Saturday, August 31, 2019
Fluorenol Polarity
1. In table format, provide the Rf values you recorded for each of the 3 compounds in Part I. List compound on one axis of your table and solvent system on the other. If multiple spots were present for a compound, give Rf value for each component and state if the component was major or minor. | 100% hexane| 25% EtOAc in hexane| 10% EtOAc in hexane| Fluorene| 0.34 cm| 0.94 cm| 0.67 cm| 9 ââ¬â fluorenol| 0.00 cm| 0.49 cm| 0.05 cm| 9 ââ¬â fluorenone| 0.00 cm| 0.69 cm| 0.21 cm| 2. Explain how Rf values were generally affected by polarity of the solvent/eluent systems. As part of your answer, rank the solvent/eluent systems in order of decreasing polarity (this can be done according to structure of the individual solvents and % composition of the mixtures). Also rank the 3 compounds in order of decreasing polarity (this compound ranking can be based on structure as well as on these TLC results). Explain each of your rankings. Compounds: 9-fluorenone, 9-fluorenol. Fluorene Solvent: Ethyl acetate 10% in hexane, Ethyl acetate 25% in hexane, 100% hexane Polarity of each compound reacted differently to each of the solvents used.As we know, ââ¬Ëlikeââ¬â¢ interacts with ââ¬Ëlikeââ¬â¢. Fluorene has the least amount of polarity based on structure and when it was mixed with non-polar and slightly polar solvents, its mobile phase moved the furthest. Such that when Fluorene was put in 25% EtOAc, which is 75% polar, its mobile phase was the furthest, followed by 90% polar in 10% EtOAc in hexane, and its most solid phase was in 100% hexane. 9ââ¬âfluorenol is the highest polar compound based on structure and when it was mixed with a polar solvent its mobile phase was the slowest, therefore, it did not travel very far up the silica gel plate.When 9-fluorenol was mixed in slightly polar solvent, 10% EtOAc, its mobile phase also did not travel very far. The only time 9-fluorenol mobile phase travelled up the silica gel plate is when it was combined with 25% EtOAc in hexane because 75% of the solvent was polar, and the remaining 25% allowed its mobile phase to move up the silica gel plate. 9ââ¬âfluorenone is the second most polar compound when mixed with the above solvents. Based on its structure, when mixed with 100% hexane there was no mobile phase because polar compounds stick with polar solvents.When 9-fluorenone was combined with 10% EtOAc, given about 90% polar, there was a slight mobile phase, moving just slightly up the silica gel plate. Its mobile phase moved the furthest when it was combined in 25% EtOAc in hexane, given about 75% polar, as the remaining 25% was able to move the compound up the polar silica gel plate. Based on the compounds and the Rf values, the compounds with larger Rf values means that the mobile phase traveled the furthest on the polar silica gel plate. Also, the compounds with the larger Rf value indicates that it was a less polar structure, as it interacts less strongly with the polar absorbent on the TLC plate.3. Based on structure, which of the 3 compounds can hydrogen bond to the silica gel? Explain your answer. Do compounds that can hydrogen bond to the silica gel generally have lower or higher Rfââ¬â¢s than compounds that can not? The 9ââ¬âfluorenol is the only one out of the three compounds that can hydrogen bond to the silica gel plate. Based on Rf values shown in question one, it had a lower Rf value, generally meaning compounds that can hydrogen bond to the silica gel will have the lower Rf values.4. If you attempted to separate a mixture of the 3 compounds using liquid chromatography (see Ch. 18, Lab Techniques book), which compound would theoretically elute from the column first if 25% EtOAc in hexanes was used as eluent? Briefly explain your answer. Fluorene would elute from 25% EtOAc in hexane, since polar compounds are least likely to a have a mobile phase dislodge the fastest or furthest from the silica gel plate, which is polar.mIf the eluent were more non-polar, then there would be a mobile phase further from the solid phase, as non-polar compounds are able to move away from polar solvents because those compounds are not attracted to its polarity.5. Based on TLC, is your dibromide pure and different from trans-stilbene? In your answer give Rf values for each compound (make sure to give solvent system as well!). Do your TLC results prove that your product is really trans-stilbene dibromide? Explain. Based on my results, my dibromide c ompound is different than trans-stilbene.When both compounds were mixed in 100% hexane and 10% EtOAc in hexane, the Rf values were not so different. In 100% hexane, trans-stilbeneââ¬â¢s Rf value was 0.39 cm and the dibromide had a value of 0.17 cm. In 10% EtOAc in hexane, trans-stilbeneââ¬â¢s Rf value was 0.44 cm and the dibromide had a value of 0.65 cm. Since there was ââ¬Ëlagââ¬â¢ the Rf value can be considered ambiguous and it is not very telling if the compounds are in fact different. When mixed in 25% EtOAc in hexane, the Rf value differed by 0. 02 cm (trans-stilbene value of 0.96 cm and dibromide value of 0. 4cm). The trans-stilbene and the dibromide do not share identical Rf values, but we can assume since there is only a 0. 02 cm different, it is not enough to say that they are two distinct substances; rather there is some mixture of trans-stilbene in the dibromide, because some of the characteristics may be similar.6. Briefly discuss your TLC results for the â⠬Å"headache reliefâ⬠tablets. Do the tablets seem to contain caffeine? Explain. Does TLC prove your answer? If not, what other ââ¬Å"evidenceâ⬠would you need to convict Wiley Coyote (chemical evidence that is)? Pure Caffeine| Unknown tablet| Acetaminophen| Acetylsalicylic Acid| EtOAc/Hexane/AcOH66:33:1| 0.01 cm| 0.02 cm| 0.26 cm| 0.26 cm| Based on the above results, one could assume that the tablet did indeed contain caffeine. When the pure caffeine was combined with EtOAc/Hexane/AcOH the Rf value was 0. 01 cm and the unknown tablet had an Rf value of 0.02 cm. Since there was a difference of 0.01 cm, it is not clear to say that there was no caffeine present. Also, since the difference was so minimal between the two compounds it can be suggested that there were significant amounts of caffeine in the unknown tablet.mBased on the TLC results, the Rf values can conclude there was caffeine in the unknown tablet since there was not a big enough difference in values to say tha t the unknown tablet contained any other substances.7. Explain the key/simple difference between gas chromatography and liquid chromatography with regards to eluent (see Lab Techniques book). The mobile phase is an inert gas, generally He2 or N2 does not compete with the stationary phase like TLC or LC, where the mobile phase actively competes with the stationary phase. The mobile phase does not interact with the compounds during GC, while they do interact in liquid chromatography and TLC.8. Later, we will cover mass spectrometry, and will likely also mention a combined analytical technique called GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). A good overview of GC-MS can be found on Wikipedia (http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Gas_chromatography-mass_spectrometry). Briefly, but clearly, explain how GC-MS would be better at solving the ââ¬Å"caffeine crimeâ⬠compared to simple TLC. GC-MS combines gas-liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify different substances with in a test sample.It is used to perform specific tests that can positively identify the actual presence of a particular substance in a given sample. Although both GC-MS and TLC can identify substances in a given sample, the TLC is a more non-specific test that could lead to false positives identification. If the Rf values are identical, one can assume that the substance are the same and the GC-MS would be better to differentiate the Rf values for two separate substances in a given sample, giving a more accurate identification.
Friday, August 30, 2019
Do you consider Mr and Mrs Bennet to be good parents? Essay
I do not consider Mr or Mrs Bennet to be good parents. Jane Austen does not present them in a favourable light and I think anyone who reads this novel would get the impression that they are not good parents. A responsibility of fathers in society in Austenââ¬â¢s day was to provide financially for his children so they have secure futures. However, Mr Bennet does not do this. He pays little thought to the girlsââ¬â¢ futures and seems to be a man who does not really consider anything seriously. We know this because Austen tells us, after Lydia had run away and Mr Bennet believes himself in the debt of Mr Gardiner, that Mr Bennet had often wished that he had saved an annual sum for the ââ¬Å"better provision of his children, and of his wifeâ⬠and that now he ââ¬Å"wished it more than ever.â⬠This shows us he is unthoughtful and makes foolish decisions, which later on he regrets. Mr Bennet does not take anything seriously or talks to Mrs Bennet with respect or seriousness. This means the girls do not grow up in a very happy or secure home. The parentsââ¬â¢ marriage has not gone well and Mr Bennet only married Mrs Bennet on account of her ââ¬Å"youth and good humourâ⬠. We learn of his lack of respect for her as he tells her, after hearing her complain about her nerves, that he respects her nerves and says, ââ¬ËThey are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at leastââ¬â¢. He enjoys teasing his wife and pretends that he hasnââ¬â¢t visited Bingley ââ¬â just to see the shock on his wifeââ¬â¢s face when he tells them. He is actually very cruel to Mrs Bennet, as she does not understand his sarcastic wit. This lack of understanding is reflected in Lydia, who has grown up to believe that jokes, even cruel ones, are the way to behave, thanks to her fatherââ¬â¢s behaviour and influence. In her letter telling of her elopement as she wrote to Mrs Forster, she sys that she will laugh and ââ¬Ëwhat a good joke it will beââ¬â¢. A mother in Austenââ¬â¢s day should be responsible for helping her daughters find husbands. This seems to be Mrs Bennetââ¬â¢s strong point but she seems to let this objective take over. Rather than considering their present state, she is always thinking about the future and is prepared to embarrass her girls in order to give them a chance to marry well. For example, on page 27, Mrs Bennet makes Jane ride on a horse in the hope that it might rain so she would become ill and ââ¬Ëstay all nightââ¬â¢ in Bingleyââ¬â¢s house. Austen writes that Mrs Bennet was ââ¬Ëdelightedââ¬â¢ when a downpour started. This shows inconsideration, little motherly love and that Mrs Bennet is obsessed with Bingley marrying Jane. Jane could have been taken seriously ill. This does not show that Mrs Bennet is a good parent. Another responsibility of the mother was to bring up her children in a well-bred manner. I will explain in the following paragraphs how clearly Mrs Bennet does not do this. Mrs Bennet is an attention seeker. This is shown in her continual frustrated complaints about her ââ¬Ëpoor nervesââ¬â¢. After Lydia has run away she tells anybody who will listen that she is ââ¬Ëfrightened out of my witâ⬠¦such spasms in my side, and pains in my head, and beatings at heart that I can get no restâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬â¢ She also predicts her future in such a sorrowful way as to gain attention ââ¬â she says to the Gardiners that Mr Bennet will die in a fight with Wichkam and the Collinses will turn her out of her home. She feels sorry for herself and states ââ¬Ëbut I was over-ruled, as I always amââ¬â¢. This is resulting from the lack of respect Mr Bennet shows her. We can see this reflected in Mary at the Netherfield ball, where she gets up to sing and play the piano. She is seeking attention and is proud of her accomplishments, although Austen tells us her voice is ââ¬Ëweakââ¬â¢. At the Netherfield ball, Mrs Bennet embarrasses Lizzy by talking loudly near Darcy about Jane and Bingley and the Lucases. When entreated by Lizzy to quieten down, she replies, ââ¬ËI am sure we owe him (Darcy) no such particular civility as to be obliged to say nothing that he may not like to hearââ¬â¢. In Austenââ¬â¢s day this behaviour would have been absolutely unacceptable and looked on with contempt as Mrs Bennet shows ill breeding. This encourages the girls to be gossips, tactless and rude. Mrs Bennet does nothing throughout the novel to teach and instruct her five girls of how to behave in society, that is, apart from how to find husbands. Mrs Bennet has violent mood swings. When she first heard of Lydiaââ¬â¢s elopement she was in ââ¬Ëhystericsââ¬â¢ and complained of ââ¬Ëtremblingsâ⬠¦spasms in my side and pains in my headââ¬â¢ and said Mr Bennet would be killed and they would be turned out of their home. When she heard that Lydia and Wickham were to be married, she immediately forgot her pains and sorrows and told everyone ââ¬ËI knew how it would beââ¬â¢. Mrs Bennet also does not show gratitude ââ¬â a bad influence on her daughters. When apparently Mr Gardiner pays Wickham to marry Lydia, she says that ââ¬Ëwho else should do it but her own uncleââ¬â¢. This quality is reflected in Lydia, who is never grateful for anything. We can also look at the way the parent treat their daughters directly, as well as subtly influencing them. Both parents show favouritism. Mr Bennet to Lizzy because of her sense and wit, Mrs Bennet to Lydia for being like herself, and also to Jane for her beauty. Mr Bennet also insults his children, instead of gently putting them on the right path. He tells them they are ââ¬Ësillyââ¬â¢, especially Lydia and Kitty ââ¬â ââ¬Ëyou must be two of the silliest girls in the countryââ¬â¢. Mr Bennet does not seem to try all at being a good father. He ignores all his children but Lizzy. Mrs Bennet does not seem to have time for her daughters except Lydia and Jane. We can also look at the Mr Bennetââ¬â¢s reaction to Lydia running off with Wickham. He blames himself for he let Lydia go to Brighton although Lizzy warned him against it. Even in his guilt, Mr Bennet is sarcastic by telling Lizzy to allow him to feel guilty for once and then says, ââ¬ËI am not afraid of being overpowered by the impression. It will pass away soon enoughââ¬â¢. Then he tells Kitty that she cannot go out of the house until she has proved herself to be sensible ââ¬â and Kitty bursts unto tears at this. Previously, I have looked at what the Bennet parents are like to see how good parents they are, but if we look at the Bennet sisters, we can see how they have been brought up, and the parentsââ¬â¢ qualities will reflect in the daughters. Lydia is a flirt, has no self-awareness and is very immature. We see this in the way she pleads to go to Brighton so she can mix with the officers there. When she is invited, Austen tells us in her imagination, Lydia sees herself ââ¬Å"seated beneath a tent, tenderly flirting with at least six officers all at onceâ⬠. Mrs Bennet encourages Lydia by telling her of her own childhood flirtations ââ¬â ââ¬Å"I cried for two days when Colonel Millarââ¬â¢s regiment went away. I thought I should have broke my heart!â⬠In Austenââ¬â¢s day flirting would have been looked upon as unacceptable behaviour. And Lydia is fifteen, which is much to young to go to Brighton with the officers and this is proven by her immature elopement. Kitty has a very weak character resulting from a lack of teaching and discipline from the Bennet parents. We see this in the way she constantly follows and copies Lydia. She backs her up when arguing about going to Brighton, and only when she is completely separated from Lydia does she improve. Austen tells us ââ¬â ââ¬Å"removed from the influence of Lydiaââ¬â¢s example, she became, by proper attention and management, less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipidâ⬠. Only two out of the five girls are really a credit to Mr and Mrs Bennet ââ¬â Jane and Lizzy. Jane is very caring and always sees the best in people. Even when she knows Wickhamââ¬â¢s true character she refers to him as ââ¬Å"Poor Wickham!â⬠Towards the middle of the novel, Lizzy is beginning to see her family in the same light as outsiders would and becomes aware of their many failings. She also develops more self-awareness, which her parents did not teach her. Lizzy does show one of her fatherââ¬â¢s traits ââ¬â her humour. Lizzy makes a joke out of the hurt Darcy caused by ââ¬Ëslighting herââ¬â¢. Austen writes, ââ¬Ëshe had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculousââ¬â¢. This is shown in her father at the Netherfield ball, where Mr Collins embarrasses the family and Austen writes, ââ¬Ëno one looked more amused than Mr Bennet himselfââ¬â¢. To conclude, from Austenââ¬â¢s use of language and the impression she gives, I believe Mr and Mrs Bennet are not good parents.
Thursday, August 29, 2019
Anti Animal Testing of Body Shop
3 million. Anita continued to have a large amount creative control over the company until her death in 2007. Description of the issue There are millions of animals including rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats continue to suffer and die an agonizing death behind the companies who refuses to give up the practice for nothing more than human vanity. The body shop cares about the treatment of animals so we are continuing to take a leadership role in protecting animals and seek alternatives to animal testing. There are over 300 of The Body Shop stores in United Kingdom have launched pledge to ban animal testing on cosmetics around the world. We have a strict requirement of the human cosmetic standard which was set by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) in order to ensure the process of producing is ethical. Why do we have to against animal testing? All those animals are made to suffer and die in a variety of routine tests for cosmetics products and their ingredients. For example, repeated dose toxicity and reproductive toxicity. Rabbits or rats are force to eat or inhale cosmetics ingredients or have it rubbed onto their shaved skin every day for 90 days and are then killed. As our slogan of ââ¬Å"Beauty with Heartâ⬠, we cannot accept this thing happen in the world. We are then in particular to influence all cosmetic industries prohibit in using animal testing for cosmetics or other ingredients that are harmful to animal. Objectives 1. Informational objectives The body shop builds a partnership with Cruelty Free International (CFI) and Leaping Bunny program which is the only standard that ensures there is no animal testing secured at any phase of product development. It is in order to create an industry-changing impact and to provide transferability to others in the cosmetic industries. 2. Attitudinal objectives The body shop builds a relationship with customers by using their powers to influence with suppliers to address and eliminate the animal testing issue. Implementation This issue is crucial to all protect animal organizations and customers. The Body Shop has carried out this campaign with CFI and we seek global ban of animals to test cosmetic. International Values and RD Director of the Body Shop have taken the lead of a long commitment to this cause and Our Technical Compliance Team is responsible for ensuring that no ingredients we use have been tested on animals since the end of December 1990. We do support CFI to achieve a worldwide ban on animal testing. In 1996, we have already collected over 4-million petition signatures and delivered to the European Commission with the success of banning on animal testing for finished cosmetics products in 2004. Croatia and Norway have followed suit by banning animal tests for cosmetics and ingredients and in 2015 Israel will also implement a ban. Although European Union has announced the policy on banning animal testing, there is still approximately 80% of the world allows animals to be used in cruel experiments. We still need to continue supporting CFI to achieve this mission. Communication Plan Constituencies Constituent groups include: animal rights organization, animal protection groups, suppliers and their trade organizations; customers, investors, animal scientists and other academic in the animal science arena and media. We focus on one of the target ââ¬â customers as the main stakeholder that would direct affect our market on cosmetic industries. The Body Shop audits regularly to ensure absolute compliance with British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) Humane Cosmetics Standard (HCS). We are committed to our Against Animal Testing policy as we ever were and to guarantee that one of our products are tested on animals. We communicate clearly on our policies to customers and suppliers; hope to create a bigger influence to all cosmetic users throughout the world. Responses of constituency (Source: Cruelty Free International) As the report has mentioned that we have successfully collected over 4-million petition signatures to support anti-animal testing program. Customers are more willing to put efforts to encourage this program all over the world. To show our promise to influence over 80% of the world, we raise awareness among employees and listen to our stakeholders in order to maintain, measure, monitor and report on our performance. On the other hand, we have invited volunteers to promote our message of against cosmetic testing on animal by creating a 400 people flash mob taking a stance in support of CFIââ¬â¢s campaign in June, 2012. So as to response our stakeholders, we have published our campaign on our official website, www. thebodyshop. co. uk/ . Corporation The Body Shop believes that all animals have their value and respect; we will continue to lead the way of opposing animal testing by demonstrating the highest monitoring standards and clear customer communication. We are glad to gain trust from our customers to support our program, so we have labeled our products against animal testing to ensure the continued awareness of our customers and employees. The body shop is looking forward to build up a good relationship with customers in order to continue our mission of this issue. We also desire to use it purchasing power and influence with customers to address and eliminate the cosmetic animal testing. Our whole company will be involved in this issue especially the connection with our supplier as we need to ensure all of our products are not tested by animals. Therefore, we will first study whether the ingredients can be bought in organic or Fair Trade form and what certification can be provided. We are now part of the leading beauty group in the world, Lââ¬â¢Oreal but our commitment and principle of ethical have not changed. This corporation would only make us to have stronger resources to influence the whole world about this issue. Since Lââ¬â¢Oreal is well- known for the quality of their scientific research and they have been applying that expertise to finding alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics. One particular success has been the development of a new synthetic epidermis called ââ¬Å"Episkinâ⬠, which mimics the physiology and reaction of human skin so well that it can be used to test the effects of many chemicals. We are hopeful that this addition to the range of non-animal test will make a significant difference to overall cosmetics sector, as it has been made available to use for the whole industry. The body shop has founded over 35 years with a positive reputation thanks to all employees and customersââ¬â¢ encouragement. The Body Shop has been praised by customers as the British brand with the best corporate reputation, according to a new survey by brand consultancy Added Value. Despite The Body Shopââ¬â¢s acquisition by the global beauty group, Lââ¬â¢Oreal, it remains a brand recognized for its ethical viewpoint, although it may need to keep abreast of changing consumer attitudes to hold onto its leadership position. Nevertheless, we always keep our good reputation to continue persuading other countries on non-animal testing. Messages The body shop has launched several events to convey the message of anti-animal testing through the media. Instance, the biggest ambitious campaign is the partnership with CFI telling the world about the cause of animal testing with facts and empathy to all people who loves beauty with heart. We are calling on governments for a ban on animal testing for cosmetics in every country around the world by signing the pledge at our stores. We have to send a strong message to governments that cruelty-free is not just humane; it is a good way to do business too and these entire signatures by customers or people who love beauty with heart presented to relevant governments and stakeholders who can influence the introduction of a ban. We are proud to have the support of CFI and the pledges with all signatures will enable to do all we can to ensure that no animals are harmed in tests for the cosmetics industry. The body shop has expended the campaign internet to let people who are not located in our stores to give a support on this issue. Apart from the corporation with CFI, The Body Shop has also done different kind of means to promote our message such as labeling our important message ââ¬Å"Against animal testingâ⬠on all of our products. We are in processing on holding several beauty contests to get attention from all customers on this issue. For example, we are going to launch two beauty competitions. Beauty with heart make-up competition is a competition aim at showing humanââ¬â¢s beauty by using our The Body Shop make-up products. We want to give a message of showing our making procedures of all products are ethical without any harm to animals. Either of showing how natural and pure of our products, the importance of beauty is also one of the main points that we want to give out. Being beautiful is not only for the appearance but also the inner beauty of a person. To love myself is to firstly love others include animals; we have to understand the highest standard of beautiful is being beauty with moral and spiritual. Video education of beauty competition, we want to convey the cruel fact of animal testing on animal to all customers and also students. We have to strike a balance between beauties and ethical on business, we wish to spread our issue to our next generation; therefore video education is the most effective way of telling them the importance of inner beauty. This aims to structure the trustiest part of animal testing process to let people understand animal can be beautiful too if we stop killing and harming them, animal should deserve a fair treat as human being. Through the process of animal testing, we wish to educate or tell the truth of beauty to everyone around the world. The alternatives to using animals to test cosmetics These modern methods are more relevant to humans and have been found to predict human reactions better than the traditional outdated animal tests. According to the CFI, ââ¬Å"to assess skin irritation alternatives such as Reconstituted Human Epidermis, like the skin model EPISKIN, can be used. These tests use reconstituted human skin donated from cosmetic surgery and have been shown to be more effective than the original cruel rabbit Draize skin test that they replace. Models also exist and can be used to replace cruel animal tests for eye irritation, the effects of skin sensitization can be predicted by looking at proteins in-vitro (in a test tube), and phototoxicity can also be assessed with a cell based test. â⬠Furthermore, companies can prove their products are safe by utilizing established ingredients. There are, for example, almost 20,000 ingredients in the European Unionââ¬â¢s database for which safety data is available. Evaluation Response of constituencies As noticed above, The Body Shop has already collected over 4 million signatures with estimated 275 million people a year who visit our stores. With over millions of volunteers who support us by making videos and spread our message through social networking devices such as Facebook, YouTube as well as Twitter with a vote on our issue. Corporation After being acquired by Lââ¬â¢Oreal, a company accused of using animal testing. There was some speculation over if The Body Shop would continue to have this same standard of no animal testing, but the company seemed to be unchanged, keeping all its values intact. Awards In October 2009, The Body Shop was awarded a ââ¬ËLifetime Achievement Awardââ¬â¢ by theà RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in Britain. They were given this honor for complying with the strict requirements of the Humane Cosmetics Standards. Result In 2004, European Union is banned the animal testing for cosmetics. Croatia and Norway have followed suit by banning animal tests for cosmetics and ingredients and in 2015 Israel will also implement a ban. We have also successfully influenced other beauty companies with the help of CFI to ban on animal testing which has shown on the appendices. Reference Unknown. (2012). Against Animal Testing. Retrieved from http://www. thebodyshop. om/values/AgainstAnimalTesting. aspx The Body Shop International plc. (2012). 2012 Annual value report. Bostrock and Pollitt Limited, London. Retrieved from http://www. thebodyshop. com/content/pdf/global-values_report. pdf Source. (2008). The Body Shop praised by consumers as brand with best reputation in Britain. Retrieved from http://www. added-value. com/source/2008/03/the-body-shop-praised-by-consumers-as-brand-with-best-reputatio n-in-britain/ Cruelty-Free International. (2012). Animal Tests and Alternatives. Retrieved from http://www. rueltyfreeinternational. org/en/the-issue/animal-tests-and-alternatives Tatiana Houdegbe. (2011). The Body Shop. Retrieved from http://fashionwithaheart. wordpress. com/2011/05/20/the-body-shop-csr/ Appendices Ranking of The Body Shop The online CFI Pledge The label of against animal testing on products ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â [ 1 ]. 400 people took a stance against animal testing for cosmetics in support of Cruelty-Free Internationalââ¬â¢s Campaign. With reference on http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=miMoU7GO2JEfeature=related Anti Animal Testing of Body Shop 3 million. Anita continued to have a large amount creative control over the company until her death in 2007. Description of the issue There are millions of animals including rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and rats continue to suffer and die an agonizing death behind the companies who refuses to give up the practice for nothing more than human vanity. The body shop cares about the treatment of animals so we are continuing to take a leadership role in protecting animals and seek alternatives to animal testing. There are over 300 of The Body Shop stores in United Kingdom have launched pledge to ban animal testing on cosmetics around the world. We have a strict requirement of the human cosmetic standard which was set by the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) in order to ensure the process of producing is ethical. Why do we have to against animal testing? All those animals are made to suffer and die in a variety of routine tests for cosmetics products and their ingredients. For example, repeated dose toxicity and reproductive toxicity. Rabbits or rats are force to eat or inhale cosmetics ingredients or have it rubbed onto their shaved skin every day for 90 days and are then killed. As our slogan of ââ¬Å"Beauty with Heartâ⬠, we cannot accept this thing happen in the world. We are then in particular to influence all cosmetic industries prohibit in using animal testing for cosmetics or other ingredients that are harmful to animal. Objectives 1. Informational objectives The body shop builds a partnership with Cruelty Free International (CFI) and Leaping Bunny program which is the only standard that ensures there is no animal testing secured at any phase of product development. It is in order to create an industry-changing impact and to provide transferability to others in the cosmetic industries. 2. Attitudinal objectives The body shop builds a relationship with customers by using their powers to influence with suppliers to address and eliminate the animal testing issue. Implementation This issue is crucial to all protect animal organizations and customers. The Body Shop has carried out this campaign with CFI and we seek global ban of animals to test cosmetic. International Values and RD Director of the Body Shop have taken the lead of a long commitment to this cause and Our Technical Compliance Team is responsible for ensuring that no ingredients we use have been tested on animals since the end of December 1990. We do support CFI to achieve a worldwide ban on animal testing. In 1996, we have already collected over 4-million petition signatures and delivered to the European Commission with the success of banning on animal testing for finished cosmetics products in 2004. Croatia and Norway have followed suit by banning animal tests for cosmetics and ingredients and in 2015 Israel will also implement a ban. Although European Union has announced the policy on banning animal testing, there is still approximately 80% of the world allows animals to be used in cruel experiments. We still need to continue supporting CFI to achieve this mission. Communication Plan Constituencies Constituent groups include: animal rights organization, animal protection groups, suppliers and their trade organizations; customers, investors, animal scientists and other academic in the animal science arena and media. We focus on one of the target ââ¬â customers as the main stakeholder that would direct affect our market on cosmetic industries. The Body Shop audits regularly to ensure absolute compliance with British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) Humane Cosmetics Standard (HCS). We are committed to our Against Animal Testing policy as we ever were and to guarantee that one of our products are tested on animals. We communicate clearly on our policies to customers and suppliers; hope to create a bigger influence to all cosmetic users throughout the world. Responses of constituency (Source: Cruelty Free International) As the report has mentioned that we have successfully collected over 4-million petition signatures to support anti-animal testing program. Customers are more willing to put efforts to encourage this program all over the world. To show our promise to influence over 80% of the world, we raise awareness among employees and listen to our stakeholders in order to maintain, measure, monitor and report on our performance. On the other hand, we have invited volunteers to promote our message of against cosmetic testing on animal by creating a 400 people flash mob taking a stance in support of CFIââ¬â¢s campaign in June, 2012. So as to response our stakeholders, we have published our campaign on our official website, www. thebodyshop. co. uk/ . Corporation The Body Shop believes that all animals have their value and respect; we will continue to lead the way of opposing animal testing by demonstrating the highest monitoring standards and clear customer communication. We are glad to gain trust from our customers to support our program, so we have labeled our products against animal testing to ensure the continued awareness of our customers and employees. The body shop is looking forward to build up a good relationship with customers in order to continue our mission of this issue. We also desire to use it purchasing power and influence with customers to address and eliminate the cosmetic animal testing. Our whole company will be involved in this issue especially the connection with our supplier as we need to ensure all of our products are not tested by animals. Therefore, we will first study whether the ingredients can be bought in organic or Fair Trade form and what certification can be provided. We are now part of the leading beauty group in the world, Lââ¬â¢Oreal but our commitment and principle of ethical have not changed. This corporation would only make us to have stronger resources to influence the whole world about this issue. Since Lââ¬â¢Oreal is well- known for the quality of their scientific research and they have been applying that expertise to finding alternatives to animal testing for cosmetics. One particular success has been the development of a new synthetic epidermis called ââ¬Å"Episkinâ⬠, which mimics the physiology and reaction of human skin so well that it can be used to test the effects of many chemicals. We are hopeful that this addition to the range of non-animal test will make a significant difference to overall cosmetics sector, as it has been made available to use for the whole industry. The body shop has founded over 35 years with a positive reputation thanks to all employees and customersââ¬â¢ encouragement. The Body Shop has been praised by customers as the British brand with the best corporate reputation, according to a new survey by brand consultancy Added Value. Despite The Body Shopââ¬â¢s acquisition by the global beauty group, Lââ¬â¢Oreal, it remains a brand recognized for its ethical viewpoint, although it may need to keep abreast of changing consumer attitudes to hold onto its leadership position. Nevertheless, we always keep our good reputation to continue persuading other countries on non-animal testing. Messages The body shop has launched several events to convey the message of anti-animal testing through the media. Instance, the biggest ambitious campaign is the partnership with CFI telling the world about the cause of animal testing with facts and empathy to all people who loves beauty with heart. We are calling on governments for a ban on animal testing for cosmetics in every country around the world by signing the pledge at our stores. We have to send a strong message to governments that cruelty-free is not just humane; it is a good way to do business too and these entire signatures by customers or people who love beauty with heart presented to relevant governments and stakeholders who can influence the introduction of a ban. We are proud to have the support of CFI and the pledges with all signatures will enable to do all we can to ensure that no animals are harmed in tests for the cosmetics industry. The body shop has expended the campaign internet to let people who are not located in our stores to give a support on this issue. Apart from the corporation with CFI, The Body Shop has also done different kind of means to promote our message such as labeling our important message ââ¬Å"Against animal testingâ⬠on all of our products. We are in processing on holding several beauty contests to get attention from all customers on this issue. For example, we are going to launch two beauty competitions. Beauty with heart make-up competition is a competition aim at showing humanââ¬â¢s beauty by using our The Body Shop make-up products. We want to give a message of showing our making procedures of all products are ethical without any harm to animals. Either of showing how natural and pure of our products, the importance of beauty is also one of the main points that we want to give out. Being beautiful is not only for the appearance but also the inner beauty of a person. To love myself is to firstly love others include animals; we have to understand the highest standard of beautiful is being beauty with moral and spiritual. Video education of beauty competition, we want to convey the cruel fact of animal testing on animal to all customers and also students. We have to strike a balance between beauties and ethical on business, we wish to spread our issue to our next generation; therefore video education is the most effective way of telling them the importance of inner beauty. This aims to structure the trustiest part of animal testing process to let people understand animal can be beautiful too if we stop killing and harming them, animal should deserve a fair treat as human being. Through the process of animal testing, we wish to educate or tell the truth of beauty to everyone around the world. The alternatives to using animals to test cosmetics These modern methods are more relevant to humans and have been found to predict human reactions better than the traditional outdated animal tests. According to the CFI, ââ¬Å"to assess skin irritation alternatives such as Reconstituted Human Epidermis, like the skin model EPISKIN, can be used. These tests use reconstituted human skin donated from cosmetic surgery and have been shown to be more effective than the original cruel rabbit Draize skin test that they replace. Models also exist and can be used to replace cruel animal tests for eye irritation, the effects of skin sensitization can be predicted by looking at proteins in-vitro (in a test tube), and phototoxicity can also be assessed with a cell based test. â⬠Furthermore, companies can prove their products are safe by utilizing established ingredients. There are, for example, almost 20,000 ingredients in the European Unionââ¬â¢s database for which safety data is available. Evaluation Response of constituencies As noticed above, The Body Shop has already collected over 4 million signatures with estimated 275 million people a year who visit our stores. With over millions of volunteers who support us by making videos and spread our message through social networking devices such as Facebook, YouTube as well as Twitter with a vote on our issue. Corporation After being acquired by Lââ¬â¢Oreal, a company accused of using animal testing. There was some speculation over if The Body Shop would continue to have this same standard of no animal testing, but the company seemed to be unchanged, keeping all its values intact. Awards In October 2009, The Body Shop was awarded a ââ¬ËLifetime Achievement Awardââ¬â¢ by theà RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in Britain. They were given this honor for complying with the strict requirements of the Humane Cosmetics Standards. Result In 2004, European Union is banned the animal testing for cosmetics. Croatia and Norway have followed suit by banning animal tests for cosmetics and ingredients and in 2015 Israel will also implement a ban. We have also successfully influenced other beauty companies with the help of CFI to ban on animal testing which has shown on the appendices. Reference Unknown. (2012). Against Animal Testing. Retrieved from http://www. thebodyshop. om/values/AgainstAnimalTesting. aspx The Body Shop International plc. (2012). 2012 Annual value report. Bostrock and Pollitt Limited, London. Retrieved from http://www. thebodyshop. com/content/pdf/global-values_report. pdf Source. (2008). The Body Shop praised by consumers as brand with best reputation in Britain. Retrieved from http://www. added-value. com/source/2008/03/the-body-shop-praised-by-consumers-as-brand-with-best-reputatio n-in-britain/ Cruelty-Free International. (2012). Animal Tests and Alternatives. Retrieved from http://www. rueltyfreeinternational. org/en/the-issue/animal-tests-and-alternatives Tatiana Houdegbe. (2011). The Body Shop. Retrieved from http://fashionwithaheart. wordpress. com/2011/05/20/the-body-shop-csr/ Appendices Ranking of The Body Shop The online CFI Pledge The label of against animal testing on products ââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬âââ¬â [ 1 ]. 400 people took a stance against animal testing for cosmetics in support of Cruelty-Free Internationalââ¬â¢s Campaign. With reference on http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=miMoU7GO2JEfeature=related
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
Cultural Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words
Cultural - Research Paper Example Political organization beyond the Chief V. Summary The Basseri is a native pastoralist tribe located in Iran. The tribe is pastoralist because they have pastures to graze cattle, sheep and goats and they depend on the animals for food. Everything that the Basseri do is central to the animals that they own. The following pages will discuss the Basseri and their culture and living arrangements, the kinship system, economy, and the pastoral chiefdom that is their leader. In a pastoral culture, all things evolve around the ability to successfully execute economic transactions with the animals that are owned. This goes for marriage as well; however, in the Basseri culture women are controlled and they are forced to cover their faces in public. More about the control of women will be discussed later in this paper. First, the pastoral culture of the Basseri needs to be explained to understand how rest of the culture works fits. a. Culture of Basseri Culture can be defined as everything arou nd us, everything we do, make, think or say. Culture is constantly changing and is influenced by many things. The Basseri are nomadic pastoralist tribe from the Fars region of present-day Iran. They descended from the Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Gypsy ancestors and are involved in rearing sheep, donkeys, horses, camels, dogs and goats. The donkeys are used to carry women and children while men ride in horses. The camels on the other hand, are used to carry heavy loads especially during migration (Salzman et al. 1995). The "tentâ⬠or family group is the basic unit of social organization among the Basseri. All tents have a recognized head that deals with the formal officers of the tribe, villagers, and other strangers (Nowak & Laird, 2010). They speak the Farsi dialect. b. Where they live Khanam (2005) gives details of where the Basseri live. The Basseri live in the Iranian province of Fars and migrate along the steppes and mountains near the town of Shiraz. Their population was 16, 000 in the 1950s but more recent estimates have not been widely published. Unlike other tribes, they are defined by political rather than ethnic or geographic criteria due to their livelihood. The area they inhabit of 18, 000 to 21, 000 square kilometers spans a large ecological range. There are deserts in the south, mountains in the North. The mountain precipitation provides support for vegetation while the southern lowland runoff and summer droughts limit vegetation to hardy desert scrubs. In the rainy season of winter, there is temporary grass cover (p. 121). c. How they Live The subsistence mode influences the way people live. As such, the Basseri migrate from place to place in search of pasture during winter and settle during summer. According to Nowak and Laird (2010), they move every three to four days with their animals and during this time, tents become their dwellings. Small tents are established for nuclear family at this time but while they settle for a longer time during summer, larger tents are utilized. During the summer period, the Basseri are involved in some farming especially the growing of wheat. This involvement in agriculture can be seen as abandoning their culture of pastoralism. However, it is only carried out during summer along the tribal route before the Basseri migrate to other areas (Marx, 1977).The reason why Basseri migrate is due to depletion of natural resources for the animals to eat. They therefore, have to move to other places to look for food for the animals. Culture also
Tuesday, August 27, 2019
Is Japan a Democracy, or Not Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Is Japan a Democracy, or Not - Essay Example They too are popularly elected for a term of six years. The eligibility age for a vote is 20 years. Japan is a Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary government. It's post- World War II constitution was adopted on May 3, 1947. Universal adult suffrage with a secret ballot for all elective offices is followed. Sovereignty, previously embodied in the emperor, is vested in the Japanese people now. Japans current political system has something tangible to do with its defeat in the World War II. Subsequent to its occupation by the United States, the post-war constitution of 1947 is anti-militarist. Japan has no rights to wage war and it has no armed forces. A limited Self-defense Force exists. The Constitution of Japan was drawn up subsequent to its occupation by Allied Forces. As per the constitution, Japan is a democratic country. The Liberal Democratic Party is in power without break for more than 50 years. The Executive Branch: Before World War II, Emperor was hailed as divine. Now he is the ceremonial figurehead. The Prime Minister is appointed by him for a term of four years. The Cabinet Ministers are chosen by the Prime Minister and he can have a maximum number of 14 Ministers. Additional three special members are permitted. Half of the Cabinet Ministers must be from the members of the Diet. The Legislature Branch: This is named as Diet. Decisions are by majority vote and in special cases, a two-thirds majority is required. Of the 480 seats of House of Representatives, 300 are elected from single-member constituencies and 180 are elected from multi-member constituencies as per the system of proportional representation. The Sangi-in or House of Councilors has 242 seats. In every three years, only half of its membership is re-elected. Of them,73 are elected from 47 prefecture districts and 48 are elected from a nationwide list by proportional representation. The prefectures are not sovereign entities as compared to the States in the USA.
Monday, August 26, 2019
Summary and response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Summary and response - Essay Example le media such as tv, books, computers, mp3 players and video games by children in the United States are cited, and questions are raised regarding the proper response to such emerging issues. A short questionnaire is supplied, and readers are invited to test themselves against these questions to see whether or not they suffer from internet addiction. The authors conclude with some advice regarding early interventions and treatment and there is a reference list with useful sources for further reading. This is an informative article which explains the relation between internet usage and other types of behavior which can be quite normal when carried out in moderation, but become pathological when taken to an extreme. It gives good advice on a rather simplistic level and this makes it suitable general public readership. The article describes what internet addiction is, how it can affect people, and what to do about it, but there is no consideration of the causes of this problem or any statistic on trends across countries and through time. The authors asked the question whether internet addiction is an epidemic or a fad, but they did not fully answer this question. They admit that it is a problem ââ¬Å"for at least as subset of internet usersâ⬠(Jaffe and Uhls, 2011, p.1) but it is hard to tell how serious or widespread this problem is. I would like to have seen a deeper analysis of the reasons why people are so drawn to the internet and what the bigger implications are for Ame rican lifestyle and culture now and in the future. Jaffe, Adi and Uhls, Yalda T. ââ¬Å"Internet Addiction ââ¬â Epidemic or Fad?: Can people really get addicted to the holy internet?â⬠Psychology Today. November 17, 2011. Available at:
Sunday, August 25, 2019
Culture shock Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Culture shock - Essay Example iliar signs and symbols of social intercourse, they have to try to adapt themselves to different lifestyles, living conditions and business practices in a new cultural setting and this often proves to be a long term and difficult process. In this condition, feelings of alienation accumulate sharply because of poor adaptation and consequentially, culture shock occurs, followed by a series of psychological confusion and emotional discomfort (Xia, 97ââ¬â 101). There tends to be many responses to culture shock and this depends on individuals. Some people often choose to immerse themselves completely in the new culture, which they have encountered in an attempt to fit into the fabric of the new society. Such people often shun the culture, which they previously used to practice and instead develop a very negative attitude towards it (Dongfeng, 70ââ¬â74). Others choose to adopt only the aspects of the new culture they have encountered which they consider good but continue to practice the culture familiar to them. A third group chooses to completely reject the new culture and tightly stick to the culture that they believe to be the best for them. These often create their own settlements or sectors within the society in which they have gone to live and it is only on rare occasion that they encounter the new
Persuasive Letter on a Geoscience Issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Persuasive Letter on a Geoscience Issue - Essay Example According to the news item, the study of measuring the rate and extent of melting ice sheets in Greenland would be to determine how the oceans actually respond to changes in temperatures. More importantly, it emphasized that the results would provide crucial information regarding ââ¬Å"what might happen in the future as the Earth continues to warmâ⬠(University of Buffalo par. 3). This is believed to be the most relevant implication that the study could have revealed to the readers. Despite the article being published in a publication that predominantly caters to science as the field of endeavor, it is deemed pertinent to disclose information that would benefit the general public. The rest of the information which were revealed in the news included ââ¬Å"illuminating the history of Greenlands ice sheetâ⬠¦ (and) providing geologists with an important new tool: A method of using Arctic fossils to deduce when glaciers were smaller than they are todayâ⬠(University of Buf falo par. 5). The next crucial concern after being informed about this was: so what? What is the relevant implication of knowing that glaciers were smaller in todayââ¬â¢s generation than in 3,000 or 5,000 years ago? This is the information that should have been added in the article to apprise the readers on any potential dangers or any significant courses of action to prepare for the event when and if the glaciers would totally be melted. The article was silent on any implication of the noted study. In fact, it ended by asserting that through the study of amino acid dating, it would allegedly ââ¬Å"help scientists better understand the history of ice -- and climate change -- on Earthâ⬠(University of Buffalo par. 16). It is observed that there has been voluminous information that have already been disseminated regarding historical information on life on earth; as well as
Saturday, August 24, 2019
Interest Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Interest Groups - Essay Example An interest group can be defined as a group of individuals who have the same objective or are working together to achieve a certain ideal. Interest groups play an important role in policy making and in pushing for the action of various bodies in given matters. These include economic matters among others. They are also important in expressing the opinion of the people and the government also relies on them to ensure that they know the complaints of the people and address their concerns appropriately. As Ragone (director of graduate programs, University of Northern Iowa) puts it, all the members of an interest group are treated fairly and no opinion is better than the other. They are given a fair forum where everyone can pool his or her ides and then use them to change the nation or submit them to the relevant authorities. According to Hays, The main difference between economic and non-economic interest groups is that the economic interest groups aim at getting financial support for their members while the non-economic interest groups are not interested in getting benefits for their members. Labor organizations are examples of economic interest groups. In labor groups, people who have the same interest come together and present their economic grievances as a group so that they can be addressed unlike when they could do it individually. Examples of non-economic interest groups in California include public interest groups which are formed to address the problems faced by the people without trying to solicit financial benefits from the government or any other body.
Friday, August 23, 2019
About Yang Fudong Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
About Yang Fudong - Research Paper Example Fudong currently works as director of films, he creates video installations, as well as photographs. To date, Yang lives and works in Shanghai, but he constantly travels around the world, attending prestigious international art events such as premiers; something that comes with his capacity as a successful photographer and filmmaker. For instance, in 2007 he attended the 52nd Venice Biennale Fudong came to the international limelight in 2002 following the premiere of his first film known as, An Estranged Paradise, which earned him world attention. The piece is a psychodrama, which is about a young man, Zhuzi from Hangzhou, who suffers from a condition of the general feeling of being illness. This condition attributes to the discontentment overall felt in the Chinese society. Similarly, the film explores several themes, which play a significant role not only in this film, but also in his other works. Generally, it is anxiety about the future and an invocation of the past, as well as the tensions between remembrance and forgetting, engagement and indifference. The film is in black and white cinematography, which reinforces the connection to the film. Most of his films are based on traditional Chinese painting, as well as the 1930s and 1940s Chinese cinema. The features common in most of Fudongââ¬â¢s works include dreamlike qualities, atemporal quality, dividing narratives, long suspended sequences, and multiple storylines and relationships. In addition, the works reflect the anxieties and ideals of his generation, which is a generation that came after, as well as during the Cultural Revolution in China. Moreover, his works are considered poetic due to the beauty and the style that he produces them. Furthermore, the works that Yang creates are powerful and strong since they capture the experiences, thoughts, and emotions of everyday life. His works show respect to the Chinese art and traditions of china and involve
Thursday, August 22, 2019
How consumers are protected in contracts for the sale Essay Example for Free
How consumers are protected in contracts for the sale Essay Goods are any form of products that are supplied to consumers for their convenience. They are generally modelled as having diminishing marginal utility. Ultimately, whether an object is a good or a bad depends on each individual consumer and therefore, it is important to realize that not all goods are good all the time and not all goods are goods to all people. Sourced: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_(economics) Role of the Sales of Goods Act 1979: The Sales of Goods Act 1979 gives consumers the opportunity of returning or exchanging products which do not fit the description for example, if a consumer has joined a new contract with the O2 and have been told that with the new contract they get a contract phone in black, however on the day when the phone arrives its white then the consumer can take their problem straight back to O2 and they would have to change the product straight away as it doesnââ¬â¢t look like what it is said to. Also if the contract clearly states that it will be a particular phone and turns out to be a different make then O2 would have to make sure the exchange the products and supply the customer with the one they have stated. Express Terms of the Sales of Goods Act 1979: An express term of a contract is a declaration which is made by two or more organisations; and has agreed upon what is stated in the contract, the contracts can be made through verbal methods or by word of mouth. Once the contract has been agreed upon both the organisations have to make sure the follow the deal. Conditions: A condition is a term which has to be followed within the agreement, For example, if O2 are selling their phone contract to customers, whereas supply customers with a different phone contract then it shows thatà O2 did there bit of providing the customer with a mobile phone contract however didnââ¬â¢t provide them with the right one. A breach of contract will entitle O2 to follow the correct law of the contract and provide the consumer with the right one. Warranties: A warranty is a term that does not fully follow all agreements, so For example, carrying on from the O2 phone contract issue , when the customers buys the phone contract and is assured by the company that they will receive a special tariff with the contract. Therefore, when the phone contract arrives on the day there is no extra tariff, when the party doesnââ¬â¢t stick to its word then this is seen as a warranty. The customer is able to sue the supplier however it doesnââ¬â¢t mean that the agreement will end. Implied terms of the Sales of Goods Act 1979: There are sequence of conditions which are automatically prepared in every contract by the sales of goods act; and they would be dealing with the following which include: title, description, fitness for purpose and satisfactory quality. I have stated these factors below and explained what each and every one of them means: Title: this is when there is an implied condition which allows the sellers to have the right to sell the goods for example, O2 impliedly confirms that the phone contract it sells actually belong to it and also that it can legally pass on the ownership to another telecommunications company, however if O2 are not able to pass on the title to the buyers then it will mean that O2 will be liable for breach for the contract. Description: the contract must fully explain how the product has been described, when there is a contract for the sales of goods by description then there will be an implied condition that the goods will correspond with that description. However the slightest removal from the description will then enable the buyer into rejecting the goods for breach of condition of the contract made. Fitness for purpose: A fitness for purpose is where a seller who in this caseà is O2 plans to sell its goods in the good courses of their business, for example if O2 was to sell their contract to the consumers for the business to be better and make more sales. There is an implied condition for this was they are fit for the particular purpose, this means that the buyer (consumer) has expressly or impliedly known to the seller. Satisfactory quality: The satisfactory quality is where the sellers sell goods for the good of their business; there is an implied term that the goods that is supplied are of the right satisfactory quality. However except to the extent of defects which are brought straight to the buyerââ¬â¢s attention, this will be done before the contract is made meaning that T-Mobile will need to sell satisfactory quality to their consumers. Conclusion: Overall in the briefing sheet I have made sure that all evidence is provided, also that a clear explanation is made of how a contract protects the consumer and what happens if that contract is breached. Mainly information is suggested on the different conditions made by the sales of goods act such as title, description, fitness for purpose and also satisfactory quality. Factors that invalidate contracts: There are many factors that can make a contract invalidated, which means that the contracts cannot be used anymore, such as the following: Misrepresentation: Misrepresentation is where there is a false statement in the contract which is made by one of the parties to the other before the contract is agreed on. There is no general duty to disclose facts, and silence will not normally amount to a misrepresentation. But gestures, smiles or a course of conduct may amount to a representation. Duress: Duress is where a party enters into a contract against their will for example, if O2 is forced into a contract by either violence or treat of violence to themselves or to their family then it means that the contract that is being made may become invalid. In this case the affected party can avoid the contract on the ground of duress; this is because all parties who are entering a contract must enter freely. Mistake: In general terms a mistakeà is when a contract is being made however one of the party members may have made a mistake in knowing what they are agreeing to or a contract can be made which turns out to be wrong, this i s down to a mistake occurring, sometimes when there is a mistake in a contract it can make it invalidated.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Concepts of Death in Medicine
Concepts of Death in Medicine Hufsa Ali The concept of death is one that has been shrouded with mystery and wonder for as long as humans have lived and died. The understanding and implications of death have varied greatly across eras and cultures. Historically, there has been little consistency in the understanding of the concept of the event of death, the moment at which one is dead. The Oxford English Dictionary defines death as ââ¬Å"the end of life; the permanent cessation of the vital functions of a person [] or organism[2].â⬠This definition, while precisely written, leaves considerable ambiguity about the diction of the definition itself. It is uncertain what is meant by ââ¬Å"lifeâ⬠and ââ¬Å"vital functionsâ⬠of a person or organism. Further, one may question whether the vital functions of humans as persons differ from those of humans as organisms. Is death a process rather than an event? If so, when does it begin and end, and when is it appropriate to declare death? Is it possible that a human m ay experience two deaths, death of the person and death of the organism? If so, which death is relevant to medicine? In this paper, I will review the evolution of the definition of death in the Western world in the context of advancing medicine, and explore the implications in relation to organ donation. The philosophical examination of human death has concentrated two underlying questions: what is human death, and how can we determine that death has occurred?[3] The first question addresses the concept or definition of death, while the second concerns developing the corresponding standards: criteria and clinical protocol to be used to declare death. Examples of the answer to the first question include death as the functions of an organism or human death as the irreversible loss of personhood (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2011[4]). Examples of answers to the second questions include the cardiopulmonary standard, the whole-brain standard, and the cerebral standard. It was not until the last century that seeking answers to these questions became the source of a painstakingly complex on-going debate about death, personhood and medicine. Prior to the advent of the stethoscope in the 19th century, cessation of breathing marked the occurrence of death (Daroff)[5]. Then, the loss of pulse became the characterizing event (Jennett, 2001). The Fourth Edition of Blackââ¬â¢s Law Dictionary was published in 1951, reidentifying the occurrence of death as the ââ¬Å"cessation of life, defined by physicians as a total stoppage of heart of the circulation of the bloodâ⬠¦Ã¢â¬ [6][7] in the United States. The definition of death (particularly the distinction between death of the body and death of the person) was not relevant because the death of the brain and the rest of the body tissues occurred concurrently. Cardiopulmonary failure inevitably led to irreversible loss of all brain functions, and the irreversible loss of all brain functions quickly led to cardiopulmonary arrest. The issue of distinguishing between cardiopulmonary failure and brain function failure was not clinically relevant until the invention and widespread use of mechanical resuscitation and ventilation devices[8]. A stopped heart could now be restarted and blood could be oxygenated without functioning intercostal and pleural muscles, after the tissues of the brain had began ischemic necrosis[1]. Although they were still occurring, the functions of circulation and respiration were being performed by mechanical respirators and defibrillators. While this did not meet the criteria for death as defined in 1951, it is important to note that such patients would have met the criteria for death as soon as the use of life-support machines was discontinued. Essentially, this meant that either death could be reversed, or that death could be delayed well beyond the failure of vital organs. This also meant that a body with irreversible loss of brain functions could be indefinitely kept ââ¬Å"alive.â ⬠This highlighted the distinction between neurological failure, and circulatory and respiratory failure. During the 1950ââ¬â¢s, several physicians around the world began to recognize the futility of continuing treatment for patients who had lost all neurological functions. In 1954, a neurologist practicing in Massachusetts, Dr. Robert Schwab, noted this while examining a comatose brain hemorrhage patient who was on a respirator. ââ¬Å"The question was, ââ¬ËIs this patient alive or dead?ââ¬â¢ Without reflexes, without breathing and with total absence of evidence of an electroencephalogram, we considered the patient was dead in spite of the presence of an active heart maintaining circulation. The respirator was therefore turned off and the patient pronounced dead.â⬠In 1959, four French neurologists came to the same conclusion. However, they some of them preferred the term coma dà ©passà ©, meaning ââ¬Å"beyond comaâ⬠(Mollaret, 1959)[9]. This was the prognosis of certain death, they argued, but not did not meet the criteria for death itself. Schwab disagreed, stati ng that death of the the death of the nervous system would be death of the patient. In 1963, he proposed criteria to consider certain patients dead in spite of continuing cardiac function: loss of reflexes, a flat EEG, and apnea[10][2]. Over the next five years, he reported having treated 90 such patients. None of them survived and autopsies showed that every one of them had pervasive tissue necrosis in their brains. His findings went on to greatly influence the legal and medical redefining of death. Meanwhile, there were developing concerns about the futility of extensive, expensive medical care for patients whose deaths were imminent and inevitable. In 1957, Pope Pius XII proclaimed that physicians were not obliged to give ââ¬Å"extraordinaryâ⬠treatment in such cases[11]. In 1962, psychiatrist Frank Ayd published a paper in which he contended that there was a moral obligation to withdraw care when death was inevitable. In 1965, THe American Medical Association held itââ¬â¢s First National Congress on Medical Ethics and Professionalism to detail guidelines for end-of-life-care.[12] As the initiation of the transition from heart to brain criteria for death, the field of organ transplantation was developing. The first successful kidney transplant was performed between live twins in 1954 by Dr. Joseph Murray. Eight years later, Dr. Murray performed a kidney transplant from a cadaver donor. In the years following, liver, lung and heart transplants were performed, using organs from cadavers. Most of the recipients died soon after the surgery. There was the idea that ââ¬Å"live donorsâ⬠would improve the chances of survival, but physicians were weary about using vital organs from patients that were ââ¬Å"aliveâ⬠by cardiopulmonary criteria, even if they had lost total brain function. The ethical standard regarding organ retrieval is the Dead Donor Rule (DDR), which prohibits organ vital procurement from donors that have not yet been declared death. This limits possible sources of organs to cadavers that still have salvageable tissues and organs. As medica l technology prevented more and more ââ¬Å"deathsâ⬠through advancements in life-support technology, it also accelerated the demand for organs of dead donors, as the capacity to perform successful transplants increased. This growing concern for organ transplantation sources, coupled with the futility of having ââ¬Å"hopelessâ⬠patients on artificial ventilation and resuscitation created a climate that facilitated the major change that occurred at the end of the 1960s. In 1968, an Ad Hoc committee was formed at Harvard University to address the ââ¬Å"ethical problems created by the hopelessly unconscious patient[13].â⬠The committee developed criteria similar to the concept of ââ¬Å"coma dà ©passà ©.â⬠Patients who met the criteria[3] would be considered essentially dead, but not actually dead. The final report was titled ââ¬Å"A Definition of Irreversible Coma: Definition of Brain Death.â⬠While this report didnââ¬â¢t explicitly realign the definition of death to brain-based criteria, it outlined appropriate standard of care for comatose patients whose deaths were inevitable and imminent. It was never said outright, but they implied that the death of the brain is the death of the patient, and hinted that the cardiopulmonary criteria for death were obsolete[14]. On the same day as the publication of the Harvard report, the 22nd World Medical Association (WMA) met and announced the Declaration of Sydney. The declaration distinguished the gradual process of the death of cells and tissues from the death of the patient. ââ¬Å"Clinical interest lies not in the state of preservation of isolated cells but in the fate of a person [] the point of death of the different cells and organs is not so important as the certainty that the process has become irreversible.â⬠While it has been overshadowed in the United States by the Harvard report, the WMAââ¬â¢s declaration was the first major committee distinguishment between the death of the body and the death of the person. Throughout the 1970ââ¬â¢s, widespread acceptance of the implied Harvard definition grew among the medical community. State legislatures and courts began legally recognizing some form of death based on brain-criterion, although there was little consistency among the criteria across jurisdictions. In 1971, Mohandas and Chou (neurologist and psychiatrist, respectively) published their ââ¬Å"Minnesota Criteria,â⬠based on autopsy discoveries that identified the destruction of the brain stem as the cause of brain death. Thus, the requirement for the EEG was eliminated[4]. Because both respiratory control and consciousness originated [15]in the brain stem, the loss of brainstem function equaled death of both persons and organisms. In the UK, the criteria for brain death was tweaked to exclude the EEG requirement, which meant a patient with detectable cortical activity would be dead in the UK and alive in most of the US. The Presidentââ¬â¢s Commision for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research was formulated in 1979 to clarify brain death and other biomedical ethics issues. The committee published a report in 1981 that provided a clearer and more practical definition of death than the previous, conceptually ambiguous ones that had been used before. The commission reasoned that death occurred when the ââ¬Å"bodyââ¬â¢s physiological system ceases to constitute an integrated whole[16].â⬠Because the brain functions as the ââ¬Å"great integrator and regulator,â⬠the death of the organism occurs when the total brain functions are lost, and the organism disintegrates to a collection of itââ¬â¢s parts. As a result, the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) gave both brain-based and circulatory-respiratory-based criteria a ââ¬Å"separate but equalâ⬠status in the eyes of law and clinical care. In the United States, death could now be det ermined by the ââ¬Å"irreversible cessation of circulatory and respiratory functionsâ⬠or ââ¬Å"irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain.â⬠While the UDDA recognized the whole brain standard as a means to determine death, it did not specify the neurological test criteria to be used. It also did not specify the amount of elapsed time required before stopped circulation can be considered irreversible. Different hospitals, providers, and associations used varying sets of tests to determine death. In 1995, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) attempted to standardize the clinical protocol used to determine death using brain criteria. Tests to be performed were similar to the Harvard report criteria, without the EEG requirement and the 24-hour repeat was left unaddressed. While the UDDA and AANââ¬â¢s guidelines have brought consistency to the clinical process of determining death, there has been widespread disagreement about the criteria of death itself. The traditional criteria for determining death, the cessation of heartbeat and breathing, have been updated by the UDDA. The circulatory-respiratory standard holds death as the irreversible cessation of circulatory-respiratory function. Leaving aside the implications of word ââ¬Å"irreversible,â⬠this definition may still not be entirely accurate nor practical. Rather than changing the reality of the nature of death, life-support devices and other technologies of modern medicine have shined a light on an aspect of the process of death that was not visible before. Before the possibility of mechanically and artificially continuing respiration and circulation, the failure of these processes were associated with the occurrence of death. However, after such ââ¬Å"deathâ⬠could be reversed and put off indefinitely, it became apparent that the onset of cardiopulmonary failure was not the moment of death, but simply indicative of death. As Bernat, Culver and Gert argue, heartbeat and regular breathing usually indicate life, but they do not constitute life (Bernat, Culver, and Gert 1981)[17]. ââ¬Å"Life involves the integrated functioning of the whole organism.â⬠Brain-based criteria better suited this understanding of life because the brain is responsible for much regulation of the entire organism. Thus, including brain-based criteria to declare death is seen as an ââ¬Å"updateâ⬠to the previous understanding of death, not a complete overhaul of it. The transition to brain-based criteria is nowhere near free of criticism. For some, one of the most obvious flaws in the logic behind the brain-based criteria for death was its basis on the idea that the brain is the sole organ responsible for integration of the organism as a whole. If death is defined as the irreversible loss of functioning of the organism as a whole, then only after the complete cessation of all whole-body integrating functions may a patient be considered dead. While the brain plays the biggest role in integrating interdependent functions of the body, somatic integration is a holistic phenomenon that involves organs and tissue systems throughout the body. Immune responses, regulation of blood glucose levels, and hematopoiesis are regulatory functions that can continue to occur without the entire brain (Shewomn, 2001)[18]. Therefore, if the definition of death is understood to be the end of the existence of the organism as an integrative whole, then the death of the whole brain does not necessarily mean the biological organism has died. Brain-based criteria may have been a step in the right direction, but perhaps for the wrong reasons. The significance and necessity of the brain may lie in another aspect of itââ¬â¢s function; one that cannot be attributed to any other part of the body: personhood. The brain is the origin of human thought, reasoning, consciousness, emotion, and self-awareness. If the entire brain is dead, than the human person is dead, even if the human organism continues to live. Another problem with the development of brain-based criteria is again unrelated to the concept itself, but how it came about as standard of care. The ethically dangerous notion that the climate of evolving medical innovation, particularly organ transplantation, had influenced and driven the acceptance of whole-brain death is a very concerning one. When the Harvard committee met to discuss brain death in 1968, they seemed to be concerned about two things: the futility of spending resources on patients with no chance of recovery, and the idea of wasting the organs of these patientââ¬â¢s bodies. Their main focus of concern seemed to not be the well-being of the patients at hand, but protecting the physicians who would withdraw care from patients that would previously have been considered alive. Without the redefinition of death, doctors would have been morally responsible for the death of such patients. Officially, the reason the Harvard committee cited for their efforts was to free up resources spent in vain on untreatable patients. Murray, who was on the committee specified that the primary concern was the dying patient, and that organ transplantation was ââ¬Å"distinct and unrelated,â⬠()[19] However, many have been skeptical of this separation, arguing that the motive for changing the definition of death had everything to do with organ transplantation. Neurosurgeon Richard Nilges, calls attention to the fact that respiratory and other life-support technologies had been in use for nearly two decades before the hasty formulation of the Harvard committee, and no one had so loudly expressed the urge to end such care. Instead, he points out, that the Harvard committee met less than a year after the first successful heart transplant surgery.[5] Based on the heart-lung criteria of death at the time, the act of removing the heart from a ââ¬Å"liveâ⬠patient on life support w ould have been the cause of death of that patient. Nilges suggests that a second, underlying reason for changing the criterion of death was the underlying motivation behind the Harvard report: providing organs for transplantation. This situation was an ideal one for organ transplant advocates, because it was an ââ¬Å"opportunity to tailor the definition of death to fit the moral acceptability of transplanting living hearts. Taking a beating heart from a body is not equivalent to taking innocent human life if ââ¬Ëbrain deadââ¬â¢ individuals are ââ¬Ëdefinedââ¬â¢ as already dead.â⬠Interestingly, Nilges is not against the idea of using brain-based criteria for death in organ donors. Rather, he disagrees with the way this criteria is practiced. His experience working with such patients and organ transplant teams has left him with disdain towards the practice of organ transplantation. In his paper titled ââ¬Å"Organ Transplantation, Brain Death, and the Slipper Slope: A Neurosurgeonââ¬â¢s Perspective,â⬠Nigles proposes a causal relationship between the changes in the understanding and practice of death declaration to the desires of the insatiable transplant advocates. He recalls trying protect his dying patients from transplant teams, who he compares to hungry vultures eyeing a small, dying animal. He criticizes the unofficial leeway allowed when diagnosing whole brain death, pointing out that over 20% of patients declared dead on brain-based criteria actually had brain activity detectable by an EEG. Save for the finale: [HANS JONAS: uncertainty about border b/w life, death[20]] [1] Necrosis, death of tissue, can be caused by ischemia, insufficient blood supply to those tissues. Brain tissue is among the bodyââ¬â¢s most sensitive to ischemic hypoxia, and is the earliest to die. It is possible for the rest of the body to regain function after a period of time without oxygen, but the brain to have lost it permanently. [2] Schwabââ¬â¢s criteria were: loss of reflexes (dilated and fixed pupils, no elicitable reflexes, and no independent movements), a flat EEG (electroencephalogram detecting no electrical activity in the brain), and apnea (inability to spontaneously breath). [3] Harvard report criteria included the following: (1) deep coma, no withdrawal from painful stimuli, (2) cranial and spinal arreflexia, (3) apnea, persistent after disconnected from ventilator for 3 minutes, (4) flat EEG, no detectable electrical brain activity, (5) exclusion of hypothermia or drugs, which may sometimes cause false-negatives in the above tests, and (6) evaluation repeated twice, 24-hours apart. [4] The brainstem is the pathway through which the brain (cerebrum and cerebellum) sends and receives signals to and from the rest of the body. If the brain stem is dead and all brainstem functions are lost, then the communication between the brain and spinal cord is severed. A body of a patient with a dead brain stem is functionally equivalent to that of a patient with whole brain death. Thus, any electrical activity in the cerebrum is not going to affect the outcome of tests of the rest of Harvard criteria. [5] The first successful heart transplantation was performed in December of 1967. The committee developed their criteria in August of 1968, a mere eight months after the heart transplant. [1]Write later [2]Cite oxford english dictionary [3]either cite Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Definition of Death [4]Written 2007, revised 2011. Review? [5]Fix citation [6]Cite this [7]Black Laws Dictionary, 1951. 4e [8]cite source: either de goergia, stanford, or daroff [9]#8, De Geogia [10]cite swchab, from de georgia, pg 674 [11]Citation needed [12]another someone talks about this conference, but says something more relevant. [13]cite: beecher. (From De Georgia, 674. bottom left. [14]cite this [15]use a different word. Plagiarism [16]cite this: de georgia, #48, 49. pg 676 [17]cite. (stanford encyclopedia, 1. mainstream view) [18]http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11588655 [19]Murray, letter to Beecher, calling for committee formulation/meeting. De Georgia # 26, pg 675 [20]#40 De goergia, pg 676
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay
European Sovereign Debt Crisis Economics Essay The topic of the coursework focuses on the European sovereign debt crisis. We mainly explain how the latest European debt crisis emerged and the reasons that caused the worlds economy to enter into a recession. Another important issue is the impact of the crisis on the markets especially on the bonds markets and other such as commodities, equities, Forex and gold. Furthermore, we explain the lessons to the Eurozone from other countries that defaulted such as Argentina and Russia. What is more, we try to evaluate the effectiveness of the policies and measures taken by the financial institutions and the policy markets. Finally, we discuss the possible effects of the crisis to the financial landscape the lessons to be taken and the trends that may emerge from this turmoil. European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Reasons and Causes There is a prevalent agreement that the fundamental cause of the European sovereign debt crisis was the combination of a credit boom and a housing bubble affecting firstly US and consequently the Eurozone. Easy credit conditions during the 2002-2008 period encouraged high-risk lending and borrowing practices. This extremely situation has happened even though in 1992, members of the European Union signed the Maastricht Treaty that guarantee only the public sector can produce permanent deficits. It assumed that financial markets would always correct their own excesses. Next figure shows how home mortgages had risen during the period 2004 and 2007, collapsing all the banks due to lack of liquidity as people were not able to pay their mortgages back. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp34GQ9OCmKtinguZ7qsShiAFSjKioZeabnW5T-KnsYI8LgjnBecX2k1ChJPucEw2O68rrMOUuWo_JxGrRyJUk0lChM7oBf5ysJ1P75vLzQHDDLT_XQKRGlDEt7RmgIfWUHmUyj_ZH7RdD/+outstanding+mortgage+credit+1990-2008.jpg There are several important factors implies in the European sovereign debt crisis; some countries have been in trouble to pay the debts that they have built up in recent decades. Five of the regions countries Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, and Spain have failed to generate enough economic growth to make their ability to pay back bondholders the guarantee it was intended to be. Although these five were seen as being the countries in immediate danger of a possible default, the crisis has consequences that extend beyond their borders to the world as a whole. In fact, the head of the Bank of England referred to it as the most serious financial crisis at least since the 1930s, if not ever. Moreover, resulted from a combination of multiple factors European sovereign debt crisis have been affected by: the global financial crisis between 2006-2011; international trade imbalances which are the difference between the monetary value of exportà andà imports of output in an economy over a certain period; real-state bubblesà that have since burst; the global recession between 2008-2012; approaches used by nations to guarantee troubled banking industries and private bondholders, assuming private debt weight or socializing . In general, the crisis is presented as the result of arrears in debt of some European Union countries. It is alleged that his debts reached a level that cannot be repaid or refinanced. However, this statement does not hold if we look in detail. Thus, the European Unions debt (about 80% of its GDP) is significantly below in Japan (220%) or the U.S. (100%). US debt increased significantly over the past five years, from less than 60% to over 100%. Still, U.S. is able to finance its debt due to Chinaà ´s help. Impacts on the bond markets and other markets The European sovereign debt crisis had a great impact on markets and several implications. The impacts of the debt crisis were so deep to the worlds economy that we can still observe them today especially at the Eurozones countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland and Portugal. High volatility of the euro markets has been a significant factor during the crisis period. Those high levels of volatility can lead to high interest rates of borrowing for the countries with debts and as a consequence to high bond yield spreads. http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0176268010000509-gr1.jpg Fig.à 2.à Bond yield spreads for EU-15 central governments, January 1991-May 2009. As we can see in figure 2 the bond yield spreads for the EU-15 central governments during May 1991 till October 2006 were low, whereas the bond yield spreads during October 2006 and May 2009 were extremely high. Government bonds are historically considered as the safest investment. After the crisis, investors starting to lose their confidence in the stock market and as a result they stop investing on it. Consequently, investors turned to government bonds and this led to a rise in the demand of bonds. Therefore, Central Banks tried to increase their holding of government bonds. Because of the increased demand, the price of the bonds has been raised. Source, Bloomberg : Euro Index from 2001-2012 The above graph shows the historical price graph of the European government bonds 7-10 years of maturity. The graph shows that the price of the government bonds gone very high from 2001 till 2012 and it is still rising. Source, Bloomberg : Bond Indices for US government 7-10 year, Bloomberg Finance L.P. The above graph shows the US 7-10 years of maturity price of the government bonds from 2001 till 2012. Again, because of the correlation of the European economy and the US economy the sovereign debt crisis has led the bond prices to high levels. What is more, if we observe the graph we can clearly notice that during 2008 and 2012 there is high volatility which indicates the high demand for government bonds during that period. The stock market is different to the bond market. During credit instability the price of the shares of the firms will decrease. Furthermore, when economies enter into recession the expected profit of the firms is going to be lower thus the firms are going to pay less dividend. Therefore, investors will lose their interest in the equity market and they will eventually turn to other markets such as bond markets. The following graphs drawn from Bloomberg are showing the price levels for SP 500, EURO STOXX and NIKKEI 225 for the period of 2000 till 2012. As we observe there is high volatility to all three equity markets. Furthermore, the low and high prices of the Euro equity index and the Japanese equity index are quite high whereas the prices of the US equity index are low. During January of 2008 the prices fall down for the EURO STOXX and the NIKKEI 225 and the SP 500 experienced great loses during November of 2008. The SP 500s prices went up on March of 2009 whereas the EURO STOXXs a nd the NIKKEIs 225 prices remained low. Source, Bloomberg : EURO STOXX INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : SP 500 INDEX from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 Source, Bloomberg : NIKKEI 225 from 31/10/2000 29/10/2012 During the sovereign debt crisis the worlds economy collapsed. There were many implications in all type of markets such as the derivatives, commodities, foreign exchange market and of course implications in the gold prices and the oil prices. After the housing bubble, the commodity market entered its own bubble. From 2007 till summer of 2008 oil prices went very high and then plunged to very low price by the end of 2008. Oil though was not the only commodity to experience swings in the prices. Table 1 illustrates the declines for some of the commodities during 2008 compared to the declines during 1970 2007. Table 1. The commodity bubble, Source: World Economic Outlook Crisis and Recovery Sovereign Default and lessons from defaulted countries A sovereign default occurs when a government refuses or fails to repay its financial obligations (debts). Countries that have been sovereign defaulted can escape liability without being legal penalized since they are not subject to bankruptcy laws. However, a sovereign default will cause difficulties for the defaulted government to borrow funds again since it will be too expensive and because of the low credit ability. The main cause of a sovereign default is the inability of a government to repay the loans interest rate. If the national income growth is less than the annual payable interest rate then the probability of default is very high. This situation commonly arises when government expenditure such as salaries, pensions, rents, supplies are much higher than the tax revenues while any internal borrowing fails to take place and issuing bills is for various reasons impossible. Economic history is full of cases of bankruptcies. From 1824 to 2009 we had at least 286 formal bankruptcies of 110 states. The most recent cases however were the bankruptcy of Argentina and Russia. Till 1997 Russia managed to improve its financial stability by reducing the inflation rate to 11% comparing to the enormous rate of inflation the previous years and by depreciating its exchange rate. However, problems emerged because of two major crises. The first was the Asian financial crisis, which started in 1997, and the subsequent reduce of demand for oil and metals. What is more, the reduction in demand for goods caused a fall in prices, leading countries who were directly dependent on the export of raw materials to deficits. Oil, natural gas, metals and timber accounted for more than 80% of Russian exports, making Russia highly vulnerable to any changes in international prices. In addition, oil was an important source of tax revenue. Thus, Russian government started to have diffic ulties with its financial obligations and defaulted in 1998. Source, Bloomberg Russia Real GDP by Expenditure As we can see from the graph Russia managed to recover in a decade. Although Russia defaulted in 1998 the results were not catastrophic for the government. On the contrary, Russias economic growth was fast and oil prices went high leading to high profitability. The most recent bankruptcy though occurred in 2002 in Argentina. The economic crisis in Argentina lasted from 1998 to 2002 with the following main points: there was a strong recession from 1998 to 1999 and the financial system collapsed during 2001 and 2002 which was basically the consequence of the recession. During that period of time Argentinas GDP fell by 21% with disastrous results for the citizens. Furthermore, the percentage of poverty reached 57% while unemployment exceeded 23%. Source, Bloomberg Argentinas Annual Real GDP growth Another important factor of that led Argentina to bankruptcy was its currency. During 1991 there was high inflation so the government decided to change the currency and linked it to the dollar (actually they adopted the US dollar instead of their own currency) in order to reduce inflation. Although the new currency reduced inflation for a while the consequences were disastrous. The product prices in the country become more expensive in international markets, which led to the reduction of competitiveness, lower exports and a negative trade balance. Argentinas case is interesting because there are a lot of similarities with the Eurozone countries. The first lesson is that by decreasing the nominal expenditures or by increasing taxes during a recession in order to decrease fiscal deficit reductions will make things worse. The second lesson is that deflation is not going to provide positive results in correcting an overvalued currency especially in a country with large public sector and powerful unions. What is more, by choosing to link their currency to dollar, problems with balance sheets will be significant. Policies and measures Regarding the measures and policies taken by Financial Institutions and Policy Makers, letà ´s start with the ones that have been taken by Financial Institutions; we know that our rate of 1 per cent is the lowest since 1999, when the euro began, and this is a result of quickly regressing inflationary pressures since 2008. This step follows the primary objective of European Central Bank, which is to keep price stability in the Eurozone in the medium level. In addition to reduce the interest rate, they have taken a number of measures to support the perfect role of the euro area interbank market. Those measures have helped the progress credit to enterprises and households Those non-standard measures are known as intensify credit support. They mainly focus on commercial banks, because they are the main source of funding for households and businesses in the euro area. To contrast with the US: in the euro area about 70% of the funding of corporations and households comes from banks; the equivalent share for the US is around 25%. So a well-functioning money market is essential for Europes commercial banks and also for the ECB as the transmission of monetary policy to the economy starts here. Those measures are: the complete accommodation of banks liquidity requests at fixed interest rates; the extend of the maturities of the refinancing operations, up to 1 year; the provision of liquidity in foreign currencies; Outright purchases of euro-denominated covered bonds issued in the euro area. This last one has an important function because bond market is traditionally an important way for funding banks in the euro area. This market has been heavily suffered from the financial crisis. They have put an important amount of money 60Billion Euro to support market functioning but it is not so large to dominate market developments. Still, compared with bond purchase programmes in some other major countries, the amount spent by the European Central Bank in the context of its covered bond programme is fairly modest. However, this is a result that the primary role of the ECB is to act as an agent for this market, not as a market maker. To sum up, looking at the effectiveness of measures of improve credit support, we consider a positive impact on money market conditions and over the market. The large injection of liquidity into the money market led to a decrease in money market interest rates at the very short end, to levels close to the ECBs deposit rate of 0.25%. On the other hand if we have a look to Policy makers, those measures have been consisted to support the financial system and measures to reduce the effects of the financial crisis on the rest of the economy. After the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, most European governments speedily adopted measures to support the financial system in a coordinated action. These included increasing deposit insurance ceilings, guarantees for bank liabilities and bank recapitalisations We believe that the effectiveness of the support measures is positive. The measures were needed for avoiding a further growth of the crisis at the end of 2008. In addition there is an initial evidence that government support measures have been effective in reducing banks default risk, however may be necessary more money, especially in Spain and Greece. Here it seems that capital injections have been effective as well as debt guarantees and asset purchases. Overall, the government response has been effective. But it has negatives points as well; according to the European Commissions, the euro area deficit will increase to 6.5 percent of GDP in 2010 with the debt increasing to 84 percent of GDP, from 69% in 2008. Financial landscape, lessons and trends The last crisis is going to have a major impact on the financial landscape. The lower capital availability will surely change the investors emphasis on private equity and as a consequence the cost of borrowing for companies will be higher. Banks and governments will now have to take under consideration the lessons from the crisis in order to improve their regulations and management policies. A number of banks and other financial institutions had to change their structure due to high risk involved and the low liquidity because of the financial crisis. What is more, governments forced to change their regulations concerning banks and other financial institutions and more limits have been imposed. Furthermore, governments now own significant number of stakes of financial institutions due to efforts to control them. Changes in mergers and acquisitions also occurred with an emphasis in leveraged buyouts. As the debt of the consumers became higher and corporate balance shits focused on debt rather than equities. Apart from that investments will decrease because of the high capital costs and as a result GDP growth will decrease. We have learnt several lessons that might be taken the future. We summarise them in 5. That the euro area did not create an institutional (lacked) framework to correct and identify macroeconomic imbalances. Few countries in euro area have experienced strong nominal divergence mainly caused by unit labour cost increases and excessive credit growth; leading to declining competitiveness. During this time, large current account imbalances reflected a build-up of private and public sector debt, building external vulnerabilities that were exposed when the crisis broke. Establishing a permanent framework for surveillance of such imbalances will be necessary for the future. SGP, Stability and Growth Pact, did not help to fiscal policies consistent with membership of a single currency. In an economic and monetary union, fiscal policies must be consistent with rates of sustainable growth and price stability. Instead, despite during economic growth, 1999 and 2008, fiscal policies were largely pro-cyclical: Few countries kept a budgetary position in structural balance and many got deficits. A more effective SGP will be required forà all à euro area. The absence of appropriate frameworks for policy co-ordination in areas essential for competitiveness and sustainable growth. Lets take this example, a number of euro area countries internalised the fallacy that temporarily elevated national productivity and inflation rates warranted persistent wages increases out of line with the euro area as a whole. A better policy co-ordination is currently needed to reinforce the euro area in national economic policymaking Financial supervision in the Europe was lagging behind financial integration. The result was that a large build-up of systemic risk in the financial sector went largely unnoticed risk which in many cases was ultimately transferred to the balance sheet of the sovereign. A supervision regime commensurate with the reality of financial integration in the euro area is therefore needed. Sovereign debt challenges in individual euro area countries can undermine the stability of the euro area as a whole. Since member countries do not control their currency, they are vulnerable to liquidity episodes. Creditors assessment can change e.g. by effect of contagion, even when fundamentals would not justify itThat is the meanly reason why, a permanent crisis management framework is necessery for the euro area. There are several trends that might emerge from the European Debt Crisis. First of all the welfare state has been affected for this turmoil, millions of people have lost their jobs and governments have reduced money in main sectors as education, health care, culture,etc. due to lack of liquidity and in many countries those main factors will never be again free for everybody..
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