Monday, January 27, 2020

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world

Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world This paper is going to answer the question Why free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world? and explain why I might be pessimistic about the prospects for global growth and development. In each issue, I support my opinions by firm arguments in real world as well as in academic The content 2.1 The concepts First of all, I would like to mentions about the main concepts that I am going to discuss about. Free trade is trade in which goods, services can move across countries without any barriers, i.e. tariffs, quotas or other restrictions. (Todaro Stephen, 2009). Or Free trade is a system in which goods, capital and labor flow freely between nations (What is free trade, WiseGeek [online], 2011). Free Trade has four main features: No taxes (tariffs) or other non-tariff barriers for producers to trade in goods and services Traders have free access to markets and market information The free movement of goods, services, labor and capital between and within countries No firms could distort the markets through relying on the monopoly power from the governments (Free trade, Wikipedia [online], 2011) Next, according to Nafziger (2006), Economic Growth refers to increases in production or incomes or income per capita in a country. And Economic development refers to economic growth accompanied by changes in output distribution and economic structure (Nafziger, 2006:15). Therefore, growth is a necessary factor but not sufficient for development 2.2 Free Trade is realistic and desirable In this section, I am going to argue for the view that free trade is both realistic and desirable in the real world. First, about the view that free trade is realistic, I have six strong arguments to support that idea. The first argument is about the lost in tariff revenues. Free trade means no revenues in tariffs; however, the governments should reform their tax systems to make them become more efficiently and effectively through putting taxes on right objects with appropriate rates. That can compensate the lost in tariff revenues and even increase the tax revenues. The transportation and the communication are very convenient; people can travel faster, and they can communicate together from a distance. Thus, the workers are no longer afraid of traveling. Additionally, the developing countries are reducing regulations in labor market to attract specialists and high skilled labor from advanced nations. Thus, the mobility of labor markets is increasing. The decentralization is a current trend in the world, and it helps countries can reach free trade by eliminating the monopoly. That will increase the transparency in economies and trade regimes in countries, so no firms can rely on monopoly from the governments to distort the markets. In reality, decentralization is almost reached in countries such as: US, Germany; and it is progressing in developing countries such as, i.e. Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia and Eastern European countries. Next, there are many organizations that support and facilitate free trade such as World Trade Organization (WTO), North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and European Union. In Vietnam in 2006, the leaders of the 21 members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) launched a process to negotiate and establish the largest single of trade liberalization in the world which is called Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP). That free-trade zone will account for 44% of global trade, and more than a half of the global gross domestic product. (Bergsten, 2007) and ( Article Bliss [online], 2011) In developed countries, the protectionists assert that free trade will make the unemployment severe by moving jobs from their countries to developing nations. But the governments can solve that problem by improving the social safety and welfare to compensate displaced workers and help them have jobs in high advanced industries that the developed countries specialize in. Finally, the developing countries can produce assistance in technology, finance and information system to help them adapt free trade easier and help domestic firms compete with foreign ones more efficiently. Second, I can say that free trade is desirable because free trade produce many benefits and advantages in the real world. Thus, many countries really desire free trade. The first significant role of free trade is that it is an important stimulator of economic growth. The free trade has proved its role through the success in economic growth in East and South East Asia countries (Todaro Stephen, 2009). For instance, Taiwan, which have the export-focus strategy, has average economic growth rate about 8% over more than four decades and grew nearly 10% annually in the 1965-80 period. It also has achieved its goals in education, health care and poverty alleviation successfully (Smith, 2003). Next, the international trade has a significant role in GDP in developing countries. Figure 1: Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS, 15 March 2011 According to the figure, the exports accounts for about near a half of GDP in developing countries from 2005 to 2009. Free trade promotes the exports from developing countries, so it has a very important role in developing countries. Free trade increases the competitions in the world, because it helps foreign companies can trade as efficiently and effectively as domestic ones. Therefore, it will make the prices for goods and services cheaper through promoting competitions. Moreover, free trade also encourages innovation, since companies need to produce innovative products and solutions to obtain market share (Toye, 2004). Next, Free trade is an important means to achieve the development. Free trade increase national incomes and force nations to adjust and improve their infrastructure, policies, laws and society system to adapt free trade. Thus, free trade is powerful instrument to achieve the goals of development such as: stability, freedom, and quality of life (i.e. education, happiness and health). For example: based on the export of garment industry, Bangladeshs poverty reduction in 1990s was quite dramatic and it promote the process of achieving development goals in Bangladesh (Goldin Reinert, 2006) Next, there is the witness of the success of export promotion strategy and the limitation or failure of import substitution strategy in reality. Meanwhile, export-oriented countries such as: Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore have got rapid rate of economic growth; Latin America promoted import substitution policies in the 1960s, but they were not successful, and such policies have been replaced by export-led strategies. Import substitution produces some disadvantages such as: inefficient domestic industries, the deficit in the balance of payment because the value of import inputs is higher than the value of export outputs. As the estimation, the import substitution waste about 10% of national income of developing countries. (Salvatore, 2011). Next, the benefits from free trade agreements such as WTO and NAFTA can explain why free trade is desirable in reality. First, WTO integrates countries in the world to the international system, and motivates them to protect and expand that system. WTO ensures that countries could not selectively open their market, and promotes economic relations between countries (Business Roundtabble [online], 2006, cited in 2011). Next, NAFTA help Mexico became attractive place for workers from Central America, where wages were only about an eighth as high as those in Mexico by 2002. That makes other Latin American countries seem eager to join in a free trade agreement as soon as possible (Smith, 2003). The classic academic theories support free trade such as absolute advantage theory, comparative advantage theory and relative factor endowments theory. These theory argue that the nations will increase welfare when they specialize in their advantages, endowment factors and conduct free trade together (Salvatore, 2011) The prospect for global growth and development is pessimistic As I mention above, free trade is realistic and desirable in the real world; however, I have seven firm arguments to support my pessimistic view about the prospects for global growth and development The first argument is that all resources in the world are fixed in quantity and they are being fully employed (Todaro Smith, 2009:606). The manufactures require a huge demand on raw material, fuels especially fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil) which are non-renewable. When the quantity of these fuels decrease and become exhausted, their prices will increase so that the manufacture faces the stagnation. The price of oil (USD) increase constantly from 12.28 in 1998 to 100.12 in 201, and it is expected to increase more in the future (Source: Derived from OPEC, OPEC Basket Price, 2011), that will impact the global growth as well as the development. Next, the inequalities are increasing between and within countries (Todaro Smith, 2009:589). The disparity between rich countries and poor countries as well as the inequalities within countries is increasing. The inequalities will increase the conflict in economic, political and social benefits between people in different classes, religions and country. That will make the development and global growth more and more unsustainable. The environment problems become more severe; especially, the environmental degradation and global warming are increasing rapidly. It will affect all nations in the world, especially poor countries whose productions depend on climate and environment so much. However, the rich countries such us U.S, Japan, Russia and China have not acted sufficiently to prevent or reduce the global warming and environmental degradation because it will impact their productions. When the environmental life is degraded, the development as well the global growth will be hinder and maybe worse. Many countries are still in deep poverty and they are being depended on agricultural and primary-product export. There are more than 1 billion people live on less than 1$ per day and the number of people live in poverty has doubled in the last two decades in Africa. In addition, 70% people live in rural in developing countries depend on agricultural and primary product exports, whose incomes are very unstable and risky. That will make the growth and development in developing countries fluctuant (Todaro Smith, 2009) and (Salvatore, 2011) There is a trend of new protectionism in advanced nations (i.e. North America and Euro) against the exports from developing countries. They are trying to protect their domestic producers, workers and farmers from the lower cost products in developing countries. That will obstruct the free trade in the world as well as the welfare gain from exports in developing countries. For example, even though 8 liberalization round have occurred over 50 years, the trade barriers still remains in agricultural products and textile industry. Next, the population in the world is rising. That will impact and make the problems of poverty, environment and food more and more severe, especially in poor and developing countries. That is a significant factor, which will hinder and obstruct the global growth and development. Figure 2: Population Growth ( annual %) Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW, 20 March 2011 Finally, due to the World Financial and Economic Crisis in 2008 and 2009, the advanced nations faced deep recession and the developing countries face low rate of growth. Many countries such as U.S, U.K, Japan and Chinaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ have to spend billions dollar to rescue their economies. The worlds GDP growth rate slows down by 2% for 2008 and 2009 (Source: Derived from World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2011). In addition, the government will tighten their financial market through regulations. It will affect the manufacture, business and investment because they need money to expand and develop. The conclusion To sum up, the economies in the world can reach free trade; and because of free trades advantages and benefits, it is desired by countries in the world. I assert that fee trade is realistic and desirable in the real world. However, there are many serious problems that are impacting and will obstruct the global growth and development in the world. Thus, I have a pessimistic view about global growth and development.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Capybara :: essays research papers

Capybara The capybara is the largest rodent in the world. The capybara’s name comes from the native people of South America. It means "master of the grass." The scientific name of the capybara is hydrochoerus hydrochaeris, which means "water pig" in Greek. Capybaras have been in existence since the Pleistocene epoch. Their ancient ancestors were rodents that lived about sixty million years ago. The average size of a capybara is four feet in length and two feet in height. This is about the size of a sheep. Capybaras usually weigh between sixty and one hundred and forty pounds. Many people think the capybara looks like a larger version of a guinea pig. All capybaras have large flat noses, webbed feet, short legs, and no tail. Their fur is very coarse and it is usually a reddish-brown color. Capybaras also have large incisor teeth that continuously grow. Capybaras must constantly gnaw and chew on wood and nuts to wear their teeth down. To protect themselves from the hot sun, capybaras will often rest in nearby pools of water. They will also be found lying mud or in the shade. Capybaras are found in South American countries such as Brazil and Venezuela. They are well adapted for living on land and in the water. Herds of capybaras, consisting of twenty or more capybaras, live on the grasslands and near riverbanks, or in swamps and marshes. Capybaras are herbivores whose main diet is water plants and grasses. Occasionally a capybara will also eat leaves, seeds and the bark of young trees. Because they are herbivores, they do not have any distinctive hunting habits. Capybaras are shy creatures that don’t interact with other animals on a frequent basis. They are intelligent but quiet and they rarely fight each other, or their enemies. Within a herd of capybaras, there is one dominant male who keeps the herd in order. He also defends the herd from intruding animals. Capybaras reproduce sexually by mating in shallow water. They can mate during any time of the year but capybaras most often mate during the start of the rainy season. A female capybara typically gives birth from one to eight babies. A baby capybara is born with fur and it’s eyes open. The babies can eat grass just like the adult capybaras and they can take care of themselves much better than most baby mammals. However, baby capybaras drink their mother’s milk and stay with their mother for at least four months after their birth.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Characterisation of Eddie Carbone Essay

Explore the ways a central character is presented in the drama text. Use examples from the text in your response. Eddie Carbone, a 40 year old Italian American Citizen from Sicily, is the tragic protagonist of A view from the Bridge by Arthur Miller. Alfieri, the chorus in the story, first introduces Eddie as a good, hard working man who does normal things like raising a family, eating, getting old, etc. However as Alfieri states, no one can know what his true self is like. Alfieri prepares us for the discovery of the secrets in the play. That two illegal immigrants Marco and Rodolfo are taking shelter in Eddies home and Eddie’s deep secret of his quasi-incestuous desire for his niece, Catherine. At first, Eddie is shown as a good man who is happy and respected by his family. Eddie behaves like a normal, fairly overprotective uncle towards Catherine and the audience would probably not have guessed that he has any desire of her other than the standard uncle and niece relationship. However it is not the standard uncle and niece relationship in Eddie’s mind but far more complex. The first sense of uneasiness we see is when Catherine lights his cigarette. Eddie receives some kind of unnatural pleasure from this experience. A woman lighting a man’s cigar can have a sexual implication and this is what Eddie see in Catherine. Knowing that Eddie has these feelings, there are clues earlier back in the text to his obsession with Catherine. When Catherine sits on her heel beside him, he criticizes the length of her skirt. He doesn’t want Catherine to look attractive in public because he is worried that some man might ask her out. He wants Catherine all to himself and does anything he can to prevent her from getting a boyfriend. Eddie also does not want her moving out of his home. He wants Catherine always within his grasp. When Catherine tells Eddie that she got a new job, he disapproves straight away: â€Å"No – no, you gonna finish school. What kina job, what do you mean? All of a sudden you-â€Å". He is very panicky and disturbed by this information that Catherine is getting a job meaning that Eddie would see Catherine less which seem like a realistic reason for an uncle to be upset about, but knowing Eddie’s true intentions, he want Catherine to be near to him as close as possible. Eddie’s inner feelings are also somewhat exposed during when Eddie and Beatrice argue. Although Eddie cannot yet grasp his own feelings, is seems like other character like Alfieri and Beatrice are aware of his interest in Catherine: Eddie: â€Å"What are you mad at me lately? † Beatrice: â€Å"Who’s mad? †¦ You’re the one is mad. † Eddie is referring to â€Å"mad† as in angry and asking why Beatrice is cross with him. Beatrice responds by referring to the â€Å"mad† as in mentally insane and suggests that Eddie had lost his mind, which he eventually does. Eddie is also show to be a selfish natured and an untrustworthy man. He reminds Beatrice not to let her tired cousins sleep in his bed because the bed is his own property. This could link with the way that he feels about Catherine; she is his personal property and that no one can ‘use’ his personal property apart from himself. Eddie’s experience with life and work has led him to become untrusting of others. He advises Catherine â€Å"the less you trust, the less you be sorry† showing that Eddie has not trusted al lot of people in his life and that when he does, it turns out going wrong. This prepares us for the suspicion and distrust he has when Rodolfo arrives. Eddie becomes increasingly jealous of Catherine’s interest in Rodolfo. â€Å"Catherine: (enthralled) Leave him finish, it’s beautiful! † Catherine likes Rodolfo from the instant she met him and Eddie, aware of this is, wants Catherine to like him in the same way instead of Rodolfo. Eddie quickly comes up with an excuse to stop Rodolfo from singing by saying that â€Å"you don’t want to be picked up, do ya? † which seems like a plausible reason – if Rodolfo sings too loud then someone might notice something strange and inquire. However Eddie’s true motive for preventing Eddie from singing is to stop Catherine from being amazed by Rodolfo. Eddie’s jealousy becomes further exposed as his face is described as being ‘puffed with trouble’ in the stage direction where Catherine is making Rodolfo coffee. He is jealous that Catherine is getting Rodolfo a drink when before Catherine was getting him a beer. Eddie state of mind is shown when Catherine is talk to Eddie after she has got back from Brooklyn Paramount with Rodolfo. Catherine has told Eddie that she likes him and the stage directions show hiswd reaction to this: â€Å"He looks at her like a lost boy†. Eddie feels a sort of saddened jealousy but he is unable to realize this dishonourable emotion and incapable of admitting this to himself. He is indeed emotionally â€Å"lost†. Eddie’s obsession with Catherine and his spiteful nature grows throughout the story. He tries to do anything he can to put Catherine of Rodolfo. In his conversation with Beatrice, Eddie says to her that he is homosexual: â€Å"Paper Doll they’re callin’ him. Canary. He’s like a weird†. Eddie is trying to make Beatrice and everyone turn against Rodolfo but ironically everyone turns on him. Eddie tells Catherine that Rodolfo only likes her because he wants to obtain an American citizenship by marrying her: â€Å"Katie, he’s only bowin’ to his passport†. Eddie is trying to make Catherine doubt Rodolfo but this is unsuccessful and ends up in Catherine distrusting Eddie. This strong obsession Edie has with Catherine did not just start when the cousins arrived but has been an ongoing process from before. This is shown in Eddie’s conversation with Beatrice where she tells him that she has worries of her own: â€Å"When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie†¦ It’s almost three months†. Eddie and Beatrice have had no sexual affiliation for three months because all that has been on his mind is Catherine. Near the end of Act 1, Eddie’s is show to be violent and cold hearted. He mocks Rodolfo’s skills in singing, making clothes and cooking and compares him to himself and say that this is no place for him. He is suggesting that he is not manly enough to be here like him and that he should be in some other place. Eddie tries to supposedly â€Å"teach† Rodolfo boxing all of a sudden: â€Å"Well, come on. I’ll teach you† However Eddie knows that Rodolfo is weaker than he is and uses this as an excuse to punch Rodolfo in the face and show everyone, especial Catherine, how weak Rodolfo is and to humiliate him however this had the opposite effect and exposes how sadistic Eddie can be. Eddies motives for his actions all originate from his quasi-incestuous love for his niece. As Alfieri describes, â€Å"His eyes were like tunnels†, he can only see Catherine and no one else. He cannot understand why he only sees Catherine but that is all he sees and refuses to let any feeling or any person enter that tunnel nd making sure that Catherine stays only in his tunnel and not anyone else’s. Significantly, the lyric of the song Rodolfo sings, â€Å"Paper Doll†, symbolically reflects Eddie’s feelings for Catherine: â€Å"It’s tough to love a doll that’s not your own† â€Å"I’m gonna buy a paper doll that I can call my own† â€Å"A doll that other fellows cannot steal. † Figuratively, Eddie is the one singing the song and Catherine is the subject of the song, the doll, and that is has been ‘stolen’ by someone – Rodolfo. This song was carefully chosen by Arthur Miller to act as an intimation of what was to come. Eddie is unable to comprehend his true feelings but other characters have a clearer view than he does. Like Alfieri, who knows of his love for his niece and describes this as â€Å"a passion that had moved into his body†. This is significant because this metaphor is close to the truth of what has happed to Eddie; this newly found passion of Catherine as grown over time and has became strong enough so that it fully controls his body, and is behind every action in Eddie’s life. Eddie’s first conversation with Alfieri shows that Alfieri knows his feelings: â€Å"sometimes even a daughter, and he never realizes it, ut through the years – there is too much love for the daughter, there is too much love for the niece. Do you understand what I’m saying to you? † But Eddie does not fully understand what Alfieri is saying, he think Alfieri mean â€Å"love† and in a Uncle and niece love, but Alfieri knows Eddies feeling and is talking about real physical love for Catherine. Eddie blindness towards his inner feeling and stubbornness in letting go of Catherine are Eddie’s tragic flaws that bring upon his downfall.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Nike Hyperdunk Ad Analysis - 957 Words

Gay Page 5 of 6 ZOOM Bennett ReissEnglish 1110Primary Source AnalysisIn 2008, Nike posted various advertisements for their Hyperdunk basketball sneakers across Harlem. These ads were quickly met with heavy criticism, as many people interpreted the ads as being homophobic. The aforementioned ad features the offensive player posterizing the defender. In layman s terms, the player with the ball ferociously dunks on the defender. The position of the two players gets interesting, as the crotch of the offensive player is essentially on the defender’s face. This positioning conceals the majority of the defender’s head, with exception to his hair. Based off of lighting and shadows, the viewer can assume that the defender is†¦show more content†¦I feel like the fact that there aren’t any facial features further supports the claim of homophobia, as this advertisement clearly isn’t about basketball. To further the damage, Nike placed â€Å"That Ain’t Right† directl y over the the area with the defender’s face and the dunker’s crotch. The aforementioned message is written in large, white block letters, essentially taking up about one-third of the entire ad. After putting all of these aspects together, every single time one views this advertisement they are drawn to the spectacle of the dunker’s genitalia in the defender’s face. Immediately after registering this though, they are then drawn to â€Å"That Ain’t Right† and that’s essentially all there is to this advertisement. The end product of this advertisement is the viewer seeing a subtly homosexual act and proceeding to link that concept with â€Å"That Ain’t Right.† This advertisement speaks out against the tantalizing issue of homosexuals in sports, and continues to belittle homosexuals while sending the message that they don’t belong in sports. This is extremely frustrating, as this advertisement represents the battle t hat gay athletes have continuously fought, and to this day have made little progress. This issue is extremely political, especially in the world of sports. Players should be given equal opportunities, regardless of their sexual orientation. If the player is talented enough to compete at the collegiate or professionalShow MoreRelatedNike s Offensive Competitive Advantage1206 Words   |  5 Pagescompetitive advantage. Therefore, this subject is difficult to understand and then apply to a company. The Five Generic Competitive Strategies that Michael E. Porter developed are not really five strategies, more like five with subsets under them. Nike does not fit neatly into a specific strategy. The first factor within the competitive strategy as described in the Essentials of Strategic Management textbook is a broad target market or a narrow target market. The second factor considers the competitive