Information Based Decision Making Essay

Summary The objective of this report is to look at information based decision making and demonstrate how the decisions have been made. I will look into what sources of data is needed to generate the information required for effective decision making. The information gathered is then analysed and presented. The investigation is based on the effectiveness of student use or training within in the educational environment of purchasing a Pacojet. Pacojet is a professional kitchen appliance that micro-purees deep-frozen foods into ultra-fine textures (such as mousses, sauces and sorbets) without thawing â€Å"(Wikipedia, 2012). The recommendation which will be made to the Hospitality Head of Department where the decision making process responsibility lies is; Pacojet is a modern piece of equipment used in restaurants worldwide. Students with access or experience with a Pacojet would be beneficial in the hospitality industry as the students’ knowledge would enhance creativity within themselves and in the long run save their future employers training costs. Pacojet is versatile with ingredients, produces a superior end product, saves time with labour, raw material and if operated efficiently the Pacojet would pay for itself within three months. Introduction â€Å"Pacojet is a dynamic professional kitchen appliance that makes it easy to prepare high-quality dishes while saving time, labour and reducing food waste. Tens of thousands of chefs worldwide rely on Pacojet to produce exquisite mousses, sauces and ice creams at the press of a button. No matter what the season, your culinary creations will be complimented for their intense, natural flavours.† (Studios, 2012) As gaining personal experience with the Pacojet while working within the industry, sharing my experience with the students during practical classes verbally and with diagrams does not effectively engage the students with the learning experience. Having comparable products within the practical class where the students could make the items themselves using two processes, one being the Pacojet. The products would then be compared visually, taste and the cost effectiveness thus enhancing the learners experience with in the practical kitchen. The data sources used were chosen because as the information needs to be fit for purpose. It needs to be relevant, current, adequate, timely, reliable, and of course cost effective. There are two types of information that can be collected; primary and secondary. Primary information is data collected first hand whilst Secondary information is published data and the data collected in the past or other parties. The primary information selected in this report is survey replies from experienced Head Chefs working within various areas in the industry, as well as information gathered from the manufacturer and suppliers. The secondary information that has been collected are various types of media releases related to the year 2012, also articles discussing key equipment changes within the kitchen when updating or starting new. Additionally case studies and personal recommendations on purchasing Pacojet equipment have been resourced as well. Quantitative information is data that is numerical information (numbers). The Quantitative data gathered is the data gathered from the survey replies, also the data on the Pacojet cost, as well as the pay back calculation in relation to sales and profit. The qualitative information is, â€Å"data that approximates or characterizes but does not measure the attributes, characteristics, properties† (Dictionary, 2012) The qualitative information collected is the non-numerical details such as the survey results before being graphed and just based on an individual opinion. Also the operation information on the Pacojet and additionally case studies and personal recommendations While collecting, analysing and storing data legal requirements must be adhered to. The key principles in the Data protection Act are; †¢Data will be processed fairly and lawfully. †¢Personal data gathered for specific and lawful purposes. †¢Data will be adequate and relevant. †¢Personal data will be accurate and in date. †¢Personal data shall not be kept for longer than necessary. †¢Personal data if used unlawfully will have consequences. †¢Personal data should not be transferred outside the European Economic area. Further information on the Data Protection Act can be found at www.ico.gov.ik The methods of communicating the information found are a PowerPoint presentation, following a practical demonstration within a classroom. â€Å"Some people are auditory learners, and some are visual learners, which simply mean they process and retain information better by either hearing it or seeing it. One of the advantages to PowerPoint is that it presents information simultaneously to both styles of learners† (Dowell, 2012) The practical demonstration will provide a hands on approach to show the ease of operating a Pacojet, as well as offering a comparison of products produced be the Pacojet. The practical demonstration consisted of comparing ice cream, sorbets and a variety of savoury sauces made the traditional method the Pacojet. The outcome was favourable towards the Pacojet. Recipe costings, tasting and presentation were all succeeded towards the Pacojet. â€Å"A high-quality decision helps an organization accomplish its strategic goals and also meets the needs of the organization’s employees, executives, stockholders, consumers, or suppliers† (Unknown, 2012) The decision making models applied during this report were the Decision Tree, and the OODA Loop Sequence. The Decision Tree â€Å"provides a highly effective structure within which you can lay out options and investigate the possible outcomes of choosing those options. They also help you to form a balanced picture of the risks and rewards associated with each possible course of action.† (Anon., 2012) In creating the decision tree, this allows thought and reflection regarding the Pacojet and the data that will be collected. This also acknowledges the visualisation on outcomes or solutions that have not been considered, as well as the areas focused on. The benefits of constructing a Decision Tree are the clarity of the problem is focused on as well as providing a framework to determine the values of outcomes and the possibilities of achieving them. The OODA Loop sequence: 1. Observe – collect current information from as many sources as practically possible. During this stage looking out for new information is required. The more information gathered will result in being more precise in your observation. 2. Orient – analyse the information, and use it to update your current reality. This is the interpretation of the situation. Each individual is influenced when analysing the situation. â€Å"John Boyd former US Air Force Colonel identifies five main influences. †¢ Cultural traditions. †¢ Genetic heritage. †¢ The ability to analyse and synthesize. †¢ Previous experience. †¢ New information coming in.† (2012) 3. Decide – determine a course of action. As cycling the OODA Loops new information or decisions made can change past decisions and actions. The outcome is that learning occurs during the orient stage, in which influences the decision making process. 4. Act – follow through on your decision. The decision is applied and the cycle repeats back to the observe stage where the effects of the decision making can be observed. The OODA Loops sequence is a fast paced decision making model. Here you should have a fast momentum in which you orient and reorient based upon new information coming in. There should be a smooth transition between the stages. This allows you a proactive approach in quick decision making which is beneficial in keeping on top of your competitors. Conclusion/Recommendation In conclusion the information gathered and presented will not have a formal decision made upon by myself. The information is presented and passed on the Head of the Department. Here a decision will be made and then a purchased order place. The information selected in this report is survey replies from experienced Head Chefs working within various areas in the industry, as well as information gathered from the manufacturer and suppliers. The information that has been collected are various types of media releases related to the year 2012, also articles discussing key equipment changes within the kitchen when updating or starting new. Additionally case studies and personal recommendations on purchasing Pacojet equipment have been resourced as well. The information collected though not all stated within the report gave a solid background and self-confidence within when presenting the PowerPoint and practical presentation. The final recommendation remains; Students with access or experience with a Pacojet would be beneficial in the hospitality industry as the students’ knowledge would enhance creativity within themselves and in the long run save their future employers training costs. Pacojet is versatile with ingredients, produces a superior end product, saves time with labour, raw material and if operated efficiently the Pacojet would pay for itself within three months.

However, the German people who were hungry and bitter wanted new faces, they wanted to see change

â€Å"The war was now lost,†1 a quote from General Ludendorff's evidence to a post war assembly. It was 1918 and Germany had been defeated. Kaiser Wilhelm had fled to Holland on the advice of General Ludendorff, who had also urged an armistice. To preserve the reputation of the military forces of Germany, Ludendorff wanted the creation of a civilian government, in the hope that a civilian government could take the blame for Germany's defeat, a revolution from above, to maintain the vision of a still, strong, military force. The country of Germany had to repair itself to survive. The old constitution had to change, not that it could be classed as old. Germany was a relatively new country, unified in 1871, but because of growing popular unrest and economic discontent, the hierarchy of Germany had to be seen as making changes for the benefit of the population. The age of monarchy was dissolved and replaced by a new civilian government. The new constitution would be known as the Weimar Constitution. The new constitution would embrace democracy, it would be an elected government, headed by a president, and elections were to be every seven years. The parliament was known as the Reichstag. All men and women over the age of twenty were entitled to vote. All Germans were deemed equal under the law. In consequence of this, professional people such as doctors, lawyers and teachers did not want to be equal to proletarians or the lumper proletarians, professional, middle class people believed they were better, why should the whole of society be given an education and opportunities. In addition, social rights were given to the people, such as, free speech, a country free of censorship, education for all, religious freedom, and the entitlement to negotiate for better working conditions as well as having protection from the state. Unfortunately, Germany was a conservative, traditional country, too much freedom all at once could be too much to cope with, progressive free liberties, introduced on a slower scale might have worked better. Fredrich Ebert was the leader of the social democratic party, who had the following of the majority of the people and in November 1918, was made the first chancellor of the new constitution. Included within the constitution was article 48, this article gave permission for the president to dissolve the Reichstag, and act on his own, with the aid of, if necessary, military force. Consequently it could be argued about who was actually in charge of the constitution, was it the representative assembly or the elected head of state. The elected president had the right to interfere with legislation; it seemed a contradiction of a democratic republic. This immediately throws into disarray the whole idea of a democracy, as well as according to a USPD deputy â€Å"if some henchmen of the Hohenzollerns (the royal family), a general perhaps were to be at the head of the Reich,†2 article 48 could be a weakness exploited by military men to use to their advantage as a military coup. Ebert needed the army on side, particularly to cease uprisings by the left wing. Ebert was a socialist but not a communist, neither to his favour was General Groener, who Ebert forged a deal with to win his support, Ebert would keep the authority of any existing officers, thus, the army would defend the new government so uprisings from the left were easily suppressed. This went against the constitution. The Left Wing unified with the extreme Right over this, because they saw it as a supression to prevent revolution from the middle classes. The KPD co-operated with the extreme Right in efforts to destroy the constitution. Furthermore, Ebert kept existing civil servants and members of the judiciary in their positions, keeping the people he needed to rely on in favourable positions. In addition to this, Ebert needed experienced people to try and keep the infa-structure of Germany on a stable footing. However, the German people who were hungry and bitter wanted new faces, they wanted to see change. To keep things as they were was not a democracy, according to an anonymous exiled SPD member, the German working class should have taken over the old state, to leave things unchanged was a grave historical error and not a good start to a new democratic, republican state. Many of he German people refused to accept the new constitution as being legitimate; these people were not used to as much freedom as was being promised. They were battered from the war and not ready for such a change. If the new constitution was going to be part of their lives, maybe initiating it alongside a monarchy would have been more successful in winning them over traditionalists and nationalists cannot be changed overnight. The first real threat for Weimar was The Treaty of Versailles in 1919†³Death rather than slavery,†3 quoted the nationalist newspaper, Duetsche Zeitung. The whole of Germany rejected the Treaty, but the constitution had no choice but to accept it,†There is no alternative to accepting the armistice terms. It is however, already apparent that these conditions will not produce a just peace. The sacrifices on us are tremendous; they must lead to our peoples doom,†3 Germany was brought to its knees by reparations, loss of territory, war guilt and the limitations of a reduced military force, which country would survive, historian A.Nicholls,4 (1979) sums up the Treaty and the impact on the Weimar republic, â€Å"Germany's economy was ruined by reparations and her security undermined. Much more serious was the political demoralisation which the treaty caused with in the Reich itself †¦ The real damage the treaty did to Germany was to disillusion the more moderate men who might otherwise have supported their new republic†¦The peace settlement continued to poison the political atmosphere in Germany for many years.†4 The Treaty helped the radical right wing political party's gain support and challenge the new Weimar republican government. The main right wing parties rejected the republic and its principles and wanted to destroy the democratic constitution and go back to a nationalist system, the signing of the Treaty only reinforced that the new government wasn't working for the people. The aim of the Right Wing was to abolish the constitution and instead have a conservative, authoritarian regime, unlike other conservative political parties in well-established democracies. It was in March 1920 that the first major problem from the Right occurred. A right wing coup named after its leader Kapp was initiated. It only failed due to a general strike. After marching on Berlin the governments troops refused to fire on the freikorps, the support for a democratic republic was not where the army's loyalties lay, after all it was only because of secret talks between Ebert and Groener, and the fact that Groener was only protecting his position that the army only HAD to support the new Republic, through orders of their commander, they did not support the republic voluntarily. The judiciary dealt with the people involved with Kapp leniently, showing that the judiciary was not in favour of a democratic country, they were still in favour of the old nationalist Germany. The Right wing consisted of the military, financial elites, state beurocracy, the educational system and some of the press. However, the Kapp Putsch did demonstrate weaknesses in the New Constitution, democracy in Germany lost its way, there was no political control over the military, the government could not enforce its authority even in its own capital; the government could not put down a challenge to its own authority and only because of mass power was government authority re- established. It wasn't due to support of the constitution that people supported a general strike. It was due to the fact that peace was more important than political beliefs and who would want a revolution in their town. In addition to this the failure of Kapp being brought to justice led to a spate of assinations committed by the Right Wing against supporters of the Weimar Constitution. Over 350 political murders took place between 1919 and 1923. Again the perpetrators were dealt with leniently, showing support for the nationalists, and the weak decision of keeping the same people in their jobs, â€Å"when the republic was created, these judges held over from the monarchy found it impossible to transfer their allegiance to the new organisation of the state†¦They created a private law and subverted (undermined) the public law of the Republic by refusing to administer justice in an equal manner to all people, â€Å"5Kurt Tucholsky, left wing satirist. Ebert was in an impossible situation, the Treaty was the major factor in undermining the democratic constitution, and money for the reparations had to be found, promises of a welfare state and a new age for Germany and the rebuilding of great German country seemed impossible. It was no fun for those having to live under the crippling conditions imposed by the Treaty. In addition to this, Ebert's new Republican foundations were established in debt from the reign of the Kaiser and the war; the country was already weak economically from the war. The only way to remedy a weak economy and pay off debts was through taxes and inflation. War cost, lack of confidence in the currency, reparations, trade deficit and the governments apparent solution to print more and more money, all led to an economic crisis. People on fixed incomes and the middle class lost out to hyperinflation. Whilst people with debts, mortgages, tradesmen, industrialists and estate agents benefited through hyperinflation. In addition to this, levels of unemployment were kept down and new, international investments were encouraged. Despite the negative effects of hyperinflation, workers were economically better off due to increased levels of economic activity. Unfortunately, the Weimar Republic weakened with hyperinflation due to ill health suffered by the population; this was the result of inflation-induced poverty, the new constitution was blamed for this, again injuring the constitution.†The savings, hopes, plans and assumptions and aspirations of huge numbers of people were swept away in a whirlwind†¦ Even when the worst material impact was over, the psychological shock of the experience was to have longer lasting effects, confirming a deep-seated dislike of democracy†6 In June 1920, the Weimar Constitution lost its majority. A constitution that had been run by coalition governments, needed that majority, other parties were dissatisfied with the constitution, and because none of the other party's gained 50% of the vote, unstable coalition governments ruled Germany. Add to this bickering and lack of agreement on both domestic and foreign policies, co-operation became lax and there were too many minorities and no majorities. Elections were built around suffering and proportional representation. What could be seen, as a strength was actually a weakness. Because everybody was allowed to vote, including extremists from the left and the right. Which meant that with proportional voting, that the minor parties got seats in the Reichstag, thus, disrupting proceedings and make the leading party and the constitution look weak. In conclusion the Weimar Republic looked on paper like a sure, fire hit but because of the introduction of democracy and no strong patriarchal leader problems were bound to arise. The Kaiser was much loved and respected by a traditional and loyal Germany, the Germans were confused. They were being promised greatness and security but because of the Treaty and the in -fighting the German people never saw what was promised. They only saw problem after problem. Ebert was a great statesman but circumstances prevented the constitution being a success, and it does take time for new ideas to begin to work, if the Treaty had never been signed by the countries involved Germany would have been great, maybe the blame should be put upon the USA, Italy, France and Britain. The new constitution never stood a chance.

Mesopotamia vs. Egypt Essay

When you think about Mesopotamia and Egypt you may think that they are very different. They are, but they also have many similarities and differences as well. Both of these societies have done things that have effected the way we live today. One similarity is they were both polytheistic, meaning that they believed in many gods. Another similarity is the both had their own writing system. Two differences they have are their feelings about the afterlife and their rivers. A similarity between the Mesopotamians and Egyptians is they both had their own writing system. The Egyptians used hieroglyphics which used pictorial symbols that represented sounds, concepts, or syllables. Because it took so long to learn how to read and write using hieroglyphics, scribes and priest were mainly they only ones who used it. The Mesopotamians used cuneiform. Cuneiform was basically wed-shaped symbols that represented words or syllables. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a very small group made up of priest and scribes. Cuneiform originated in Mesopotamia but was then used by the Sumerian and Akkadian. Another similarity is both the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians were polytheistic, meaning that they believed in many gods. Both believed that everything happened because of the gods, and if you made the gods mad then you would be punished. The Mesopotamians were a little more skeptical about the gods compared to the Egyptians, the Egyptians were very optimistic about the gods. Also, both groups were very dependent on the gods and prayed to them daily. Many of their gods had to deal with nature. A difference between the two is their rivers. The Egyptians relied on the Nile river. It would flood often, but it was predictable. Because of this, the Egyptians built their homes where they wouldn’t get destroyed. They would also used irrigation to help their crops when the river would flood. The Mesopotamians had the Tigris and Euphrates river. It would flood Mesopotamia at unpredictable times at least once a year. The floods would destroy many homes and buildings. Another difference between Mesopotamia and Egypt is their outlook on death. The Egyptians spent their whole lifetime planning for the afterlife, they even planned their burial. After death hey were mummified and buried with their prized possessions and things such as food to help them along their trip to the afterlife. But the Mesopotamians had a bad outlook on death. They believed they gods were harsh, and did not look forward to the afterlife. As you can see Mesopotamia and Egypt have many similarities and differences. They are similar by both having their own writing systems and they were both polytheistic. They are different because of their outlooks on the afterlife and the flooding of their rivers. Both of these civilizations have shaped us today. Without them we wouldn’t be the world we are now.

Self Introduction Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Self Introduction Issues - Essay Example I am a deep writer, preferring complex and interconnected topics than straightforward concepts. At the moment, I can say I have been writing for two years. In some cases, especially creative writing, I write papers that are longer than expected because I have â€Å"a lot to talk about.†My personal philosophy on writing is that it is a medium of communication; what I cannot relay verbally I put down. I also believe that writing is part of history. Consequently, by documenting what I experience and think, I leave a historical legacy that others can be inspired by. I hate the ambiguity that sometimes creeps into writing (Widdows 26). Over the years, I have accepted that it is a part of writing that cannot be avoided, but I hate that it hinders my prolificacy. What I like about writing is the appreciation people show for the thoughts and feelings that I put out. The first quote in the book feels true for me; the rest seem to contradict my experiences with – or opinions of à ¢â‚¬â€œ writing.

Exam2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Exam2 - Assignment Example At that time, the rent would be $ 10000 per month. The next question which arises is that, whether the entire amount of $ 4000000 would be given from internal sources of financing or an external loan should also be taken. If external loan is taken, then it would be obtained to an amount of $ 2000000 having an interest of 5% per year. If the building is constructed in 2017, then the accumulated amount of $ 4000000 can also be invested and an interest on such investment @ 3.5% would be obtained. The cost of the building would also be incrementing by 2.5% per year. Return on Investment has been calculated by taking into consideration that the interest rate on the investment of $ 4000000 is 3.5%. Question 1 Return on Investment Particulars Amount (in $) Invested Amount 4000000 Return on Investment for the year 2013 (from October to December) 35000 Return on Investment for the year 2014 140000 Return on Investment for the year 2015 140000 Return on Investment for the year 2016 140000 Tota l Return on Investment 455000 Return on Investment (in Percentage) 11.375% The return on investment is a performance measure that is used for evaluating the efficiency and accuracy of any investment (Megginson & Scott, 2008). It is an effective performance measuring tool, which helps in taking appropriate decisions by the company (Rachlin, 1997). It helps in avoiding flaws in the managerial decisions taken by any company. If the accumulated amount of $ 4000000 is invested, then an annual interest @ 2.5 percent would be earned every year till 2017. The interest earned in the 1st year is 35000 and the interest earned in next three years is $ 140000 each year. Total interest earned is $455000. Return on investment is 11.375%. Question 2 Inflation rate is described as the continuous increase in the price level of goods and services. It is calculated as the annual percentage rise. Findlay is the name of a city in Ohio, United States. The Inflation rate of United States, as projected by I nternational Monetary Fund, has been shown below: (International Monetary Fund, 2012) Within the time period of 2014 to 2018, the inflation rate as assessed by the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index would rise to some extent and then it would remain constant at a rate of 2 percent (CBO, 2013). Determination of the projected annual inflation rate of Ohio is also necessary. ‘The Ohio Department of Transportation’ has estimated the Inflation Rate of Ohio to be: High Most Likely Low 2013 8 % 5.7% 3% 2014 10% 5.5% 3.5% 2015 8.95% 5.9% 3.5% 2016 7.5% 4.5% 1.5% 2017 7% 4% 1% Question 3 It has been stated that the value of the building would be increasing by 2.5 percent every year starting from 2014. The increment has been shown in the following table: Particulars Amount (in $) Present value of the building 4000000 Value of the building in 2014 4100000 Value of the building in 2015 4202500 Value of the building in 2016 4307562.5 Value of the building in 2017 4415251.5 6 Net Increase 415251.56 It can be seen from the above mentioned table that the value of the building increased yearly. The value of the building in 2014 increased to $ 4100000. It increased to $ 4202500 in the year 2015. In the year 2016, the value increased to $ 4307562.5 and finally in the year 2017, the value increased to $ 415251.56. Question 4 Option 1 Paying the whole amount from the internal sources of financing

IS AN ABORTION EVER JUSTIFIABLE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

IS AN ABORTION EVER JUSTIFIABLE - Essay Example According to medical experts, in many critical cases of pregnancy, abortion is necessary for saving the life of mother. Various medical complications like, heart failure, infections, very high blood pressure, and cases of preeclampsia lead to the only option of abortion to save the life of mother (Painter). Besides, in the critical situations, where women is raped, or mother is incapable to raise the child, or fetus is diagnosed with abnormal development and unlikely to survive, abortion is always justifiable. Various studies have proved that when the right for abortion is denied and women are forced to carry the pregnancy against their will, it has led to drastic negative impacts on both, child and mother (Newitz). Children born from unintended pregnancy often suffer from physical and physiological abuse and social neglect. It has also found that such children are more prone to crimes, aggrieves nature, depression, suicidal behavior, substance abuse, and various addictions, creating violent and unstable society (Hardin; Hoffman and Maynard 321-370). Each woman has right to freedom and to choose whether she wants to bear a child or not. Denial of right to freedom is violation of human rights and morally unacceptable (â€Å"Ethics Statement†). If a child is not guaranteed healthy environment, basic needs, and essential affection and care, abortion is morally justifiable to prevent him from sufferings of physiological disorders, physical abuse, poverty, addiction and getting expose to violence and crimes. Despite a lot of criticism and oppose of anti-abortionists, one can’t deny a fact that abortion is justifiable in various medical cases. It is also acceptable in cases where mother is not ready to carry the pregnancy, in rape cases, and in cases where child is likely suffer from physical or mental disability and mother is not willing to carry the

Casey Anthony Court Case Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Casey Anthony Court Case - Research Paper Example On this note, investigations on the disappearance of the young girl began immediately. The sheriff conducting the study interrogated every member of Anthony family concerning the matter. He also did a forensic fingerprint scan in all the rooms in the house Caylee Anthony could have been last. However, despite the efforts of the investigators, Casey still came up with false stories parting the matter. In addition to her earlier allegation that Caylee was with Zenaida Fernandez Gonzalez her babysitter, she made-up three more lies. The first one she claimed that Jeffrey Hopkins and Juliette Lewis were the first she had told of her missing daughter. The second one she lied to be an employee at Universal Studio in Orlando. Lastly, she claimed to have spoken to Caylee on the phone the day before she was reported missing. All these false statements were later discovered and she was arrested for giving wrong information to the police (Montaldo, 2012). A search on the family computer reviled the most significant findings in the Casey Anthony’s case since they changed the case from a kidnap case to a murder case. Computer forensics specialists managed to retrieve browsing history of all website pages browsed using the home computer and sorted those related to the case. Some of the pages from Internet Explorer browser, commonly used by the girl’s mother, reviled questionable research. ... There were also Google pages showing a research on â€Å"fool-proof suffocation technique† on the eve day the girl was last seen alive (Jones, 2012). The body of the young girl was later, about six months after her disappearance, discovered near the house belonging to Anthony. The body was decomposed to the extent that the actual cause of death could not be determined. However, a duct tape was discovered attached on the front of Caylee’s skull (Hopper, 2011). The duct tape could have been a perfect weapon to suffocate the child and prevent her from screaming during the struggle. This led to a conclusion that the child must have been poisoned using chloroform and then suffocated using a duct tape. The evidence was, therefore, enough to convict Casey with the first degree murder, manslaughter, child abuse, and provision of false information in a court of law. The trails on the case were held in the Orange Courthouse in Orlando where the evidence was brought to the attenti on of the jury and judge. The presiding judge was known as Belvin Perry, and the jury had 12 jurors, 7 women and 5 men, and five alternates. To come up with the courtroom work group, a panel of the jury and the alternates, the court took 11 consecutive days of extreme questioning of the potential panelist from Tampa Bay area. The case had two prosecutors Linda Drane Burdick and Jeff Ashton versus Casey Anthony’s attorney Jose Baez. The first trial was held on May 24th 2011 where both sides got an opportunity to give their opening statements (Montaldo, 2012). The defense Attorney Jose Baez stunned the jury and the entire courtroom in his opening statement. The Attorney argued that the

Economic Indicators Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Economic Indicators - Essay Example The major pro cyclic economic indicators are GDP, Interest rates, Investment, Inflation, Labor etc. While the main counter cyclic economic indicators are Unemployment, International Trade, and Federal Finances etc. The Gross Domestic Product is one of the most significant direct indicators in the economy. It is vital to monitor the growth rate of the GDP. Any deviation from the range tends to have a significant impact on the economy. An increase in the growth rate above the general level may lead to high inflation and poor performance in the rate of growth leads to a recession. Interest Rate is a pro cyclic or direct economic indicator. They are used to manage the booms and slumps in the business cycle and finely tune it. The interest rates fall in recessions and they rise in inflationary periods. International trade is the swapping of goods and services between countries, which tends to have countercyclical nature. When an economy is prospering and experiencing an economic boom then people choose to spend a bigger part of their income on imported and local goods and services, however, exports donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have such alterations. This in turn upsets the balance of trade, as net exports are negative, which results in more being imported and less being exported. Whereas, when an economy is in a slump, people tend to spend less on imported goods and services and just focus on the basic necessities. This encourages more goods and services to be exported and has a favorable impact on the balance of trade as less is being imported.

Intelligent Buildings Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Intelligent Buildings - Assignment Example There is another aspect, however, to the design of the modern structure which today is discussed in terms of its use and how well humans who occupy it feel about it from a sensory perspective. From much of what has been written, the modern view of design must adhere as much to its function and it does its aesthetic appearance and usefulness in offering itself as a pleasing place to be. The intelligent building then must be a ‘multi-sensory experience’ (Clements-Croome, 2004, p. 58). We do not 'see' or perceive our environment only with the eyes, but with all senses. It is the job of the architect to acquiesce to those senses and create building designs that are more than warehouses—buildings that encourage from its occupants an emotional and natural interpretation of their environment through the interactive workings of the senses. The Multi-Sensory Perspective While speaking of aesthetics in architecture it is interesting to note that while the term technically a pplies to visual pleasure, in our field we are also speaking about the senses-- auditory, tactile, olfactory, thermal, and even kinesthetic. And while current thinking today favours a holistic or multi-disciplinary approach to building design, the same applies to the multi-sensory approach to design that in the end most affects the building’s occupants or users as well as those who view it. There are examples of this in many older buildings. ‘The delicate composition of the architectural elements in the Residence of the Middelheimpark, in Antwerp...creates an intensely poetical effect: a single tone, white, brings about a wide range of greys and creates optically intriguing effects’ (Farmer & Louw 1993, p. 320). So when the term aesthetics is used it is predominantly referring to the goal of an all-around positive aesthetic experience through all of the senses, often occurring in esoteric ways that must be carefully considered in the design process. Hands and ski n feel texture as pleasing or not; visionary sense elicits other sensory reactions; odours, as we have all experienced, may illicit memories of events and times, such as cooking smells make us think of our mothers’ kitchens. As Clements-Croons (2004: 63) found, ‘The human senses are extraordinarily sensitive, and it is through them that we experience life wherever we are’. From a psychological and spiritual perspective, it can not be emphasized too strongly that people, through their senses. need the stimulation of a pleasing well-considered environment. Buildings, viewed in a philosophical context then provide a high level of stimulation—stimulation that not only presents a pleasing result but a spiritually uplifting one metaphorically similar to those experienced in nature. This animation of the architectural experience is not unlike the lift of spirit one experiences through the senses when viewing a good piece of art. As a necessary life element, such experiences are crucial and as such sensory architectural details ‘should always be given high priority’ (Clements-Croons 2004, p. 58). Space, Sensory Perception and the Human Psyche In the words of filmmaker Murray Grigor, ‘To comprehend architecture, one needs to move through its spaces. After all, that’s how we all experience buildings, inside and outside: we walk,

The relationship between Taipei National Palace Museum and Beijing Essay

The relationship between Taipei National Palace Museum and Beijing Palace Museum - Essay Example Earlier Taipei had been retained as the island’s capital by the Japanese after they acquired Taiwan. This took place after the first Sino- Japanese war in 1895. In addition, the Japanese also conducted a widespread urban planning that was perceived to be advanced. However, in 1945, following the surrender of the Japanese, the island was taken over by the republic of China. The ruling Kuomintang was forced to resettled the government of republic of China in Taiwan and they later made a declaration that its provisional capital was Taipei. All took place when the Chinese communist party took over the mainland china during the Chinese civil war (Cuno, 132). The art museum located in Taipei is known to be a national palace museum. The national museum belongs to the republic of china (Taiwan) and is perceived to be one of the largest worldwide because it consists of several permanent collections. The national palace museum is mainly a gallery and museum of art with the central colle ction being various artifacts from the ancient China. The museum should not be confused with the Beijing palace museum. The two have similarities in that they both trace their ancestry to one institution. The division occurred in 1940 when the Chinese civil war erupted. Today, Taipei national palace museum boasts to be an organization in possession of collection perceived to be truly international. The museum is in possession of leading artifacts collections worldwide derived from the ancient china. The cultural artifacts collection found in Taipei national palace museum consists of several precious pieces. The collection include different pieces of Chinese artifacts and artworks that are ancient, and covers several years in the history of china mainly from the Neolithic age up to the late Qing dynasty. Most of the objects were mainly obtained from different places including the Song, Yuan, Ming and the Qing dynasties. The museum development in Taipei is mostly associated with conte mporary china’s social changes. Puyi who was the last emperor in the Qing dynasty was sent away from the Forbidden City and it is estimated that this took place thirteen years after the republic of china had been established. The national palace museum was established from the cultural artifacts left behind in the palaces. Most articles mainly consisted of former imperial family’s valuables. They were mainly put together by the ancient emperors of china and the pieces are of high quality. Both the national palace museum best known as Taipei and the Beijing palace museum situated in the people’s republic of china inside the Forbidden City share similar original ancestry. The separation of the two was as a result of civil war in China. The Forbidden City right from the Ming dynasty up to the end of the Qing dynasty remained the imperial palace in China. It is located in the mid of Beijing in China and holds the palace museum. It has served as emperors and their ho useholds homes for several years in the past. In addition it has also served as the center for all kinds of ceremonies and politics in the government of China. Since 1925 the palace museum has remain in charge of the Forbidden City. This museum extensive collection of art consists of those from the Ming and the Qing dynasties. Some of the former collection of the museum is currently found in Taipei national palace museum. The two have several things in common including the fact that they descended from one

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 132

Assignment Example Erb explains that Kilpatrick had been arrested thrice on different charges during his tenure as mayor. Kilpatrick’s corruption involved other people including his chief of staff and his father (Erb p1). Kilpatrick’s conduct was unethical because it involved behavior that did not match the expectations of his status and position. As a mayor, he was supposed to be a steward of public funds upholding accountability and responsibility but he spent public funds recklessly. The people of Detroit had entrusted him with the task of looking after their welfare but he did not live up to his mandate because he worsened Detroit’s economic crisis. The conduct was also unethical because Kilpatrick repeated crimes for which he was previously convicted thus showing lack of remorse. It was unethical for Kilpatrick to have used racialism as his excuse when he should have been taking responsibility of his mistakes. It is all the more unethical for him to have been spending public funds in the name of living up to his image as a hip-hop mayor when in the actual sense it appears like he was doing it selfishly (Erb p3). Kilpatrick was taken to court, several times, and tried for charges that were filed against him. Some of the charges included using public funds to pay expensive dinners, pay college expenses for relatives and leasing a Lincoln Navigator. In a 2007 lawsuit, Kilpatrick tried and convicted of having an illicit affair with his chief of staff, Christine Beatty and was found guilty. He was indicted for eight criminal charges and he agreed to serve one hundred and twenty days in jail and pay one million dollars as restitution to Detroit. In addition, the sentence directed that Kilpatrick give up his law license and that he should not seek public office for a period of five years (Erb p7). After this trial, a judge ordered Kilpatrick back to court for charges that he was hiding some of his assets in order not to make restitution. Kilpatrick faced

The Importance of the Religious Right in Us Politics Essay Example for Free

The Importance of the Religious Right in Us Politics Essay This does not apply only to republicans, however. JFKs inaugural speech in 1961 consisted of many religious elements, as did Barack Obama’s speech in 2009, in which he spoke of ‘the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny†. Many presidents have ridden to power on the back of religion. Presidents that appeal to the ‘three Fs’, faith flag and fail, or e ‘three Gs’ God, gays and guns, are favourites among the American people. President Bush directly appealed to theses interests and 79% of evangelicals voted to re-elect Bush. Candidates such as Hilary Clinton, who ran for the Democratic candidacy, didn’t achieve success as it could be argued she did not play heavily enough on the concept of religion. John McCain did not appeal directly to the three Gs or Fs so it could be argued that this was the reason he failed to beat Obama in 2008. One of the most important influences of the religious right is it’s infiltration in the republican party through the up and coming far-right movement know as The Tea Party. The TPM started life as a fiscally conservative group that believed federal government was too big and was spending too much. As the movement gathered support, it started to take on social issues, many of which were influenced by the religious right, as they took heavily conservative positions. Many Tea Party candidates influenced the 2010 mid-term elections as they have voted in and took away the democratic majority in the congress. The tea party has removed the right wing of the Democrat party as they have pulled the Republican Party further right as they defeated many ‘Moderate’ Republican candidates. The religious right have also had a big influence in the media, through the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) which supports and publicises candidates that support their views. Therefore, I would argue that the ‘religious right’ is highly influential in politics as they have recently made the republicans further right and the democrats further left. This has split American politics and made the parties different in their ideologies. For instance, they have also created conditions where the religion of a candidate is important in terms of the elections. The religious right has therefore broken the founding fathers wish to keep politics and religion separate.

Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay

Should Museums Charge For Admissions Advantages Disadvantages Economics Essay Museums are expensive to run, with the costs of acquisitions, conservation, maintenance, staff salaries and special exhibitions all weighing heavily upon their budgets. In many cases much of their funding comes from the government, whether at national or local level, with the remainder made up through endowments, income from museum shops and other commercial ventures, private donations and sponsorship, and, very often, through entry fees. By for-profit standards, museums are illogical. Museums have a business model with costs much greater than their revenues. In a non-profit organization, an admission fee wont even begin to cover the costs of delivering its service. Museums have found various ways to increase their income opportunities, for example through gift shops and restaurants. Logically, lowering the admission price, would increase the amount of visitors, these visitors would spend more money in gift shops and restaurants and could possibly result in a higher income. On the other hand, a museum misses out on extra income through admission fees. Is there an equilibrium price? And what are the alternative pricing options? The research question in this paper is: Should museums charge an admission fee? Literature on this issue provides this paper with a theoretical framework, next I will explore the effects of digitalization for museums. A Dutch case study, done by Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) will complete the answer to this question. Museum economics: Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. (Frey, 2006; Caves,2000) However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. The economic value of a museum is often very high as a result of its collection and location. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. For example, for Boijmans van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam only 20% of its total revenue is derived from direct revenues, while 80% is derived from subsidies. For some Dutch museums however, revenue derived from entrance fees can be up to 50% (Munster et al. 2008). Most museums receive governmental or public support, for the government, their economic performance is of high interest for policy makers. In all cases, entrance fees prove to be a very important determinant that influence the economic outcome of a museum. Questions about what role museums are playing, should play and will play in society, are today subjects very much under discussion. Is the museum a storehouse for things and memories, a showground, a centre for education, a playground for academics, a castle for people with a suitable habitus the way Pierre Bourdieu describes it, or an institution with an important role to fulfil in peoples life and a far-reaching part to maintain in the development of a society? In his article, National Museums: To charge or not to charge? OHagan explains that the most important function of a museum is educational. This function involves people educating and informing people concerning their past and origins, and if finance permits those of other peoples, through the artefacts of the museum, thereby contributing to the formation of a sense of the countrys identity and position in the world. For education only however, physical presence is not entirely necessary and especially in the digital world a museum is able to perform its educational role partly through the use of Internet. With this educational function in mind, charging an entrance fee would limit certain groups of people in accessing the museum, and therefore learning about its content. For museums admission fees maintain to be an important determinant of its revenues therefore museums use pricing options, such as price discrimination. Price differentiation occurs when a firm charges a different price to different groups of consumers for its service, for reasons not associated with costs. Students, children and elderly are often charged less than normal adult visitors. Only a minority of visitors pays the full entrance price. There is however one issue when looking at cultural organizations. The price elasticity for cultural demand is rather low which means differentiating in price does not result in a significant change in demand. As a result of this by raising its entrance price, a museum can generate a significant increase in revenue. Given the income of a consumer (i.e. the spending limit), prices and individual preferences result in a package of goods and services that best satisfy their individual utility. This economic optimization process leads to certain fe atures in which demand for different goods and services such as visits to museums depends on income and prices. Not only the price of the museum itself, but also the price of competing leisure activities and additional costs, such as travelling expenses play an important role in consumer behaviour. However tourists are less likely to feel limited by the admission fee. (Frey et al. 2006) The influence of competing leisure alternatives depends on the character of a museum; For a museum that is highly competing with other leisure alternatives, the price sensitivity of the visit turns out to be higher. In contrast, highbrow and unique museums show that their visitors are less sensitive to price changes. Blockbusters have also shown to be very price-inelastic. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) People with higher incomes tend to be higher educated and more developed preferences for cultural activities (Frey, 2006; Throsby 2001) People who are accustomed to visiting a museum to visit, are not inclined to change this behaviour when their income decreases or admission fees increase. On the other hand, people who are not accustomed to a visiting a museum are insensitive to the incentive free of reduced admission are ought to give. (Goudriaan et al, 2007) Digitalization allows museums to exhibit their collection online, this allows the museum to educate people online. Physical presence is no longer necessary to receive education about the museums artefacts. This could potentially lower the amount of visitors entering the museum. However, most museums gain great benefits from using the digitalization to their advantage, they educate and communicate with their visitors through the Internet. To charge or not to charge? Much has been written about the advantages and disadvantages of setting the admission price of a museum to zero (OHagan 1995; Anderson 1998; Baily and Falconer 1998). In for example the United Kingdom, national museums grant free entry to their visitors. More and more services have free access, such as the Internet, newspapers, unauthorized downloading, public transport etc. As a result, free access has gained popularity. Free access to museum has advantages, it enables all people to be able to visit the museum without getting charged. This might attract a new and bigger audience to experience the museum. In his article, Kirchberg (1998) found that income is the dominating characteristic influencing the subjective significance of entrance fees as a barrier to visiting museums. People in lower social classes experience admission charges as a barrier almost five times as much as higher sociological classed people. Increasing entrance fees increases revenues but according to Kirchberg, not only decreases the number of visitors but also change the socio-economic composition of the attendance. Distributing welfare is mainly the reason for subsidies, in the case of museums the distribution argument does not really hold up: studies have shown that visitors to a museum usually come from higher social classes. People from higher social classes can afford to pay an entrance fee, in practice this means that subs idizing admission prices, does not transfer welfare to lower social classes. Another benefit of free entry to a museum is that is increases the amount of visitors. For a museum, a high number of visitors often reflects cultural prestige (OHagan 1995). In his article OHagan also points out that donors prefer non-profit firms. With higher entrance fees, donors are less wiling to donate money or artefacts. The marginal costs of an additional visitor is zero, therefore another argument for free entry to a museum is the efficiency argument: entrance fees should then also be zero to satisfy efficiency (Frey, 2010). On the other hand, literature suggests that there are problems in determining the costs of museum services (Baily and Falconer 1998). There are still costs in allowing visitors into a building, they require security, heating, light and physical space). Free access also has disadvantages. According to Frey, efficiency is not attained if the respective museums get overcrowded and the quality of a visit decreases. This results in museums limiting visitors by enhancing admission restrictions, such as requiring visitors to place a reservation in advance. This raises the danger than tickets can be sold on the black market, a visit then cab still become a costly experience. Visitors can also think that something that has no price, has no value resulting in a decrease in a museums total revenue. In his article Steiner (1997) calculates the impact of free entry for one day to the total revenue of a museum. His study shows that the amount of additional visitors does not overcome the loss of the admission charges it would receive on a normal day. Additionally, the crowd of people the museum attracted contributed to the loss of value of the exhibition. Most of the museums that offer free access, charges for access to special or blockbuster exhibitions. Another strategy for free museums to make visitors pay is asking for a donation at the end of the visit. By doing so, they museum captures the wiliness to pay form visitors (OHagan 1995). A visitor is not obliged to pay, but often willing to do so as they enjoyed the visit. The more satisfying the visit, the more a visitor is willing to pay. This is also a better distribution of welfare, as the social higher classes have to ability to pay more, and the lower social classes have the ability to pay less. With free entrance leading to a higher amount of visitors, exit donation can bring in significant extra financial resources for a museum. Prices can be differentiated to allocate the resources as efficiently as possible. According to Frey, when demand is low, prices should be kept close to zero. When demand is high, prices can be higher to avoid overcrowding, This enables visitors with the highest willingness to pay to enter the museum. People with a low price elasticity should be charged higher prices than visitors with a high price elasticity of demand. Finally, price can be differentiated when visitors target a special exhibition, normal collection should be priced lower. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals. Often, when visiting a city, visiting the museum is a must, and the additional costs of entrance fee are often easily paid for. Another argument for entrance fees is that the extra benefits a visitors receives from going to a museum, added to for example the existence value (Frey, 2006) should be paid for. As pointed out before, price elasticity of demand for cultural services is low, therefore ticket prices may not be the best explanation for demand. OHagan finds that, when The Long Room of Trinity College Dublin stated on entry that admission prices are required to improve the quality of the visit, the amount of visitors raised. Another variant of entry fees is creating a museum club. A fixed contribution is required to become a member and receive free entry to the museum. For culturally active people, this is a good solution and often cheaper than paying full entrance fees. For a museum, it has the same advantages and disadvantages of free entrance but it raises revenues (Frey, 2010) Problems with pricing is that it is often considered unfair. Considering the main role of a museum is education, it should be free for everyone to visit and become educated. In his article, Frey proposes a whole new pricing mechanism for museum: the application of exit prices. Instead of charging visitors when they enter a museum, they are charged on exit. The amount of time spent in the museum sets the exit price. A disadvantage of this proposal is that the length of visit becomes a great part of an economic calculation. A major advantage is that the experience of the visit, is charged afterwards. If the experience was not satisfying for the visitor, he/she would leave early and pay a lower price. Visitors pay for their use of the facility, this raises efficiency. The price system can considered to be less unfair, because up to a certain point, people can set their own prices. Frey also opts for the first 20 minutes to be free of charge, so that people who normally would not visit a museum, receive an incentive to stay only for a short period, maybe they will return later for a longer visit. The Dutch case study Aarts de Jong Wilms Goudriaan Public Economics (APE) has been commissioned by the ministry to research the possibilities for free entry for Dutch museums. In several extensive research papers, they calculate the effects of free entrances fees. Table 1: The quantitative effects of free entrance on all Dutch museums: Additional visits (x1000) Increase in visits (%) Total costs (x1mln.) Total cost per extra visit in Euros Free entry to the entire collection 5.867 30,0 98,9 17 Free entry every Sunday 416 2,1 23,4 56 Free entry once every month on Sunday 183 0,9 6,0 33 Free entry during one working day per week 267 1,4 11,2 42 Free museum card for students 1.623 8,3 12,3 8 Free entry to general collection 5.207 26,6 81,9 16 Source: APE Table 1 shows that the effects on the number of visits are most significant when free entry is given to the entire museum, including general collection and special exhibitions, followed by free entry to the general collection only. Both options also bring in the highest overall costs for the museums, costs per extra visit are relatively low because there is no real shift in the amount of visits from days on which visitors are charged, to days visitors are not charged an entrance price. A weekly free entry on Sunday raises the most costs for the museum because a shift appears from days on which visitors are charged to days visitors are not charged any admission fee. In all cases, the loss of entrance fees causes the greatest deal of costs for a museum. Their research shows that free entry increases the number of visits, but they state: we do not expect miracles to happen from removing entrance fees. The composition of visitors has proven to be very difficult to change. In another research, done by APE they have calculated the price elasticity of Dutch museums. From 1984- 2005 admission prices raised with 6,2% per year, this does not lead to a significant change in the umber of visits. They show that with a price elasticity of -0,18 the museum sector has the lowest price elasticity of all cultural sectors. With every 1% increase in price, visits reduce by 0,18%. According to the research this is a result of the fact that potential visitors value travelling expenses and consumption costs to be more important than admission prices. The price of substitutes is a major determinant for the number of visits to a museum: when substitutes raise their prices, the number of visits to a museum increases and vice versa. Ape also predicts price sensitivity for 2005- 2015: Figure 1: Predictions for changes in admission prices 2005-2015 Source: APE The index shows that the number of visits to a museum is unlikely to be affected by an increase or a decrease in entrance prices. Conclusion Museums have high fixed costs. This results in a high average cost curve for museums. The demand curve often lies below this average cost curve. This makes it impossible to set an entrance price at which the total amount of income received through admission fees covers the costs of the museum. However, admission prices are of the main determinants that influence the economic outcome of a museum. To increase revenue however, museums do not only depend on admission fees but also on the income that comes from museum gift shops, restaurants, and renting possibilities. Additionally, museums receive a great deal of support, sponsoring and donations. Museums have different roles to fulfil, educating is one of them, as is collection and researching. An important goal for many museums is reaching groups far from consuming culture. Other goals are financial revenue, conservation and gaining prestige. In this essay, various literature has been discussed offering different pricing options. The most important ones are free entry and efficiency admission fees, which both have advantages and disadvantages. Free entry is likely to increase the number of visitors, but museum visitors often come from higher socio-economic classes, which transfers the benefits from no entrance fee mostly to these upper classed visitors instead of the social lower classes as it is intended to. The existence value shows that museums radiate positive external effects for non-visitors, this effect supports free entrance. However, the benefits for visitors are higher than for non-visitors. Low price elasticity for museums helps support the argument for admission fees. There are various pricing options. Standard pricing is considered to be unfair, as it does not consider the willingness and ability to pay for visitors, considering the educating role, different groups of people should all be able to enter the museum. Prices need to be differentiated, allowing elderly, students and other groups to enter for a reduced price to match their ability to pay. Another option is to charge local visitors less than foreign visitors or tourists as tourists have a significantly lower price elasticity of demand than locals or the application of exit prices. The case study by APE, shows that removing entrance fees only results in a significant increase in the number of visitors when all Dutch museums would remove their entrance fees. As a result of a low price elasticity for museum visits, a change in price does not significantly affect the demand for a museum. These findings indicate that free entrance is not the best option for a museum to reach many people. Price changes do not affect the number of visits that much, a museum is better of differentiating its price in a way that lower socio-economic classes are still able to afford a visit if they decide to. Since higher socio-economic classes continue to be the most dominant visitors in a museum, an entrance fee will not likely decrease the number of visits. Entrance fees can contribute to a museums revenues and allow a museum to generate extra income that can be spent on increasing the quality of the experience for visitors.

Should Torture be Justified in any Case?

Should Torture be Justified in any Case? Jason Poole Date The word torture comes from a Latin root meaning twisted, and first appeared in Rome in 530 AD. 600 years later, Italian and French courts changed from an accusatory system to a judiciary system, as opposed to the Roman courts, where torture was used to extract information (Green). However, the idea of torture in the courtroom was not rested until the 18th century during the Enlightenment period. Voltaire condemned torture profusely in many of his essays, and from the end of the 18th century into the start of the 19th century, nearly every European country had abolished torture in their statutory law (Green). After the adoption of the Geneva Conventions, torture became condemned completely. Recently, the debate of torture has been reestablished with the controversy of waterboarding, brought forth by the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 2004. It was provoked because the definition of torture has allowed interrogators and lawmakers to interpret it in different ways. The set definition is the infliction of intense physical pain to punish, coerce, or afford sadistic pleasure (Torture). As the definition only mentions physical pain, one could assert that psychological pain, as some argue waterboarding is, does not fall under the restrictions on torture. The debate of whether torture can be defended in any situation is reliant upon whether the life of an innocent takes precedent over the physical and psychological state of a criminal. The argument that torture is able to be justified revolves around utilitarianism, or the idea that an action is for the greater good. Only within recent centuries have attitudes changed against the use of torture. According to a poll done by the Washington Post, 82% of conservatives in the United States believe that torture can be justified in most cases involving national security. However, with the addition of Article 3 in the Geneva Conventions of 1949, the social stigma against torture had been solidified. The UNs standards show that torture can never be justified, and that the interrogator who committed the act should be fully prepared to face the consequences of doing so in court. Non-Governmental Organizations such as Amnesty International and the World Organization Against Torture, are strong ad vocates of this viewpoint. Both press for political action against torture. In the United Kingdom, almost 70% are clearly against torture in all cases (Amnesty). Opinions of respected political analysts, as well as studies of each side, will allow the two arguments in regards of torture to be evaluated and assessed suitably. The perception of temporary pain of a criminal over the perpetual death of an innocent is one found in many arguments of this perspective. It is the thought that the criminal, who has or will do much worse, has a way out of the torture being inflicted upon them in the form of giving up of information that the interrogator needs (Spero). Spero claims that, Certainly, pain is not the equivalent of life itself, so that even saving one life takes precedence over the pain of the terrorist. He supports this statement by arguing that a moral person could not stand by under these circumstances, and that most would put the state of their countrymen above that of the terrorist that threatens their lives. Spero asserts that the happenings at Guantanamo Bay are not torture, but coercion. He doesnt defend the uses of interrogation themselves, but rather compares the enhanced interrogation techniques that the United States uses on terrorists to the permanent defacement used in the Muslim world, as well as the point that the purpose behind the former is for information and the latters is sadism (Spero). However, Spero has a paragraph that shows his bias in this controversy, calling American liberals anti-western and anti-American. He also calls those at the New York Times mentally abnormal. This bias, as well as the fact that he holds no qualifications to defend the use of torture serves to detract from his argument that torture can be justified. In his editorial, Charles Krauthammer cites the possibility of jury nullification in cases where torture occurred, which is usually applied when extenuating circumstances the defendant was under cause the jury to return a verdict that contradicts the facts of the case. The idea that there are specific cases in which jury nullification should be called for is supported by Charles Krauthammer, a known defender of the concept of the ticking time bomb. He asserts that there are two cases in which torture can be justified, those being the aforementioned ticking time bomb scenario, and a situation in which there is a near guarantee that many innocents will be killed. The ticking time bomb is a hypothetical thought experiment that involves the ethics of torture. The experiment first appeared in the 1960s, and poses the question if someone with knowledge of an imminent terrorist attack should be tortured into giving up that information (Lartà ©guy). Krauthammer falls on the consequentialist side of the argument, believing that the torture of the person can be justified, especially if innocent lives are at stake. In his opinion editorial in 2009, he states his viewpoint on torture, and attempts to defend it. However, he fails to discern the difference between interrogation and torture, severely discrediting his argument, starting to defend interrogation instead of torture, causing him to fail in proving his point. Krauthammer also calls his second exception to his no-torture rule an example of Catch-22. As the defenders do not know the information they need to be able to stop an act of terrorism from happening, and cant find that out in time, an interrogator should resort to extremities to deal with the terrorist that acts in extremes (Krauthammer). Krauthammers credibility as the previous Chief Resident in Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and his Masters Degree in Psychology does help his credibility on the subject of torture, and thus his argument as a wh ole. At this time, there is no one arguing for the removal of laws against torture. John McCain, a prisoner of war in the Vietnamese War and a current Senator of Arizona, believes, I dont believe this scenario requires us to write into law an exception to our treaty and moral obligations that would permit cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. To carve out legal exemptions to this basic principle of human rights risks opening the door to abuse as a matter of course, rather than a standard violated truly in extremis. This is another example of a case where jury nullification would be a viable solution. Rather, there are those that believe that torture is inescapable, though still morally unjust. One such is Bruce Anderson, a British political columnist and an advocate of torture. He wrote an editorial for The Independent in 2010, arguing that Britain has a duty to torture terrorists. Anderson says that men cannot be angels in the case of torture, and explains that, However repugnant we m ay find torture, there are worse horrors, such as the nuclear devastation of central London, killing hundreds of thousands of people and inflicting irreparable damage on mankinds cultural heritage. He defends this statement by painting torture as the lesser of two evils, and claims that Britain is ensuring their own destruction by not gathering the information needed to prevent a terrorist attack. He also asserts that the best way to garner this information is through torture (Anderson). Anderson continues, floundering for an answer from when he was asked about a hypothetical situation by British liberal Sydney Kentridge about what Anderson would do when a hardened terrorist would not divulge the information needed. His answer was, Torture the wife and children. This answer on how he would break a terrorist shows to be hypocritical of his previous statement. This, and also that he has no specific qualifications on this subject severely discredits his argument. The perception that torture does not work as a means of extracting accurate information is an old principle dating back to the 18th century. It is the idea that if one were to torture for information, at some point the person would say anything for the pain to stop. Rupert Stone asserts that torture is at best ineffective to gather information. To support this, he cites Shane OMara, the author of Why Torture Doesnt Work, sayingtorture can produce false information by harming those areas of the brain associated with memory. An experiment conducted by Charles Morgan in 2006 had soldiers undergo stressful, but typical, means of coercion. At the end of the trial, they exhibited a remarkable deterioration in memory (Stone).   One of his interviewees, Glenn Carle, an interrogator with the CIA comments on the subject, Information obtained under duress is suspect and polluted from the start and harder to verify. He speaks about his experience in interrogating terrorists, and how those who were under stress previously before he tried to interrogate them were more likely to give false information. However, he admitted that he was not sure if it was because of memory impairment or to stop the stressful conditions, which has the potential to weaken his argument. Regardless, he asserts that torture can lead to false confessions (Stone). A letter to Frontline PBS from Michael Nowacki, a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army also agrees with the idea of false information. He argues that using false information gathered from previous torturees can cause innocent people to be tortured for information they do not know about. As an interrogator, he found that 95% of the people being put under these conditions were innocent, and that most of these cases came from false statements by informants put under torture (Nowacki). The thought that torture can create propaganda for terrorist groups has recently been spurred by the American Air Force Major under the pseudonym Matthew Alexander. He was one of the lead interrogators tasked with finding the location of the Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who was the head of Al-Qaeda at the time. In 2008, he wrote How to Break a Terrorist, which detailed his accounts of how he managed to garner the information needed. He commented on his belief that highly coercive interrogation techniques have not helped the United States in the past, and how interrogating the informant with confidence-building approaches led him to the location of Zarqawi (Alexander). Alexander claims that by stooping to torture, America would be pushing more people to Al Qaeda, thus being counterproductive. He supports this by explaining that the people he had fought against state that the number one reason they had decided to pick up arms and join Al Qaeda was the abuses at Abu Ghraib and the authorized t orture and abuse at Guantà ¡namo Bay. He asserts that the short term gains of torture would be overshadowed by the long term losses (Alexander). He quotes Alberto Mora in his interview, a General Counsel of the U.S. Navy. Mora comments that main causes of U.S. combat deaths in Iraq due to the recruiting insurgent fighters into combat are Abu Ghraib and Guantà ¡namo. This idea is also supported by John Hutson, a retired Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy, who asserts in a debate about torture run by   that there was a reason the Nazis surrendered to the Americans, the ones they knew would treat them somewhat fairly, versus the Russians, who unashamedly tortured their people for information in World War 2. He also tries to support the argument by also citing the first Iraqi War: In the first Iraq war, tens of thousands of Iraqis surrendered to us because they knew that they would be treated decently. My friends, theyre not surrendering to us anymore (Hutson). There are large amounts of bias here, not only because he is stating his opinion but also that he is trying to convince the audience of the debate the torture is not necessary to gain information. [1] After assessing the arguments for both positions on the controversy of torture, I could only morally agree with the idea that torture is unable to be justified. It is a practice that is hard to condone, as most enhanced interrogation techniques are close or could be considered torture. Henry Porter, attempting to combat the aforementioned Anderson summarizes the idea, It is preposterous for him to suggest that Elizabethan society has anything to tell societies that come after the enlightenment and the birth of the age of universal rights. Its as stupid as citing the Vikings or Visigoths to excuse behaviour in the 21st century. There are many constrictions on interrogation as well as governments in general to prevent the use of torture; the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Geneva Conventions,   as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example. However, I would like to think myself not naive enough to think that torture will not happen, no matter t he rarity of the cases, as the research of my paper concludes. I maintain the idea that torture is a horrible application, though I have to find myself agreeing with Senator John McCain; that torture should not be a permanent exception to the law, but one violated in extraordinary circumstances, and as Krauthammer said, that a torturer should be fully prepared to face the consequences, no matter the circumstances. However, it is necessary for this topic to be researched much more for the sanctions of under what cases should torture be justified. Overall, the justification of torture is an idea that cannot be applied to all cases. Each detail needs to be thoroughly investigated, and even then, every case has different circumstances that could allow torture to be or prevent torture from being justified. Thus, it is impossible to fully say that torture can or cannot be justified. Works Cited Alexander, Matthew. The American Public has a Right to Know That They Do Not couldillHave to Choose Between Torture and Terror: Six questions for Matthew coulillllAlexander, author of How to Break a Terrorist. Harpers Magazine. 18 December coulillll2008. http://harpers.org/blog/2008/12/the-american-public-has-a-right-to-know-that-they-do-not-have-to-choose-between-torture-and-terror-six-questions-for-matthew-alexander-author-of-_how-to-break-a-terrorist_/ Amnesty poll finds 29% say torture can be justified. British Broadcasting Channel. 13 couldillMay 2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27387040 Anderson, Bruce. Bruce Anderson: We not only have a right to use torture. We have a couilllllduty. The Independent. 15 February 2010, http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/bruce-anderson/bruce-anderson-we-not-only-have-a-right-to-use-torture-we-have-a-duty-1899555.html Goldman, Adam. New poll finds majority of Americans think torture was justified after couldil9/11 attacks. Washington Post. 16 December 2014, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-poll-finds-majority-of-americans-believe-torture-justified-after-911-attacks/2014/12/16/f6ee1208-847c-11e4-9534-f79a23c40e6c_story.html?utm_term=.12533031f512 Green, Camilla. History of Torture. The Justice Campaign, http://thejusticecampaign.org/?page_id=175 Krauthammer, Charles. The Use of Torture and What Nancy Pelosi Knew. Washington couldillPost. 1 May 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/30/AR2009043003108.html Lartà ©guy, Jean. Les Centurions. Penguin Classics, December 1960. **** Nowacki, Michael. Join the Discussion: The Torture Question. Frontline PBS. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/talk/ Spero, Aryeh. Its Not Torture and It Is Necessary. Human Events, 16 January 2007, http://humanevents.com/2007/01/16/its-not-torture-and-it-is-necessary/ Roth, Kenneth. Torture: Does it make us safer? Is it ever OK? Human Rights Watch, couldill2005, http://rockyanderson.org/rockycourses/Torture_History_of_Torture019.pdf Stone, Rupert. Science Shows that Torture Doesnt Work and is Counterproductive. couldillNewsweek. 8 May 2016, http://www.newsweek.com/2016/05/20/science-shows-torture-doesnt-work-456854.html Torture: The Definition of Torture. Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torture http://jaapl.org/content/37/3/332 Word Count: 2812 2734 2657 2622 2362 2286 This is not to say that interrogators that have used torture for information are allowed to be forgiven automatically. There is a general consensus between both perspectives that the inflictor must go to court and be prepared to be punished for his actions, as torture is still against the law. However, the distinction is found in the idea of jury nullification. It occurs when a jury returns a verdict of Not Guilty despite concrete proof or the accepted belief that the defendant has committed the crime they are on trial for. When applied to torture, jury nullification occurs when the extenuating circumstances that the interrogator was placed under allow the act to be justified, and therein lies the controversy. [1]Maybe combine these two paragraphs? Hutson doesnt matter as much as Alexander, and you could do bias for each of them then

Starting Philosophic Problem :: Philosophy Philosophical Papers

Starting Philosophic Problem ABSTRACT: The starting philosophic problem is related to the categories ‘being’ and ‘nonbeing.’ This is the problem of the relationship between being and nonbeing. The cardinal question of philosophy is: ‘What can be considered to be primary, being or nonbeing?’ In the history of philosophy, it is possible to speak about two basic philosophic paradigms: philosophy of being and philosophy of nonbeing. This paper is an elaboration of the ‘philosophy of nonbeing.’ One of the most fundamental problems of philosophy is related with the most meaningful philosophic notions, that is, with the categories of "being" and "non-being". The notion "being" is the philosopohic notion that denotes: 1) something that is existing, 2) the totality of really existing things, the existing reality. "Non-being" is the other philosophic notion that denotes: 1) absence of something, 2) all things non-existent in reality, non-existent reality. The form of manifestation for being is "something" and the non-being manifests itself in the form of "nothing". So, according to the author, the most fundamental philosophic problem is the problem of the relationship between the being and the non-being, it is the problem of relationship between these two categories, "being" and "non-being". In the first line, this problem brings up the question about the existence of any real things existing in the real world: things that were existed, exist, and will exist; also put forward is the question about the existence of the world as a whole. In the final account, it is a matter of the problem of existence as such. The German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (XVII-th century) attacked this problem in the following way: he states that the first and cardinal question must be expressed in the form: Why there exists "something", but not "nothing"? A similar thought was expressed later by the German philosophers Friedrich Schelling (XIX-th century) and Martin Heidegger (XX-th century). The problem of the relationship between being and non-being turns to be the starting philosophic problem, inasmuch as all other philosophic problems and questions are meaningful in cases when it is necessary to solve this problem that deals with the matter of principle, more specifically, the existence of things, phenomena, world on the whole, object and subject of cognition. The very solution of the problem of relationship between the being and the non-being is the basic and key solution for a number of philosophic problems such as: world origin, world space-time structure formation, causes and mechanisms of motion and development, build-up and destruction of objective forms, human being life and death, meaning of human being existence, mankind survival, and others.

Bankruptcy Essay -- essays research papers fc

Over the years, the process of declaring bankruptcy has become incredibly simple. Because of this change, the number of people declaring bankruptcy is at an all time high. Today, bankruptcy is a common thing among companies and individuals alike. The American bankruptcy law allows people to avoid paying their debts by offering the debtors a discharge without a harsh consequence. By not having repercussions for their actions, bankruptcy filers often plan future bankruptcies, allowing them to steal even more money from creditors with no punishment. There are 13 different chapters in the bankruptcy system with the principal chapters being 7,11, and 13. You can only file for bankruptcy under these three chapters, the others are there to explain how the system works. Under Chapter 7, a person’s debts are wiped away while under chapters 11 and 13, debts are frozen while the debtor figures out a way to repay them. The people filing Chapter 7 are stealing money from creditors who are trying to help them. It is one’s moral duty to pay back his debts and one should be disgraced and embarrassed if they borrowed money they cannot pay back. Over 1,400,000 people filed for bankruptcy in 1998 under Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. 75% of them were under Chapter 7, leaving â€Å"retailers, bankers, and credit-card companies† with $40 billion in unpaid debts (Kopecki 5) (Pomykala 16). The use of different reforms could cut down on the number of Chapter 7 filings and put responsibility back on the debtor. Declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy is ethically and morally wrong and through different reforms this current â€Å"right† would be considered a crime. Bankruptcy was slowly transformed through history from being a crime committed by debtors into a social welfare program. In the past, bankruptcy offenders were severely punished. â€Å"Before the mid-19th century, bankruptcy was a crime† (Pomykala 16). There were many ways to punish those who committed this heinous act. The Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Act of 1785 allowed the flogging of these offenders while their ear was nailed to a post and afterwards the ear was cut off. Similar to Hester Prynne’s punishment of wearing a scarlet â€Å"A† on her chest for â€Å"adulteryâ€Å", people who committed the act of bankruptcy were â€Å"branded on the thumb with a â€Å"T† for â€Å"thief† (Pomykala 17). Various punishments like these served as a warning to future violators. B... ...uer, and Robin Leonard. How to File for CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY. Berkeley: Nolo 1999. Feltman, Peter. â€Å"Bankruptcy Bill Closer to Enactment.† Bankruptcy Debate Continues 12 Dec. 2001. . Hanson, Randall K., â€Å"A new chapter in bankruptcy reform.† Journal of Accountancy Feb. 1999. Irons, John S., â€Å"Private Debt: Two Views on Debt.† About.com 12 Dec 2001 Jasper, Margaret C., Bankruptcy Law for the Individual Debtor. New York: Oceana 1997. Kopecki, Dawn, †More American Debtors Turn to Chapters 7 & 13. (bankruptcy law makes discharging debt easy).† Insight on the News 22 Mar. 1999. Pearce, John A. II, Samuel A. DiLullo, â€Å"When a strategic plan includes bankruptcy.† Business Horizons Sept.-Oct. 1998. Pomykala, Joseph S., â€Å"BANKRUPTCY LAWS: The Need for Reform.† USA Today Nov. 1999 Pomykala, Joseph. BANKRUPTCY REFORM: Principals and Guidelines (Revised Edition) Regulation Vol. 20, No. 4, 1997. Warner, David, † Bills seek to slow bankruptcy filings. (Congress introduces legislation to make bankruptcy laws more strict).† Nation's Business Mar. 1999

An Accusation of Sexual Harassment in Pro Sports Essay

Over the years sexual harassment has been revered on a higher level of unacceptability than ever before. Companies are setting high standards for employees concerning sexual harassment. Usually, they implement a code of ethics to encourage an ethical decision making process in the minds of their employees. People inside an organization need to know what is considered to be illicit behavior. With sexual harassment, the scale is very narrow. It can range from petitioning sexual favors, vulgar language, or any type of inappropriate touching. In the case study, â€Å"An accusation of Sexual harassment in Pro Sports,† the employers were dealing with being accused of verbally abusing and sexually harassing Ms. Brown Sanders over a two year period and once she blew the whistle to top management, she was fired a month later. In my opinion, what is known as sexual harassment was not as popular a decade ago. Today, I feel that the line of intended hospitality and sexual harassment is extremely thin. People must filter what they say, how they say things, and how they may innocently touch the shoulder of their fellow employees, rather male or female. Based on the facts in the Sander’s verses Madison Square Garden (MSG) case, I believe that MSG could not have prevented themselves from liability, according to the Employers Liability for Employee’s Act which states, â€Å"employers are liable for the criminal conduct of their employee’s† (smallbusiness.findlaw.com). According to Principles of Management, the author insists, â€Å"top managers are responsible for monitoring their business environment† (Williams 8). It does not even matter if top management does not know what is going on, they will still be held responsible for their employee’s conduct. If I was a part of Madison Square Garden’s top management, I would make sure that I had a well established code of ethics and I would let it be known that anyone who violates the discretionary measures will be reprimanded to the highest degree, plus fined. I say this because of the environmental changes occurring in the sports world, women are a huge part of the fan base; therefore, to uphold our image, to continue to maximize our profit momentum, to stop unfavorable publicity by the media, and to let women know that we value their opinion, would help us to remain a profitable establishment. In addition, I would do my best to deal with problematic issues with temporal  immediacy. Often victims of sexual harassment have long term effects that can have a tendency to hurt them psychologically, mentally, and emotionally. The allegation against Madison Square Garden in this case does raise an ethical question with regard to the employee’s actions. In my opinion, the company became aware of Ms Brown’s complaint and instead of helping her; they allowed her to be fired. Even when she won her case for 11 million dollars; MSG neglected their social responsibility and threatened that they will appeal the decision, rather than givi ng a formal apology to her and their commentators. One clichà © my grandmother use to say is, â€Å"the apple does not fall far from the tree.† To me, this means that many of the characteristics displayed by the employee’s are simultaneously stemmed from the top. To conclude, nowadays, it is more common for people to report to a higher authority or a supervisor that they have been sexual harassed or assaulted. Once these issues have been acknowledged and report to top management, they should not turn away with blind eyes. Certain actions must take place if a report has been made and the company must figure out what kind of harassment took place, so they can determine what the next step of discipline will be. I believe that companies who have adopted clauses for sexual harassment on men and women were long overdue; especially, with women, who have usually kept silent, but have dealt with solidified objectification for years. Works Cited An Employers Liability for Employee’s Act. Find Law. 27 September, 2014. http://www.smallbusiness.findlaw.com Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management. An Accusation of Sexual Harassment in Pro Sports. Williams, Chuck. Principles of Management. Top Management Responsibilities. South Western: Madison, OH. 2015. pp. 8.

Sports and Development: An Economic Perspective Essay

ntroductionThe kin mingled with sports and teaching nonify be analyzed from several(prenominal)(predicate) angles whatever(a) of these submit adoptd quite a post of attention in the publications, others less. An classical theatrical role of the literature tensi 1s on footb alone (soccer), baseb on the whole, and basketb e actually last(predicate) game beca accustom these sports ar vie around widely and beca procedure of the crowing sparing inte endures.It is important to archetypical define outgrowth. frolics obviously affects a persons physical l gulling, and similarly his or her social and psychological phylogenesis,1 all contributing to the wider discipline of fiat, a originator why the United Nations organized the supranational Year of Sport and Physical statement in 2005, and incorporates sports into its programs and policies (UN sport for development and ataraxis, 2006). most other definition of sports development refers to the humankind of a sports foundation and a sports competition in maturation countries. The basic principle laughingstock this perspective is the universal right of all people to play and sport. This paper takes a ad hoc view by center on the relationship between sports and frugal development, in particular income growth and indigence alleviation.We focus principal(prenominal)ly on the causal effect from sports to development.2 In Europe and north just about the States, sports argon more(prenominal) than and more important to the scrimping. astir(predicate) 2 million people atomic number 18 employed in the sports scotch system in the 15 member countries of the European legal jointure that is, 1.3 per cent of oerall EU workout. And the sports economy is growing. In Europe, in the early 1970s, the dimension of overall sport expenses (for goods and services) to gross domestic product was rough 0.5 per cent. In 1990, the ratio ranged between 1 and 1.5 per cent of GDP in most(p renominal) European countries (Andreff and Szymanski, 2006). In the UK, the contribution of the sports economy to GDP is currentlyestimated at overmuch than 2%. As a semblance this is three times as high school as the current contribution of market-gardening to GDP in the UK. Sports multitudes work call on bragging(a) commercial and a lot transnational enterprises.For prototype, the value of Manchester United is estimated at 1.4 cardinal dollars, which equals approximately the total annual sidetrack (GDP) of a republic like sierra Leone. The richest US baseball team, the saucy York Yankees, is valued at more than 1 trillion dollars and the average US football game game team is worth more than 0.5 zillion dollars. However, alike(p) and representative selective information on the frugal value of sports argon non available, peculiarly for growth countries. In this paper we focus in that respectfore on two specific issues which fool the appearance _or_ se mblance particularly relevant for the involve of football on scotch development in the context of the S kayoedh African serviceman instill. The basic is the partake of sports/ substructure investments on development the second is round migration of sports players and development.The disturb of Infrastructure Investments commands placed by candidate cities or countries to host a mega-sports egresslet, much(prenominal)(prenominal) as the land loving cup, gift tremendously annexd over time. This make up in bids is ca utilized by the law of impart and hire. The supply of mega-sports regularts remains constant subatomic-arm the number of candidate organizing countries and cities increases. unrivalled campaign for this is that emerging and develop countries atomic number 18 increasingly competing with rich countries for hosting such takes. An important melodic line that candidate governments put forward for hosting a mega-sports take downt is the perceived s paringalal benefits that the answer creates (Porter, 1999). They typically claim that events, such as the foundation Cup, give a stimulus to business resulting in sparing benefits which atomic number 18 spectacularr than the embodys, including public funding, from organizing the event (Noll and Zimbalist, 1997). Governments or sports entrepreneurs often hire consulting agencies to draft an economic strike report (Johnson and Sack, 1996). Irrespective of the mega-sports event, such reports from consulting companies always claim a coarse unequivocal economic restore.However, at that place is a lot of critique in the pedantic literature on the validity of these economic strike studies. Matheson (2002 2006) s compensates show up that many (event-sponsored) studies overdo the economic pertain on topical anaestheticcommunities and Porter (1999) states that the predicted benefits of public spending neer materialize. One problem with many of these impact studies by co nsultants is that they use input-output analyses, which keep back been to a great extent criticized in the academic literature. Such input-output analyses incision from the assumption of no capacity constraints, implying boundlessly elastic supply curves. As a consequence, on that point is no crowding out and an increase in demand leave always result in positive indirect effectuate lone(prenominal).As pointed out by Matheson (2006), exactly this omitted crowding out effect (next to the substitution effect and leakages) is a primary condition why ex ante studies overestimate the economic impact of mega-events. Moreover, the multipliers used by these input-output analyses atomic number 18 enigmatical and inaccurate because they atomic number 18 found on the customary production patterns in an economic area. However, the economy whitethorn be receive actually distinctly when hosting a mega-event, rendering the normal multipliers invalid (Matheson, 2006). other prob lem is that these studies are always prospective (Coates and Humphreys 2003). Prospective studies learn to be compared with retrospective econometric studies to see, in hindsight, whether they were correct.However, retrospective studies are often non executed because governments or bidding organizations get down no incentives to order such a involve (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2004). If conducted, most ex-post studies state that the testify that mega-sports events generate economic benefits is weak, at best. Thus, these hardly a(prenominal) ex post analyses generally fend for that ex-ante studies exaggerate the benefit of mega-sports events.6 Siegfried and Zimbalist (2000) review several(prenominal) econometric studies and all these studies find no statistically monumental recite that plait sports facilities stimulates economic development. Baade and Dye (1990) find turn out that the presence of a untested or renovated stadium has an un genuine impact on the level of person al income and even possibly a banish impact on topical anesthetic development relative to the region. Another frequently made comment is that, even if hosting a mega-event creates benefits for the organizing region, the question should be be whether financing such an event is the most efficient use of public money.Kesenne (1999) argues that for prototype the arena Cup should only receive public funding if at that place are no alternative projects that yield high benefits. However, as Kesenne (1999) admits, it is im likely to assess all alternatives, although it remains important tocalculate prospect personifys. A study which is highly relevant for the present paper is that of Brenke and Wagner (2006) who analyze the economic do of the origination Cup 2006 in Germany. The authors find that extendations that the human race Cup would importantly increase spending on example and growth were overestimated. Additional employment was generated only temporarily. The base an d promotion be in hosting the serviceman Cup risinged overall economic mental process by approximately 0.05% (estimates depart between 0.02 percent and 0.07 percent). The main beneficiaries of the innovation Cup were FIFA (187 million Euros) and the German football game Association DFB (21 million Euros). scotch tint Assessments of the World Cup 2010 in sulfur AfricaIn July 2003, tolerate Thornton Kessel Feinstein issued the results of their economic impact assessment, ordered by the southwest African company that submitted the bid to host the football World Cup to FIFA in phratry 2003. In their report ( pass Thornton, 2003) they predict that the event go forth lead to direct expenditure of R12.7 trillion an increase of R21.3 billion (1.2%) in the gross domestic product (GDP) of conspiracy Africa 159,000 new employment opportunities (3.5% of confederation Africas unemployed active population) and R7.2 billion spare tax revenue for the south-central African governmen t. More newly, Grant Thornton estimated that the event leave alone contribute at least R51.1 billion (2.7%) to the expanses GDP because more tickets will be available for sales event (Gadebe, 2007). These results grant been widely disseminated through the media.In the clean of the foregoing literature review, there is reason to be sceptical about these predictions. A closer look into the numbers and the methods offers serious reasons to believe that these results are overestimations. First, Grant Thornton (2003) includes domestic residents expenditures at the event as direct benefits. However, this is merely a reallotment of expenditure and does not add to the GDP of a bucolic (see e.g. Baade, 2006 Johnson and Sack, 1996). Second, according to Bohlmann (2006), the use of multipliers in the report is questionable and overly optimistic. Third, the report estimated that R1.8 billion would have to be spent on upgrades to stadia, and R500 million on infrastructure upgrades.Howe ver, a site publish for the outside(a) commercializeing Council of sulphur Africa (2008) reports much higher(prenominal) investment costs R8.4 billion for building and renovating ten World Cup stadiums (five have to be renovated and five have to be make). For example, the Durban stadium and the Cape township stadium that have to be built cost respectively R2.6 billion and R2.85 billion. The cost of upgrades on the infrastructure, for example, upgrades of airports and improvements of the coarses course and rail network, is estimated now at R9 billion. Fourth, there are problems with the interpretation of the announced 159,000 new employment opportunities. The Local Organising Committee (LOC) plans to retrieve volunteers, ordinary people as healthy as specialists, to work at the World Cup.These volunteers are not paid, which sheds a different light on the interpretation of employment opportunities. Moreover, many of the jobs will only be temporarily. Because of the troubles ome economic situation in Zimbabwe, and because of the announcements of the numerous job vacancies, there is a huge migration f beginning of skilled and semi-skilled construction workers from Zimbabwe to mho Africa (Sapa AFP, 2007). These migrants may take up a considerable share of this employment.Do meets Differ with the Level of ontogeny of the drove Country ? The most obvious point of reference when assessing the potential impact of the to the south Africa World Cup is to compare it with the most recent World Cup in Germany. However, important differences in the level of income and development between Germany and south Africa complicate such comparison. Thus we cannot merely transpose the economic impact of the World Cup in Germany to South-Africa (Matheson and Baade 2004). An important difference relates to the costs of infrastructure investments.7 First, investment requirements in South Africa are larger. While South Africa has to build several new stadiums, Germany had (most of) them already, and investments were limited to upgrading. Possible even more importantly, the general infrastructure, for example colligate to transport, requires much more investment in South Africa.Second, regarding the costs, one should look at differences in cost of capital and cost of labor. The aforementioned ( probability) costs of capital are typically higher in developing countries. Money spent on the event is money not spent in other areas, such as thehealth system. However, wages are comparatively upset in developing countries which can demoralise berth the operating and infrastructure costs. Labor opportunity costs may also be low in developing countries with large unemployment. The post-World Cup use (return) of the investments differs as well. Concerning the stadia, these are well used in Germany with a large attendance in the Bundesliga. It is more uncertain what the demand for the football stadia will be in South Africa later on the World Cup. In gener al, one would expect that the demand for these facilities is lower in developing countries, as sport is a lavishness good, albeit that South Africa is a real specific demesne.There appears strong (and high income) demand for other sports (rugby) while less (and low income) demand for football. The extent of use of the stadia for these different demands will certainly affect the benefits. meek use and high maintenance costs may even lead to a negative legacy of the World Cup. proof from the post-World Cup 2002 effectuate in South Korea and Japan indicates that concerns about the low use and high maintenance costs of the stadiums were reassert (Watts, 2002). Regarding general infrastructure investments, one would light upon that the probable personal effects would be large in South Africa. Its infrastructural deficiencies are often cited as a constraint on growth, and improving this because of the World Cup requirements could provide a major reduction in costs and provide a p roductiveness boost to the economy.Sports MigrationPossibly more than in any other economic activity, migration is important in sports. The share of migrants in the main sports leagues in Europe and North America is large by average economic sector standards, in particular for the top leagues. There are cases where teams in first divisions in Europe have played with 100% migrants, hence without a maven native player. The pattern of migration varies considerably crossways sports. For example, in (ice) hockey, the main migration pattern is from east Europe to the US and Canada in baseball from Central America to the US and Canada in basketball, some European and Latin American players play in the US NBA at the same time, many US players who cannot make it in the NBA play in European leagues and in football (soccer) the main migration is from the rest of the initiation to Europe, and among countries within Europe.Migration ofAfrican football players to Europe has grown exponentiall y over the yesteryear decades. Studies on the impact of these migration patterns can be classified into different groups. most(prenominal) of the literature on migration of athletes or sports players emphasizes and focuses on what are claimed to be negative implications. One negative implication could be referred to as the muscle expire (analogous to the literature on the thinker drain) it refers to the negative effects on nurture and the competitiveness of the topical anaesthetic sports system. Related negative effects are argued to be low wages for developing res publica players, the mislabeled nature of the migration and transfers, and the neediness of transparency surrounding it (e.g. Andreff, 2004 Magee and Sugden, 2002), inducing some to refer to this as a moderne form of sla actually. While there appears to be considerable ad hoc curtilage on these effects (including on illegal activities and lack of transparency in worldwideistic transfers),8 there is in general critical representative evidence on these issues.In contrast, an extensive literature on the development and pauperism impacts of general migration, which is generally based on much stop data and evidence, suggests very different effects of migration. First, worldwide remittances have in general a positive impact on development (Adams, 2006). Remittances reduce the level, depth and severity of poverty in the developing world, because a large proportion of these income transfers go to poor households, although not necessarily the very poorest (Adams and scallywag, 2003, 2005). Remittances also have a positive impact on investment in education and in entrepreneurial activities and can help heaving the level of tender capital in a country as a whole (Edwards and Ureta, 2003 Yang, 2005 McCormick and Wahba, 2001 Page, Cuecuecha and Adams, 2008). While very bittie is known about the impact of remittances from sports remuneration, there is no ex ante reason to believe that these ef fects would be very different.Second, migration affects the level of human capital (in a broad interpretation) in the origin country in both positive and negative ways, what is sometimes referred to as the brain drain and the brain gain (Ozden and Schiff, 2005). Recent studies (not instruction on migration in sports) come to the expiry that, although international migration involves the movement of the educated, international migration does not tendto take a very high proportion of the best educated, excursion from a few labor-exporting countries. Hence the brain drain is generally limited (Adams, 2003). In fact, migration of the educated from a developing country may increase the incentive to mystify education, resulting in a brain gain. In other words, the energizing investment effects reverse the static, depletion effects of migration on schoolhouse (Boucher et al, 2005). Hence, in summary, taking into account dynamic incentive effects, the net impact expects to be a brain gain.These findings seem to conflict with arguments that the muscle drain in sports undermines the sporting capacity of developing countries. It is state to divert the most talented sportsmen, deviation the developing countries with the costs of their education without the orifice of regaining this investment in human (or athletic) capital. This muscle drain is also argued to crumble the capacity of the home country to use its most talented athletes in international competition, explaining the poor executings of developing countries in world sport events (Andreff, 2004).However, the empirical evidence to countenance these arguments does not appear to stand up to a rigorous analysis, such as taking into account selection bias. Moreover, the analyses slew any dynamic effects which seem to occur in developing country sports sectors where investments in local training facilities have grown with the increased success of developing country players in rich country sports leagues, al though there is no systematic evidence on this. Moreover, developing countries seem to have done better, not worse, since the start of full-blooded migration from their players to rich country competitions.For example, African teams have performed increasingly well in the past three decades in the World Cup. Third, the creation of sports schools with the explicit objective to prepare local players for playing in rich country sports leagues is the subject of much debate. While some of these schools are quite successful, the models are criticized for an short distribution of the gains (with the, often European, owners argued to capture a disproportionate share of the monetary benefits), and for leadership to a decline in education enrolment, and for creating social problems (Darby, Akindes and Kirwin, 2007).Fourth, the search for African players by European football clubs is argued to be an example of wage dumping (Poli, 2006). These arguments are very similar to the issues in the general migration literature with migrants taking over jobs at lower wages in the host country an issue well studied in other sectors of the economy. Interestingly, one of the worlds leading experts, George Borjas of Harvard University claims that there is no produce evidence either way and that despite massive immigration from poorer countries in recent decades studies show very little impact on wages in the US (Aydemir and Borjas, 2007).Finally, while across the globe remittances are a very important spring of capital, and particularly so in some developing countries, it is unclear whether remittances of migrated sports players are sufficiently bulky to have a significant impact on the development of a country or a region. On the one hand, the number of players migrating is very small compared to total employment. However, sports migration has grown rapidly and incomes are generally much higher in Europe or the US than at home, where incomes are considerably lower. However, t here is no substantive evidence here one can only speculate or draw on ad hoc cases. strike of the World CupGiven these potential effects of migration, how is the World Cup likely to affect these? several(prenominal) changes may occur, some with opposing effects. If the World Cup gives a long-term boost to football in South Africa, either by creating facilities in areas of the countries or for parts of the population where football is popular, or by drawing in new parts of the population (and their incomes) into football, this may increase the demand for players from other African countries and thus in-migration of players. Another possible effect is that the World Cup may inspire young South Africans to accommodate international players or may step on it much needed investments in young person football and training facilities in South Africa. This could lead to a surge in football academies in South Africa. This is what was find in Senegal after the exceptional performance of t he national team in the 2002 World Cup. This could then result in an increase in out-migration of footballplayers from South Africa to the rest of the world.Concluding comments Money is not everything.This paper has reviewed several potential economic effects of the World Cup. The arguments discussed so cold seem to suggest that the economic impact of the World Cup in South Africa is likely to be less than argued by the consulting reports, but that there may be substantive benefits from improvements in the general infrastructure that result from the World Cup organization. However, money, of course, is not everything. There is a growing economic literature on the connection between delight (or subjective well- be) and income. Within a society, studies find that, on average, persons with a higher income are happier than poor people (see e.g. Frey and Stutzer, 2002 graham flour and Pettinatio, 2002) but that after a certain threshold level of income, higher income does not seem to make people happier.Several reports also point out that benefits are not always tangible or cannot be expressed in financial terms, such as the increased faith and pride of the population of the host country. Szymanski (2002) argues that organizing the World Cup will not boost economic growth although the government expenditures do improve the overall well being of its citizens because of these intangible effects. The study of Brenke and Wagner (2006) on the economic effects of the World Cup 2006 in Germany comes to a similar conclusion, i.e. that the economic effects were minor but that there was a positive effect on society for other reasons. The World Cup showed a positive image of the country and, as they say it was great fun, naught more, nothing less.One could even hypothesize on the economic implications of this. There is evidence from the psychological science literature that happier people perform better in general and also earn more income. Graham et al. (2004) find that factors such as self-esteem and optimism that affect felicitousness also have positive effects on peoples performance in the labor market. This effect of happiness could be particularly relevant for the World Cup in South Africa, because the study of Graham et al (2004) also shows that these factors thing more for the poor. In this view, the extent to which the World Cup stimulates a positive view among poor people in South African societymatters especially. Hence, ensuring poor local people access to the games is important. 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