Biography of Nikola Tesla Annotated Bibliography

History of Nikola Tesla - Annotated Bibliography Example Nikola Tesla’s guardians had relocated from Serbia to Croatia. His dad was a cleric, thinker, and artist. The psychological preparing that Nikola’s father gave him by causing him to do scientific computations without utilizing a pen or paper was his introduction into the field of science. What's more, his mom had â€Å"come from a group of inventors†. Nikola likewise made his first innovation when he was an offspring old enough five when he made himself an angling snare and got frogs. When Nokola was seven years of age, his family returned to Serbia. In the new town, he turned into a moment saint as he fixed a recently displayed firefighting hardware which had neglected to work on its first show before general society. After his school years, Tesla chose to turn into an electrical designer and joined Graz Polytechnic Institute in Austria. During his investigations, one of his educators had exhibited a dynamo which can deliver direct flow power and which was developed by Thomas Alva Edison, in the class. In the wake of watching the working of a dynamo, when Tesla opined that it may be conceivable to make an other current assembling engine, his educator invalidated this thought as incomprehensible. Sooner or later, with the help of his dad, he joined the University of Prague. Be that as it may, after one term was finished, he left this course likewise and joined the message division. While strolling in the city park with a companion, the structure of the air conditioner engine out of nowhere rung a bell like a blaze of lightning.

Children Play Essay Example

Youngsters Play Essay Example Youngsters Play Essay Youngsters Play Essay Youth is a stunning time throughout everyday life. There were the acceptable and awful encounters while others were terrifying. Recalling, reflecting and remembering those minutes caused me to acknowledge I had and an astounding youth. It feels like Just yesterday, I was going around playing find the stowaway with the breeze blowing through my little pig tails. There were numerous games I adored as a youngster. Ring around the Rosie, ludo, hopscotch and some more. I was hyper and energized for those consistently. I review most youngsters from the area would assemble at the recreation center and we went around like razy Just to have a great time. Glancing back at that point I dont comprehend what we were thinking! My most pleasant youth minutes would be among myself and two different companions named Faraz and AnJo. I use to have a medium size red toy truck made out of metal. Anjo and I would site on the truck, and get Faraz a plump kid to push us round the area. A portion of my different companions from school would come over on ends of the week and we would play dollhouse on the deck. Anjo and I had such a large number of good occasions together, in any event, sitting together on one bicycle, riding around the square until we oth fall and got injury. I can review one time Anjo was dozing over at my home, and at 12 PM she began to cry to return home. My dad needed to drop her home and the following day I taunted at her a great deal. My terrible experience was the point at which a kid nearby took my red truck. I was miserable, I cried and cried until my mother got it over from him. 2. The sentiments I can recall during my play were both bliss and misery. Joy was the point at which I can get along with my companions and is engaged with various games. Going around and shouting was all glad minutes. As a kid I was so dynamic, I could have run, skip and Jump rapidly. It was astonishing when I could have meet and interface with various small kids. It was all cheerful minutes. Pity was the point at which my mom would get annoyed with me since I would consider nothing else than to continue playing with my companions. Now and then when I play I fell and get harmed, either a wound, cut, sprain or strain. I cry until mother takes me to the specialist. Yet at the same time I would need to play again after. 3. In my present life to reproduce my play emotions I will get along with my companions. We would sit together and consider our beloved recollections. I would design sleepovers on end of the week at my home. Its my most loved to have my lady friends over at my home. Likewise we would design different exercises like go watching film, go to a gathering, climbing, cycling, picnicking at the recreation center, sea shore or nursery and above all else shopping. These exercises will let us connect with one another and gaining more experiences as been companions. As a youngster it was about play and having a ton of fun. No kid feels content until their life is busy with bunches of play. As youngster I as honest and had almost no thought of obligations. Here and there I would fall into difficulty with my folks for not understanding that there is other movement, which is significant in my life. As I develop and got more established I do realize life is a test. There are times for play and times for work. As a grown-up now, I have obligations of going to class, total my instruction, work and be dependable of my self. I wouldnt need to roll out any improvement to my existence as to play, since it was each of the a developing and learning experience for me, that made a piece of my life. 4. Play was critical to me since its been an agreeable snapshot of my life. I could have do what I need being a youngster Play added to my light from various perspectives. During my play time, I was challenge to play out my best so I can dominate in the match, I figured out how to be reasonable and not to cheat, on the off chance that I free in on game invest more energy whenever, figure out how to share toys and prepackaged games, despite everything be companions with others in the event that they win and I lost, and above all else esteem my companions and dont be childish. On the off chance that I follow every one of these characteristics that were found out through my play I will be effective in my life.

9 Steps to Leading a Successful Online Meeting - Focus

9 Steps to Leading a Successful Online Meeting - Focus Today, companies all around the world are embracing remote working environments. Distributed teams are having to consider how to build good working relationships with remote colleagues and how to collaborate effectively, including via online meetings.   Fortunately, distributed working doesn’t need to lead to disorganized meetings. With some preparation and a game plan, your team can have online meetings that are just as productive and collaborative as getting everyone in the same room. Here are a few tips for preparing, participating and following up on online meetings, so that communication is crystal clear and important details and tasks won’t fall through the cracks. Preparing for Online Meetings As the saying goes, “to be prepared is half the victory.” If you go into an online meeting with a gameplan, you’ll see better results during and after you meet. 1. Create an agenda One key part of meeting preparation is creating an agenda, which will help everyone come to the meeting on the same page and keep participants focused on priorities. A good agenda is less about your ability to lead an online meeting and more about fostering understanding for participants, especially people who aren’t in the same room, says Daniel Mittleman, associate professor at the DePaul University School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems. They have no access to your nonverbal cues,” Mittleman writes. If there’s no agenda, they’re more likely to “lose place, lose focus and lose attention to the meeting. When putting together an agenda, make sure to: ask for input from those attending the meeting note any time a decision needs to be made if necessary, identify who will lead the discussion for each agenda item or topic leave room in the agenda for last-minute additions or questions. Your browser is not able to display frames. Please visit Weekly Strategy Meeting on MindMeister. 2. Use mind maps Mind maps can be a great way to record who’s attending and offer space for comments or ideas beforehand with branches that can link to relevant documents, action items or notes so everyone comes prepared. This can be a useful structure for online meetings that are a little more formal and require an exact record, which you can refer to later on. Shared mind maps can also be useful if you want your team or participants to brainstorm ideas in preparation for an online meeting, or in real-time during the meeting itself. 3. Prepare your space In March, you probably read about Robert Kelly, the South Korea expert whose kids crashed his BBC interview while he was live on air. Anyone who’s worked remotely before likely felt for him. Whether it’s a cat walking in front of your camera or a garbage truck coming down your street, distractions happen. You can’t prevent every mishap, but preparing your space beforehand can go a long way. Before the meeting, find a quiet environment where you can limit distractions. Use headphones to minimize background noise and prevent audio feedback. If you’re working with new conferencing software, do a test run before the online meeting begins.   Participating Like a Pro You’re all prepared and it’s meeting time. Here are a few tips to make sure your online meeting goes smoothly. 4. Slow and steady Keep the pace of your online meeting a bit slower than in-person meetings, suggests Susan Colaric, assistant vice president for Instructional Technology at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.     “Video-conference meetings should actually move at a slightly slower pace than a typical meeting due to a two to three-second delay for most systems to communicate,” Colaric told Inc. “If youre leading the meeting, make sure there are sufficient pauses after asking a question. If you are a participant, bring attention to yourself before addressing the group by signaling with your hand or saying question or comment and then waiting a couple seconds before continuing. 5. Use your words. If you’re not sharing your screen and need to describe something remote participants can’t see, try to be extra descriptive. This will help you communicate clearly and effectively. “We describe all of our visual designs using words,” according to 18F, the digital service agency for the U.S. government. “This might seem intuitive, but when your coworkers can’t see your computer screen, it’s particularly important to make sure you’re describing what you see. (For example, we encourage folks to use titles of page components and other descriptors to help collaborators more easily locate what a person is talking about (the blue “Get Started” button with the white text, below and to the right of the hero image, etc.))” Efficient meetings with mind maps Sign-up for MindMeister Its free! Sign-up for MindMeister 6. Take great notes. Good note-taking is something all meetings can benefit from, and there are lots of ways to take useful notes. If you want to take shared notes during an in-person meeting, you may well turn to a whiteboard. For online meetings, you can get a similar effect with online mind maps, which allow everyone to see and add to the notes as new ideas come up, in real-time. It’s a great way to keep everyone engaged, create more clarity and get input from all team members involved. After the Meeting You did it! Meeting adjournedalmost. Here are a few things you can do at the end of an online meeting (and beyond) to maintain clear communication from everyone involved. 7. Recap before you’re done. When the meeting’s about to end, have everyone recap the action items that they’re responsible for. This is a way to make sure everyone understands who’s tackling what and  ensure accountability. That extra clarity is especially helpful when you can’t see facial expressions or body language. 8. Save your debrief for later. Especially if you just finished a high-stakes meeting, often our first reaction is to immediately debrief with colleagues. Hold off until you’re out of the room, though. You’d never want remote attendees to overhear something you didn’t mean to share because they hadn’t left the video conference yet. As a general rule, wait until you’re out of the room to discuss anything that occurred. 9. Share notes. Remember those great notes you took? Make sure everyone involved has access to them. This can be another great way to create a shared understanding of what was decided, who’s responsible for what action items and what to follow up on in the future. If youre using a mind map to take meeting notes, with MindMeister you can invite attendees to collaborate via a shared link or email invitation, so you can edit, comment and feedback, all in real-time. The goals for online meetings are no different than in-person meetings: communicate clearly so you can make decisions that move your organization forward. When your meeting is remote, you just need to make a few adjustments to achieve that goal. By preparing properly, participating fully and following up, your online meetings can be just as successful as sitting in a room together. If you have any comments, questions or meeting tips, it would be great to hear them in the comment section below! Meeting management with mind maps Discover MindMeister Its free! Discover MindMeister 9 Steps to Leading a Successful Online Meeting - Focus Today, companies all around the world are embracing remote working environments. Distributed teams are having to consider how to build good working relationships with remote colleagues and how to collaborate effectively, including via online meetings.   Fortunately, distributed working doesn’t need to lead to disorganized meetings. With some preparation and a game plan, your team can have online meetings that are just as productive and collaborative as getting everyone in the same room. Here are a few tips for preparing, participating and following up on online meetings, so that communication is crystal clear and important details and tasks won’t fall through the cracks. Preparing for Online Meetings As the saying goes, “to be prepared is half the victory.” If you go into an online meeting with a gameplan, you’ll see better results during and after you meet. 1. Create an agenda One key part of meeting preparation is creating an agenda, which will help everyone come to the meeting on the same page and keep participants focused on priorities. A good agenda is less about your ability to lead an online meeting and more about fostering understanding for participants, especially people who aren’t in the same room, says Daniel Mittleman, associate professor at the DePaul University School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems. They have no access to your nonverbal cues,” Mittleman writes. If there’s no agenda, they’re more likely to “lose place, lose focus and lose attention to the meeting. When putting together an agenda, make sure to: ask for input from those attending the meeting note any time a decision needs to be made if necessary, identify who will lead the discussion for each agenda item or topic leave room in the agenda for last-minute additions or questions. Your browser is not able to display frames. Please visit Weekly Strategy Meeting on MindMeister. 2. Use mind maps Mind maps can be a great way to record who’s attending and offer space for comments or ideas beforehand with branches that can link to relevant documents, action items or notes so everyone comes prepared. This can be a useful structure for online meetings that are a little more formal and require an exact record, which you can refer to later on. Shared mind maps can also be useful if you want your team or participants to brainstorm ideas in preparation for an online meeting, or in real-time during the meeting itself. 3. Prepare your space In March, you probably read about Robert Kelly, the South Korea expert whose kids crashed his BBC interview while he was live on air. Anyone who’s worked remotely before likely felt for him. Whether it’s a cat walking in front of your camera or a garbage truck coming down your street, distractions happen. You can’t prevent every mishap, but preparing your space beforehand can go a long way. Before the meeting, find a quiet environment where you can limit distractions. Use headphones to minimize background noise and prevent audio feedback. If you’re working with new conferencing software, do a test run before the online meeting begins.   Participating Like a Pro You’re all prepared and it’s meeting time. Here are a few tips to make sure your online meeting goes smoothly. 4. Slow and steady Keep the pace of your online meeting a bit slower than in-person meetings, suggests Susan Colaric, assistant vice president for Instructional Technology at Saint Leo University in Saint Leo, Florida.     “Video-conference meetings should actually move at a slightly slower pace than a typical meeting due to a two to three-second delay for most systems to communicate,” Colaric told Inc. “If youre leading the meeting, make sure there are sufficient pauses after asking a question. If you are a participant, bring attention to yourself before addressing the group by signaling with your hand or saying question or comment and then waiting a couple seconds before continuing. 5. Use your words. If you’re not sharing your screen and need to describe something remote participants can’t see, try to be extra descriptive. This will help you communicate clearly and effectively. “We describe all of our visual designs using words,” according to 18F, the digital service agency for the U.S. government. “This might seem intuitive, but when your coworkers can’t see your computer screen, it’s particularly important to make sure you’re describing what you see. (For example, we encourage folks to use titles of page components and other descriptors to help collaborators more easily locate what a person is talking about (the blue “Get Started” button with the white text, below and to the right of the hero image, etc.))” Efficient meetings with mind maps Sign-up for MindMeister Its free! Sign-up for MindMeister 6. Take great notes. Good note-taking is something all meetings can benefit from, and there are lots of ways to take useful notes. If you want to take shared notes during an in-person meeting, you may well turn to a whiteboard. For online meetings, you can get a similar effect with online mind maps, which allow everyone to see and add to the notes as new ideas come up, in real-time. It’s a great way to keep everyone engaged, create more clarity and get input from all team members involved. After the Meeting You did it! Meeting adjournedalmost. Here are a few things you can do at the end of an online meeting (and beyond) to maintain clear communication from everyone involved. 7. Recap before you’re done. When the meeting’s about to end, have everyone recap the action items that they’re responsible for. This is a way to make sure everyone understands who’s tackling what and  ensure accountability. That extra clarity is especially helpful when you can’t see facial expressions or body language. 8. Save your debrief for later. Especially if you just finished a high-stakes meeting, often our first reaction is to immediately debrief with colleagues. Hold off until you’re out of the room, though. You’d never want remote attendees to overhear something you didn’t mean to share because they hadn’t left the video conference yet. As a general rule, wait until you’re out of the room to discuss anything that occurred. 9. Share notes. Remember those great notes you took? Make sure everyone involved has access to them. This can be another great way to create a shared understanding of what was decided, who’s responsible for what action items and what to follow up on in the future. If youre using a mind map to take meeting notes, with MindMeister you can invite attendees to collaborate via a shared link or email invitation, so you can edit, comment and feedback, all in real-time. The goals for online meetings are no different than in-person meetings: communicate clearly so you can make decisions that move your organization forward. When your meeting is remote, you just need to make a few adjustments to achieve that goal. By preparing properly, participating fully and following up, your online meetings can be just as successful as sitting in a room together. If you have any comments, questions or meeting tips, it would be great to hear them in the comment section below! Meeting management with mind maps Discover MindMeister Its free! Discover MindMeister

Earnings Management The Continuum from Legitimacy to Fraud Free Essay Example, 1500 words

This type of flexibility helps the managers of a company to represent the true and fair view of the company s affairs and its earnings in the financial statements. Account Management: Accounting policies can be utilized by the managers of a company to accomplish the objectives of the management of the company and may not fulfill the essential requirements of the users. It can thus be used as a tool that can be managed and not as a means to provide the true and fair view of the company. Interests of Managers: In theory, accounting information should provide relevant information to the users which can be used by them for various decision making process. Whereas in practice, earning management is more for the interest of managers rather than for the benefit of its users. Earnings management is a term which acts as a substitute for creative accounting. Trying to manipulate the earnings which are reported by the managers of a company, by taking help of some specific accounting process, i s termed as earnings management. The company does so to influence its earnings in a short-term horizon (Coenen, 2009). We will write a custom essay sample on Earnings Management: The Continuum from Legitimacy to Fraud or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page These measures taken are proving quite effective in preventing current creative accounting practices, but the question is whether it will be able to stop these malpractices completely or not. It is indeed very difficult to put an end to earning management practices in future

Racial Superiority Between Native Africans And The United...

Since the beginning of the Western interactions with native Africans, racial superiority has existed. The belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one s own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others is racial superiority. The idea that whites are better than blacks is not only applicable in the context of Africa, but also in the context of other countries. Racial superiority can occur in any place in the world. Two places that are very similar with the same type of racial superiority structure are South Africa and the United States of America. Racial hate groups pertaining to white supremacy are prominent in the Southern United States and South Africa. White supremacy flourished in South Africa and the United States because of the Christian religion, the structure of government, and the racial hate groups that helped keep the government that segregated races in power. The i dea of white supremacy in South Africa started when Jan Van Riebeeck founded the Fort de Goede Hoop in 1652. Riebeeck kept a journal, and he wrote many negative things about the natives. Afrikaner-Nationalism would later be implemented and this would give white, Europeans a basis (or so they thought) for taking over the land of South Africa and imprisoning its people in a political system known as apartheid. Racial superiority in the United States started when the colonies of America were inShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Story We Tell 1275 Words   |  6 Pagesthe Euro-American or Whites. This creates a false truth, creating a racial hierarchy and justification for wrong doing. We often hear that history repeats itself, which as we see with the mistreatment of non-whites, this is true. We only know, what we know†¦ we need to be taught the true history that took place from all aspects, not just from the viewpoint of the victor. 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Through thematic chapters, Davies offers reports of witch-trials, magical beliefs, and the changing attitudes of a modernizing society. While thorough and gripping, the book steers clear of arguing for a specific meaning behind the United States’ continuingRead MoreA Brief Note On Spy And Racial Inequity Essay1035 Words   |  5 PagesI Spy Racial Inequity The children’s activity I Spy assists participants in identifying objects in their world. While practicing awareness of the world is a vital lesson, do participants lack deeper levels of mindfulness? For example, people pinpoint objects in their physical environment with I Spy, but they may not notice how their cultural socialization promotes social stratification. Tracy Ore (2014) states that society socializes its members through their interpersonal interactions and society’sRead MoreThe United States Struggle For Independence1407 Words   |  6 Pages The United States struggle for independence was marked by the American Revolution war fought between Britain and the thirteen American colonies from the year 1775 to the year 1783. The war was sparked off because of a number of reasons, among them being the fact that Britain felt its American colonies were not playing their financial part as a colony and they were neither actively participating in the Anglo-Fr ench war. The fact that the French were defeated in this war boosted the confidenceRead MoreConsequences Of European Colonization1112 Words   |  5 Pagesdifferent to their own. In the late 1800’s, the rare Native Americans that were left in the United States were practically extinguished. Many diverse things contributed to their near-extinction, some were considered intentional and some unintentional. Some tribes made the decision to go willingly, and some decided to fight to their death but in the end, it was confirmed that Native Americans and settlers could not live together in amity, and the Native Americans were the ones at harm. The integrationRead MoreViews on Slavery by Higginbotham, Jr.,Winthrop D. Jordan, and Edmund S. Morgan1710 Words   |  7 Pagesbefore slavery was institutionalized. The Colonist’s had already begun to strategize legalities in regards on how black people were to be disciplined. Higginbotham has two reasons why Africans were not aff orded the same liberties as that of the white indentured servants in Virginia. The first reason he states is that the majority of white indentured servants came to Virginia on their own free will. Once they had completed their five or seven-year contract with their master, they were free to

Free Finance Essay Savings and Loans Crisis Free Essays

string(120) " fall in real estate prices, as they were no longer of appeal to corporate and individual investors seeking tax breaks\." 1.INTRODUCTION The financial industry encompassing banking, financial services and insurance companies play a very important role in the economy of any nation, and are therefore important in ensuring liquidity in the economy. They are strategically positioned to accept savings from customers, and provide loans to consumers and businesses for a reasonable profit. We will write a custom essay sample on Free Finance Essay: Savings and Loans Crisis or any similar topic only for you Order Now Their importance therefore lies in their ability to ensure consumers get value for money whenever they resort to save funds, and that businesses and consumers who need loans either for business operations, mortgage financing and/or personal activities can get adequate levels of financing, thereby ensuring continued economic growth. However, history tells us that these financial institutions have always been known to digress from this traditional business model of ensuring economic growth and liquidity, into riskier profit making activities that could endanger the whole economy in the wake of an economy crisis, such as in the great depression of 1920s, savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s, and most recently the subprime mortgage crisis starting 2007. Therefore according to Hopkins and Hopkins (1984), the activities of these institutions must be properly regulated and monitored against risky, unscrupulous and economically dangerous activities. These activities may be poised to increase the value of the firm in the short term, and increase benefits attributable to core stakeholders, but may result in tragic occurrences such as the insolvency of a large number of organisations, which is what happened in the great depression, during the SL crisis and also most recently in the subprime mortgage crisis. A core example of these occurrences would be in the activities of savings and loan organizations in the United States from 1970 – 1990. Financial regulation, or more precisely – financial deregulation, has been acclaimed as one of the major causes of the scandal that forced about 50% of the SL businesses in the US into insolvency (Mishkin, 1998; Curry and Shibut, 2000). A critical analysis of the causes, effects of financial deregulation, occurrences, and effects on financial regulation would be analysed in following chapters, in a bid to determine the extent to which regulation could have been employed in averting, or more importantly managing the crisis in a much more appropriate manner. 2.BACKGROUND – SAVINGS AND LOAN INDUSTRY The savings and loan industry had been operating in the US since the 19th century, and was established under the premise of collecting savings from customers at market interest rates, then providing mortgage and personal loans to other consumers for a higher interest rate (Cebula and Hung, 1992). The businesses were owned by a number of shareholders, usually in a community, thereby limiting the extent to which one person or a group of people could have an influence on the activities of the organisation. The industry experienced rapid growth during the post world war II era, when millions of service men returned after the war to set up their lives and build families (Mishkin, 1998). The baby boom era that erupted increased the need for real estate, which subsequently increased the number of houses built, and the number of mortgage loans provided for these houses. The period of rapid growth was closely followed by an increasing need for these institutions to attract deposits from customers, in order to fuel further mortgage loans, thereby increasing competition between retail banks and SL organizations for better access to bank’s deposits (Kester and McGoun, 1989). Regulation Q was therefore imposed as an interest rate cap that limited the rate that each industry (retail banking and SL businesses) could give for customer deposit (FDIC, 2002). Thereby limiting competitive pressures within the market. However, this interest rate cap made it impossible for these organizations to compete effectively in times of high interest rates, as customers usually withdrew their deposits in order to earn more interest in money market instruments (Shoven et al, 1991). A series of regulatory changes were therefore proposed and implemented in the between 1980 – 1982, which affected the businesses that SL businesses could lend to, and also impacted on their financial accounting and risk practices. 3.ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL REGULATORY ISSUES As proposed by Konoe (2009), economic and macro economic crisis that result in the fall of a huge number of businesses are not necessarily as a result of one factor, but of a combination of several factors that may have metamorphosed over a period of time. The issues that led to the huge fall of a number of SL businesses could therefore be explained in terms of the current economy of the US at that period in time, the financial situations facing the industry, and regulatory frameworks in place to ensure ethical business practices across the industry. a. Economic Issues High Interest Rate volatility in the 1970s and early 1980s exposed SL organizations to interest rate risks. These coupled with double digit inflation figures frequently resulted in asset/liability mismatch, in which the organizations were paying more interests for deposits, than were being obtained through fixed rate long term mortgage rates (Shoven et al, 1991). The oil prices also doubled in 1979, owing to events in oil producing OPEC countries. These deterred real estate investments and subsequently crippled the value of residential and commercial properties in oil producing states. However the Tax Reform Act enacted in 1981 subdued this effect, and enabled homeowners to claim tax back on loss generated by properties they own (FDIC, 2002). This fuelled an increased activity in the real estate market, as a consortium of individuals and businesses came together to invest in the real estate market, in order to limit the level of tax they paid out on other corporate and individual profits (Kester and McGoun, 1989). However, five years later the Tax Reform Act of 1986 revoked those benefits attributable to loss bearing properties, thereby leading to a rapid fall in real estate prices, as they were no longer of appeal to corporate and individual investors seeking tax breaks. You read "Free Finance Essay: Savings and Loans Crisis" in category "Be st crisis essays" The fall in real estate prices as a result of tax break, and also the rise in oil prices, led to a situation whereby real estate was of a hugely reduced value in oil producing states, and also reduced in several other states likewise (Steward, 1991). b. Financial Regulation The interest rate ceilings that were imposed in the 1960s to limit competitive activities in the SL industry were revoked in 1980, thereby allowing SL businesses to compete against banks and other money market institutions in attracting customer deposits (FDIC, 2002). This enabled them to offer higher interest rates in order to attract deposits, often higher than the going market rate. These unrealistic interest rates led to scenarios whereby SL businesses were paying higher rates for savings, much higher that rates obtained on their long term fixed rate mortgages. They therefore needed to engage in projects that earned higher loan rates, thereby subsequently increasing the risk profile of their loan portfolio (AP, 1991). A series of regulatory reforms also ensued during that period, liberalized SL powers thereby increasing the portion of their loan portfolio that could be lent for commercial purposes. The Financial Institutions Regulatory and Interest Rate Control Act of 1978 enabled savings and loan organizations to loan capital to construction and development companies up to 5% of their capital. Further statutory and regulatory changes that ensued also enabled these businesses to invest capital in other market categories apart from real estate (FDIC, 2002). Other legislations put into place in 1980 also reduced the net worth requirements that SLs had to have in order to remain solvent and continue business as usual from 5% – 3% from 1980 – 1982. The Federal Home Loan Bank Board (Bank Board) also allowed SL businesses to appear solvent by issuing income capital certificates. The Bank Board also removed limitations on the number of people that could own an SL business from 400 stockholders, to just one. State governments such as California, Texas and Florida also followed the Federal Government’s regulation, enabling state savings and loan companies to invest 100% of customer deposits in any kind of venture they felt was appropriate (Cebula and Hung, 1992). The Insurance board in charge of SL deposits (Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation – FSLIC), also increased the insurance on savings deposits from $40,000 – $100,000. Thereby increasing the amount of deposits in the SL industry, as deposits were assured that the government would reimburse them for any deposit they made up to that amount in any insolvent SL business (Calavita et al, 1999). The increase in deposit insurance also prompted the rise of brokered deposits, in which a broker would collate a large amount of deposit from investors, and invest them in the SL offering the highest interest rates (Lannon, 1991). These according to Salinger (2005), facilitated dubious practices from these brokers, and risky practices from SLs who had to provide the highest interest rates in order to attract deposits, just so they could provide risky loans to businesses at even higher interests for them to break even. Mason (2004) asserts that this cycle is a major reason beh ind the dubious practices that accounted for over 15% of total insolvencies. 4.CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EVENTS a. Pre-Deregulation According to the accounts of Mason (2004), the SL businesses were already witnessing a downturn prior to the deregulation of the sector. They had increasing competition from money market instruments, which led to disintermediation in which customers opted to invest directly in the money markets that provided higher interest rates. They were unable to compete effectively due to interest rate volatilities and the caps already fixed by the government, which limited the rates they could offer. This economic situation therefore seems like some sort of two way situation in which SLs were stable but declining businesses during the initial regulatory period, and became more unstable, experienced sudden jerk in growth, an a subsequent decline in total value as a result of risky activities that ensued after deregulation. Hopkins and Hopkins (1984) asserts that if the industry was never deregulated in the first instance, it may have led to an era of consolidation in which businesses bought them selves out in a bid to establish larger SL businesses that had more economic leverage and scale. However Kester and McGoun (1989) dictate in contrast to Hopkins and Hopkins, that certain aspect of the deregulation were actually needed, such as the removal of the interest rate ceilings, and the ability to loan to other businesses. These were needed because of the current state of the economy in which real estate prices were falling rapidly and interest rates were volatile. However they concludes that these should have been done with the same prejudice and oversight given to the banks that already enjoyed these benefits, and if those were enacted, the crisis that resulted in that economic situation could have been minimized or largely avoided. However the Fed took the different approach and opted to deregulate the entire market, as this was seen as a method of stabilising growth in the market, ensuring profitability and liberalising the methods in which these thrift organisations lent money (Mason, 2004). The ability to lend to other parties apart from personal loans and homebuyers, and also collect deposits from brokers, were seen as a method of ensuring profitability and growth in the market (Curry and Shibut, 2000). Lannon (1991) states that these actions may have made sense as a true capitalist and free market approach, as these businesses could have been able to set their prices and compete effectively against each other and other organisations in the money market such as banks and financial institutions. These actions according to Barth et al (2004) would have ensured better survival for these businesses, as long as their activities were overseen, but it was not. b. One man ownership The risky activities of these organizations were escalated when the government enabled only one person to own an SL business, as opposed to previous practices (Salinger, 2005). The major point raised in relation to this proposition, was why the government would allow banks’ competitors to be owned by one individual when the banks themselves were not allowed to be owned by one individualGuidelines on ownership were not imposed, and there were no set rules on the level of management competency that the companies needed to have in order to be run by one individual (Cebula and Hung, 1992). According to Barth et al (2004), it was these deregulatory measures that actually prompted dubious accounting practices different from that of banks, which SLs were competing with, it also resulted in the introduction of higher than manageable interest rates and brokers who collated deposits from a number of parties and invested them into the best interest payer. If the market was never deregulated, then the interest rate ceiling would have always been enacted, and though that could have limited the competitive capacity of SLs, it would have also ensured that they adhered to their predominant practices, and never resorted to paying higher than manageable interest rates, or attracting brokered deposits in a bid to shore up their capital base (Mishkin, 1998). According to Shoven et al (1991), if the banks instead were limited in their ability to compete with SLs in specific regions or states, then it would have ensured that these companies could compete effectively in those given marke ts. Mason (2004) also states that enabling thrifts to act like bank without imposing the same regulatory oversight and accounting principles practices by banks was always headed for disaster. c. Real Estate Tax Reform One of the other major causes was the Tax Reform Act that was established and abolished in 1981 and 1986 respectively (Hermalin and Wallace, 1994). Investors were initially allowed to deduct loss-bearing assets from their tax payables, which prompted a series of passive investments in property, so investors could take up loss bearing assets that could be deducted from their annual earnings. These activities drove up the market value of real estate, and also the number of mortgages granted to these passive homebuyers. When this tax advantage was abolished in 1986, passive investors who had bought real estate as a method of claiming tax benefits began to offload as their properties had become financially useless. These drove down the prices of real estate as a huge number of investors were trying to offload their real estate properties (White, 1991). A fall in real estate value would result in losses for the homebuilders – which SLs were now allowed to lend to; and loss to homeb uyers – whose home value may now be much less than the mortgage owed on it. Due to regulatory lax on accounting standards, most of these thrifts had equity values that were less than 2% of their total asset base, and still allowed to stay solvent (FDIC, 2002). d. Depository Insurance Finally, the depository insurance that was increased from $40,000 – $100,000 acted more like a moral hazard, since most depositors who were already aware of the risky business practices of these SL businesses, did not have to care much about the solvency risk of the business where their deposits were held, since the government had already opted to secure deposits (Brewer and Mondschean, 1994). The question now was not on which businesses were safer to invest in, it was in which businesses had the higher deposit rate (Haveman, 1993). The SL businesses therefore realised that in order to continue to attract deposits they needed to offer higher – sometimes unrealistic – interest rates (as fixed long term mortgages usually had lower rates), and in order for the company to breakeven on these interest rates, they needed to offer the loans at higher prices (Shoven et al, 1991). The only projects or businesses that would be willing to pay higher interest rates for their loans would be those that are unable to obtain prime loans – often handed out to organizations with good credit rating and business reputation. Therefore based on these analyses, it could be deduced that a coherent analysis of the structure of the crisis would be: Interest rate volatility and inability to compete with money markets Removal of interest rate ceilings Ability of SL businesses to lend to organizations, as opposed to just mortgage lenders Real Estate Tax reform act 1981 enabling investors to buy property for the sake of reducing tax payable Deposit insurance increase from $40,000 – $100,000 Rise of brokered deposits Real Estate Tax Reform Act 1986 removing tax benefits associated with loss bearing properties. Flex of accounting rules, thereby allowing GAAP insolvent businesses to run under the RAP framework. Hopkins and Hopkins (1984) further asserts that it was these risky lending, high interest rates and long term fixed mortgages that led to the widely acclaimed asset/liability mismatch occurring in the industry. The asset/liability mismatch in conjunction with the drastic fall in real estate crisis that ensued after the tax reform act of 1986, helped to catapult the crisis deeper. 5.RESULTANT EFFECT OF THE SCANDAL a. Total Cost The total cost of the crisis as at 31 December 1999 was $153 billion, which was bore by the US government ($124 billion), and the sales of failed thrift assets (29 billion) – Curry and Shibut (2000) The cost that the US government bore was much higher than the intended target, when President Bush announced the bailout in 1989, and resulted in a huge national deficit within that period (Kester and McGoun, 1989). b. Reduction in number of SL businesses The total number of SL businesses had fallen from 3,234 in 1986 to 1,645 in 1995, while 1,043 thrift organizations with assets of over $500 billion failed (Curry and Shibut, 2000). This was due to aggressive closures by the regulatory authorities that had been slow to react initially. Assets of insolvent banks were seized, shareholders were wiped out, and troubled loans and deposits were sold to other thrifts and banks, while the residual assets were sold at the highest possible price (White, 1991). The main aim of the regulatory authorities was to return customer deposits and increase net present value of losses (Curry and Shibut, 2000). Outstanding mortgages in the insolvent businesses were securitized in what is now called mortgage backed securities, and saved the regulatory authorities about $60 billion. The total market share of thrift organizations in terms of customer residential mortgages fell from 53% in 1975 to 30% in 1990 (Lannon, 1991) 6.REGULATORY REFORMS THAT ENSUED Following President Bush’s speech in 1989 regarding the scale of the SL crisis and the role the taxpayer had to play, it was clear that the current measures being put in place to tackle this crisis were not adequate enough to avoid an industry shutdown (Konoe, 2009). The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act was therefore enacted in 1989, and passed by congress, and the main aim of this act was the restructure the US financial regulation, especially those supervising the thrift industry (FDIC, 2002). The major aim of the regulation was the dissolve the incumbent FHLBB (Supervisory bank board) and FSLIC (Deposit Insurance for thrifts), and establish the Office of Thrift Supervision, which would now be in charge of regulating and supervising activities in the thrift industry, and the Resolutions Trust Corporation, responsible for taking over and liquidating assets of incumbent organisations (Calavita et al, 1999). The FDIC, which was already responsible for deposit insurance for US banks were now given extended responsibility in insuring thrift organizations, therefore extending the same accounting, regulatory and risk standards expected of banks (FDIC, 2002). According to Salinger (2005), these actions came late in time, as if they were enacted early in 1986, the number of losses witnessed by the industry could have been greatly reduced and some of the liquidity could have been averted. However a number of lessons have been learnt based on these occurrences, and some of these lessons would subsequently be used in managing the subprime crisis. 7.LESSONS LEARNT The main lessons learnt from crisis that erupted within this period, was reflected in the method of supervision imposed on the thrift industry, and several other banks not necessarily operating in that capacity (Konoe, 2009). The Resolution Trust Corporation was entrusted to liquidate any thrift or bank that did not necessarily meet capital requirements, and fell short of regulatory standards in terms of risk profile and business activities. Apart from the 50% of thrifts liquidated, an extra 1,600 banks were also affected indirectly (Barth et al, 2004). Several operational guidelines were also imposed on the activities of thrift organizations; whilst the customers they could funds to were again restricted (Stewart, 1991). The steps taken by the regulatory authorities within that period for the thrift companies are very much different from that taken recently during the subprime crisis, when the US government decided to bailout failed banks, financial and insurance companies with funds totally $700 billion. For instance, instead of pumping money in order to shore up the capital of these organizations, the authorities then seized their assets, wiped out shareholders, and sold these assets. These ensured that failed organizations with bad management were not allowed to continue business services, and resulted in a fewer number of thrift organizations that were able to conduct business effectively (Meier, 2008). However, some of these strategies were adopted on a small scale for the failed Wachovia Bank, and several other state owned banks. The FDIC took over the assets of the company, and divided them based on their risk profile, then sold off these assets to other strong banks, whilst insuring them against future losses (Meier, 2008). This is very identical to the steps it took during the SL crisis, and illustrates that the regulatory authorities have learnt their lessons with regards to managing and liquidating the assets of insolvent organizations. The illusion that these organizations had learnt a lesson on a broad scale however, seems to have been lost when the same risky business practices and mortgage lending led to the failure of organizations during the subprime crisis (Konoe, 2009). It is even debated by Meier (2008), that it was the assurance of a bailout as witnessed during the SL crisis, that warranted those practices, citing that the US government would bear the cost if the subprime mess ever went under – which it did. 8.CONCLUSION Financial regulation is a two edged sword. Too much of it may lead to lack of competitive advantage and overregulation, while too little of it may lead endanger the whole financial economy, and whatever it stands for. Business practices that are solely based on profit maximization without consideration of the key stakeholders – which are the customers and tax payers that may eventually bear the brunt – would engage in activities that aim to increase their present net worth, with no consideration of future implications. Therefore financial regulation of these activities should be carried out in such a way that it ensures that these practices run profitably, whilst still considering its benefits the whole economy. 9.REFERENCES AP (1991) S. L. Case Convictions, www.nytimes.com, accessed: 02/01/10 Barth, J. R., Trimbath, S., and Yago, G. (2004) The Savings and Loan Crisis: Lessons from a Regulatory Failure, The Milken Institute Series on Financial Innovation and Economic Growth, Vol. 5, 440pp Brewer, E., and Mondschean, T. H. (1994) An Empirical Test of the Incentive Effects of Deposit Insurance: The Case of Junk Bonds at Savings and Loan Associations, Journal of Money, Credit Banking, Vol 26, pp231 – 256 Calavita, K., Pontell, H. N., and Tillman, R. (1999) Big Money Crime: Fraud and Politics in the Savings and Loan Crisis, University of California Press, 281pp Cebula, R. J., and Hung, C. (1992) The savings and loan crisis, Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co., 117pp Curry, T., and Shibut, L. (2000) The cost of the Savings and Loan Crisis: Truth and Consequences, FDIC Banking Review, December 2000 FDIC (2002) The SL Crisis: A Chrono-Bibliography, www.fdic.gov, accessed: 03/02/10 Haveman, H. A. (1993) Organizational Size and Change: Diversification in the Savings and Loan Industry after Deregulation, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 38 (1), pp20 – 50 Hemalin, B. E., and Wallace, N. E. (1994) The Determinants of Efficiency and Solvency in Savings and Loans, Rand Journal of Economics, Vol. 25, pp45 – 71 Hopkins, W. E., and Hopkins, S. A. (1984) Savings and Loan Industry: Strategic Responses to Regulatory Change, Business Society, Vol. 23, pp 37 – 44 Konoe, S. (2009) Financial Crises, Politics and Financial Sector Restructuring: A comparison between Japan and United States, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 44, pp497 – 515 Kester, G. W., and McGoun, E. G. (1989) Symposium on â€Å"The savings and loan industry: crisis or opportunity†, Organization Environment, Vol. 3, pp235 – 253 Lannon, K. M. (1991) Records Management and the U.S. Savings and Loan Crisis, Records Journal, Vol. 3 (4), 125 – 167 Mason, D. L. (2004) From buildings and loans to bail-outs: a history of the American savings and loan industry: 1831 – 1995, Cambridge University Press, 349pp Meier, B. (2008) Savings and Loan Crisis May Be Guide for Bank Bailout, www.nytimes.com, accessed: 02/01/10 Mishkin, F. S. (1998) The economics of money, banking and financial markets, Addison-Wesley, 732pp Salinger, L. M. (2005) Encyclopedia of white-collar and corporate crime, SAGE, 974pp Shoven, J. B., Smart, S. B., Waldfogel, J. (1991) Real Interest Rates and the savings and loan crisis: The moral hazard premium, National Bureau of Economic Research, Issue 3754 of Working paper series, 29pp Stewart, A. W. (1991) The savings and loan crisis: a bibliography, Vance Bibliographies, 11pp White, L. (1991) The SL Debacle: Public Policy Lessons for Bank and THrift Regulation, Oxford University Press, 208pp How to cite Free Finance Essay: Savings and Loans Crisis, Essays

Is Sexuality A Biological Or Cultural Process Essays - Gender

Is Sexuality a Biological or Cultural Process The aim of this essay, is to try and establish if sexuality, is an innate biological process that takes place as a result of our genetic make-up or wether sexuality is a result of our cultural back ground and the environment in which we are raised. These two differing theories are known as the nature/nurture debate, nature representing the biological theory for our sexuality and nurture representing environmental influences for our behaviour. The first part of the essay, will focus on the biological side of our sexuality and will put forward theories by Barnard, Hamer and Young, who will argue the point, that our sexuality is established at the foetal stage of our development. It is at this early stage of life, that genes carry specific information about who we are. A gene is a unit of hereditary that our sexuality is established through and the genes determine the biological characteristics of an individual, both physically and mentally. The essay will then give further evidence tha t our sexuality is biologically driven, by describing the changes our bodies undergo when we reach puberty, changes that are triggered by hormonal transitions. Hormones are chemical messengers, they send massages from glands around the body, which triggers a response in other parts of our anatomy. The essay will give evidence that, hormones are a biological indicator that we are biologically driven towards our sexuality. The second part of the essay will argue that, sexuality is greatly influenced by environmental factors, environmental factors such as rearing styles and differing cultural practises. It will look at different societies and the way in which they perceive sexuality and argue that sexuality is learned through a combination of expected social norms and observational learning, giving evidence from Bandura, Mead and Money along the way. Finally the essay will look at the evidence that has been put forward and sum up what has been debated, it will then draw a conclusion. From the point of conception, human beings are made up of 46 chromosomes, 23 male and 23 female. After insemination, paternal and maternal chromosomes fuse, this fusion determines the sex of the child. The amalgamation of two X chromosomes creates a female child, while the combination of X and Y chromosomes, leads to the development of a male offspring. Each chromosome contains thousands genes and each gene contains specific information about how part of the body will be formed. Genes are responsible for almost every aspect of the human body, from hair colour to the development of our organs, organs like the brain and it is within the brain were the biggest changes take place when our bodies under go their sexual metamorphous, during sexual maturation. When we reach sexual maturity, we have our first insight into our sexuality, an insight which is genetically programmed into our consciousness through our DNA, this theory is supported by the work of hamer et al ( 1993) who conducted a study of male sexual orientation. Hamer examined 40 pairs of gay brothers. He examined 22 genetic markers distributed across the X chromosome in order to see if brothers concordant for homosexuality, were also concordant for the markers. He found that the chromosomal region of xq28, at the tip of the long arm of the X chromosome, 33 of the 40 pairs of brothers shared all the markers. This was statistically different from the expected rate (20 out of 40) suggesting that the gene influencing male sexual orientation, lies within that chromosomal region In this study, Hamer along with many other fellow geneticists, is claiming that he has found the gene which dictates our sexual orientation, therefore genes are a precursor to our sexuality and our sexualit y is decided at an anatomical level in the womb. Whilst in the womb, it seems that our sexuality is being pre programmed by our genes but there are other biological developments taking place, namely the formation of our hormones, hormones which will lie dormant until the onset of puberty. The hypothalamus an important co-ordinating centre in the brain, signals the onset of puberty. The hypothalamus stimulates a gland just below it, the pituitary, to secrete hormones (chemical messengers carried in the blood). These are