Global Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Economics - Essay Example The recent fascination appears to have been inspired by their success in dealing with hyperinflation in several countries such as Argentina and Bulgaria. Argentina did in fact abandon its currency board sometimes back in 2002 after it experienced one of it's worst recession. Lithuania and Estonia also turned to currency boards to obtain credibility for their newly established countries. The renewed appetite for fixed exchange rate regime justifies a closer look at ideal conditions for their establishment, with particular interest to the Argentina's experience. A currency board combines three aspects; one, the exchange rate is fixed to an anchor currency. Secondly, there must be automatic convertibility- it should be always possible to exchange local currency at the fixed rate and thirdly, there should be a long term dedication to this system. The fixed exchange regime that that currency board imports is usually appropriate for small economies with fragile central banks. The fixed exchange rate regime will only be effective if there are sufficient foreign exchange reserves to cover the local current issued. A fixed exchange rate system will be of no use if a country is unable to maintain a sustainable exchange rate to the anchor currency. This might cause serious balance of payment problems if the local currency is overvalued. Argentina paid scant respect for these economic principles that precipitated its financial crisis of 2002. The peso was locked at one US dollar since 1991, when then the currency board was established. Because of this overvaluation, Argentina exported too little and imported too much. The manufactured balance of payment problems rendered it difficult for the country to earn the foreign exchange it needed to repay its foreign debts. Usually, currency boards have the capacity to instill confidence in the public and financial markets because of the certainty of payment adjustment mechanism. However, experiences with Argentina and Hong Kong shows that currency board are not immune to speculative tendencies induced by fear of devaluation. Devaluation did actually take place in Argentina in 2002. Though this was meant to help resolve the countries balance of payment problems, it rendered many businessmen who had borrowed in foreign currency bankrupt. It is also essential for the fiscal policy of a country to be disciplined by the establishment of a currency board and this requires political will from the establishment. At least initially, Argentina bureaucrats played by the rules of the game. But they were perhaps emboldened and the discipline was lost in the late 90's when Argentina picked where it had left from and proceeded to ruin its economy by running persistent deficits. Argentina Convertibility Plan: Mission Impossible. The convertibility plan got its name from the currency board arrangement that was at the centre of economic program in Argentina. At first, it experienced a measure of success and was credited with the growth and stability experienced there in the first half on the 1990's. The initial success, which saw the growth rates going up to 9 percent in 1994, momentarily made Carlos Menem, the then President, and Domingo Cavallo, the then minister of finance heroes in Argentina. The latter years were far from rosy. It's hard to put a finger at what really went wrong and some things even surprised seasoned economists, like the fact that

Group Dynamics Essay Example for Free

Group Dynamics Essay What is â€Å"group dynamics†? Perhaps it will be most useful to start by looking at the derivation of the word â€Å"dynamics†. It comes from a Greek word meaning force. In careful usage the phrase, â€Å"group dynamics† refers to the forces operating in groups. The investigation of group dynamics, then, consists of a study of these forces: what gives rise to them, what conditions modify them, what consequences they have, etc. The practical application of group dynamics (or the technology of group dynamics) consists of the utilization of knowledge about these forces for the achievement of some purpose. In keeping with this definition, is not particularly novel, nor is it the exclusive property of any person or institution. It goes back at least to the outstanding work of men like Simmel, Freud, and Cooley. Although interest in groups has a long and respectable history, the past fifteen years have witnessed a new flowering of activity in this field. Today, research centers in several countries are carrying out substantial programmes of research designed to reveal the nature of groups and of their functioning. The phrase â€Å"group dynamics† had come into common usage during this time and intense efforts have been devoted to the development of the field, both as a branch of social science and as a form of social technology. In this development the name of Kurt Lewin had been outstanding. As a consequence of his work in the field of individual psychology and from his analysis of the nature of pressing problems of the contemporary world, Lewin became convinced of society’s urgent need for a scientific approach to the understanding of the dynamics of groups. In 1945 he established the Research Center for Group Dynamics to meet this need. Since that date the Centre has been devoting its efforts to improving our scientific understanding of groups through laboratory experimentation, field studies, and the use of techniques of action research. It has also attempted in various ways to help get the findings of social science more widely used by social management. Much of what I have to say in this paper is drawn from the experiences of this Center in its brief existence of a little more than five years. We hear all around us today the assertion that the problems of the twentieth century are problems of human relations. The survival of civilization, it is said, will depend upon man’s ability to create social interventions capable of harnessing, for society’s constructive use, the vast physical energies now at man’s disposal. Or, to put the matter more simply, we must learn how to change the way in which people behave toward one another. In broad outline, the specifications for a good society are clear, but a serious technical problem remains: How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and s that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic well-being and freedom from disease to all people of the world? Although few people would disagree with these objectives when stated abstractly, when we become more specific, differences of opinion quickly arise. These questions permit no ready answers. How is change to be produced? Who is to do it? Who is to be changed? Before we consider in detail these questions of social technology, let us clear away some semantic obstacles. The word â€Å"change† produces emotional reactions. It is not a neutral word. To many people it is threatening. It conjures up visions of a revolutionary, a dissatisfied idealist, a trouble-maker, a malcontent. Nicer words referring to the process of changing people are education, training, orientation, guidance, indoctrination, therapy. We are more ready to have others â€Å"educate† us than have them â€Å"change† us. We, ourselves feel less guilty in â€Å"training† others than in â€Å"changing† them. Why this emotional response? What makes the two kinds of words have such different meanings? I believe that a large part of the difference lies in the fact that the safer words (like education and therapy) carry implicit assurance that the only changes produced will be good ones, acceptable within a currently held value system. The cold, unmodified word â€Å"change†, on the contrary, promises no respect for values; it might even tamper with values themselves. perhaps for this very reason it will foster straight thinking if we use the word â€Å"change† and thus force ourselves to struggle directly and self-consciously with the problems of value that are involved. Words like education, training, or therapy, by the very fact that they are not so disturbing, may close our eyes to the fact that they too inevitably involve values. How can we change people so that they neither restrict the freedom nor limit the potentialities for growth of others; so that they accept and respect people of different religion, nationality, colour, or political opinion; so that nations can exist in a world without war, and so that the fruits of our technological advances can bring economic wellbeing and freedom from disease to all people of the world? The proposal that social technology may be employed to solve the problems of society suggests that social science may be applied in ways not different from those used in the physical sciences. Does social science, in fact, have any practically useful knowledge which may be brought to bear significantly on society’s most urgent problems? What scientifically based principles are there for guiding programmes of social change: In this paper we shall restrict our considerations to certain parts of a relatively new branch of social science known as â€Å"group dynamics†. We shall examine some of the implications for social action which stem from research in this field of scientific investigation. Consider first some matters having to do with the mental health of an individual. We can all agree, I believe, that an important mark of a healthy personality is that the individual’s self-esteem has not been undermined. But on what does self-esteem depend? From research on this problem we have discovered that, among other things, repeated experiences of failure or traumatic failures on matters of central importance serve to undermine one’s self-esteem. We also know that whether a person experiences success or failure as a result of some undertaking depends upon the level of aspiration which he has set for himself. Now, if we try to discover how the level of aspiration gets set, we are immediately involved in the person’s relationships to groups. The groups to which he belongs set standards for his behaviour which he must accept if he is to remain in the group. If his capacities do not allow him to reach these standards, he experiences failure, he withdraws or is rejected by the group and his self-esteem suffers a shock. Consider a second example. A teacher finds that in her class she has a number of trouble-makers, full of aggression. She wants to know why these children are so aggressive and what can be done about it. A foreman in a factory has the same kind of problem with some of his workers. He wants the same kind of help. The solution most tempting to both the teacher and the foreman often is to transfer the worst trouble-makers to someone else, or if facilities are available, to refer them for counselling. But is the problem really of such a nature that it can be solved by removing the trouble-maker from the situation or by working on his individual motivations and emotional life? What leads does research give us? The evidence indicates, of course, that there are many causes of aggressiveness in people, but one aspect of the problem has become increasingly clear in recent years. If we observe carefully the amount of aggressive behaviour and the number of trouble-makers to be found in a large collection of groups, we find that these characteristics can vary tremendously from group to group even when the different groups are composed essentially of the same kinds of people. In the now classic experiments of Lewin, Lippitt and White (1939) on the effects of different styles of leadership, it was found that the same group of children displayed markedly different levels of aggressive behaviour when under different styles of leadership. Moreover, when individual children were transferred from one group to another, their levels of aggressiveness shifted to conform to the atmosphere of the new group. Efforts to account for one child’s aggressiveness under one style of leadership merely in terms of his personality traits could hardly succeed under these conditions. This is not to say that a person’s behaviour is entirely to be accounted for by the atmosphere and structure of the immediate group, but it is remarkable to what an extent a strong, cohesive group can control aspects of a member’s behaviour traditionally thought to be expressive of enduring personality traits. Recognition of this fact rephrases the problem of how to change such behaviour. It directs us to a study of the sources of the influence of the group on its members. Within very recent years some research data have been accumulating which may give us a clue to the solution of our problem. In one series of experiments directed by Lewin, it was found that a method of group decision, in which the group as a whole made a decision to have its members change their behaviour, was from two to ten times more effective in producing actual change as was a lecture presenting exhortation to change (Lewin, 1951). We have yet to learn precisely what produces these differences of effectiveness, but it is clear that by introducing group forces into the situation a whole new level of influence has been achieved. The experience has been essentially the same when people have attempted to increase the productivity of individuals in work settings. Traditional conceptions of how to increase the output of workers have stressed the individual: * Select the right man for the job * Simplify the job for him * Train him in the skills required * Motivate him by economic incentives * Make it clear to whom he reports * Keep the lines of authority and responsibility simple and straight. But even when all of these conditions are fully met we find that productivity is far below full potential. There is even good reason to conclude that this individualistic conception of the determinants of productivity actually fosters negative consequences. The individual, now isolated and subjected to the demands of the organization through the commands of his boss, finds that he must create with his fellow employees informal groups, not shown on any table of organization, in order to protect himself from arbitrary control of his life, from the boredom produced by the endless repetition of mechanically sanitary and routine operations, and from the impoverishment of his emotional and social life brought about by the frustration of his basic needs for social interaction, participation, and acceptance in a stable group. Recent experiments have demonstrated clearly that the productivity of work groups can be greatly increased by methods of work organization and supervision which give more responsibility to work groups, which allow for fuller participation in important decisions, and which make stable groups the firm basis for support of the individual’s social needs (Coch French, 1948). It is points out future research will also demonstrate that people working under such conditions become more mature and creative individuals in their homes, in community life, and as citizens. A few years ago the Research Center for Group Dynamics undertook to shed light on this problem by investigating the operation of a workshop for training leaders in intercultural relations (Lippitt, 1949). In a project, directed by Lippitt, they set out to compare systemically the different effects of the workshop upon trainees who came as isolated individuals in contrast to those who came as teams. Six months after the workshop, however, those who had been trained as isolates were only slightly more active than before the workshop whereas those who had been members of strong training teams were now much more active. They do not have clear evidence on the point, but they are quite certain that the maintenance of heightened activity over a long period of time would also be much better for members of teams. For the isolates the effect of the workshop had the characteristic of a â€Å"shot in the arm† while for the team member it produced a more enduring change because the team provided continuous support and reinforcement for its members. What conclusions may we draw from these examples? What principles of achieving change in people can we see emerging? To begin with the most general position, we may state that the behaviour, attitudes, beliefs, and values of the individual are all firmly grounded in the groups to which he belongs. How aggressive or cooperative a person is, how much self-respect and self-confidence he has, how energetic and productive his work is, what he aspires to, what he believes to be true and good, whom he loves or hates, and what beliefs and prejudices he holds—all these characteristics are highly determined by the individual’s group memberships. In a real sense, they are properties of groups and of the relationships between people. Whether they change or resist change will, therefore, be greatly influenced by the nature of these groups. Attempts to change them must be concerned with the dynamics of groups. In examining more specifically how groups enter into the process of change, we find it useful to view groups in at least three different ways. In the first view, the group is seen as a source of influence over its members. Efforts to change behaviour can be supported or blocked by pressures on members stemming from the group. To make constructive use of these pressures the group must be used as a medium of change. In the second view, the group itself becomes the target of change. To change the behaviour of individuals it may be necessary to change the standards of the group, its style of leadership, its emotional atmosphere, or its stratification into cliques and hierarchies. Even though the goal may be to change the behaviour of individuals, the target of change becomes the group. In the third view, it is recognized that many changes of behaviour can be brought about only by the organization efforts of groups as agents of change. A committee to combat intolerance, a labour union, and employers association, a citizens group to increase the pay of teachers—any action group will be more or less effective depending upon the way it is organized, the satisfactions it provides to its members, the degree to which its goals are clear, and a host of other properties of the group.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott :: essays research papers

Little Women by Louisa Alcott would definitely appeal to women of all types and ages. Little Women appeals to a broad audience, its full of the values and beliefs, and it paints a very real picture of most American’s lives at the time. The reason for this book appealing to such a broad audience lies in all the characters’ personalities. Mrs. March is a strong, independent woman who never falters, therefore she relates to all independent women; but she is also a mother who plants strong values in her girls and is the rock foundation of the family, with that she relates to all mothers. Margaret’s desire for luxury is a desire that we all can relate to and her properness is a trait most girls can relate to. Jo’s mischievous demeanor and talent for writing is something that if one cannot relate, admire to have. Beth is the insecure, sweet, homebody in all of us. Amy represents the beauty and talent, and sometimes moral code, which all women have. Laurie represents all the men that wish to be loved any uncommon-but-beautiful woman. This book is full of the values and beliefs of its time. The March family, that were once-upon-a-time a rich family, were still connected to the â€Å"higher† society. As a result, they were sometimes willingly and sometimes forced to commune with people who looked down on them for being poor. The book taking place during and after the period of the civil war there was a lot of tension concerning Blacks. Some of the values Mrs. March teaches her girls is the importance of never trying to be something there not; the unimportance of material possessions versus mental possessions; and that regardless of what the world told them, they are equal to men and therefore deserve equal rights. The book does a good job of directly and indirectly showing realness of all Americans lives. The whole book feels very real, probably because it’s an autobiography. One very real aspect of the book was the death of Beth. Many loved ones were lost to scarlet fever back then. That particular part of the book, along with being the most real, was the most touching. Despite her being a homebody and living a short life, she had a huge effect on everybody she knew. Another very real feature was the financial struggle of a family of five women and a father away at war at a time when women had no rights.

Annie Leibovitz Biography and Image Sample Analysis

Annie Leibovitz is a famous American portrait photographer and is best known for taking extraordinary and yet unique photos of celebrities. She is one of the most demanded photographer for celebrity pictures and became a celebrity herself that way. Most of the photographs she taken have been featured mostly in magazines such as Rolling Stones, Vanity Fair and Vogue. Leibovitz has always been interested in the arts since a young age. Her mother was a dance instructor and influenced her to take dance classes not only from her, but from many other teachers. In high school she focused in music. She specialized in the guitar and wrote numerous songs, eventually becoming the head of her schools’ folk sing club. When she attended university however, she took an interest in visual arts and considered being a painting instructor as a career. It wasn’t until her family was stationed in the Philippines (her father was an Air Force lieutenant colonel) and a trip down Japan, that she was awestruck by the wonderment of photography. When she went back to school, she took night classes for photography. â€Å"A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people.† – Annie Leibovitz. This quote is a little look of how she sees her images, and how much she loves what she takes. Indirectly she also means that we should love what we take pictures of because what's the point of making others like a photograph you don't like. Photograph One â€Å"Where Romance is Celebrated† (2009) This is a photograph featuring Zac Efron as Prince Philip and Vanessa Hudgens as Princess Aurora in the Disney film, Sleeping Beauty, recreating the awakening kiss scene. This is one of the many photographs Leibovitz took for Disney Parks â€Å"What will you Celebrate?† campaign portraying highlight movie moments of different Disney animations. The atmosphere of the photograph is enchanting and the gesture of the two faces together is quite romantic. The costumes and make up enhances the features of the models, making them look too perfect. The dark background and roses make the photo also very surreal; almost fairy tale-like. In this photograph the roses and the bed frames around Efron and Hudgens to make emphasis on them together. Leibovitz also uses Rule of Thirds to make their faces the centre of interest. She uses artificial lighting above them making an angelic effect and intensely shines on the princess's face, making her complexion paler thus contrasting with the dark background. Photograph Two â€Å"John Lennon and Yoko Ono† (1980) In this photograph is the last photograph ever taken of John Lennon embracing Yoko Ono naked on a bed before he was assassinated. It is an intimate moment between the two; holding each other tenderly while he's giving her a kiss displays their deep love for one another. The bareness and position he is in also displays the vulnerability of human passion. The one evident compositional element is making John Lennon the centre of interest, by making the eye focus on him because he's curled up in a ball or fetal position. Also Yoko's black clothing contrasts Lennon's light skin. Leibovitz uses natural lighting, but since this is on of her earlier photographs the lighting is nothing to creative and simple. Conclusion and Legacy In the being the majority of her images were in black and white because of her lack of education, but later self taught herself about colour development and uses that more often. Leibovitz approach to taking her images is unexpected and out of the box; one never really knows what her next piece will turn out. She captures her effects with artificiality, flair and outrageousness that makes her artwork different from other portrait photographers. Generally she doesn't really care about other's opinions on how to take photos and often gets in trouble by the media by doing things that might offend other people. But all in all, we should admire her genius as a photographer and her â€Å"risk taking† attitude on how to interact with her subjects and audience. I first got interested in Leibovitz because of the Miley Cyrus incident and the work we went over in class, she truly is fascinating in how she see celebrities in such unusual poses. Out of the two photographs that I chose in this essay, the one I like the most is â€Å"Where Romance is Celebrated† because the Disney series are my favorite works by her. I just can't help loving and reminiscing my childhood.

Symbolism in Janus

4 Jonathan Whidden English 1900B Ian McAdam September 29th,2012 Symbolism in Janus â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl†. (Beattie 455) In the short story â€Å"Janus† writer Anne Beattie uses a simple bowl to be the central focus of symbolism in the story. The bowl can be interpreted to mean or symbolize many different things. The bowl belongs to the protagonist of the story Andrea, a successful real estate agent who is married to her husband of many years. It has been argued that the bowl symbolizes everything from the life that Andrea lives or the world that Andrea lives in.Though there are strong arguments for these arguments among many others, I believe the strongest evidence of what the bowl symbolizes is a personality or traits of a character that repeats itself throughout the story. This character is not so coincidentally the title of the short story â€Å"Janus†. In the following essay I will argue that the bowl symbolizes an ancient god by the name of â€Å" Janus† and all of his traits powers or attributes. Beattie uses the bowl to symbolize all of the traits of the ancient god thru the life of our protagonist Andrea.To begin we must examine who this god was believed to be so we can relate it to the story. â€Å"Janus is the Roman god of gates and doors, beginnings and endings, and hence represented with a double-faced head, each looking in opposite directions. He was worshipped at the beginning of the harvest time, planting, marriage, birth, and other types of beginnings, especially the beginnings of important events in a person's life. Janus also represents the transition between primitive life and civilization, between the countryside and the city, peace and war, and the growing-up of young people. †(Janus) 4As mentioned above, it is no coincidence that Beattie chose this title. The two faces Janus the god has is a symbolism in itself, it symbolizes deceit as I interpret two-facedness as being deceitful or as Beattie wr ites â€Å"tricked†. We will learn that Andrea herself, proves to be deceitful and deceived, she is tricked herself. Andrea also is also stuck between two different life's as we come to learn. She is stuck in the middle of new beginnings and endings in her relationships. Andrea seems unsure or lacks he courage to decide which path she would like to take. Andrea's life had many doorways she could ave opened, unfortunately for Andrea, she stays on the doorstep. There are two important factors of Andrea's life that the bowl plays a major part in, her social life and her professional life. Let's begin with Andrea's social life. Andrea is married to her husband of several years. Though Andrea and her husband have been together for a few years, they have no children together. Andrea and her husband both have their own successful careers as Andrea is a real estate agent and her husband a stock broker. For all the financial success they enjoy, their marriage was far from perfect.Both Andrea and her husband are a lot alike yet distant from each other. â€Å"They were both quiet people- reflective, slow to make value judgments. † (Beattie 455) Their relationship is where the symbolism of bowl comes into play, the bowl was a gift from a former lover of Andrea's. The bowl was actually a gift from a former lover. â€Å"She had first seen the bowl several years earlier, at a crafts fair she had visited half in secret, with her lover. † (Beattie 456) Andrea hid the origins of the bowl from her husband which is evidence of her two-facedness, â€Å"There were times where she wanted to talk to her usband about the bowl. † (Beattie 455)The fact that Andrea has kept the origins of bowl rom her husband is an example of her deception. It also shows an unwillingness to let go of the past. If Andrea wanted to rid herself of the memories of this former relationship, would she not rid herself of all gifts or memories from the relationship? Instead she grows an unhealthy attachment to the bowl over time, valuing it over her relationship with her husband. Communications issues are just the start of the 4 problem with Andrea. Andrea is not without guilt, she does show an urge to talk to her husband about he bowl, however her fear and the consequences that could come from it were stronger. Doors would be opened and closed, perhaps she would have to let go of the bowl, something she seems unwilling to do. Her relationship ended with her lover because of her indecision, her unwillingness to start something new and close the door on her marriage. â€Å" Her lover said that she was always too slow too know what she really loved.Why continue with her life the way it was? Why be two-faced, he asked her. He had made the first move toward her. When she would not decide in his favour, would not hange her life and come to him, he asked her what made her think she could have it both ways. † (Bettie 456) Beattie gives us strong evidence of the symbolism of the bowl. Andrea's career is the other important aspect of her life where the bowl greatly influences her decisions and contains more strong evidence of its symbolism. As mentioned, Andrea is a successful real estate agent. â€Å"(She had a very profitable year selling real estate.Word spread, and she had more clients than she felt comfortable with. † (Beattie 455) Andrea used the bowl as well as other â€Å"tricks† to help her in her career, or so she thought. When she thought that some prospective buyers might be dog lovers, she would drop off her dog at the same time she would place the bowl in the house that was up for sale. † It can be argued that there is nothing morally wrong with these â€Å"tricks† that Andrea used to sell houses, I would agree. Yet the real deception comes from the bowl itself. Andrea has allowed the bowl to take credit for work she has done, allowing the bowl to deceive her.â€Å"She was sure that the bowl brought her luck†. (Beattie 455 Bids were often put in on houses where she had displayed the bowl. There is no evidence at all to suggest that the bowl influences the sale of the house. There is no question that customers like the look of the bowl, some even inquiring on where the bowl came from. â€Å"Once Andrea got a call from a woman who had not put in an offer on a house she had shown her. That bowl, she said- would it be possible to find out where the owners had bought that 4 beautiful bowl. Andrea pretended that she did not know what the woman was referring to. † (Beattie 454)This is more evidence of Andrea's two-facedness or deceit, ill will intended or not, Andrea is not ompletely honest with her clients. Unfortunately for Andrea, she allows the bowl to deceive her, convincing her that it is the reason she closes so many houses. How could a bowl do this, â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl. † (Beattie 455) I do believe Beattie shifts the meaning of the bowl throughou t the story. At times the bowl represents Andrea's life, how material things are the only things she values, it shows a dependency on material things because of her passionless marriage. Other times the bowl represents her inability to make a decision or to let go of her past relationship.It symbolizes her fear of choosing a path, choosing a door, closing relationships and starting new. Andrea instead allows the bowl to dictate her decisions. As mentioned above, arguments can and have be made for many different meanings . the bowl always returns to its roots. It came from a hidden relationship, it is used to â€Å"trick† home buyers. The bowl is a representation of a past relationship, one she had an opportunity to start a new life with, yet she didn't. She is stuck in the middle of two doors, two paths. There is no beginning or end for Andrea because she evidently lacks the courage or .The bowl represents the two-faced nature of Andrea, her trickery her two relationships. It deceives Andrea in convincing her that it is the reason for her success. â€Å"The bowl was just a bowl†. (Beattie 455) All these examples directly symbolize the traits or attributes of the ancient god â€Å"Janus† Works Cited 1. Beattie, Ann. â€Å"Janus. † The Norton Introduction to Literature. Ed. Allison Booth, Kelly J. Mays. New York: Norton, 2010. 453-456. 2. â€Å"Janus. † Encyclopedia Mythica. 2012. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 01 Oct. 2012 ;www. pantheon. org/articles/j/janus. html;.