Judicial Activism Essay Example for Free

Judicial Activism Essay It is perhaps unsurprising that the liberal court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren from 1953 to 1969 invalidated federal, state and local laws at almost twice the rate of the Roberts court. But the more conservative court that followed, led by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger from 1969 to 1986, was even more activist, striking down laws in almost 9 percent of its cases, compared with just over 7 percent in the Warren court and just 4 percent in the Roberts court. The court led by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist from 1986 to 2005 was also more activist than the current one, at 6.4 percent. In a new book, â€Å"Terms of Engagement,† Clark M. Neily III of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian group, calculated that the Supreme Court struck down just 103 of the 15,817 laws enacted by Congress in the half-century ending in 2002. â€Å"It is implausible,† he wrote, â€Å"to suppose the federal government hits the constitutional strike zone 99.5 percent of the time.† Mr. Neily urged the Supreme Court to be more active but rejected the phrase â€Å"judicial activism.† After the Supreme Court argument in the case in the spring of 2012, with things looking grim for the fate of his law, Mr. Obama tried to shift the terms of the discussion back to activism. â€Å"I’d just remind conservative commentators,† he said, â€Å"that for years what we’ve heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or a lack of judicial restraint — that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.† Three months after Mr. Obama’s remarks, Chief Justice Roberts broke with his usual conservative allies and voted with the court’s four liberals to uphold the law. In a joint dissent, the four conservatives said the majority was wrong to portray its ruling as â€Å"judicial modesty† when â€Å"it amounts instead to a vast judicial overreaching.† In a recent essay, â€Å"Why We Need More Judicial Activism,† Suzanna Sherry, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, said the Supreme Court had erred more often in sustaining laws than in striking them down. â€Å"Too much of a good thing can be bad,† she wrote, â€Å"and democracy is no exception.† The article’s central claim is based upon political science research showing that the Roberts Court has been more likely to reach â€Å"conservative† decisions than its predecessors. Liptak reports: In its first five years, the Roberts court issued conservative decisions 58 percent of the time. And  in the term ending a year ago, the rate rose to 65 percent, the highest number in any year since at least 1953. The recent shift to the right is modest. And the court’s decisions have hardly been uniformly conservative. The justices have, for instance, limited the use of the death penalty and rejected broad claims of executive power in the government’s efforts to combat terrorism. But scholars who look at overall trends rather than individual decisions say that widely accepted political science data tell an unmistakable story about a notably conservative court. This distinction is important because the data presented by Liptak suggests that the Roberts Court is such a â€Å"conservative minimalist† court. Indeed, it appears to be the most restrained – or least â€Å"activist† (if â€Å"activism† is defined as willingness to overturn federal statutes or prior precedents) – Court since World War II. According to the data presented with the article in this chart, the Warren, Burger and Rehnquist Courts overturned precedents at an average rate of 2.7, 2.8 and 2.4 per term, respectively. The Roberts Court, on the other hand, has only overturned an average of 1.6 precedents per term. The record on striking down laws shows a similar pattern. The Warren, Burger, and Rehnquist Courts struck down an average of 7.9, 12.5, and 8.2 laws per term, whereas the Roberts Court has only invalidated an average of 3 laws per term. Liptak acknowledges this data at the close of his article, but downplays it with his description: â€Å"The Roberts court is finding laws unconstitutional and reversing precedent — two measures of activism — no more often than earlier courts.† So, while the majority of the Roberts Court’s decisions are â€Å"conservative,† the data Liptak summarizes does not appear to have resulted in a more â€Å"conservative† legal regime, as the Roberts Court has done relatively little to change the law (at least thus far) compared to its predecessors. This is important, because it effectively refutes claims that there is anything particularly radical or â€Å"activist† about the Roberts Court, even if one accepts that it is notably â€Å"conservative.† There is no evidence as yet that the Roberts Court is as willing to challenge federal power as the Court was under Burger (National League of Cities v. Usery) or Rehnquist (Lopez, Morrison, Boerne). There are exceptions, such as some of the Court’s Miranda decisions – which have certainly made the law less protective of criminal suspects and defendants – and Citizens United, but these exceptions are balanced by aggressive liberal opinions in areas like executive power and the death penalty. In sum, even if most of the Roberts Court’s decisions are â€Å"conservative† a substantive analysis of the Roberts Court’s decisions does not reveal a significant rightward shift in the law.

Costs and benefits of the EMU

Costs and benefits of the EMU Abstract: This paper contributes to the ongoing debate over European Monetary Union (EMU) including the costs and benefits of joining it. Advocators of EMU stressed that it is essential to create a stronger European Union with greater economic, political and social cohesion, whereas the opponents did not support this stage of the European Unions construction such as the United-Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden, reviewing the merits of a single currency (OCA) and the requirements for a stable currency (Convergence Criteria). (Bernhard Winkler, 1996) Identify and discuss the costs and benefits of joining the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? Introduction According to Franà §ois Mitterrand, â€Å"EMU is seen as a mean to recover some influence over European monetary affairs.† (Franà §ois Mitterrand, 1992)The French left wings president at time wanted the emergence of the European Union against the US dollar which has been widely used as the yardstick measurement for all currencies. In Europe, the existence of different national currencies was considered as the remaining barriers for a barrier-free single market and the influence of the dollar pressed the European Union (EU) to form an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The genesis of the EMU with the initial impulse given by the Werner Report in 1970, then failed in 1973 with the oil crisis and finally relaunched with the Delors Plan in 1989 and the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, was noteffortlessly. The EMU is a type of trade block involving a single market and a common currency. At the European scale, it involves a single European market within its borders and the adoption of the Euro. Economists usually refer to the EMU as an economic trade off between perceived benefits and cost of joining the area (Thomas D. Willett, 2002). There are diverging views on the extent of these costs and benefits, and therefore, especially on the question whether to join the EMU or not. The aim of this paper is to analyse the key issues surrounding the entry in the EMU, and balance positive and negative aspects. The pros and cons regarding the EMU require a careful analysis of the economic benefits and drawbacks at both national and company level. Debate surrounding the EMU There are many benefits that a country will have by entering EMU. Recently, the euro has gained a lot of influence since many European nations have adopted it. Indeed, the benefits of EMU increase and costs decrease as the level of integration intensifies. (Krugman, 1990)The growing importance of the euro in international trades and the increasing trade activities which result from adopting the currency clearly shows that benefits will outweigh costs. For a country international trades are fundamental in order to have a stronger economy. Therefore, the â€Å"antis-EMU† advocate that the process will submerge the individuality of the European nations in an â€Å"unwieldy federation, hobbled by bureaucracy, commanding little popular support and imposing a crippling burden of regulatory and other costs on Europes economies† (David Currie, 1997, pp.14) They believe that an organized Europe will have a negative impact for most member states as it will also â€Å"reduce the volume of trade and would certainly increase the level of unemployment† (Martin Feldstein, February 20, 2008). In order to join the EMU, a country must correspond to the Maastricht Convergence Criteria: price stability, sustainable public finances, exchange rate stability and durable convergence. The term â€Å"convergence† refers to the process of unifying technological and non-rival domains, preparing late countries in terms of structure and institutions to match with those at the forefront. One of the first obvious benefits is that the implementation of those criteria represents a factor of macroeconomic stabilisation and sustainable economic growth for both EMU countries and future members. However, the convergence requirements are also a clear example of conflict because they are considered as lacking economic rationale and imposing unnecessary pain. Many economists have attacked the convergence criteria, responsible of provoking instability and serving no other purpose except to delay. (De Grauwe, 1993) The convergence criteria and EMU itself seek to guard against â€Å"unsustai nable budgetary policies in a member state† because these are seen to lead to either â€Å"default or debt monetisation† which would â€Å"be a major threat to the overall monetary stability† (European Economy, 1990:100) Furthermore, the convergence criteria make clear that fiscal discipline is defined as the avoidance of an unsustainable build-up of public debt (Emerson, 1992, pp.107) and the transition to EMU for a country will amplify the domestic effectiveness of national fiscal policy for stabilisation purposes. (Emerson, 1992, pp.115) Benefits and costs of joining the EMU Our aim is to understand the incentives of the players in the EMU, and a natural starting point is to assess economic costs and benefits of a single currency for a country like France as an example. More or less, there are microeconomic benefits versus macroeconomic costs. a) Transaction costs and stable environment One of the most obvious benefits is the resulting ease of transactions across the European Union. Countries are using one currency and as a matter of fact, the elimination of exchange rate fluctuation helped to eliminate transaction costs in intra-EU trade. Firms and business are both saving time and money. For example, an estimated $30 billion[1] a year is spent on foreign exchange transactions. The transactions involve the change from one currency to another but also from accounting systems. Additionally, joining the EMU eliminates the possibility of exchange-rate variation with the EMU zone. If exchange rates move irregularly and unsystematically in response to arbitrary speculation, exchange volatility imposes a macroeconomic cost (David Currie, 1997). Thus, its elimination represents a real advantage as it provides a more stable environment for trade within the euro zone by lowering risks and uncertainties as the economy is more flexible and resources more mobile. b) Monetary policy and the European Central Bank Despite affecting a fundamental aspect of a countrys sovereignty, member-states must abandon monetary policy. Additionally, members are deprived from revenue of seigniorage which is the net revenue derived from the issuing of currency. This loss mainly affects high-inflation rate countries such as Greece or Spain for example. Monetary policy is not anymore at the national level but depends on a supranational authority, the European Central Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Established in 1998, the ECB is responsible for monetary policy covering the sixteen member States of the Euro zone. Granting monetary control to the ECB means that National governments are giving monetary policy instrument such as regulating exchange rate and interest rate, and this is likely to involve a cost. This cost will occur during recession or inflationary boom, when a country will be unable to raise or lower interest rates independently of other countries within the EMU. c) Fiscal power of member-states Joining EMU severely limits the fiscal power of member-states. While they maintain formal responsibility for fiscal policy, member-states will have to show fiscal rectitude to avoid penalty. Convergence criteria require countries to reduce their debt which produced a ‘squeeze effect (Gà ¤rtner, 1997) for countries with loose fiscal policy. Indeed, fiscal policy remains the only macro-economic tool that is available to governments. At the same time, the union has the power of coordination and surveillance, and the ability to recommend modifications of fiscal policy and to apply sanctions against governments that have no taken the recommended steps. d) A single currency and its effect on public support As we already mentioned earlier, a member-state joining the EMU will have to adopt a common currency: the euro. Despite the fact that the adoption of the euro will clearly affect the countrys sovereignty, some people ‘feel closer to other countries (European Commission, 2002) which can bring Europeans together and build a notion of European identity. Therefore, the adoption of a common currency can result in undermining a nations identity. Currencies such as the â€Å"Francs† or the â€Å"Deutsch Mark† have symbolized economic prosperity, especially due to the fact that people trusted them. Moreover, the â€Å"Franc† was the French national currency since 1795 and has remained for two hundred and four years. The Deutsch Mark had the reputation as one of the worlds most stable currencies. For a country like France or Germany, the change of their currencies was a memorable step. Moreover, an obvious economic consequence is the impact on the purchasing power. For example, in France the switch from â€Å"Francs† to the â€Å"Euros† had a major effect on the French purchasing power. Twenty euro is the equivalent of approximately a 120Francs and this was perceived as a large amount of money in terms of purchasing power before the introduction of the new currency. While the adoption of the euro was meant to bring stability over the long-term, a study has been conducted showing that price rises were evident in the service sector such as restaurants, cafà ©s, hairdressers and recreational and sporting services. (Eurostat, 2003) Nevertheless, French consumers have noticed a change in the cost of living. Additionally, adopting a new currency is not always the easiest thing to do. e) Effects on firms and businesses Another benefit is the increase in attractive opportunities for foreign investors and these effects are unevenly spread across firms and businesses. Thus, larger firms will benefit more from EMU. For example, strong domestic enterprises will benefit from a greater degree of internationalisation of their markets. It will be especially helpful to small and medium sized enterprises which may not be able to reap sizeable economies of scale. Nevertheless, firms and businesses will be the first to experience the negative effects from joining the EMU. For example, travel agents and banks that are losing commission on currency exchanges and European currency traders will no longer be able to exert this business. Moreover, the single currency may lead to the â€Å"Europeanising† (Brown, B.2004, pp. 57-60.) of labour markets within the EMU zone. Consequently, it would be much easier to compare wages across the zone, especially in sectors where trade unions wield bargaining power. This w ill lead to an increase of wages and could engender major problem to companies outsourcing in low wages countries such as in Eastern Europe. The single currency will remove just the elements of labour-market flexibility. f) Price transparency and price convergence Nevertheless, joining the EMU will foster competition as there is greater price transparency across countries. Indeed, a single currency makes easier to show how prices differ between countries. It has been found that â€Å"the prices of goods differ considerably in different countries and continents due to the differences in currency.† (McCallum, 1995, pp24-25) As an example, before EMU, a customer living in France was able to buy a high value-added car cheaper when going in Germany. Hence, this leads to lower prices in the short to medium run because consumers can buy from the cheapest source and thus, drive prices down as companies are running under pressure. Indeed, â€Å"The formation of the euro zone and the SM of almost 300 million consumers will inevitably sharpen competitive pressures throughout Europe†. (Spanos et Al., Greek, pp.638) The subsequent enhancement of competition will increase economic efficiency and should cause price convergence. (Spanos et Al., Greek, pp.639) Consequently, the EMU provides information to its members and thus, enables them to make wiser decisions. g) â€Å"One fit all† policy problem: Moreover, other problems of joining the European Economic and Monetary Union will occur in the medium to long term. Indeed, the concern is that whether the states are sufficiently similar for them to co-exist with a common currency. For example, not all states are at the same stage of the trade cycle which represents a periodic fluctuation in the rate of economic activity as measured by levels of prices, production and employment. As an example, the UK is the worlds fourth largest economy and the second largest in the EU. The City of London represents Europes major European financial centre. The case of the UK has specific arguments: the UK has a lower level of intra-EU trade, one of the highest percentages of home owners and is affected differently by oil price movements due to different arrangements. It is then weaker and more vulnerable to external shocks which are unexpected shocks that do not affect every nation equally. (D. Johnson, C. Turner, 2nd edition, p180-183) Hence, if t he UK joins the euro, they will have to increase their exchange risks because the euro is turning around the dollar. The pound for example is neutral compared to the dollar and the euro. Consequently, the inappropriateness of one monetary policy for so many states is a major cost of joining the EMU. The case against the UKs entry in EMU depends also on other factors such as the recession the country is undergoing and the influence of the United-States. Benefits outweigh the costs? The case of Greece is a good example to show how benefits can outweigh the costs. Indeed, Greece has recently entered the EMU and thus, represents a good example for a number of candidates. Hence, it is an example of an economy in transition that has made a lot of progress in order to fulfil the macroeconomic convergence. A study of Greek firms has been conducted by Spanos (Business strategy analyst at Athens University) which helps to understand how firms react when entering the EMU and found that leading Greek firms â€Å"appear fully aware of the dramatic changes they will have to address in the near futureIn line with recent empirical evidence, the findings presented here are encouraging in that they suggest a strong learning effect that has presumably led Greek management towards convergence.† (Spanos et Al, pp.646) We understand that both EU membership and the panorama of competing in the EMU have acted as major catalysts. In short, the EMU has contributed toward the dev elopment of western-type of management style. Additionally, Greek firms have new challenges to overcome and this requires new competitive strategies, organizational structures, and management processes. Consequently, Greek firms strategy has shifted toward offer better quality products and services, and a tighter cost control. Trade theories are examples of why benefits outweigh costs. (Aiginger, K. et al, 1999, pp.3) The traditional theory was described by Ricardo in 1817; a country can achieve a â€Å"comparative advantage† resulting from differences in productivity or endowments between countries and regions. Consequently, trade liberalization and economic integration will result in production re-location and increasing specialization according to comparative advantages. Additionally, Mundell (1961) McKinnon (1963) and Kenen (1969) identified the reasons why a country should or should not enter a monetary union. If for every member-state benefits outweigh costs then the currency area is optimal. An â€Å"optimum currency area† (OCA) considers the premise that â€Å"when an external shock hits the economy, it is easier to adjust the exchange rate rather than domestic prices or wages.† (A. Belke and D. Gros, (1997). pp. 3/50) Indeed, this approach assesses what a country loses by giving up the exchange rate as an adjustment instrument. Conclusions To conclude, according to Martin Feldstein, EMU is seen by France as an opportunity to be a â€Å"co-manager† of Europe as an equal of Germany. Furthermore, it has been assumed that economic integration among the European countries will lead to convergence while reducing asymmetric shocks. However, classical theories assess that integration results in more specialization due to comparative advantage. Hence, core economies (France and Germany) may benefit at the expense of less efficient economies such as Eastern member-states. Furthermore, with a Single Market, firms will have to expand in size in order to compete. Such large firms are mostly located in core economies of the EU. However, Greece case study showed that EMU has contributed to the development of firms by offering higher quality products and services. We can then conclude that if a country joins EMU, benefits will clearly outweigh costs. References: Aiginger, K. et al. ‘Specialisation and (geographic) concentration of European Manufacturing, Enterprise DG Working Paper No 1, Background Paper for the ‘The Competitiveness of European industry: 1999 Report, Brussels. Ardy, B., Begg, I., Hodson, D., Mahe, I. and Mayes, D. (Eds) (2005) Adjustment to EMU: One Europe or Several? Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Backà ©, P., Thimann, C., Arratibel, O., Calvo-Gonzalez, O., Mehl A. and Nehrlich, C. (2004) ‘The Acceding Countries Strategies towards ERM II and the Adoption of the Euro: An Analytical Review, ECB Occasional Paper Series, n °10. Frankfurt: European Central Bankn http://www.ecb.int/pub/ Brown, B. (2004) ‘Existing EMU, the International Economy, 18 (2), pp. 57-60. C. Allsopp M. Artis, â€Å"The Assessment: EMU, Four Years On,† Oxford Review of Economic Policy 19 Cambridge University Press, Bernhard Winkler. â€Å"Towards a Strategic View on EMU: A Critical Survey.† Towards a Strategic View on EMU: A Critical Survey Jan.-Apr 16.1 (1996): 1-26. Print. Commission of the European Communities (2004) ‘EMU after Five Years, European Economy, Special Report, and Number 1/2004, http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2004/eesp104en.pdf Chang, M. 2009. Monetary integration in the European Union. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. David Currie, The Pros and Cons of EMU by, the economist intelligence Unit, January 20, 1997 De Grauwe, P. (2002) ‘Challenges for Monetary Policy in Euroland, Journal of Common Market Studies, 40 (4), pp. 693-718 Dinan, D. 2005. Ever closer union: an introduction to European integration (3rd ed.). Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner. Chapter 15 European Central Bank (2008) Statistical data Warehouse, http://www.ecb.int/stats/prices/hicp/html Gà ¤rtner, M. (1997) ‘Who wants the euro-and why? Economic explanations of public attitudes towards a single European currency, Public Choice 93 (3-4): 487-510 Greek Firms and EMU: Contrasting SMEs and Large-Sized Enterprises, Spanos et al. 2001, European Management Journal, Vol. 19, No. 6, pp. 638-648. (Available electronically) Johnson and Turner, 2006, Economic and Monetary Union Chapter 15 Dinan, 2005, Economic and Monetary Union Dr Rachel Doern, Royal Holloway University of London, Lecture n °5: Economic and Monetary Union, 2009 Panos.C. Afxientiou (1998), Convergence, the Maastricht Criteria, and Their Benefits, Philip R.Lane. â€Å"The Real Effects of European Monetary Union.† The Real Effects of European Monetary Union 20.4 (fall, 2006): 47-66. Print. Susan A. Banducci, Jeffrey A.Karp and Peter H.Loedel. â€Å"Journal of European Public Policy.† Economic interests and public support for the euro(June 2009): 564-81. Print. Thomas D. Willett.Some Political Economy Aspects of EMU. Elsevier Science Inc, 2000. Print. Kathryn M.E. Dominguez, The Journal of Economic Perspectives â€Å"The European Central Bank, the Euro, and Global Financial Markets.† The European Central Bank, the Euro, and Global Financial Markets Fall 20.4 (2006): 67-88. Print. Werner Bonefeld, Economic and Political Weekly. â€Å"Politics of European Monetary Union: Class, Ideology and Critique.† Politics of European Monetary Union: Class, Ideology and Critique 33.35 (1998): 55-69. Print. http://www.unc.edu/depts/europe/conferences/eu/Pages/emu8.htm http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200304/cmselect/cmpubacc/541/54107.htm

Major Forces of Globalization

Major Forces of Globalization Globalization is a phenomena which influences everyday life as much as it does events happening on a world scale. Such a broad phenomena, which invests in every expect and spectrum of life, has more then one driving force, which all together create this global village, which has no precedent in any epoch of human history. Globalization is political, technological and cultural as well as economical. Science and technology have been a major driving force behind Globalization. Our epoch developed under the impact of science, technology and rational thought, where religion and dogma where replaced with a more reasonable approach to practical life. Science and technological inventions changed the world and the way we perceive life. Globalization has been influenced above all by developments in systems of communication dating back only to the late 1960s. The connection between different states around the world have accelerated in the past fifty years due to dramatic advances in communication and information technology. The velocity by which new inventions such as computers and internet became popular in few years all over the world shows the importance of these inventions and their contribution to this phenomena of globalization. Development in information and communication technologies have intensified the speed and scope of interaction between people all over the world. Satellite Communication, Telephones, mobiles, fax machine, digital and cable televisions, electronic mail and internet have all helped to create this notion of globalization.  [1]  The internet is the faster communication tool ever developed. Widespread use of the internet and mobile phones is deepening and accelerating the process of globalization. More and more people are becoming interconnected. Nowadays with the information and images transmitted across the globe, we are regularly in contact with others who think differently and live differently from ourselves. This has brought a broader awareness of other cultures and also brought in influences from the outside world. This is seen by some as positive therefore they try to enhance such a development and as negative by others who try in every way to hinder and stop this phenomena. It all depends on ones perspective. Countries around the world have to come to terms with the fact that what happens in one country affects all the others. Another impact of Science and technology is that of improving our quality of life making our homes and the world around us more comfortable but these achievements came at a cost. Things which improved our life have had also an negative effect. Global climate change and other hazards to the environment are a result of intervention on the environment brought about by development through Science and technology. According to Anthony Giddens in his book Runaway World, the notion that with further development of science and technology, the world should became more stable and ordered does not reflect reality. Instead he states that the world Rather than being more and more under our control, it seems out of our control  [2]  . Trade and comers Trade and comers are surely a driving forces behind Globalization. All countries with the exception of North Korea, trade significant proportions of their national income. A large percentage of world output is traded. Trade is a key mechanism for increase goods, moving goods, and increasingly services around the globe, and it is also central to technology transfer. It has connected domestic markets to international markets transforming domestic economies  [3]  . Trade involves more than simply the exchange of goods and services between separate economies since it suggests the emergence of worldwide markets for trade goods and services. This does not mean that all countries trade between them. Instead it assumes the existence of a trading system in which trade activity between any two countries may affect trade relations between the rest.  [4]  Trade covers the whole globe, where International trade barriers have fallen steadily, opening markets up to boarder range of products The intensity that trade and comers has had on globalization is reflected in the creation of regularized exchange of goods at the interregional level. Trade has removed barriers to transport, costs or protection. Foreign products from one region may compete with domestic products from another region. Firms supply goods across the world and have to respond to competition from foreign firms.  [5]  Thus many national and local firms respond to world wide demand and face competition from firms based in other countries and regions. The geo-political coverage of trade and comers on globalized level is debatable. Sceptics argue that countries gain only a small amount of their income from external trade. They also argue that a good deal of economic exchange is between regions rather then being truly world wide. The countries of the European Union for example mostly trade among themselves. The same is true of the other main trading blocks.  [6]  While those in favour of globalisation argue that the effects of trade and comers can be felt everywhere and that global markets are indifferent to national boarders. The impact that trade and commerce has on the life of many people is reflected through the enormous diversity of products we have became accustomed to seeing in super markets. When you go to a supermarket you can find food from all over the world. This reflects the complex economic and social ties which link people and countries around the world. Trade has helped to generate connections which link people from different societies. One must also take into consideration that trade and comers do not have the same effects on the whole globe. The impact that trade and comers has on ones life depends also from which part of the globe one comes. Free trade for example does not have the same benefits for all countries. Less developed countries are dependent upon a few products sold on world markets. This means that they are very vulnerable to shifts in prices as well as to technological change. Most of the giant multinational companies are based in the US or come from the rich countries. In many lower developed countries, safety and environmental regulations are low or non existent. Some transnational companies sell goods in third world countries that are controlled or banned in the industrial countries for eg. poor quality medical drugs, destructive pesticide or high tar and nicotine content cigarettes. As Giddens said Rather then global village, one might say this is more global pillage  [7]  . Political changes Political changes occurring in the modern era have helped to shape this global village. After the second world war the western powers decided to create organizations which had to help them shape the post war period. This brought a rapid growth of international organizations, such as the League of Nation and its successor United Nations which were concerned primarily with the maintenance of international order, which helped the flourishing of comers and trade and technological innovation on a global sphere creating the necessary on which these could flourish. Institutions such as international monetary funds and the world bank also helped to maintain international economic order and promote economic development. The Intensity which political changes have on Globalisation is reflected in the growth of international and regional mechanisms of government. The United Nations and European Union are two good examples of this phenomena. Both the EU and UN are two international organizations that bring together nation states into a common political forum. While the UN does this as an association of independent sates, the EU is more a transnational governance in which a certain degree of national sovereignty is shared by its member states, in order to reap the benefits of political and economic union at a regional level. The EU states are bound by directives, regulations and court judgements from common EU bodies  [8]   Globalization is also being driven by intergovernmental organizations and international non governmental organizations, NGOs. The IGOs regulate issues ranging from civil service aviation to broadcasting to the disposal of hazard waste  [9]  . While NGOs with their independent work alongside governmental bodies make policies, addressing international issues. Globalization, westernization or Americanization?. Some argue that globalisation in reality is Americanisation. America is the sole superpower, which dominates economic, cultural and military position in the global order. Infact most visible cultural expressions of globalization are American such as McDonalds, CNN, Coca-Cola. No one can doubt that Globalization is led by the west, imprint of American political and economic power and that it is highly uneven in its consequences. But Globalization is not just the dominance of the west over the rest. Globalisation affects the US as it does the rest of the world. Democracy in itself in a way is a driving force behind globalization, but at the same time Globalisation lies behind the expansion of democracy. Infact Democracy is currently spreading world wide. The collapse of communist Russia made possible that former soviet bloc and its satellite states started moving towards western style political and economic system. They are not isolated from global community but are becoming integrated within it. The collapse of communism has hastened the process of globalization, but should also be seen as a result of globalization itself. Soviet Communism with its state run enterprise and heavy industry could not compete in the global electronic economy. The communism ideology and control upon which communist political authority was based similarly could not survive in an era of global media. The soviet and the East European regimes were unable to prevent change. The intensity that politics has had on this phenomena of globalization is reflected trough the creation of transnational organizations and also from the transnational movement of money, where TNCs shift their investments from one country to another often in search of lower labour costs. Transnational movement of money can go rapidly elsewhere if governments pursue policies seen as threatening profits or weaken profits or weaken currency . This threatens government policies.  [10]   The impact of politics on Globalization is also reflected in the creation of the phenomena of migration of labour. The widening gap between rich and poor countries accelerated the migration of people from poor countries to seek jobs and welfare in rich ones. This has created a greater ethnic cultural and religious diversity within nation states. This could threaten national identity and create conflict. Conclusion The driving forces underlying globalization are various and all intertwined between them. They help us understand better the concept of globalisation and the effects these have on our lives, where globalisation is changing the way the world looks, and the way we look at the world. This can help us become more conscious of the problems the world is facing and help us understand that our actions have consequences for others and that the world problems effect us as well.

Old Man And The Sea :: essays research papers

This part of the story has to do with Santiago against nature and the sea. In this part of the story, he goes out and fights nature in the form of terrible forces and dangerous creatures, among them, a marlin, sharks and hunger. He starts the story in a small skiff and moves out in a journey to capture a fish after a long losing streak of eighty-four days. Unfortunately his friend must desert him due to this problem and a greater force, his parents. Santiago must go out into the danger alone. For three harsh days and nights he fights a fish of enormous power. This is the second form of nature he must conquer. Earlier in the story, the first part of nature is himself, for which he must fight off his hunger. This is a harsh part of the story. He manages though to get a few bites in the form of flying fish and dolphin of which he would like to have salt on. This part of the story tells of a cold and harsh sea, that is, one that has value and mystery as well as death and danger. It has commercial value as well as the population of life in it. It is dark and treacherous though, and every day there is a challenge. A similar story tells about a tidal pool with life called `Cannery Road'. This part of the story has to deal with figures of Christ. It mainly deals with Santiago as being a figure of Christ and other characters as props, that is, characters which carry out the form of biblical themes. On the day before he leaves when he wakes up, Manolin, his helper, comes to his aid with food and drink. Also a point that might be good is that he has had bad luck with his goal for a great period of time and is sure it will work this time. Later, though, when Santiago needs him for the quest he sets out to do, Manolin deserts him, although he may not have wanted to at this time. In the novel Santiago comes upon a force bigger than his skiff, the marlin which misleads him out far past his intended reach. This is where he starts to lose his strength against something which seems a greater force. Santiago has a struggle of three days, which is significent because

This Comfortable Cage Called America :: Personal Narrative Essays

This Comfortable Cage Called America    My brothers have a cage in which they keep two iguanas.   I'm sure these creatures were born in captivity, and I assume they will die in the same cage they are in now.   It's not a bad cage.   There are quite a few square feet for them to run around, there is a stick they can climb up and down, there is a heat rock they can relax on, and they have everything they need to survive at their clawtips.   They don't even need to hunt for their meals because their meal tickets (my brothers) provide them with four square meals a day.   They can see outside their cage, but have no idea what it would be like to live outside.   I often wonder, however, what would happen if we were to set these two animals free in what would be considered a natural habitat for most iguanas in the wild.   Would they be likely to adapt in no time at all, or would they look for a nice place with four glass walls and a stick to play on?   And how could this story about two lizards, even if used metap horically, apply to us as a race?   We are responsible for our entrapment within four similar glass walls, yet we are not aware of them.   Inside of a cage called America we sit, and though we have a great view of the rest of the world, that's all it is-a view.   If we could somehow find a way of recognizing and breaking out of this comfortable cage called life, we would be more capable of coming together as a human race and putting an end to a division so obvious that terms such as "first world" and "third world" are created to define the differences.   Although I will incorporate the use of a few references, the main section of this essay will focus on my own experiences of life in another country which, in its own way, was another world.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I was taught little in school or home about cultures and people other than my own.   Was theple other than my own.   Was there a reason I should have learned about a less productive people in some remote country?   There was nothing wrong with the land of the free and the home of the brave, and whether or not I was culturally diverse was of little importance in my life-until I went to live in a different country.

Managing Motivation in Economy Essay

The firm has had to close quite a few locations, reversing its expansion plans for the first time since it incorporated. Being that this is uncharted territory for the company, Jim Claussen, vice president for human relations, had been struggling with how to address the issue with employees. As the company’s fortunes worsened, he could see that employees were becoming more and more disaffected. Their insecurity about their jobs was taking a toll on attitudes. The company’s downsizing was big news, and the employees didn’t like what they were hearing. Media reports of Morgan-Moe’s store closings have focused on the lack of advance notice or communication from the company’s corporate offices, as well as the lack of severance payments for departing employees. In the absence of official information, rumors and gossip have spread like wildfire among remaining employees. A few angry blogs developed by laid-off employees, like IHateMorganMoe. blogspot. com, have made the morale and public relations picture even worse. Morgan-Moe is changing in other ways as well. The average age of its workforce is increasing rapidly. A couple of factors have contributed to this shift. First, fewer qualified young people are around because many families have moved south to find jobs. Second, stores have been actively encouraged to hire older workers, such as retirees looking for some supplemental income. Managers are very receptive to these older workers because they are more mature, miss fewer days of work, and do not have child-care responsibilities. They are also often more qualified than younger workers because they have more experience, sometimes in the managerial or executive ranks. These older workers have been a great asset to the company in troubled times, but they are especially likely to leave if things get bad. If these older workers start to leave the company, taking their hard-earned experience with them, it seems likely that Morgan-Moe will sink deeper toward bankruptcy. The System Claussen wasn’t quite sure how to respond to employees’ sense of hopelessness and fear until a friend gave him a book entitled Man’s Search for Meaning. The book was written by a psychologist named Victor Frankl who survived the concentration camps at Auschwitz. Frankl found that those who had a clear sense of purpose, a reason to live, were more likely to persevere in the face of nearly unspeakable suffering. Something about this book, and its advocacy of finding meaning and direction as a way to triumph over adversity, really stuck with Claussen. He thought he might be able to apply its lessons to his workforce. He proposed the idea of a new direction for management to the company’s executive committee, and they reluctantly agreed to try his suggestions. Over the last 6 months, stores throughout the company have used a performance management system that, as Claussen says, â€Å"gets people to buy into the idea of performing so that they can see some real results in their stores. It’s all about seeing that your work serves a broader purpose. I read about how some companies have been sharing store performance information with employees to get them to understand what their jobs really mean and participate in making changes, and I thought that was something we’d be able to do. † The HR team came up with five options for the management system. Corporate allowed individual managers to choose the option they thought would work best with their employees so that managers wouldn’t feel too much like a rapid change was being forced on them. Program I is opting out of the new idea, continuing to stay the course and providing employees with little to no information or opportunities for participation. Program II tracks employee absence and sick leave and shares that information with individual employees, giving them feedback about things they can control. Management takes no further action. Program III tracks sales and inventory replacement rates across shifts. As in Program II, information is shared with employees, but without providing employee feedback about absence and sick leave. Program IV, the most comprehensive, tracks the same information as Programs II and III. Managers communicate it in weekly brainstorming sessions, during which employees try to determine what they can do better in the future and make suggestions for improving store performance. Program V keeps the idea of brainstorming but doesn’t provide employees with information about their behavior or company profits. Since implementing the system, Claussen has spoken with several managers about what motivated them to choose the program they did. Artie Washington, who chose Program IV, said, â€Å"I want to have my employees’ input on how to keep the store running smoothly. Everybody worries about his or her job security in this economy. Letting them know what’s going on and giving them ways to change things keeps them involved. † Betty Alvarez couldn’t disagree more. She selected Program I. â€Å"I would rather have my employees doing their jobs than going to meetings to talk about doing their jobs. That’s what management is for. † Michael Ostremski, another proponent of Program I, added, â€Å"It’s okay for the employees to feel a little uncertain—if they think we’re in the clear, they’ll slack off. If they think we’re in trouble, they’ll give up. Cal Martins also questions the need to provide information to the whole team, but he chose Program II. â€Å"A person should know where he or she stands in the job, but they don’t have to know about everyone else. It creates unnecessary tension. † This is somewhat similar to Cindy Ang’s reason for picking Program V. â€Å"When we have our brainstorming meetings, I learn what they [the employees] think is most pressing, not what some spreadsheet says. It gives me a better feel for what’s going on in my store. Numbers count, of course, but they don’t tell you everything. I was also a little worried that employees would be upset if they saw that we aren’t performing well. † Results to Date Claussen is convinced the most elaborate procedure (Program IV) is the most effective, but not everyone in the executive committee is won over by his advocacy. Although they have supported the test implementation of the system because it appears to have relatively low costs, others on the committee want to see results. CEO Jean Masterson has asked for a complete breakdown of the performance of the various stores over the past 4 years. She’s specially interested in seeing how sales figures and turnover rates have been affected by the new program. The company has been collecting data in spreadsheets on sales and turnover rates, and it prepared the following report, which also estimates the dollar cost of staff time taken up in each method. These costs are based on the number of hours employees spend working on the program multiplied by their wage rate. Estimates of turnover, profit, and staff time are collected per store. Profit and turnover data include means and standard deviations across locations; profit is net of the monthly time cost. Turnover information refers to the percentage of employees who either quit or are terminated in a month. To see if any patterns emerged in managers’ selection of programs, the company calculated relationships between program selection and various attributes of the stores. Program I was selected most frequently by the oldest stores and those in the most economically distressed areas. Programs II and III were selected most frequently by stores in urban areas and in areas where the workforce was younger on average. Programs IV and V were selected most frequently in stores in rural areas, and especially where the workforce is older on average.

Air Operated Four Wheeler

Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4Ãâ€"4 (â€Å"four by four†) is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drive train that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously. While many people associate the term with off-road vehicles, powering all four wheels provides better control in normal road cars on many surfaces, and is an important part of rally racing. In abbreviations such as 4Ãâ€"4, the first figure is the number of wheels; the second is the number of powered wheels. 4Ãâ€"2 mearns a four-wheel vehicle in which engine power is transmitted to only two wheels the front two in front-wheel drive or the rear two in rear-wheel drive. The main objective of our project is to perform to introduce the advance technology in the field of automobile.Here the four wheeler is carry out for the purpose of changing the gears using with the help of air power. Vehicles, derived from the Latin word, vehiculum, are non-living mearns of transport. Most often they are manufactured ( e. g. bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trains, ships, boats, and aircraft), although some other mearns of transport which are not made by humans also may be called vehicles; examples include icebergs and floating tree trunks. Vehicles may be propelled or pulled by animals, for instance, a chariot, a stagecoach, a mule-drawn barge, or an ox-cart. However, animals on their own, though used as a mearns of transport, are not called vehicles, but rather beasts of burden or draft animals.This distinction includes humans carrying another human, for example a child or a disabled person. A rickshaw is a vehicle that may carry a human and be powered by a human, but it is the mechanical form or cart that is powered by the human that is labeled as the vehicle. For some human-powered vehicles the human providing the power is labeled as a driver. Vehicles that do not travel on land often are called craft, such as watercraft, sailcraft, aircraft, hovercraft, and spacecraft Land vehicles are classified broadly by what is used to apply steering and drive forces against the ground: wheeled, tracked, railed, or skied. The true inventor of four-wheel drive is not really known; the history of such was not well recorded.In 1893, before the establishment of a modern automotive industry in Britain, English engineer Joeseph Bramah Diplock patented a four wheel drive system for a traction engine, including four-wheel steering and three differentials, which was subsequently built. The development also incorporated Bramagh's Pedrail wheel system in what was one of the first four-wheel drive automobiles to display an intentional ability to travel on challenging road surfaces. It stemmed from Bramagh's previous idea of developing an engine that would reduce the amount of damage to public roads. Ferdinand Porsche designed and built a four-wheel driven Electric vehicle for the k. u. k.Hofwagenfabrik Ludwig Lohner & Co. at Vienna in 1899, presented to the public during the 1900 World Exhibition a t Paris. The vehicle was powered by an electric hub motor at each wheel, a design later used by NASA in the lunar rover. Although clumsily heavy, the vehicle proved a powerful sprinter and record-breaker in the hands of its owner E. W. Hart. Due to its unusual status the so-called Lohner-Porsche is not widely credited as the first four-wheel driven automobile. The first four-wheel drive car, as well as hill-climb racer, with internal combustion engine, the Spyker 60 H. P. , was presented in 1903 by Dutch brothers Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker of Amsterdam.