Fiscal Policy in the 1960s and 1970s

Fiscal Policy in the 1960s and 1970s By the 1960s, policy-makers seemed wedded to Keynesian theories. But in retrospect, most Americans agree, the government then made a series of mistakes in the economic policy arena that eventually led to a reexamination of fiscal policy. After enacting a tax cut in 1964 to stimulate economic growth and reduce unemployment, President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) and Congress launched a series of expensive domestic spending programs designed to alleviate poverty. Johnson also increased military spending to pay for American involvement in the Vietnam War. These large government programs, combined with strong consumer spending, pushed the demand for goods and services beyond what the economy could produce. Wages and prices started rising. Soon, rising wages and prices fed each other in an ever-rising cycle. Such an overall increase in prices is known as inflation. Keynes had argued that during such periods of excess demand, the government should reduce spending or raise taxes to avert inflation. But anti-inflation fiscal policies are difficult to sell politically, and the government resisted shifting to them. Then, in the early 1970s, the nation was hit by a sharp rise in the international oil and food prices. This posed an acute dilemma for policy-makers. The conventional anti-inflation strategy would be to restrain demand by cutting federal spending or raising taxes. But this would have drained income from an economy already suffering from higher oil prices. The result would have been a sharp rise in unemployment. If policy-makers chose to counter the loss of income caused by rising oil prices, however, they would have had to increase spending or cut taxes. Since neither policy could increase the supply of oil or food, however, boosting demand without changing supply would merely mean higher prices. The President Carter Era President Jimmy Carter (1976 - 1980) sought to resolve the dilemma with a two-pronged strategy. He geared fiscal policy toward fighting unemployment, allowing the federal deficit to swell and establishing countercyclical jobs programs for the unemployed. To fight inflation, he established a program of voluntary wage and price controls. Neither element of this strategy worked well. By the end of the 1970s, the nation suffered both high unemployment and high inflation. While many Americans saw this stagflation as evidence that Keynesian economics did not work, another factor further reduced the governments ability to use fiscal policy to manage the economy. Deficits now seemed to be a permanent part of the fiscal scene. Deficits had emerged as a concern during the stagnant 1970s. Then, in the 1980s, they grew further as President Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) pursued a program of tax cuts and increased military spending. By 1986, the deficit had swelled to $221,000 million, or more than 22 percent of total federal spending. Now, even if the government wanted to pursue spending or tax policies to bolster demand, the deficit made such a strategy unthinkable. Note This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Affirmative Action Creates Unfair Playing Field essays

Affirmative Action Creates Unfair Playing Field essays Affirmative action is a controversial topic in society among all races and genders, and is a topic of dispute in almost all aspects of life, in work environments, in colleges and universities around the nation. Affirmative action attempts to put and end to discrimination but the policy also creates discrimination. It is praised for making universities and places of work more diverse and cultural, while others who feel discriminated against and who feel that they are not being viewed on the same scale as other employees and or students of a different race curse it. Affirmative action is a contradicting and hypocritical policy. The policy is outdated and should be taken out of effect in all aspects of society, especially colleges and places of employment. Being accepted to college or receiving a employment position should be reserved for those most qualified, regardless of their race or ethnicity. In 1964 when affirmative action was first put into place, it was intended to assist African Americans who had been fighting for civil rights. It helped African Americans receive equal employment opportunity.(Froomkin, Washington Post) At this time the policy was very much needed. Blacks had been freed from slavery over a hundred years earlier but still faced many forms of racism and were unable to receive equal opportunity. Affirmative action was a policy that was able to address this oppression. The Executive Order stated that companies that wish to bid on federal contracts must follow the guidelines set by affirmative action and keep a required a number of minorities employed.(Philbrook) Affirmative actions initial intentions were set up to help those on need, but affirmative action has now evolved into a system of meeting quotas. Affirmative action in the working environment discriminates against majorities and leaves qualified employees out in the cold because of their background and color of skin. If two applicants were app...

Unit 1 Micro Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Unit 1 Micro - Assignment Example This will occur in any sector of the economy, ranging from rent controlled houses, to basic needs supplies, and to luxurious human wants. For the duration of President Bush administration, the administration had levied price floors, which market analysts claimed were below the floor. In contrast, they did not produce price ceilings. As the economy operates, price floors alone have the propensity of gratifying the wealthy societal members, and captivating from the poor the petite they have, and at times, taking from the poor what they do not basically have to give (Mankiw 2011). Imposing price ceilings may create shortages, because it may discourage production, because manufacturers won’t be in a position to determine the profit margin they require from given products. It’s evident that price ceilings and price floors are inter-linked. For government efficient intervention in the economy, it should formulate a plan to impose both price ceilings and floors concurrently. By doing so, both the consumers and producers will be affected, but in a weighted manner such that the general societal members, especially those with low income reaps the benefits. Government involvement in the economy is way too far. Its fascination with safeguarding health, security and convenience has complicated the workings of the economy. For instance, the directive from government to have all pools in community centers and hotels fortified with lifts to guarantee easy access for the incapacitated has hiked the costs of these lifts to $8,000 to $20,000. This is not good for business, and has predisposed some community centers and hotels to close their pools completely. In another case, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endeavored to ban the sale of soft drinks in servings with a capacity over 16 iotas. He proposes to levy the ban within all city eateries, and in other formations such as movie theatres and sports arenas.

Find Me product Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Find Me product - Assignment Example Here you can spend a lot of energy on the nerves of the fact that you have spent a lot of time searching and have not found yet. So, you want quickly and without stress to find lost things. So you want quickly and without straining to find lost things. Perfect for you would be a situation where at any given time you can find out the location of valuable things for you. And it would be good to use for this purpose a minimum of resources. Probably, your life would be easier if these wishes were carried out. Time and nerves you spend to search for another loss would not be stolen from your urgent sessions. In the morning you can without unnecessary upheaval for you to find everything you need (even socks), to have a quiet breakfast and go to work. If your pet has run away again somewhere in an unknown direction, you would not have to anxiously look for it at the vicinity of your home. And the solution that will facilitate your life really does exist. Based on GPS technology, there was developed a new device Find Me. Attach it to the important things for you, always be able to keep track of its location. The design of the device is primarily aimed at convenience and safety when using it. It easily attaches securely to any surface and can be easily removed. Because of its tiny and minimalist appearance it will not hinder you to use those things to which it is attached. After a phone call we can get distracted and forget where we put the phone. And when we need it again, we wonder where it could be put. Great, when we have the opportunity to call our phone to find the loss by the ring sound. But if our phone on silent or if the battery is low, we do not find the phone by the sound. In this case, we can come to the aid of Find Me. Location phone attached thereto Find Me can be found by any of the device with a built-in

Eusebio Camachos Autobiography Essay Example for Free

Eusebio Camachos Autobiography Essay My name is Eusebio Camacho. I am still in high school, I am a senior and I plan to go to Texas AM International University. One thing that I want and that also is part of my goals is study something that has to do with criminal justice, a lawyer. Since I was a kid, I always thought that in the future I will be one of the best lawyers, and now I am a teenager I still want that. That is the only career that I am interested now. I like to fight for the right thing, so that is why I want to be a lawyer, to fight for the right thing always. Another goals that I had in mind but that I am almost for achieve is go to the university, I will be the first one in my family who will go to university, that is why I am excited to go to college. I really hope that I can achieve my goal which is being a lawyer and if that comes true, I want to help all the innocent people who are in jail. I want to fight for the rights of all the people who does not have money and that the justice accused them for something that they did not do it. Thanks to my family now I am the person who I am. I really do not know what I will do without them. They supported me and they still do it, they are always there for me, teaching me what it is good and what not. Now I am a person who is responsible for all my obligations, I appreciate that they give me the opportunity to study, which is why i am grateful now. I appreciate all the opportunities that are in my way. I am an honest person; they taught me that lies do not bring you good consequences. I also am the kind of person who never gives up until I get what I want. My parents taught me that if I really want something, I should fight for it. I like to be super organized, because that way I can always know where I leave my things. I love to make new friends, I am super friendly. I can be shy all the time, but when a person really knows me they will say that from shy I have nothing. I absolutely am a good listener, maybe I do not give the best advice but I do my best. I love to hear people, not matter if what they are going to tell me is boring or not. I do not like be sad for negative comments from other people, I love myself and that is never going to change, I am good with myself. I always do what I want to, I do not like to depend from other people. That is who I am and what are my goals in the future, which hopefully i will achieve.

Womanhood in The Eve of St. Agnes and La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Mari

Womanhood in The Eve of St. Agnes and La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Mariana by Keats In the two poems "Mariana'' and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci'' and the extract from ''The Eve of Saint Agnes'' the poets portray three diverse perceptions of women. The reader distinguishes a woman as a temptress, a woman whom is vulnerable and is dependent on man, and a woman who is nubile and is innocently seductive. "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is a ballad, written in 1819. In this ballad, the femme fatale deceives the Wretched Wright she meets. He falls in love with the Belle Dame instantly and is convinced that she too is in love with him; "She look'd at me as she did love". The Tempter is "beautiful, a faery's child"; the Belle Dame looks magnificent on the outer surface however beauty is only skin deep as there is an inner wickedness about her. Her "eyes were wild" and she enchants the Wretched Wright with "faery's song's". 'Faery's' were thought to be from 'another place'. Her love was weird but wonderful to the Wretched Wright, "And sure in language true she said, I love thee true." The Belle Dame is conveyed, as a temptress who knowingly destroys men's hearts, even from reading the title the reader knows this. The title is translated to mean 'A Beautiful Lady Without Merci'; this shows us that she is dangerous to men. "I saw pale kings, and princes too", the Belle Dame had intentionally starved more men before the Wretched Wright form love. This contrasts with "The Eve of St. Agnes" where the reader observes another type of temptress, Madeline, in the poem 'Mariana'. Madeline is unknowingly seductive to the weak Porphyro. Porphyro even sings to her, "La belle dame sans merci: Close to her ear" as ... ...ness by Keats, "Alone and palely loitering", we too connect this image with gloomy, suffering love. As if he is colourless like the "Pale warriors, death-pale were they all." Love had taken away all their cheerful colours along with leaving them weak and defenceless. In conclusion through these poems the reader explores the limitations of society and the influence of these restrictions on women. The reader also observes the power and beauty of love as well as the result it has on people. In all three poems the last line of the poems and the extract demonstrates this; "Oh God, that I were dead!" "For if thy diest, my Love, I know not where to go", "And no birds sing." I think that in all three endings Keats's and Tennyson some up the distress caused by love and the penalty of its addiction very admirably when looking into the poems not at first glance.

Reflective Journal Teaching Essay

At the end of an Early Years session, we expect the children to be seated on the carpet for their parents to collect them. One of the children was finding it very difficult to co-operate, and continued to move around the classroom, walking and running, picking up toys and making noise. I asked the child to sit down but receive no response. I then asked again for her to sit down and began to move towards her in a way that indicated I was likely to sit her down myself. At that point the child giggled and ran away from me quickly, shouting loudly and refusing to come to the carpet area I felt it was very important the child sat down, with no toys in her hand, and I was concerned other children would copy her behaviour. I felt embarrassed to be under the child’s control! The child seemed to be enjoying this and I did not feel confident at all and immediately regretted trying to move towards her. However I had done so because I felt I imperative all the children were ready quickly as we were running a little late for the end of the session, and the class teacher had already gone to open the door to let the parents in! . I believe I should have acted in a more adaptable manner. I could have considered an alternative way to encourage her to sit where she should be. In Dewey’s publication How We Think (1910) Dewey draws the readers attention to routine action and reflective action, where routine action is largely pre set guidelines, not giving consideration to individual circumstances. Reflective action is considering the individual situation and adjusting as necessary (1910). I should have reflected on the situation as it were happening. The child could have been quickly pacified with a small activity- perhaps helping me to tidy the books away – whilst this is not common practice, it would have still achieved her quietly remaining on the carpet until her parent arrived. I needed to adjust the pre-set guidelines to the individual situation. Dewey also believed we should draw on past experiences whenever possible (1910) and I will consider this in the case of this child. A small adaptation of the rules to meet her needs would be in everybody’s best interests. Allowing the child to have an item or engage in a quiet activity at certain times could encourage a more positive response from her while she settles into the school environment. I will continue to keep a reflective journal so I am encouraged to think more independently and learn to become adaptable. I feel reflecting on experiences and learning from what happens – and seeing the outcome when I put ideas into practice – will help me to grow in confidence and become more effective Practitioner. It will prevent me from being becoming unable to develop individual responses to unique situations. It is imperative that we learn to reflect on our actions. If we don’t, we will simply be Turned into low level operatives†¦while remaining blind to large issues of the underlying purposes and results of schooling (Griffiths and Tann, Ripples in Reflection 1991:100).

Ignominy in the Puritan Community Essay

The title of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter refers to the literal symbol of ignominy that Hester Prynne’s community forces her to wear as a reminder of her sin. Though the word â€Å"ignominy† is used in sympathetic passages that describe Hester Prynne’s disgrace as an adulteress and out-of-wedlock mother, its use at the same time reveals an extremely critical description of Hester’s community; Hawthorne finds that what is truly disgraceful is the way the community relishes and exploits the opportunity to punish one of its members. Through powerful diction and imagery describing Hester’s sin and through saintly representations of Hester’s beauty and wholeness, Hawthorne reveals his sympathy toward Hester. The narrator commiserates with Hester when the reader first encounters her walking to her daily public shaming upon the marketplace’s scaffold. He writes, â€Å"her beauty shone out and made a halo of misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped† (50). The word â€Å"halo† suggests an angelic, even saintly quality, compared to the sin for which she is being publicly disgraced as punishment, making her circumstance more complex than simply one of punished sin. That she is â€Å"enveloped† by disgrace implies that her shame derives more from her surroundings than from her sin; Hawthorne’s use of â€Å"misfortune† also demonstrates the narrator’s sympathy toward Hester, again suggesting that her disgrace comes as much from the community’s display of her sin as from the sin itself. Hawthorne portrays Hester sympathetically yet again in her encounter with Chillingworth in the prison. The disguised physician declares Hester to be â€Å"a statue of ignominy, before the people† (68). Ironically, Chillingworth, in the role of a healer, here admonishes rather than helps Hes ter. His words, intended to threaten and punish Hester, in fact, spark sympathy for her in the reader. Similarly, later in the novel, while Hester and Dimmesdale talk in the forest, briefly away from the opprobrium of the Puritan community, Hawthorne describes how â€Å"Hester Prynne must take up again the burden of her ignominy† (170), on her return â€Å"to the settlement.† The use of the words â€Å"must† and â€Å"again† reveal Hester’s continual forced obligation to wear and be a symbol of shame in her community, and show again the narrator’s sympathy toward her. The fact that she is â€Å"burden[ed]† by disgrace illustrates the extreme weight of her painful, shunned experience, thus establishing the cause for the narrator’s sympathy for Hester. As Hawthorne shows empathy regarding Hester as she leaves the prison, he also condemns the harsh experience inflicted on her by the community, â€Å"The very law that condemned her†¦had held her up, through the terrible ordeal of her ignominy† (71). The words â€Å"terrible ordeal† not only reinforce the narrator’s sympathy toward the protagonist, but also suggest that the narrator is judging the community, not Hester. By revealing the community’s enjoyment and cruelty in punishing Hester, Hawthorne criticizes the Puritan’s ideas of justice and mercy through both assertive diction and direct communication with the reader. When â€Å"A crowd of eager and curious schoolboys† stare â€Å"at the ignominious letter on her breast† (52), the reader sees the â€Å"eager† pleasure and excitement witnesses experience from Hester’s circumstance. Here Hester’s disgrace has become both an entertainment and an educational device. The narrator continues with, â€Å"she perchance underwent an agony†¦as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon† (52). With this description, Hester’s humanity is maintained, even when the comm unity, â€Å"all† of it, objectifies her as a teaching tool. The image of her heart â€Å"flung†, â€Å"spurn[ed] and trample[d] upon† demonstrates both the narrator’s sympathy toward Hester and animosity toward Puritan society, regardless of the age of the member. Shortly after his description of the schoolboy’s callous treatment of Hester, the narrator continues with a harsh account of the scaffold and pillory once employed upon it, â€Å"that instrument of discipline† that represented â€Å"the very ideal of ignominy† (52). The pillory reflects the nature of the community’s sense of justice, and the narrator finds it extremely harsh. The word â€Å"ideal,† often associated with perfection, suggests that the pillory signifies the ultimate desired effect of â€Å"ignominy:† public shame from which the sinner cannot turn away. Next, it would seem that Hawthorne speaks out directly and emotionally to the reader, declaring, â€Å"There can be no outrage, methinks, against our common nature, whatever be the delinquencies of the individual, – no outrage more flagrant than to forbid the culprit to hide his face for shame† (52). Hawthorn’s use of word â€Å"methinks† suggests his forceful personal address on this issue of cruelty; he weighs in powerfully against the malice of the Pilgrim community that punishes Hester, even if it has not subjected her to the pillory. The word â€Å"no† implies Hawthorne’s view that this punishment is an absolute violation of human decency on the part of any community that turns a criminal into a victim by inflicting the use of a pillory. The letter â€Å"A† Hester must wear shows that the Puritans have depersonalized Hester as part of her punishment for committing adultery. The Puritan community is again portrayed as disgraceful when â€Å"John Wilson, the eldest clergyman of Boston† (60), steps forward above the scaffold where Hester continues to stand. He â€Å"had carefully prepared himself for the occasion† (63). Clearly, the words â€Å"carefully prepared† show Wilson relishing the public opportunity to punish Hester. He delivers to the community â€Å"a discourse on sin, in all its branches, but with continual reference to the ignominious letter† (63). His repeated reference to the scarlet letter underscores his depersonalization of Hester in her disgrace, without any consideration of her human suffering. The word â€Å"ignominious† reflects as much about the opportunistic clergyman and the punishing Pilgrim audience as it does about Hester’s sin. The narrator continues, â€Å"So forcefully did [Wilson] dwell upon this symbol, for the hour or more during which his periods were rolling over the people’s heads, that it assumed new terrors in their imagination† (63). The length of this sermon, and the nature of Wilson’s â€Å"rolling† delivery show the clergyman’s intention to hammer his message into the crowd and fire up its punishing judgment. Hawthorne continues to criticize the community as he places Hester historically at the site where she was first disgraced. The narrator notes, â€Å"If the minister’s voice had not kept her there, there would nevertheless have been an inevitable magnetism in that spot, whence she dated the first hour of her life of ignominy† (211). Implied is the idea that the power of public shaming by the community causes her to remain. Specifically, by noting that the scaffold is where â€Å"the first hour of her life of ignominy† began the author criticizes the community by revealing that Hester did not experience â€Å"ignominy† until being publicly disgraced on the scaffold, even though her sin had been committed many months prior. With his use of the word â€Å"ignominy,† Hawthorne repeats throughout The Scarlet Letter the cruelty, judgmental attitude, and narrow-mindedness of Puritan society. He portrays Hester’s community as condemning sinners mercilessly, refusing to accept ideas that are foreign to their ways of living or thinking. In this way, the townspeople depersonalize Hester, suggesting that she and her disgrace are one. Hester is seen as her sin, not as a complex human being with complicated, still unknown, circumstances.

10 Description Essay Topics on Business Communication

10 Description Essay Topics on Business Communication If you are tasked with writing an essay on business communication, you must substantiate all of your claims with facts. Below are some interesting facts that might suit your writing purposes: Business communication is a unique offshoot of regular communication, even though the processes in each and the guiding principles for both are the same. The key difference lies in the situation in which they are applicable. General communication can be used in many situations around the world while business communication deals solely with business activities. There are two types of business activities. The first is internal and the second is external. Internal business activities include the improvement and maintenance of employee morale, the provision of orders to employees, the prescription of methods and business procedures, the announcement of organizational changes and policies, as well as updates for management. External business activities relate to the sale and requisition of goods and services, reports to shareholders, and the creation of favorable workplace environments. In both external and internal business activities the purpose of business communication is to secure action by the person who is receiving the communication. When a business person sends a message to someone else they expect that person to do something upon receipt of the message. This might be the approval of an action, the sending of information, the placing of an order, or any other action. In order to make sure that this happens business communication must rely upon unique language which is direct and concise. The language used for business communication must draw attention, develop conviction, induce action, create desire, or arouse interest. Business communication is typically applied to business documents. Business documents have to meet certain standards so that they are internationally recognized. There are two types of business documents including internal and external. Internal documents are those which circulate inside of a specific organization and often include proposals, memos and reports. External documents are those which circulate outside of an organization. These include reports, letters, and proposals. Some external documents might also include information disclosed to customers, clients, stockholders, media, and customers. Business communication is critical to the success of any organization no matter the size or location of the business. Business communication is part of the external image a company produces. Good business practices help companies achieve their objectives internally and externally through good business communication. In order to survive continual change processes and global environment businesses must change the structure and delivery of communication processes. Global environment for businesses must consider communication issues against a backdrop of technology, ethical concerns, culture, competition, and legal concerns. There are four basic elements to communication. The first is the sender. The second is the receiver. The third is the message. The fourth is the medium used for communication. Communication is therefore defined as the manner through which messages are conveyed to others through a proper and professional Channel.  There are different channels used to convey business communication. The decision to use a specific channel and by extension a specific medium is determined by the purpose of the communication, the ability of the encoder to use that medium, and the effect of the medium to deliver the message. When senders transmit messages a response is expected. Within professional communication responses are generally expected within 24 hours and in some cases within 48 hours during the Monday through Friday work week. If companies specifically state that their departments such as customer service are open on the weekend this response time may extend to weekends as well as weekdays. In any case the response received can be favorable, unfavorable, immediate, or deferred. When writing business communication feedback is essential. Feedback informs the sender that the message was received and the purpose of the message was for filled. Proper feedback in the form of a prompt response issues both parties that active listening is taking place. In many cases among modern communication a deplorable trend has emerged whereby recipients of communication opted not to read the entirety of the message and instead simply gloss over the content picking up a few key details. When this happens the feedback provided reflects upon this laziness. This happens regularly in areas such as customer service or when questions are posed to business policies. When a specific question is asked and the recipient fails to read the question in its entirety it results in the recipient responding inappropriately. The recipient might respond with the wrong answer to a question due to the fact that they read the question incorrectly. Things like this are happening more and more frequen tly within the business community as business communication fades into the backdrop of the online world. Effective business communication revolves around a clear purpose. Just like academic writing, business communication requires planning. The purpose must be planned out prior to writing. Effective communication requires that all people involved in the purpose have a shared responsibility. No matter the level within the company, everyone involved in a single communication is working toward a common goal which means that everyone has a share of the communication process. The needs of the receiver must be kept in mind when communicating in a business fashion. Active listening is an important way to show that both sides are assuming their shared responsibility and review the questions and content in their entirety. Active listening is one of the key elements of modern business communication which is starting to fade away, resulting in miscommunications regularly. Another key aspects related to effective business communication is the control of emotions. Communication and a business settin g requires the ultimate level of professionalism which means that everyone must be motivated to work toward shared goals and doing this means controlling emotions. Part of controlling emotions revolves around politeness. The tone of a communication within the business place is based on the choice of language and it will influence the reaction that the receiver feels. These facts are great, aren’t they? We hope they will suit your paper. Don’t forget to check our 20 topics on business communication for a description essay as well as description essay guide for one of these topics. References: Alred, Gerald J., Charles T. Brusaw, and Walter E. Oliu.  The business writers handbook. Macmillan, 2011. BoveÃŒ e, Courtland L, and John V Thill.  Business Communication Today. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2000. Print. BoveÃŒ e, Courtland L, John V Thill, and Barbara E Schatzman.  Business Communication Essentials. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2004. Print. Bruckmann, Clive, and Peter Hartley.  Business Communication. Hoboken: Taylor Francis, 2001. Print. Carver, B.E. Business CommunicationIndividualized: -A Different Approach-.  Business Communication Quarterly  37.3 (1974): 22-24. Web. Gopal, Namita.  Business Communication. New Delhi: New Age International, 2009. Print. Guffey, Mary Ellen, and Dana Loewy.  Essentials Of Business Communication. Mason, OH: South-Western/Cengage Learning, 2010. Print. Guffey, Mary Ellen.  Business Communication. Cincinnati: South-Western College Pub., 2000. Print. OHair, Dan, Hannah Rubenstein, and Rob Stewart.  A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking: A PDF-style e-book. Macmillan Higher Education, 2012. Williams, Joseph M., and Joseph Bizup.  Style: The Basics. Longman, 2015.

The Computer Ate My Blog… and Other Excuses That Don’t Work

The Computer Ate My Blog†¦ and Other Excuses That Don’t Work Last week, I wrote a draft of a blog and saved it to my â€Å"My Blog† folder, planning to return to the piece to edit it before my Monday publishing time. Due to my speaking and traveling schedule, I knew I would not have any wiggle room on this one. When I went to pull up the blog on Monday, however, it was not in the folder where I saved it. The document path showed up in my â€Å"Open Recent† list but alas, it would not open. I missed a publication date for the first time in years. And you probably don’t care why, do you? â€Å"Excuses, excuses. Blah blah blah†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Really, all you care about is that you’re reading this blog, now. Imperfection My blog is not the only thing I dropped in the past week. Over the weekend, for instance, I was in charge of many aspects of the Foundations Weekend Training with the Wright Foundation in Chicago. One of my roles was making sure the sales table was staffed. I knew there were some gaps in the schedule, and I never addressed them fully prior to the training, figuring we’d work something out over the weekend itself. Sunday rolled around and there was no more time to spare. All of a sudden we had an urgent situation on our hands. People were starting to come to the table to sign up for programs, and we did not have people there to help them. Oops. I was in a bit of trouble from the people supervising me. Finding Solutions Together Thankfully, there were other people in the room who could help. We put our heads together, trained people on what they needed to be trained on, and covered the gap in staffing. I learned a lot over the weekend about how to handle mistakes. People do not like to hear excuses and explanations of why you made the mistake. They want you to acknowledge the drop and figure out a solution. And they want to stay in relationship with you as you fix the mistake. In the past, when I have made mistakes, I have often defaulted to ineffective excuses and defenses, not wanting to be seen as unreliable. I have believed that if a mistake is my fault, I will be fired or abandoned. If I could put responsibility on someone else, then, in my world of mistaken beliefs, I would not have to â€Å"take the blame.† As you’ve probably gathered, I have spent plenty of time and energy beating myself up, which means I have not been paying attention to the people around me who could help think through options  and even be part of the solution. Celebrating Mistakes I’ve been told for a long time to â€Å"celebrate mistakes†Ã‚  (I even wrote a blog about it), and I have not been doing a great job of it. But this past weekend, I got an inkling of how to do that. At this Foundations Weekend, I figured out more than how to staff the sales table. I learned that I am unlikely to be fired for making mistakes if I take responsibility for quickly finding a solution. I tapped into the joy of teamwork when something needs fixing. And I discovered that I can manage to remain pleasant and delightful to be around even when I’ve done something wrong! So yeah, I lost my blog. But I’m not complaining. I wrote what I hope is a better one, and now the other topic seems like yesterday’s news. I am looking forward, with no excuses.

SWOT Analysis for Possible Ventures. Airbus Joint Venture with Boeing Essay

SWOT Analysis for Possible Ventures. Airbus Joint Venture with Boeing - Essay Example It is evident from the study that in the joint venture, Airbus has strengths that would make it stand out from any possible competition and posed threats. Firstly Airbus has advanced technology in aircraft manufacturing as compared to Boeing, its technologies such as fly-by-wire, joy stick control and laser guided riveter would make Airbus to have a bigger share of the joint venture. Secondly, the manufacturing of Very Large Commercial Transport (VLCT) would take place in Europe where the company has well-established markets. Although the company stands to benefit from the opportunities presented by the joint venture there are some threats that the company needs to consider. Competition with Boeing will make Airbus to cut its prices and this will affect its profit margins. From the venture, the company will be forced to expose its technology and manufacturing techniques to Boeing. In the joint venture, Boeing will have better opportunities than its rival company Airbus will. However, the two companies expect almost similar opportunities. Successful production and marketing of the VLCT will create deals that would increase the company’s capacity to market its other models. Due to the current condition of saturated airports and need for expansion there will be a ready demand for the proposed VLCT. Currently Boeing controls about 60% of the aircraft market and it hope to increase its niche from the venture. The initial cost of producing a VLCT stands at $5-$20 billion, which the company hopes to raise over the next 4-10 years. From the projected demand of 500 units for $150 - $250 million, Airbus expects to create a deal worth 1.25 trillion dollars, which is a remarkable return on investment. Boeing has many strengths that will enable it to benefit from the possible opportunities, unlike it rivals Boeing has a high control over its suppliers with some being sole-suppliers. This makes Boeing to stand out as a well-established aircraft manufacturer. Boeing ha s enjoyed a long-standing agreement in the production of military aircrafts and this has enabled the company to generate a lot of profit. Although Boeing is a strong company, the company has some weakness. Firstly, Boeing may lose its market share if it is unable to produce the VLCT economically. The company has a low production capacity and therefore it may not handle the extended demand adequately. These weaknesses create competition threat that the company faces from its rival company Airbus. Airbus owns or has the rights to most of the critical technologies required in the production of VLCT and therefore Boeing is threatened by possible exploitation. Part 3; Analysis of Airbus Standalone initiative Although the VLCT is a proposed joint venture,

Growth and Development of Global Economy - Economics Essay

Growth and Development of Global Economy - Economics - Essay Example On the contrary, they are stuck in the vicious cycle due to the US subsidies which crowds the efficient producer’s market, since without subsidies the US cotton production would not be economical. The US government harms the poorer nations through subsidizing their own domestic cotton production more than it helps them through foreign aid, as proved by statistical data in The Oxfam Briefing Paper (Oxfam International, 2004, pages 1-40). The subsidies does not only affect the Balance of Payments, but has a trigger down effect, it lowers the income of farmers, thus reducing the income available for expenditure, further strengthening the economic crisis by lowering aggregate demand, the multiplier sets into a negative action, and poverty sets in, thus making West African nations vulnerable to US cotton subsidies, furthermore in accordance with Anderson and Valenzuela (Anderson and Valenzuela, 2006, page 19) the usage of Genetically Modified Organism for the cotton production in d eveloping nations would have a greater positive effect than eliminating subsidies completely. However, since it is a time-consuming process to convert every small farm to GM technology, hence from the West African nation’s perspective, the USA should eliminate its cotton subsidies in order to aid the developing nations in coming out of the economic crisis and poverty situation. The US political policies focus on hardcore protectionism with regards to the cotton market; the subsidies are unfair and distort the free trade system. According to the multiplier effect, protectionism in the cotton industry also leads to indirect help of US domestic textile and apparels industry, as presented in The Oxfam Briefing Paper. However, these subsidies focus on helping only the larger farms, despite publicizing otherwise, since 67% of the US farms are ineligible to attain the subsidy benefits, and it is generally the top 10%