the direct result of the bursting housing bubble. Society saw that home prices rose and fewer people could afford to purchase, so lending banks created new types of mortgages to qualify people who would not have qualified otherwise for the traditional 30 year fixed mortgage. These subprime mortgages allowed banks and brokers to charge fees for the closings which gave them substantial profits but no risk once the loans were sold to Wall Street. Investors, such as Bears Stearns, purchased these bulk complex securities packages and remained profitable on the interest generated from these packages. But when the housing market started to crash, borrowers became unable to refinance and select to default on their mortgages. With more defaults piling up, companies like Bears Stears were left with assets which were reflecting as devaluation. AIG The situation with AIG (American International Group) is a precarious one. As of Sept 16, 2008 this globally based company underwent a liquidity crisis due to its credit rating being downgraded; thus, AIG was forced to post collateral promises with its trading counter parties. When the company sold its CDS to meet collateralized debt obligations it endured a sharp decline in their value. The Federal Reserve was then forced to financially prop up the company so it did not collapse; which would have caused financial ruin for the global economy as other companies would have also collapsed. The Fed then created $85 billion in a secured credit facility for AIG, and took over 80% of AIG equity stake (Velshi 18). This bailout was by far the largest U. S. government bailout of a private company, but it was smaller than the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which occurred earlier in Sept 2008. After this occurred, the share prices of AIG fell more than 95% in value to $1. 25 from its prior $70. 13 per share. Investors found that AIG valued the types of securities that it held at Alt-A and its sub-prime mortgage backed securities at 1. 7 to 2 times more than the rates used by Lehman Brothers, the largest bankruptcy in U. S. history. The following month on Oct 9, 2008 the company forced to borrow an additional $37. 8 billion as a second secured asset credit facility initialized by the Federal Reserve (http://money. cnn. com/2008/09/17/news/companies/aig_explainer/index. htm? postversion=2008091715). The defaults for the next months were increasing steadily which shows that the company itself was facing a big collapse. Then on Nov 10, 2008 the U. S. Treasury heralded that it would be acquiring $40 billion in newly issued AIG senior preferred stock, under the power of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Acts Troubled Asset Relief Program. Federal officials indicated that its $40 billion investment in AIG would enable the government to decrease the total risk exposure to AIG to $112 billion from $152 billion (http://news. yahoo. com/s/ap/20090302/ap_on_bi_ge/aig_rescue). During this financial bailout mayhem, the public learned that AIG executives squandered bailout money at an exquisite California resort. This â€Å"vacation† using bailout money cost $444,000 and included spa activities, festivities, and golf retreats. In addition, these executives also used $86,000 on a hunting trip to England; this with the Fed giving them additional loans of $37. 8 billion! They also used $343,000 on trip to Phoenix Arizona for an exotic resort there. So when does this bailout money end! Attempting to sell their assets, AIG has been unsuccessful in paying off its government loans. With the global economy taking hits in insurance businesses, AIG is being protected by the Fed from falling into bankruptcy. This financial support by the government has lead to the Fed writing off some of its loans as losses and further devaluing the U. S. dollar. Recently as of March 2, 2009 AIG reported a 4th quarter loss of $61. 7 billion dollars for the last three months of 2008. This loss impacted Europe and Asian trading markets as well. Financial Problems and How the Financial Bailout is Hoping to Address Each Point: Effects Both Here at Home and Abroad †¢ Problem: increase in unemployment as companies downsize Bailout Solution: $39 billion will be spent on health insurance for the unemployed who can use this money to pay for cobra coverage or Medicaid. In addition $43 billion will be spent to enable them to increase their unemployment benefits and receive job training for new positions. †¢ Problem: credit tightening and lending standards inflexible Bailout Solution: rescinding the requirement that a $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit be paid back over time, and giving loans to companies and new procedures to ensure that lending continues so that student loans, car loans, etc†¦would be easier to obtain (http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154. html). In addition, changes to how mortgages were granted occurred http://useconomy. about. com/od/criticalssues/a/govt_bailout. htm) †¢ Problem: retail industries closing as public demand decreases, and infrastructure concerns Bailout Solution: $31 billion: Construction and repair of federal buildings and other public infrastructure along with water projects and mass transit projects. For retail industries and small businesses the government will double the amount they can write off for capital investments and vital business related purchase. (http://www. glennbeck. com/content/articles/article/198/20639/) †¢ Problem: decrease in global expansion efforts and trade between countries which affects emerging economies which depend upon the U. S. and U. K. for big and small purchases and exports in order to continue growth and expansion Bailout Solution: n/a. If the U. S. economy can get back on track this would coincide with other countries being less impacted by our poor financial situation. †¢ Problem: failure of the mortgage and real estate industries due to being unable to aid individuals with in refinancing or making new purchases because banks are refusing to lend money Bailout Solution: aid to struggling home owners, but not listed in bailout bill †¢ Problem: growth projections declining from 4. 9% in 2007 to 4. 0% in 2008 Bailout Solution: $275 billion in tax relief ($1,000 tax cut for families, $500 tax cut for individuals through SS payroll deductions) along with $20 billion spent to increase the food stamp benefit over 13% so as to help ease the rising food costs. †¢ Problem: inflation increases in oil, commodities, and food prices and energy issues Bailout Solution: $32 billion is destined for funding a smart electricity grid in order to reduce waste, and $16 billion is geared for research and development on energy related work, energy tax cuts, and credits (http://www. washingtonpost. com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2009/02/01/GR2009020100154. html). †¢ Problem: individuals recognizing that the federal and state governments are over extended in war funding and not tending to our financial crisis in a timely or appropriate manner Bailout Solution: efforts to bring troops home, but not listed in bailout situation †¢ Problem: value of the American dollar and reputation has turned drastically negative Bailout Solution: n/a. Efforts to fix our tarnished reputation but the American dollar is devaluing even more due to the bailout. †¢ Problem: Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns, and IndyBank also being key examples of financial companies which all required immediate aid from the federal government in order to collapse (http://www. imf. org/external/np/speeches/2008/032108. htm) Bailout solution: Continued support of such institutions to ensure that they do not fail How Should We Fix the Regulation? As voting citizens, we must should insist that the government account for its spending habits and they must be made responsible for spending more than it can obtain via revenue. For companies like AIG which receive bailout money and spent it frivolously on expensive resorts they must be held responsible and the board of directors held accountable or given jail time. The cost of war has also been unaccounted for, so our new regulations need to decrease the amount of spending on that front. As the bailout takes our hard earned money it needs to be used on improving transportation, education, medical requirements, and even social security. Poor lending standards and practices must be better regulated for those seeking to get good refinance rates or purchase new homes, cars, or even student loans. As we are seeing a sharp rise in unemployment and off-shoring of jobs, it is improper that businesses which hire individuals in the United States are forced to pay unemployment taxes; whereas, companies which elect to outsource their labor force are not required to pay these same taxes. This means such companies have more money in revenue due to the fact that they are paying their employees less overseas and adding to the unemployment that we see here at home. This action is counterproductive because from a financial perspective organizations might save more money by outsourcing and not having to pay the additional taxes, but it also means that unemployment will continue to rise in the face of such activity. A fair technique would be to increase the taxes on companies with large profits, and grant a fair marginal credit to companies which employ workers in the United States. This activity would put money back in the hands of American workers who can then turn around and use their paychecks in the economy and ease the financial crunch. This would also allow them to learn how to manage debt more practically and not take the equity out of their homes to pay debt off. I suggest that we better educate ourselves in managing our finances and saving versus running ourselves into the ground in insurmountable debt. References: Amadeo, Kimberly (2009). What Exactly is the Bank Bailout Bill. 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Lynch (3/15/2008). USA Today. Red flags in Bear Stearns collapse. Retrieved on March 1, 2009 from http://www. usatoday. com/money/industries/banking/2008-03-17-bear-stearns- bailout_N. htm