Hysteria Comparison of the Salem Witch Trials and the Holocaust Essay

During both the devastating Holocaust in the Germany and the tragic Salem Witch Trials in the small town of Salem, innocent people were brutally killed, causing hysteria among the people. Both groups of people endured hardships because of the hysteria that occurred among them. This hysteria caused people to react in ways that they would not usually act. Both of these events are very historical and help The United States of America be a unified and prosperous country that it has grown to become today. Hysteria is defined as an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping according to the Webster’s Dictionary. The Holocaust is often defined as the brutal killing of about eleven million innocent people because of a racial prejudice against the Jewish race. This tragic occurrence was conducted by the awful and merciless dictator known as Adolf Hitler. The Jewish people were not the â€Å"perfect† race that Adolf Hitler wanted to create. He contradicted himself because not even he fell under the requirements that it took to become this perfect race. The Jewish people, such as ones that were only small babies and the elderly, were inhumanly killed in multiple ways. One example of this brutal killing of the innocent was when small children could be ripped away from their parents to be sent to the work camps that were scattered throughout the country of Germany. These work camps often worked the children so hard that a because of their lack of food and water killed them. This thing that these innocent people endured inside of these ruthless work camps is sometimes unimaginable to the human mind. The Salem Witch Trials took place in the little town of Salem. These events were sparked by a group of adolescent girls who were caught dancing in a forest and supposedly conjuring spirits. Witchcraft was very much frowned upon during those times. Religion was very important and in this circumstance many of the people of Salem were put to death. The girls had convinced themselves that if they lied and accused other people of being witches, they could take the blame off of themselves. John Proctor, who was a farmer in Salem that was accused of witchcraft, was willing to taint his own soul by admitting that he had an affair with Abigail. Abigail, who can be seen as the antagonist of this story was one of the girls that was accusing others of witchcraft. After John Proctor had be practically condemned by his once loyal servant Mary Warren and the other girls he knew that there was no more hope for him ever becoming an innocent man. â€Å"A fire, a fire is burning! I hear the boot of Lucifer, I see his filthy face! And it is my face and yours, Danforth!†(Miller 111).When John Proctor said this, he being a somewhat religious man himself, knew that only the Devil could be behind all of these horrible things that were happening in his hometown. He felt that if he was going to go to hell so were the rest of the people that accused him of witchcraft. The people that accused him had done no better. John Proctor was led to react like this solely because of his fear of being put to death and leaving his wife, Elizabeth, alone. The lies turned into a large scandal among the people. The religious conflict in Salem deeply affected the outcome of the trials. This led to many innocent people being put to death because they were accused of being witches. In both the Holocaust and the Salem Witch Trials innocent people were put to death. Elderly people were not respected throughout the trials and their opinions about what should happen were never really listened to. The elderly people in the holocaust had no say so in anything and often they were looked at as a complete waste of space. According the Nazis, the vicious soldiers who ran these brutal camps, the elderly people could easily be killed so that they could make room inside of the often over crowded work camps. Poor people were also were frowned upon during the Salem Witch Trials. Many of the people, who had money and were well off, thought of them as scum. In a lot of cases there are people that tend to think that because someone does not have money they cannot make logical choice or decision. In the Holocaust many people that were poor were imprisoned. These people were not considered important. They were often considered to be the lowest of the low. During both of these events it is sad that just because someone is old or someone that lacks money could be treated as any less of a person that was younger or had money. There were deep rooted issues in both Germany and Salem that led to these dysfunctional occurrences that caused a mass hysteria among the people. Unity was the key factor that lacked among the people in the town Salem and the country Germany. Although Germany was united patriotically they were not united religiously. In Salem the people lacked a religious unity. They were not confident in their faith in God. If they were strong in their faith they would have had some sort of conscience and feel bad that they knowingly put innocent people to death. Lying was the main thing that led to the downfall of Salem. These lies left the town devastated both emotionally and economically. Germany also suffered from being economically and emotionally hurt. The very minimal amount of people that were still alive after the dreadful Holocaust had to recover from the devastating loss of all of these people. The emotional toll must have been huge amongst the people that lost loved ones. Also, with the amount of people that were gone it greatly affected the amount of money flow. Without all of these people to work in many of the businesses and make money for the country also caused Germany to struggle deeply. The Holocaust caused far more issues for Germany than there ever was before World War II. In conclusion, a mass hysteria can occur at any place or at any time. Being religiously unified as a country or as a small town should be one of the main goals because without it there will as we have seen in both of these events be a mass destruction of people and economy. God helps those who are desperate in times of need, and also those who surround their life with God. So if a country or town were to surround its laws around Also, man should be able to stand for what he believes in no matter what the situation or occurrences. Staying strong in your faith will eventually benefit one in the end. Works Cited â€Å"Effects of World War II.† Www2.sunysuffolk.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Jewish Life during the Holocaust.† Www.jfedpgh.org. N.p., 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012 Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York, NY: Penguin, 1996. Print. â€Å"Religious Persecution and Its Impact: The Holocaust.† Msbyrneatalex.edublogs.org. N.p., 12 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

Definition of Middle Income Trap Essay

As the name implies, the middle income trap is an economic development situation, where a country which attains a certain income (due to given advantages) will get stuck at that level. Part of this concept was firstly discussed in the 2006 World Bank report ‘Equity and development’ as the ‘inequity trap’. But this report does not state very clearly on the definitions, classifications and measures to avoid it, etc. Then in the famous 2007 World Bank report ‘An east Asian Renaissance’, this economic phenomenon was officially addressed. According to the latest definition of The International Monetary Fund in 2013, the ‘middle-income trap’ is the phenomenon of hitherto rapidly growing economies stagnating at middle-income levels and failing to graduate into the ranks of high-income countries (2013 The International Monetary Fund Working Paper: Growth Slowdowns and the Middle Income Trap). From the publications and journal articles, it seems there has not been universal and very concrete understanding on the details of this issue yet. For example, different researchers and even different journalist may have different classifications on it based on various standards. However, the principles applied are similar. The most recent World Bank classification with data for 2010 is as following: a country is classified as low-income if its GNI (Gross National Income) per capita is US$1,005 or less, lower-middle-income if its GNI per capita lies between US$1,006 and US$3,975, upper-middle-income if its GNI per capita lies between US$3,976 and US$12,275, and high income if its GNI per capita is US$12,276 or above. This classification was also used by The International Monetary Fund in its working paper in 2013: Growth Slowdowns and the Middle Income Trap. After the International Monetary Fund applies this classification to its sample of 138 countries in 2010, the result yields 24 low-income countries, 36 lower middleincome countries, 33 upper middle-income countries, and 45 high-income countries (2013 The International Monetary Fund Working Paper: Growth Slowdowns and the Middle Income Trap). It’s very clear that most of the countries are still in the situation of low income or middle income. In addition, middle income  countries are much more than low income countries, which ensure us that it is make sense to pay more attention to the countries in the middle income situation. In recent years the world turned to recognize the existence of a Middle Income Trap. The term Middle Income Trap is by now also being widely used in economic literature as well as businessoriented media. The Middle Income Trap occurs when the growth of an economy slows and eventually flattens after it reaches a middle income level. The problem usually arises when developing countries ï ¬ nd themselves stuck in between high and low income levels. On the one hand, with rising wages, middle income countries are less competitive compared to lessdeveloped, low-wage countries in terms of the cheap production of manufactured goods. On the other hand, they are unable to compete with developed cou ntries in terms of high-skill innovations. As the Asian Development Bank describes, these countries cannot â€Å"compete with low-income, low-wage economies in manufacturing† and similarly are disadvantaged against advanced economies in high-skill innovations†. In another word, these countries cannot continue to compete on cost for cheap goods, and they cannot yet compete on quality for more sophisticated items. Let us have a deeper look at this economic phenomenon. When low-income countries first begin to take off, they often do take the advantage of a low-wage. This allows the country’s manufacturers to offer competitive prices on the global market, since they have a lower cost base. However, as economic growth rates and productivity rise quickly, rapid wage increases tend to follow. Thus the trap is generally characterized by the fact that rising wages eventually begin to eat into the competitiveness that low-base wages originally offered. Once economies get closer to the development frontier, the growth model will become more complex. It is increasingly determined by innovation, investment in more sophisticated technologies and through the raising of the level and quality of education, notably secondary and higher education of the potential labor force. Among these factors, it must be noted that education dose matter. In addition, the second education is more important than the ge neral education. Lower level of education in the majority of the labor force definitely leads to insufficient qualified  workers. The risks of falling into the Middle Income Trap have increasingly become a focus of discussions in terms of the long-term economic and social development of developing economies. These risks, and how to minimize them, are being discussed at the highest levels of policy making in some of the fast growing emerging economies, even while these countries may still be sources of envy to the rest of the world, such as China, Russia and India. Countries in the trap and how to avoid the middle income trap As we mentioned above, due to a variety of factors, many countries risk getting stuck in this trap. According to the International Monetary Fund, most notably, several Latin American economies, at least until recently, would seem to belong in this category, having failed to achieve highincome levels despite attaining middle-income status several decades ago (2013 The International Monetary Fund Working Paper: Growth Slowdowns and the Middle-Income Trap). Actually it has been well accepted that countries across Latin America as well as the several Middle East economies saw catch-up growth in the 1960s and 1970s but then they hit an invisible ceiling and have mostly stuck in the â€Å"middle income trap† ever since, with per capita incomes far behind the rare â€Å"break-out† countries. Most of the evidence on the middle-income trap comes from these economies of Latin America and the Middle East. These are regions abundant in land and natural resources. They have had growth during commodity booms, often followed by growth crashes when commodity prices drop sharply. In Eva Paus’s article about the Latin America’s middle-income trap, she points out that the accumulation of technological capabilities is at the heart of the development process. Technological capabilities refer to the resources and organizational abilities needed to generate and manage technological change. In a changing national and global context, accumulation those capabilities is the key to sustained productivity growth and high-end economic development. She also mentioned Policymakers should promote entrepreneurship and innovation to begin reaping the benefits of information networks and skilled labor before the gains from cheap labor and knowledge  spillovers are exhausted. Nowadays people are more studying on Asian countries with more both low income and middle income countries. Through the evidence from countries already stuck in middle income trap and the current research in Asia, people could not only forecast the future in terms of economic development, but also make the policy maker to develop the suitable measures to avoid the trap. We could take a look at the middle-income Asian economies for our further investigation. There are eight countries that stand out in East and South Asia: the ASEAN-5 (Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam), China, India and Sri Lanka. But they are at very different levels of development. They could be divided into ‘high middle-income’ and ‘low middleincome’ groups. Malaysia is at the top of the high middle-income group. Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, India and Sri Lanka are in the low middle-income group. China and Thailand are roughly in the middle. As we will discuss China in every detail later, let us take Indonesia as an example. According to the Asian Development Bank, Indonesia could be the case of the country in the middle-income trap. It became a middle-income economy in 2003. It actually attained middle-income status in 1993, but fell back after the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. It took six years to jump back to the middle income level. Now it needs to battle the â€Å"middle-income trap†. Indonesia is not unique to this problem. Regardless the different external international economic environment, many middle-income countries are without a viable high-growth strategy. They are faced with new challenges, including social cohesion, a large pool of young people in search of jobs, as well as millions who still live in misery and poverty. Typically, countries trapped at middle-income level have: (1) low investment ratios; (2) slow manufacturing growth; (3) limited industrial diversification; and (4) poor labor market conditions. The Asian Development Bank in its 2011 report ‘Asia 2050: Realizing the Asian Century’ raised the question that considering that the region has to face up to the daunting  opportunity that lies before it, how many countries will meet this challenge? The answer is still unclear. Given this reality and uncertainties about the future the report postulates two quantitative scenarios with very different outcomes. Most of the discussion in the report is based on the optimistic Asian Century scenario. This scenario assumes that the 11 economies (Armenia; Azerbaijan; Cambodia; P.R.China; Georgia; India; Indonesia; Kazakhstan; Malaysia; Thailand; and Viet Nam) with a demonstrated record of sustained convergence to best global practice over the past 30 years or so continue this trend over the next 40 years and that a number of modest-growth aspiring economies will become convergers by 2020. In this scenario, Asia will take its place among the ranks of the affluent on  par with those in Europe today; some3 billion additional Asians will become affluent by 2050. This is the desired or ideal scenario for Asia as a whole.  The Middle Income Trap scenario assumes that these fast-growing converging economies fall into that trap in the next 5 – 10 years, without any of the slow- or modest-growth aspiring economies improving their record; in other words, Asia follows the pattern of Latin Ameri ca over the past 30 years. This is the pessimistic scenario and could be taken as a wake-up call to Asian leaders. According to this report by the Asian Development Bank, there will be a huge difference in the outcomes of the two scenarios. The economic and social costs of missing the Asian Century are staggering. If today’s fast-growing converging economies become mired in the Middle Income Trap, Asia’s GDP in 2050 would reach only $65 trillion, not $174 trillion (at market exchange rates). GDP per capita would be only $20,600, not $40,800 (PPP). Such an outcome would deprive billions of Asians of a lifetime of affluence and well-being. The possibility of a â€Å"perfect storm† cannot be ruled out in thinking about Asia through 2050. A combination of bad macro policies, finance sector exuberance with lax supervision, conflict, climate change, natural disasters, changing demography, and weak governance could jeopardize Asian growth. In this worst case scenario, Asia could stumble into a  financial meltdown, major conflict, or region wide chaos well before 2050. It is impossible to quantify this scenario, but Asia’s leaders must be aware of the potential for such a catastrophe and avoid it at all costs. By contrast, several East Asian economies have in recent decades provided a template for success to get out of the trap and continue to grow rapidly after attaining middle-income status, and thereby attaining per capita income levels comparable to advanced countries (2013 the International Monetary Fund Working Paper: Growth Slowdowns and the Middle-Income Trap). So far, five Asian countries or regions have successfully escaped the middle-income trap, which are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. What do we need to do to follow them? There is no uniform policy solution for avoiding the middle-income trap. South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have made the transition to advanced ec onomies. As noted by the Economist 2013, even still little is known about why so few countries succeed in making the transition from middle-income to high-income status, however, it’s clear that their paths were different but they shared a willingness and ability to change course. To better understand this question ‘How did these east Asian countries escape the middle income trap’ and find the answer, it will be very useful for us to go back to the World Bank’s landmark report â€Å"The East Asian Miracle†, which was published in 1993. It has analyzed the catch-up growth of the several East Asian Tigers, and some of its conclusions are relevant to the middleincome trap. Its foremost conclusion was that it is vital to ‘get the basics right’: macroeconomic stability, relatively low distortions to domestic competition, openness to external trade, flexible labor markets, and investment in hard infrastructure as well as education. On the other hand, w e could analyze both low-income Asian countries and high-income Asian countries to further evaluate the situation in middle-income Asian economies which include China. For low income Asian countries like Cambodia, Nepal, etc., to get the basics right must still be the top – we may even include the less developed states in China and India. These countries and regions should be in the business of catch-up growth, which comes from maximum mobilization of capital and labor inputs, and large productivity gains from efficient resource reallocation. This is what Prof. Paul Krugman calls growth through ‘perspiration’. At the  other extreme, for high income Asian economies, from Japan down to Singapore, has to rely on ‘output-led,’ productivity- and innovation-based growth. This is what Prof. Paul Krugman calls growth through ‘inspiration’. To get the basics right is still important – note that Japan is hurtling in the opposite direction with wildly profligate fiscal and monetary policies. But this has to be complemented with more sophisticated structural and institutional reforms. These â€Å"second generation† reforms (sophisticated structural and institutional reforms) have to go beyond liberalization of product markets to encompass deregulation of factor markets (for land, labor and capital). They must also include opening up of services sectors, upgrading â€Å"soft infrastructure†, and improving the quality of public administration, regulatory agencies and judicial systems. Among them, being part of â€Å"soft infrastructure†, higher education and skills are of the most important factors. So what about middle income countries â€Å"in between†? They need a mix of getting the basics right and second generation reforms. But the balance should differ as between high middle income and low middle income countries. For example, high middle-income countries need to crack on with structural and institutional reforms for productivity-based growth. This also applies to China (especially its coastal provinces). Moreover, in a recent report of International Monetary Fund, economists suggest four ways to avoid that: 1. Invest in infrastructure. The International Monetary Fund analysis suggests that subpar infrastructure is a key factor that can check an emerging economy’s growth. India, the Philippines and Thailand are particularly exposed in this area and should focus on building new and upgrading existing public transit systems, freight channels, ports and energy infrastructure. 2. Guard against excessive capital inflows. Money flows from abroad can energize an economy and give domestic consumption a boost, but can send an economy south if investors retreat in a hurry. Policy makers should have macro-prudential controls in place to mitigate potential rapid outflows, according to the International Monetary Fund. 3. Boost spending on research and development and post-secondary education. Both are needed to foster the innovation that’s a hallmark of advanced economies. According to the International Monetary Fund data, Malaysia and Thailand have the highest college enrollment rates among emerging Asian countries. However, China is rapidly catching up. China far outstrips other developing Asian countries on R&D, with 2009 spending at more than 1.5% of GDP. 4. Get more women into the workforce and raise the retirement age. Aging population is a problem in a lot of Asian countries. Governments should take actions to reduce â€Å"dependency ratios† by raising the age when workers are eligible for pensions and encouraging girls to enter university and vocational training. Anyway, avoiding the Middle Income Trap entails identifying strategies to introduce new processes and find new markets to maintain export growth. Ramping up domestic demand is also important—an expanding middle class can use its increasing purchasing power to buy highquality, innovative products and help drive growth. The biggest challenge is moving from resource-driven growth that is dependent on cheap labor and capital to growth based on high productivity and innovation. This requires investments in infrastructure and education. As the several East Asian countries has proven, building a high-quality education system which encourages creativity and supports breakthroughs in science and technology is the key. As Asian countries have approached or are approaching the technological frontier, the role of education does matter a lot. Many Asian countries have noted for their commitment to improve the quality of their education, and already have some of the highest educational attainments in the world. Yet the fiscal and institutional challenges to lifting educational performance in the way that is needed to sustain economic growth is another thing altogether. The success or failure in that will be a major determinant of whether Asia fulfils the expectations of its long-term economic growth. Looking at China Many observers believe China’s amazing growth is nearing its limits. A joint report by the World Bank and China’s Development Research Centre has warned that the low-hanging fruit of statedriven industrialization is largely exhausted. According to this joint report, ‘If countries cannot increase  productivity through innovation, they find themselves trapped. China does not have to endure this fate’. This report emphasized that China has reached another turning point in its development path when a second strategic, and no less fundamental, shift is called for. For China, it can no longer rely on imported technology to keep up robust growth of averaging 9.9 percent since the economy was open in 1978. The report said China’s growth of economy will slow to 7 percent later this decade and even 5 percent by the late 2020s even if China does not perform deep reform. However, this report also point out, if everything goes smoothly, China will be a â€Å"high-income† economy by 2030 and perhaps as dominant as Britain in 1870 or the United States in 1945, or indeed as flourishing as the Qing Empire itself in 1820 before the onset of catastrophic decline. As Economists 2013 points out, for all problems of China, in the coming 10-15 years it is still likely to reach several symbolic milestones. The International Monetary Fund predicts that in 2016 it will become the world’s largest economy on a purchasing-power-parity basis. The Economist Intelligence Unit reckons that on the basis of market exchange rates China will attain that glory in 2020. By the end of this decade, according to Daiwa Securities, GDP per person in Shanghai, China’s richest city, could be almost the same as the average for America in 2009. Now, officials and experts discuss endlessly whether China is slowly heading towards a â€Å"middleincome trap†. According to Economists 2011, China was already a lower-middle-income country in 2010, with a GDP per person of around $4,400. The fear is that it might suffer the same stagnation and turbulence as Latin American economies in the 1980s and 1990s. Nevertheless, with trend GDP growth in China slowing to around 8% a year from as high as 11% previously, it’s no wonder economists are asking whether it and other fast-growing Asian economies will fall victim to the middle-income trap. Income inequality The relationship between equity and development was thoroughly illustrated in  the World Bank’s World Development Report 2006: Equity and development. According to this famous report, equity means that individuals should have equal opportunities to pursue a life of their choosing and be spared from extreme deprivation in outcomes. The main message is that equity is complementary, in some fundamental respects, to the pursuit of long-term prosperity. Institutions and policies that promote a level playing field— where all members of society have similar chances to become socially active, politically influential, and economically productive— contribute to sustainable growth and development. Greater equity is thus doubly good for poverty reduction: through potential beneficial effects on aggregate long-run development and through greater opportunities for poorer groups within any society. The complementarities between equity and prosperity arise for two broad sets of reasons. First, there are many market failures in developing countries, notably in the markets for credit, insurance, land, and human capital. As a result, resources may not flow where returns are highest. The inequality of education is taken as an example in this report. Some highly capable children from poor family may fail to complete basic education even primary schooling, while others, who are less able, may finish university. When markets are missing or imperfect, the distributions of wealth and power affect the allocation of investment opportunities. Correcting the market failures is the ideal response; where this is not feasible, or far too costly, some forms of redistribution— of access to services, assets, or political influence—can increase economic efficiency. From the World Bank’s perspective, the second set of reasons why equity and long-term prosperity can be complementary arises from the fact that high levels of economic and political inequality tend to lead to economic institutions and social arrangements that systematically favor the interests of those with more influence. Such inequitable governments can generate economic costs. When personal and property rights are enforced only selectively, when budgetary allocations benefit mainly the politically influential, and when the distribution of public services favors the wealthy, both middle and poorer groups end up with unexploited talent. Society, as a whole, is then likely  to be more inefficient and to miss out on opportunities for innovation and investment, which will accordingly have negative impact on the economic development. At the global level, when developing countries have little or no voice in global governance, the rules can be inappropriate and costly for poorer countries. These adverse effects of unequal opportunities and political power on development are all the more damaging because economic, political, and social inequalities tend to reproduce themselves over time and across generations. Such phenomena was named by the economists of the World Bank as ‘â€Å"inequality traps’, as we mentioned in the very beginning. Disadvantaged children from families at the bottom of the wealth distribution do not have the same opportunities as children from wealthier families to receive quality education, which really does matter for a qualified labor force in the future. So these disadvantaged children can expect to earn less as adults. At the same time, because the poor have less voice in the political process, they—like their parents—will be less able to influence spending decisions to improve public schools for their children. And the cycle of underachievement continues. This report documents the persistence of these inequality traps by highlighting the interaction between different forms of inequality. It presents evidence that the inequality of opportunity that arises is wasteful and inimical to sustainable development and poverty reduction. It also derives policy implications that center on the broad concept of leveling the playing field— both politically and economically and in the domestic and the global arenas. If the opportunities faced by children from the poor families are so much more limited than those faced by children from wealthier families, and if this hurts development progress in the aggregate, then public action has a legitimate role in seeking to broaden the opportunities of those who face the most limited choices. Furthermore, this World Bank report addresses three considerations which are  important at the outset. First, while more even playing fields are likely to lead to lower observed inequalities in educational attainment, health status, and incomes, the policy aim is not equality in outcomes. Indeed, even with genuine equality of opportunities, one would always expect to observe some differences in outcomes owing to differences in preferences, talents, effort, and luck. This is consistent with the important role of income differences in providing incentives to invest in education and physical capital, to work, and to take risks. Of course outcomes matter, but we are concerned with them mainly for their influence on absolute deprivation and their role in shaping opportunities. Second, a concern with equality of opportunity implies that public action should focus on the distributions of assets, economic opportunities, and political voice, rather than directly on inequality in incomes. Policies can contribute to the move from an â€Å"inequality trap† to a virtuous circle of equity and growth by leveling the playing field—through greater investment in the human resources of the poorest; greater and more equal access to public services and information; guarantees on property rights for all; and greater fairness in markets. But policies to level the economic playing field face big challenges. There is unequal capacity to influence the policy agenda: the interests of the disenfranchised may never be voiced or represented. And when policies challenge privileges, powerful groups may seek to block reforms. Thus, equitable policies are more likely to be successful when leveling the economic playing field is accompanied by similar efforts to level the domestic political playing field and introduce greater fairness in global governance. Third, there may be various short-run, policy-level tradeoffs between equity and efficiency. These are well recognized and extensively documented. The point is that the (often implicit) cost-benefit calculus that policymakers use to assess the merits of various policies too often ignores the long-term, hard-to-measure but real benefits of greater equity. Greater equity implies more efficient economic functioning, reduced conflict, greater trust, and better institutions, with dynamic benefits for investment  and growth. To the extent that such benefits are ignored, policymakers may end up choosing too little equity. As emphasized by the World Bank, income inequality is not all. However, as a lot of people believe, the greatest challenge ahead is still income inequality. All attempts will fail if this greatest challenge is not tackled. As state redistributive mechanisms have been weakened in the transition toward a market-oriented economy, China has turned into one of the most unequal countries in the world. Inequality, if not reduced, will be a huge barrier of future growth as it undermines consumption, constrains development in poorer regions, and generates social tensions. Income redistribution policies and social safety nets need to be strengthened to close the inequality gap, through increased budget support and improved government’s transfers to poorer provinces and households. In China, the gap between the rich and the poor and between cities and countryside has continued to widen. Since 2003, absolute poverty has dropped remarkably. But at the same time, the number of people in relative poverty (with 50% or less of the median income) grew from 12.2% of the population to 14.6% between 2002 and 2007, according to research by Terry Sicular of the University of Western Ontario and Li Shi and Luo Chuliang of Beijing Normal University. In addition, in 1981, at least 77 per cent of Chinese were in absolute poverty (that is, with family incomes below $1.25 a day). By 2008 this figure had fallen to 13 per cent. But, the bank notes, a far, far smaller group of people have been able to rise above $2 a day, and hundreds of millions appear stuck in this awkward space between the end of starvation and the beginning of actual comfort and hope. Wang Xiaolu, the economist of national economic institution of China reform foundation, thoroughly elaborated the inequality and economic development in China in his 2006 report. Wang mentioned in his report that before China’s economic reforms, the income gap between urban residents was quite small due to the unified wage policy. On the other hand, in rural areas, the income  gap within one region was relatively small. But there was a very large urban rural income gap, as well as significant differences between different regions. To demonstrate the income gap, let us take a look at China’s Gini coefficient. This index is a measurement of the income distribution of a country’s residents. The number, which ranges between 0 and 1 and is based on residents’ net income, helps define the gap between the rich and the poor, with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, in 1980 when wa s the very early stage of the economic reforms, China’s Gini coefficient stood at 0.320, which is quite low and indicates a more equal distribution of wealth. After the rural reforms in the early 1980s, farmers’ income significantly increased which led to the reduction of the urban-rural income gap. The Gini coefficient once dropped to 0.257 in 1984, which meant China had been into the more equal income countries ranks of the world. However, in the subsequent period of China economic reforms, the income gap between urban and rural areas, different regions, and different social strata is rapidly expanding regardless the acceleration of economic growth, the rapidly increasing of per capita income. Until 2001, the Gini coefficient reached 0.447, ranking 88 in the world’s 120 countries and regions in the order from low to high. Most of the countries behind China are those in Latin America and Africa with intense social conflicts, of which a considerable part is in a long-term economic stagnation (data from the World Bank, 2004; World Institute for Development Economics, 2004). In recent yearly the situation might be worse. This index has been retreating gradually since hitting a peak of 0.491 in 2008, slight ly dropping to 0.49 in 2009, 0.481 in 2010 and 0.477 in 2011, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Most recently, the Gini index reflecting the gap between rich and poor reached 0.474 in China in 2012, which is still higher than the warning level of 0.4 set by the United Nations. According to the data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in terms of the urban rural income gap in China, the urban per capita disposable income is 2.5 times of the rural per capita net income in 1980, 1.9 times in 1985 and 3.2 times in 2004. With the data mentioned above, if we use the average urban per capita income of each province to measure regional income gaps, we could find out that the figure of eastern regions is 1.3 times of that of western regions in 1980 and 1.5 times in 2004. The statistics are incomplete in terms of the income gap among different social strata, but the huge inequality is an indisputable fact. If we look at urban per capita income in 1985, the highest 10% of households in the income is 2.9 times of the lowest 10% of households in; while in 2004 the highest is 8.7 times of the lowest. If we look at rural per capita income in 1980, the highest 10% is about 7 times of the lowest 10% (rough estimate number), up to approximately 11 times in 2004 (rough estimate number). We should also take into account that household income and expenditure survey for the highest and the lowest income residents are more likely to be missed, as well as high income underreporting of cases. As a result, the actual income gap will be larger than the income gap based on surveys. More than likely the increasingly widen of income disparities between different classes has become the primary factor of income inequality. Growing gap in income distribution is seriously ch allenging the social justice, which easily leads to social instability and economic stagnation. In addition, we must pay great attention to the rich caused by corruption and other non- normal channels and the poor caused by unfair distribution of wealth (such as landless farmers and laid-off workers are not properly compensated, etc. ), which are the important reasons of the widening income gap and induction of social conflict. As we mentioned above, a lot of researchers and economists further noted that the distribution of income reversely has a very important impact to economic growth and severe income inequality will hinder economic growth (e.g. Galor and Zeira 1993and Bourguignon 2003). In a situation of economic stagnation, poverty and income inequality become more difficult to resolve, which turns to be an important reason of pushing many economies into Middle-Income Trap. In several studies of the World Bank in recent years, the economist point out that economic growth plays a decisive influence in reducing poverty, but its effect varies in different. Meanwhile, economic growth shows no significant role in reducing income gaps. In contrast, if the income gap is too large, it will indeed lead to frequent social conflict and accordingly directly affect economic growth. Therefore, for the eradication of poverty and reduction of the huge income gap, the economic growth is a necessary, but only economic growth is not enough (The World Bank reports, 2000, 2003 and 2004). In a research of Wang Xiaolu and Fan Gang in 2005, it was concluded that China’s urban residents’ income gap, rural residents’ income gap as well as the income gap between urban and rural areas have continued to widen with a clear trend, but data of their study does not confirm that the income gap will automatically have the tendency to shrink when per capita GDP reaches a certain level. If the income gap continues to expand, China’s Gini coefficient of income will soon break 0.5 (some articles have concluded that in fact it has exceeded 0.5), and China will become one of the world’s most unequal countries in terms of income. Generally, equality and efficiency may be alternative of each other. The increase of equality in the distribution of income will lead to a decline in economic efficiency, which in some cases exists. However, if several factors discussed below are adjusted, the economic efficiency will not be lost, and the wealth equality will c ontinue to be improved. First, social security is an important measure of reducing the income gap, as it can provide protection and assistance to residents to reduce their financial burden or increase their income when they are in the face of illness, unemployment, retirement and low income, etc. But this approach is constrained by the level of economic development. As Wang and Fan point out in their report, social security and transfer payments beyond the affordability will result in heavy social burden and negatively affect economic development, investment and employment initiative. At present, China’s pension insurance, basic pension insurance, unemployment insurance and minimum living security system are still running in a very low level, and only conditionally implemented in urban areas and a few rural areas. Fully implementing these social securities in all rural areas will go beyond the current financial affordability. Even in cities and towns, the current  social security system does not play an active role in reducing the income gap. On the contrary, it has the effect of widening the income gap between urban residents. This is mainly because this social security system is still with a considerable degree of coverage limitations, particularly in the low income people and the mobile labor force. More importantly, the population without coverage is precisely the low income population which is most in need of social protection by these insurance systems. On the other hand, high income residents benefit from these social security systems significantly higher than low income residents. According to a survey of the National Economic Research Institute, the Medicare reimbursement for medical expenses in low income urban residents is much lower than that in high income urban residents. Moreover, the proportion of Medicare reimbursement for the former is lower than the latter, while the proportion of self-paid medical expense in the expenditure for the former is significantly higher than the latter. Therefore, how to ensure the current social security systems to cover urban workers not in the social security system yet as soon as possible will be a critical issue to be addressed. At the same time, social security issues of rural residents need certainly also be placed on the agenda as soon as possible. Long-term difference in treatment between urban and rural residents is not fair. However, this issue needs a longer period of time to gradually resolve due to limited financial resources. A few wealthy rural regions have already established a unified social security system conditions. For residents of most rural areas, although the conditions of establishment of a comprehensive social security system are not mutual, some pressing issues still need to be prioritized to solve, such as the problem of farmers have no money to see a doctor. The new rural cooperative medical care system needs to be quickly spread. Experiences of some rural areas have demonstrated that cooperative medical care system is very effective to protect the low income population. On the other hand, according to international experience, financial transfer payment is also one of the main approaches to eliminate the income gap and regional disparity. As Wang Xiaolu points out in his report in 2006, in this regard in China, in addition to financial support for agriculture, pension  and social welfare and supporting underdeveloped regions expenditures, tax return from central government to local government as well as the construction investment of key projects in the less developed regions, in fact, have been performed financial transfer payment function. The total amount of financial transfer payment is quite large. However, some studies have found that financial transfer payment did not play a significant role in reducing income disparities and regional development gaps. In Wang’s opinion, this is mainly caused by the following reasons, First, the transfer payments are lacking of a rigorous and standardized system as well as standards of implementation. Hence the transfer payments’ strongly subjective profile makes their role in reducing income disparities and regional development gaps greatly reduced. Second, the transfer payments do not have clear objectives and their structures are not reasonable. The proportion of the transfer payments for general investment projects and government expenditures is too high while that for alleviating poverty and decreasing the bottle neck of development of backward areas (such as insufficient education and other public expenditure, weak infrastructure, etc. All of those are impediments to economic development) underfunded. It makes the transfer payments difficult to play a critical role in reducing the income gap. Third, there are no strict and effective measures to oversee the usage as well as the effect of transfer payments. For example, in some poor areas, the government poverty alleviation and disaster relief funds were frequently misappropriated to cover office buildings, luxury cars and government staff bonuses. Due to lack of management and supervision, some of the earmarks turned into waste, and provided the chances for some rent-seeking and  corrupt government officials. Therefore, for transfer payments, the main problems now seem not to be the quantity, but rather setting up clear objectives and rationalization of the system to regulate the management and to strengthen supervision. These measures will reduce the income gap. At the same time, they will not reduce economic efficiency, but improve efficiency, reduce corruption and promote development. In addition to social security system and financial transfer payments, education and infrastructure also play the similarly important role in the relationship of equality and economic efficiency. According to Wang’s research, many domestic and foreign literatures have pointed out that education plays a crucial role in the promotion of economic development; moreover, education to the whole population helps to reduce the income gap. In 2004 the National Economic Research Institute conducted a survey on the income of mobile labor force. Across the country, 3,000 randomly selected migrant workers and self-employed persons from rural areas were classified according to the average monthly income. The results are as following: for those not graduated from primary school the average monthly income is 769 yuan, for primary school graduated 815 yuan, for junior high school graduated 960 yuan, for high school graduated 1268 yuan, for college and above 1554 yuan. This very clearly illustrates the level of education greatly impacts on income levels. Obviously, improving education is a fundamental way to improve the employability and income levels of low income population. On one hand, currently there are hundreds of millions of rural labor force migrates into cities and towns to work. On the other hand, there are three hundred million people who are still engaged in agriculture, with wages of a small fraction of the average urban per capita. They are waiting to continue to transfer to cities. But most of them are facing low level of education, lack of vocational skills and oversupply in the labor market. Meanwhile, a lot of city workers returned to the status of poverty due to layoffs and unemployment. It’s very difficult for them to get reemployment because of the lack of professional skills. However, the labor market needs workers with a higher level of education and professional skills but has to facing  the reality of supply shortage. Therefore, in order to narrowing the income gap, it is very critical to enhance the popularity of primary and secondary education and expanding vocational education. In Wang’s research, he found out that China’s per capita level of education exhibits unexpected negative impact on urban residents income gap. Surprisingly, higher level of education led to a widening income gap. This is a strong signal that China’s education -age population is facing unequal educational opportunities, and educational opportunities for high income groups are significantly greater than the low income population. As a result, the per capita level of education increases, while the income gap has not narrowed. Instead, the income inequality is expanding. If we look at the popularization of compulsory nine years education in China, you will find in recent years, pupils’ dropout rate in rural areas was significantly higher than that in urban areas, with many dropout of school due to poverty situation in rural areas. This point can also be reflected from the allocation of education funds. Especially a few key universities get large amount of fund s, while a great number of rural primary and secondary education underfunded. Compared the situation in 2003 with that in 1999, the state financial allocations to universities increased by 40.4 billion yuan (in another word, increase 85%), while state financial allocations to ordinary primary and junior high schools increased by 52.5 billion yuan (increase 79%) and 49.8 billion yuan (increase of 65%), respectively. Although the situation has improved to various degrees, but this increase did not exceed the revenue and expenditure growth rate (90% and 87%). Even so, in 2003 the national average education budget per 420,000 primary schools is only less than 30 million, of which the budget allocation in rural schools is far less than that of urban schools. Some individual prestigious university obtained an education funding up to ten billion. Excessively unbalanced distribution of educational resources not only will exacerbate income inequality, but also is not helpful for efficient allocation of education resources. Another educational problem to be solved is how to correctly handle the relationship of general education and vocational education. Although in China currently there’re more than 4million people each year go into  colleges for education, but there are also more than 17 million people directly get employment without higher education. For the labor market, each year the number of demand for workers with the level of secondary education as well as specialized skills far exceeds in number of the demand for college graduates. However, the current dominant position of general secondary education is still basically to provide students into college In another word, the main objective of general secondary schools is the examination-oriented education and does not pay attention to skills training. The dominant ideology of the entire education system is to measure the success of education by entering the university or not. Four out of five school-age youth entered the labor market as the losers of their education. This reality has incalculable negative impact on workers’ skills, work ethic and healthy psychology, according to Wang’s report. At the same time, secondary vocational and other professional education live in a subordinate position in the education system, with very limited quantity. Compared the situation in 2003 with that in 1999, the state financial allocations to secondary vocational schools increased by 300 million yuan (an increase of 2.5%), and state financial allocations to technical schools decreased by 400 million yuan (down 16% )and vocational schools increased by 3 billion (an increase of 42% increase ). These increases are negligible compared to the funding’s growth of universities and ordinary primary and secondary. Such education dislocation makes the most of new entrants to the labor market is lacking of professional skills, and their low level knowledge on employment helps rather limited. In addition, local education and vocational education system’s exclusion for migrant workers and their children is also need to be carefully addressed. Like South Korea, China needs to focus on creating a highly qualified workforce so that they can increase innovation. South Korea adopted a policy to intensify investments in education and innovation in preparation for this. This policy aided South Korea in developing a plan for long term growth as opposed to short term consumption driven growth. Meanwhile, the World Bank has just released its detailed report: China 2030: Building a Modern, Harmonious, and Creative High-Income Society. In this report the World Bank believes that the export-led model that has delivered the past  30-years of growth and development in China has now run its course. From the World Bank’s perspective, China can only succeed in becoming a modern, high income country if it implements a six-step series of reforms. Not surprisingly, to increase innovation and to reduce inequality are among these six reforms as following, ï‚ · Accelerate the pace of innovation and create an open innovation system in which competitive pressures encourage Chinese firms to engage in product and process innovation not only through their own research and development but also by participating in global research and development networks. Essentially, the World Bank recommends that China seek to move away from being an imitator to an innovator in its own right. Reducing inequality by expanding opportunities and promoting social security for all by facilitating equal access to jobs, finance, quality social services, and portable social security. With regard to infrastructure construction in recent years, transportation, communication and other conditions as well as the urban landscape have significantly improved. But we should note the imbalance in the allocation of resources. In many areas, much more emphasis and attentions were put on the facade construction, highway construction and urban centers transformation than that on rural infrastructure in remote areas. On the one hand, highways are vacant or rarely used in some less developed regions. On the other hand, there are 173 towns and more than 50,000 administrative villages still inaccessible by road, the latter accounting for 8% of the total number of administrative villages across the whole country, according to Wang’s research. For these remote areas, the weak infrastructure is an important cause leading to poverty and backwardness. In summary, China’s development level is still at the low level. Hoping to rely on transfer payments to drastically eliminate the income gap is unrealistic. What the governments should focus on is to provide more equal opportunities and conditions in education, infrastructure and other areas. Investment in these  areas will provide human resources and infrastructure supply better meeting the social and market needs. By doing them, it is entirely possible to improve residents’ economic situation. China is facing the continually widen income gap. If this critical issue could be reasonably resolved, Chinese social justice, harmony and long term economic development will be able to be ensured. . Otherwise, China may turn into a society with huge income gap, serious social conflict, power and money collusion, corruption and plunder prevailed, which will eventually result in economic stagnation. Middle-income trap will be impossible to avoid in this case. As we mentioned above, there are several factors leading to the current expansion of the income gap or blocking reduction of the income gap. These factors include that social security system is not sound, the financial transfer payment system is with flaw, educational opportunities are not fair enough, the education system is not conducive to the promotion of employment, weak infrastructure in rural and backward areas, lack of job opportunities as well as the irrational distribution of resources and corruption and other social in equities due to the not perfect system. To resolve these issues, it’s urgent to perform further reform and development. The following most crucial problems need to be addressed: to solve the fairness of education, to solve the disjointed issues between educations, economic development as well as employment, to create more job opportunities through economic development and urbanization, to correct government’s action, eventually eliminates the problem of corruption and unfair distribution through administrative reform. Resolving these problems not only will not affect economic efficiency, but also will ensure the impartiality of Chinese social harmony, economic efficiency and long-term sustainable development.

Air Quality

Air Quality Essay Air Quality Dispersion Today, the air quality aspect of ARL research is by far the dominant theme, but distinctions among the themes remain somewhat vague. For example, the models developed for emergency response purposes are among those used for air quality prediction. The Air Quality and Dispersion theme is one of the strongest ties that binds ARLs components together. ARL is not heavily involved in the pure science of the business. Instead, ARL focusses on the need to assemble integrated understanding and models from all available sources, to develop the capability to predict changes in air quality that will follow changes in emissions, or that will occur as a result of meteorological factors. ARL air quality research extends to studies of atmospheric deposition essentially the coupling between the atmospheric pollutant environment and the surface below. ARL now operates the only research-grade deposition monitoring network in the nation: AIRMoN (the Atmospheric Integrated Resear ch Monitoring Network). Programs. Air Quality and Deposition Modeling Air quality models have demanded this kind of coupling for a considerable time. As a result, there are now well-developed descriptions of PBL processes in use in air quality models. ARL research products are now receiving a wider audience, within the mesoscale modeling community at large. It is recognized that modern models are invariably data assimilative, and that modern monitoring programs require coupled modeling activities for data interpretation. Model development programs are supported by a vigorous physical modeling program, located at Research Triangle Park, NC. ARL operates one of the nations major fluid modeling facilities, at which studies are conducted on the effects of mountains, buildings, and other surface obstacles on atmospheric flow patterns. Integrated Monitoring, and AIRMoN The Atmospheric Integrated Research Monitoring Network is an atmospheric component to the overall national integrated monitoring initiative that is currentl y evolving. AIRMoN has two principal components: wet and dry deposition. ARL presently focuses its research attention on ? the measurement of precipitation chemistry with fine time resolution (AIRMoN-wet), ? the development of systems for measuring deposition, both wet and dry, ? the measurement of dry deposition using micrometeorological methods (AIRMoN-dry), ? the development of techniques for assessing air-surface exchange in areas (such as specific watersheds) where intensive studies are not feasible, and ? the extension of local measurements and knowledge to describe areal average exchange in numerical models. Aerosols and visibility ARL specializes in the geochemical cycling of atmospheric aerosols, particularly the particulate component. Research groups in ARL concentrate on (a) the injection of dust and soil particles into the atmosphere, (b) the transport of particles through the atmosphere, the production of aerosol particles in the air by chemical reactions, (d) the scavenging of airborne particles by clouds and their subsequent deposition in precipitation, (e) the dry deposition of particles as air moves across different landscapes, and (f) the assembly of numerical models. Specific topics include ? the injection of dust and soil particles into the atmosphere, ? the long-range transport of particles through the atmosphere, ? the production of aerosol particles in the air by chemical reactions, ? the scavenging of airborne particles by clouds and their subsequent deposition in precipitation, and ? the dry deposition of particles as air moves across different landscapes. International ARL serves as the leader of the U.S. multi-agency effort to impose formalized and uniform quality assurance programs on the many national air quality and deposition monitoring networks that are operational around the globe. How are ozone concentrations calculated with Hysplit? Ozone is then calculated from the photostationary state equation. The IER solution is used in the operational Hysplit ozone calculation. The pollutant particles are tracked and air concentrations for each species are computed each advection time step following the usual lagrangian approaches. At the conclusion of the advection step the GRS differential equations are solved on the concentration grid (Eulerian solution), and the change of concentration of each pollutant species is applied to the pollutant mass on the particles that contributed concentration to each grid cell. -Eulerian chemistry solution on the grid dc/dt = {Equations 1 7} 1) ROC + hv -* RP + ROC Nitric oxide-ozone titration reacti on 5) RP + RP -* RP k5 = 10200 Sink for nitrogen dioxide to stable gaseous nitrates

Wwe Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wwe - Assignment Example Barthes believes that Judo does not contain any exposing gestures which would show the feelings of the individuals who are taking part. On the other hand in wrestling it can be clearly seen that gestures play an important role to show a wrestlers hate. Barthes believes that the wrestling nowadays is false wrestling in which the wrestlers cross all limits to show that they are having a fair fight. However this is not the case with old wrestling which showed the reality with deep thoughts in every step of the wrestler. Features of a spectacle are many flood lights which droop onto the stage so that shadows cannot be seen. Emotions and feelings in the individuals participating in the sport is necessary so that the reality of the spectacle can be felt by the crowd. The clarity of the sport also makes it a spectacle. Barthes discusses the signs used in wrestling to show the intensity of the situation inside the ring. He emphasizes upon the sign of clarity in wrestling as the crowd knows about the roles of the wrestlers as they enter the ring. He tells that physique, appearance, his attitude and his gestures are signs told by Barthes about wrestling. The signs laid down by Barthes about a wrestling match help to know about the situation down in the ring. These signs would help to choose between a bad wrestler and a good one and then to choose sides with either of them. It would help to enjoy the wrestling match with a greater enthusiasm. A viewer has an important role of cheering or ‘booing’’ the wrestlers as per their attributes. They show how much they enjoy the aspects of wrestling because of which a wrestler may get enthusiastic enough to show all his skills. Going to a wrestling match would help to show different aspects of life and would make the audience see hatred, suffering and cruelty. Being a spectator is different as someone would see the

The Empty Quarter desert in Saudi Arabia Term Paper

The Empty Quarter desert in Saudi Arabia - Term Paper Example According to the paper people also avoid living in this region because it has scarce rainfall, vegetation, and lack of clean water. Hence, the name Rub’ al Khali, which means, the Empty Quarter. In addition, the natural features of the desert such as large sand dunes make it difficult for human beings to live and walk around. The Empty Quarter also has another name, the Great Sandy Desert due to these large sand dunes. People also believe that the Empty Quarter desert evolved during the time of pluvial in the Tertiary and Quaternary. The sand dunes of the Empty Quarter desert emerged from the far end of Miocene and up to the late Pleistocene. There are two main sources of the sand dunes in The Empty Quarter desert.   From this study it is clear that strong winds then moves the accumulated sand to the Empty Quarter desert. This type of sand is characterized by its white color, salty, course, and easy to move. Marine sands cover the eastern and northern parts of the Empty Quarter desert. The ideal source of marine sand found in Empty Quarter desert is Al Gafourah. The strong winds play a vital role in shaping the sand dunes of the Empty Quarter desert. The desert generally slopes from west towards east at a rate of one meter per kilometer. The approximate height above sea level of the sand dunes ranges between nine hundred to one thousand meters. The middle of Empty Quarter desert has is approximately four hundred to five hundred meters above the sea level. The Empty Quarter desert elevation decreases towards the Arabian Gulf. Touring the around the desert, I realized that the Empty Quarter can be divided into five main section considering the types of Sand Dunes. To begin with, there are Barchan D unes, which are large, and high dunes having moist sabkha spread among the dunes. Such dunes exist in northern parts of the Empty Quarter desert. Secondly, there are star dunes, which are steep pyramidal in shape, vertical peaks, formed individually or inter-structural in shapes. Some of the star dunes height reaches as much as two hundred meters. Star dunes mainly cover the southern and eastern parts of the Empty Quarter desert. A good example of star dune is Al G’ad and Ghonaim sand dunes. Thirdly, there are domal dunes characterized by being high and inter-structured. Domal dunes occur at the junction of longitudinal dunes that flow in opposite directions. Some of these dunes have a height of one hundred meters. Domal dunes cover the middle portion of the Empty Quarter desert.

The Impact of Third Party Logistic on the Supply Chain Process in The Essay

The Impact of Third Party Logistic on the Supply Chain Process in The Case Of Tesco Plc - Essay Example There are associated different advantages with the effective third party logistics. The advantages of the third party logistics include improvements in the efficiency of labor, increase in the efficiency of the IT, improvement in the customer’s satisfaction and the effective implementation of the supply chain management systems. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 5 DECLARATION 5 ABSTRACT 5 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 5 Outline of the Study 5 Background of the Research 5 Problem Statement 5 Research Aims 5 Research Objectives 5 Significance of the study 5 Rationale of the study 5 Research Questions 5 Electronic data base searches 5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 Supply Chain Management 5 Third- Party Logistics 5 Overview of the Company 5 Tesco Plc and the Third-party Logistics 5 Pitfalls 5 Strategic objective in the Supply Chain 5 Supply Chain Management (SCM) 5 Retail Sector 5 Principles for managing the Supply Chain 5 Principle No. 1: 5 Principle No. 2: 5 Principle No. 3: 5 Princi ple No. 4: 6 Principle No. 5: 6 Principle No. 6: 6 Principle No. 7: 6 Supply Chain Decisions 6 Location Decisions 6 Production Decisions 6 Inventory Decisions 6 Transportation Decisions 6 Impact of Effective Third Party Logistics 6 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 6 Research Plan / Methodology Perspective 6 Research Design 6 Rationale for a Qualitative Study 6 Rationale for a Quantitative Study 6 Philosophical Framework or Paradigm 6 Appropriate Method 6 Selection of Methods 6 Data Collection Methods 6 Instrument for data collection 6 Data Analysis 6 Justification Method 6 Strength and weakness of the mixed research 6 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 6 Literature Search 6 Reliability/Dependability 6 Validity 6 Ethical Considerations 6 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION AND... Just like other activities, the Supply Chain Management is one of the advanced methodologies to ensure a proper and sophisticated supply and distribution of the goods and services by the firms in an industry. This proposal, and the thesis based on it, discusses the concept of the Supply Chain Process and the impact of third party logistics on it. In order to elaborate on the literature review of the subject, the research has been done analytically through the case study approach. For that purpose, the case of Tesco Plc has been considered and a comprehensive view of the topic has been provided in the company’s context. In order to provide a structure to the study, the exploration has been guided through the use of research methodologies, the collection of data through secondary research and the interpretation of the results. Background of the Research For the purpose of researching upon the company, Tesco has been considered to be analyzed in terms of the supply chain process. The investigation will also be performed to judge the impact of third party logistics on the supply chain processes of the organization. According to Rayport and Sviokla (2006), Tesco plc is merchandise and the global grocery retailer based in Cheshunt, United Kingdom.

Analyse and evaluate the impact of volunteer tourism on host Essay - 2

Analyse and evaluate the impact of volunteer tourism on host communities - Essay Example In the first place, firms try to optimise everything and one subject of the optimisation process is the human resource. For this reason, the human resource department may be picky in dealing with finding the human resources that are truly competent or will have optimum contribution for the firm’s future success. There is a prevailing notion that the younger are the chosen employees, the better it will be for the company. However, there might also be substantial flaws in this argument because there are also prevailing young age discriminations in the workplace. In particular, young people might be less likely promoted because of their age (Sargeant, 2006, p.84). At the other end, old age discrimination is also prevalent, because older people are perceived to be somewhere in the portion of economic inactivity, leading to the firm’s likelihood of obtaining less possible output from them (Sargeant, 2006, p.91). Added to this, people belonging to senior age group are also un der the area of discrimination, especially on the ground of promotion, training opportunities and redundancy (Sargeant, 2006, p.90). On the other hand, the group that will be less likely to experience possible discrimination at the workplace is composed of the middle-age employees, but these are also the people who have most of their needs for feeding their children and some women in this group suffer a significant discrimination (Sergeant, 2006, p.88). In other words, in all possible ages of workers, discrimination might be remarkable in the workplace, because they are subjects to the firm’s prevailing requirement of optimising what seems to be substantial for the company’s welfare. In other words, not everyone of varying age has the chance to be given the optimum break in a firm. The work at hand tries to depict the actual probable problems linked to inequality through age discrimination in the workplace. According to the study of Roscigno et al. (2007,

LEARNING PAPER 3-OTHER CULTURE GROUP Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

LEARNING 3-OTHER CULTURE GROUP - Research Paper Example is means that American citizens were under obligation to play a significant role by adopting lifestyles that would maintain and preserve the youthful state of their bodies. In the next few years, the media began to concentrate on discussing various aspects of human health. This was accompanied by a considerable increase in the health related services and goods. This then spiked an even greater preoccupation, in the public, with subjects such as health consciousness. Citizens also started showing anxiety that was related to the possibility of developing conditions that would harm the body. Even in past civilizations, people sought to find ways in which their behavior influenced the state of their health. Modern medicine has shown that there is a definite connection between what people consume, how they live, and their state of health. This reality has spurred a health culture that revolves around regimens involved with hygiene, diet, and daily exercise. Today’s health culture calls for citizens to take supplements, partake in regular exercise, and consume only healthy foods. Today, there is an emphasis on self-care movements, adopting holistic practices, and acquiring attractive body images. This trend has been internationalized by the corresponding increase of media consumption, along with the efficiency with which modern advertising is conducted. Today, the internet, television, radio, newspapers, and other forms of media all carry information about weight loss, magazines, vitamins, books, energy-foods, and dieting. There are numerous educational advantages that have been brought about by the increase in health knowledge. For instance, people today are more knowledgeable about the connection between health and science. They understand their own bodies better, and have more confidence in their abilities to heal with as little assistance as possible from the medical sector. Due to the fact that many people recognize the symptoms of deadly diseases, the modern

Separation of Powers between the Three Branches of Government Essay

Separation of Powers between the Three Branches of Government - Essay Example It was, however, Charles Louis de Montesquieu who clearly defined the three branches of government and laid down the basics of the concept of separation of powers. Some countries being underpinned by the concept of separation of powers, like the United States, have written constitutions that clearly laid out and allocated the various powers and functions of the government to the different branches (Barnett pp. 105-106). This is not so in the United Kingdom. The UK Constitution does not consist of a single, written document but rather of various uncodified laws scattered in several documents like statutes, court decisions and treaties and unwritten ones like customs and conventions. A strict separation of powers normally divides separate powers and functions and allows them to the three branches government: the executive; Parliament, and; the judiciary. In the UK, the components of the three branches of governments usually share powers held by other branches in a mixed government fash ion. Eric Barendt, however, author of the book Separation of Powers does not believe that the UK necessarily has a weaker constitution because of this disparity. He believes that â€Å"the separation of powers should not be explained in terms of a strict distribution of functions between the three branches of government, but in terms of a network of rules and principles which ensure that power is not concentrated in the hands of one branch.† The UK government, like other democratic governments, has three major institutions, all exercising various functions and powers and sometimes sharing the powers of the other branches: the executive, the legislative and the judiciary. The executive department is made up the Crown and the central government, the latter of which is composed of the Prime Minister and his/her Cabinet Ministers. The central government is accountable to Parliament, which can choose to dissolve it and force a new election of a new set of officials if it believes that circumstances warrant it.  

Business Management and Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Business Management and Strategies - Essay Example Some models mean the same thing but are given different names by their creators. With the evolution of the internet, many new models have emerged. At the same time, some do not stay long and have gone. Rappa (no date) identifies nine generic forms of business models, including the brokerage model, advertising model, infomediary model, merchant model, manufacturer model, affiliate model, community model, subscription model, and utility model. Timmers (1998) classifies business models by positioning them along the two dimensions of the degree of innovation and functional integration. In Novak and Hoffman (2001)'s customer-centric framework, for any business model to be successful, it must integrate customer models, value models, and revenue models. In this paper, the customer-centric framework of Novak and Hoffman (2001) will be adopted as each of the three subsidiary model answers questions such as who are the communities or customers served by the firm, how the firm attracts target a udience, and where does the revenue for the firm come from respectively. A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: NOVAK AND HOFFMAN'S CUSTOMER-CENTRIC BUSINESS MODEL According to Novak and Hoffman (2001)'s customer-centric framework, a successful business model consists of customer models, value models, and revenue models. A customer model is a segmentation of the users of the electronic business. The four groups of users are businesses, consumers, agents, and employees. Each customer model consists of two groups of users. The most common type of customer model seen on the internet today would be businesses to consumers. Businesses to businesses and consumers to consumers are not uncommon as well. Therefore, fourteen segmentations of customer models are possible, as shown by Figure 1. Figure 1 Customer Models Business (B) Consumer (C) Agent (A) Employee (E) Business (B) B:B B:C B:A B:E Consumer (C) C:B C:C C:A C:E Agent (A) A:B A:C A:A A:E Employee (E) E:B E:C E:A E:E Novak and Hoffman, 2001 The value model of Novak and Hoffman (2001)'s framework seeks to address how firms can attract target audience by providing them value. The twelve possibilities of how the web can create value are by offering brokerage service, content, search tools, incentives, freeware, communication, control, outsourcing, entertainment, transactions, affiliate opportunities, and communities. Of course, any model would not have commercial feasibility if it does not generate revenue for the firm. The revenue model identifies the revenue stream of the firm conducting electronic business. The seventeen revenue models are transaction fees, hosting fees, referral fees, subscription fees, license fees, pay-per-view, pay-per-performance, micropayment, advertising, sponsorships, ransom model, margin on sales of goods or services, sale of customer data, offline customer response, efficiency and effectiveness gains, value-added services (linux model), and virtual real estate. Various value models and revenu e models can be created

Drugs in sport Essay Example for Free

Drugs in sport Essay Drugs in sport is a major problem at this moment in time as it is beginning to become easier to attain drugs in your locally area. There is four different aspects that will be looked at in this essay are the four different aspects of drugs in sport which are philosophy, sociology, psychology and physiology. Each of these different aspects is influential in drugs in sport. These issues are major in sport, as they not only affect the professional athletes that people think that they do. A survey taken of sefton Liverpool is only one example how it affects everyone not just professionals. This showed that anabolic steroids had been the third most commonly offered drug behind cannabis and amphetamines, revealing that 6à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½4% of boys and 1à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½3% of girls had been offered anabolic steroids (Clarke 1999). We can see the problems with drugs in sport in that if children find out there favourite players or athletes are taking these drugs then they must be tempted and the survey shows how easy it is for them to gain possession of the drug. Drugs are a major issue that has to be looked at. Un officially reports claim that there is as many as twenty to forty percent of gym users taking perfromencing-enhancing drugs. This shows the severity of drugs in sport. (Drug scope website) The first aspect to look at is the philosophy of drugs in sport. Philosophy is described as the study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence or, a theory or attitude that guides ones behaviour. (Concise Oxford English Dictionary 2004) The philosophy behind dugs in sport is complex as there are many different philosophies that people will take. One reason is because of their desire to win. The win at all costs theory is rife throughout sport at all levels. The fact that drugs are used widely throughout sport is because of this theory. If a competitor thinks that he will be able to get the edge on any of his opponents he will take it. But the win at all cost attitudes towards sport is essential in athletes taking these performance-enhancing drugs. It was really rammed home what length professional athletes will go to become successful and win. The win at all cost mentality was evident at the biggest stage of sport the Olympics. At the last Olympics there were 24 doping violations throughout the whole of the games. This is double the amount found at the previously highest amount taken at the Olympics. (BBC website) It shows that competitors will do whatever it takes to win that gold medal. The philosophy for many people who decide to go ahead and take drugs is because they believe everyone else does. An interview with a professional weightlifter called Tammy Thompson. She showed the philosophy of since everyone else takes drugs then so should I. in the interview she t6alks about the reason why she started to take performance enhancing drugs. Instead of training harder or going to better techniques, I figured they were taking drugs and I would too. Id catch up. (Todd, 1987) This shows one reason behind this competitor took these drugs and why many other do. The theory that when they lose it is because everyone else is taking drugs not because they cant make the grade in there sport. The philosophy of doing what everyone else is doing is probably the main reason for the competitors taking drugs. When you are watching certain sports you automatically believe that they are taking drugs to enhance their performance. Sports like power lifting, or bodybuilding is rife in them and it is obvious that people would take the drugs to keep up with the other people in their sport if they want to be successful. If we look at taking drugs in a philosophic viewpoint, we always come to the fact that does it really affect the persons success. Are these performance-enhancing drugs actually the magic pill the media makes them out to be? (Simon 1984). They may improve the performance of the competitors taking them but they still have to have the desire to be successful and train to make these drugs work. The drug will not suddenly make an average performer become world class. The person still needs to have that core skill and determination to train and win. We see the taking of these drugs as cheating. Gunther Luschen describes cheating as cheating in sport is the act through which the manifestly or latently agreed upon conditions for winning such a contest are changed in favour of one side. As a result, the principle of equality of chance beyond differences of skill and strategy is violated (1976). Throughout your early experience of sport as a child you are told of the philosophy that cheaters never win. But as a child growing up we see people cheating by taking these drugs every day and the children will see these and it will become even more acceptable than it is at this moment in time. Children are seeing there favourite stars suspected of taking drugs such as Rio Ferdinand and they will start to believe that this is all that you can do to become successful in sport. This is just one case of high profile names being found or believed to be taking drugs while competing in sport. When you look on what the philosophy is behind the reason performers take drugs there is a wide selection. But one thing through all the theories that you may find for the use of performance enhancing drugs is that they are related to the person or persons winning. No matter what why they put there reason for taking these drugs it will always come back to the fact that they want to win and be successful. The next factor that I will be looking at the affect of taking the drugs has on a persons psychology. There is psychological affects that come upon a person are different for each stage of use of performance enhancing drugs. Some affects of taking these drugs are to have changes in moods, become more confident in your self and you become more motivated and enthusiastic. These may seem like good affects but these come early in the usage of drugs. Eventually the person will come prone to mood swings; they will create aggressive feeling, which grow into violence and hostile behaviour. (Corrigan 1996) we can see just from these affect the severity of taking these drugs. You think of the amount of people that are on these drugs and you can see the problem that arise with people taking performance enhancing drugs, these violent behaviour are also what led to such incidents as including reckless driving or crashing cars, assaults, marriage break-ups, domestic violence, child abuse, suicide and attempted murder or murder. (Schulte, Hail, Boyer, 1993) We can see the potential havoc that these drugs can cause to a person psychological health. When you look at the psychological effect that taking these drugs have upon the persons taking anabolic steroids one familiar factor continues to arise. This factor is that a person will develop mood disorders. Pope and Katz (1990) found that 22 per cent of bodybuilders and footballers were found to meet the American Psychiatric Associations criteria for a manic or depressive episode while on anabolic steroids, it was also discovered that once stopped taking the drug there symptoms subsided. This shows how taking these steroids can affect a persons psychological well being. The drug affects people in a variety of ways, be it like above in their moods and make them come a bit more depressed. Where as in the other reports found that taking these anabolic steroids affect a person aggression we can see this in a study taken by Choi and Pope (1994) they took study of 24 anabolic steroid user and 14 non users. The findings were that while a person who was taking a drug cycle they were more likely to report verbal and physical fights with their spouse compared with the non-user and people that were not currently on a drug cycle. We can see from these affects that a person has while he or she is on a drug cycle. This is a worrying thought as we have already seen the amount of drug user there is thought to be. Among the community of steroid users there is a term called roid rage, which described by Wright, Grogan and Hunter (2001) as an uncontrollable outbursts of aggression. In report taken by Beel (1994) people who are taking these drugs compare normally to the general public in education, income, height and alcohol consummation. Though are likely to report roid rage as a response to small amounts of provocation. This is a worrying finding if it does not take a lot to make a person go into an uncontrollable fit of rage. We see the stats of how many people can get hold of these drugs and how many people are currently using the drug. But you only realise the fact that it affects the people around them as well. If they take one of these roid rage it may be the people nearest to them they take it out on and in s ome cases that can be there wives or their children. Looking at the overall effect of drugs on the whole on the user psychological state of mind it is worrying thought that there are so many effects that can occur a person during cycles of drug use. These affects are not just affecting the person themselves but the people nearest to them they are also affected. We see all the problems that come with taking these drugs and yet they still take them knowing that they will affects them and this shows that they are willing to do whatever it takes to be successful in there goal. This links in with the philosophy of winning at all costs on previously in the paper. The next factor that I will be looking at is the sociology behind why people take these performance-enhancing drugs. A main factor in the use of these drugs is to enhance their body appearance. When giving reasons for using these performance-enhancing drugs improving body image was most frequently given answer amongst gym users. (Taylor and Black 1987) this answer shows that people are to this being socially acceptable and look the correct way to people. This stems from the public image and the role models that are made of sports stars. Examples are rife in all countries, are it here in Briton where a lot of our superstars are given the clean cut image and built up to a superstar status. You look at Dwain Chambers a major force in 100 meters sprinting who is portrayed to the public as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Chambers ultimately caught with taking banned substance THG while in his training camp in Germany. (Parry 2006) This has ruined his image of a role model. People looking up at chambers will think this must be acceptable and the only way to be successful. It promotes that image in society that to become as successful as him you will have to take performance-enhancing drugs. We see the affect that drugs have in sport through the number of people caught each year. But when you look and see that children are thinking of beginning to play sport and want to be successful you can see the problem. Linford Christie and Olympic medalist himself stated that athletics has become so corrupt with drugs that he would not want he children involved in it. (Savulescu, Foddy and Clayton 2004) when you see an Olympic champion saying such bad thing about a sport it helps you realize the severity of drug taking in sport. This affects him even though to the society who thinks it was best time of his life, but in reality he does not even want his children to experience this side of a professional sportsman society where drugs are common and not really thought about. When you look at society and who their role models are especially in England the people they look up to are the professional footballers. So the affect of any of these players taking drugs would affect the society as a whole and promote taking these performance-enhancing drugs. In survey conducted by Waddington, Malcolm, Roderick, et al (2004) of professional footballers in England, they found that there was at four premiership players using enhancing drugs. This has massive affect on society as if these people are thought to be gaining in success and in the money that they earn then it must have affect on society on how they react to this. Public see there top stars such as Gerrard, Rooney, or Henry taking drugs they will obviously think that this is how they can immolate there heroes. This shows how drugs in sport affect the society as a whole. The sociology side of drugs in sport is big in that it affects a lot of different society I not just one singular society. We look at athletes who get caught taking enhancing drugs and they are role models to all aspiring athletes or competitors and to no that they only achieved these heights through taking drugs only promotes the need for competitors to take drugs. A big example is in America baseball where Mark McGwire broke the record for most home run hits in baseball history for one season. Two weeks before McGwire broke this record he admitted to taking performance-enhancing drug but once he broke that record he was still treated like a hero and built up as a great of the game. But with this they also to a society of aspiring baseball players promoted taking this drug to become a player as good as McGwire was. The final aspect that you have to look at is what are the physiological affects when you are taking drugs. While a person is taking these performance-enhancing drugs there are physical affects that occur to the body. Strauss and Yesalis (1991) said that while a person is taking anabolic steroid that there is a growth in the size of a person while on these drugs. Though this is a plus of becoming bigger or being more successful at there sport there is also the downside of taking these drugs. Some of these problems are testicular atrophy, prostate enlargement, difficulty in urination secondary to changes in the prostate, (Daigle 1990) these are not shown to the buyer the problems that can occur from taking anabolic steroids, this is only one of many possible symptoms. When we look at all the different forms drugs caffeine also come up as a banned substance in terms off athletes. This drug has an affect on the muscles of the body and makes them go for longer it act upon the skeletal muscles. (Ganslen 1974) Drugs the different types of drugs which a person takes are vast they can range from drugs that are designed to produce muscle mass and make the performer bigger such as anabolic steroids, or drugs designed to make your red blood cell count become greater which are called EPO. EPO proper name Erythropoietin. EPO is a hormone produced by the kidneys that produces red blood cells within the body. By injecting themselves with extra EPO, athletes can not only improve oxygen absorption but also potentially increase the metabolism and healing process of muscles. (Bennett, 2003) This drug is helpful with professional coaching as it means that the person can train for longer. We can see simply from the two different drugs the radical changes that taking these performance-enhancing drugs can have on people. When you look at drugs in sport through each of these different aspects you can see a lot of how sever the problem is. Each aspect links in with each other to form different problems. Looking at the different whys that it harms a person it is not only a person body that it is affecting but also their mind. You also look at top professionals from all around the world; they are role models to children from their countries who wish to be like them. So when they decide to take these drugs it is there body they are damaging but also the body of there fans who think that it is acceptable to take drugs if there heroes are doing so as well. It is the responsibilities to get a message out that drugs a re bad and should never be used in enhance a competitors performance because there decision affects many more people.

Abortion In Mauritius Health And Social Care Essay

Abortion In Mauritius Health And Social Care Essay When does human life begin? In one sense this is a philosophical or religious issue, outside the realm of science. From a purely biological point of view the life of an individual begins when there is fertilisation. The birth of a child, no doubt, is a wonderful occasion. However women do abortion to limit births. Definition of abortion According to World Health Organisation, abortion is defined as an induced termination of pregnancy by use of medications or surgical interventions after implantation of the embryo and before the foetus is able to survive outside the maternal organism (before 22nd week of pregnancy). Types of abortion The term abortion most commonly refers to the induced abortion of a human pregnancy, while spontaneous abortions are usually termed miscarriages. Worldwide 42 million abortions are estimated to take place annually with 22 million of these occurring safely and 20 million unsafely. While maternal mortality seldom results from safe abortions, unsafe abortions result in 70,000 deaths and 5 million disabilities per year. One of the main determinants of the availability of safe abortions is the legality of the procedure. Forty percent of the worlds women are able to access therapeutic and elective abortions within gestational limits. The frequency of abortions is, however, similar whether or not access is restricted. Abortion has a long history and has been induced by various methods including herbal abortifacients, the use of sharpened tools, physical trauma, and other traditional methods. Contemporary medicine utilizes medications and surgical procedures to induce abortion. The legality, prevalence, and cultural views on abortion vary substantially around the world. In many parts of the world there is prominent and divisive public controversy over the ethical and legal issues of abortion. Abortion and abortion-related issues feature prominently in the national politics in many nations, often involving the opposing pro-life and pro-choice worldwide social movements (both self-named). Incidence of abortion has declined worldwide, as access to family planning education and contraceptive services has increased. Abortion in Mauritius Abortion is generally illegal in Mauritius under the Penal Code. Any person procuring an abortion or supplying the means to procure an abortion is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years. Abortion in Mauritius is one of the taboo subjects even in 2010. Why abortion still taboo is can maybe be explained by the fear of open talks and some constraint that some cultures and religions put upon such talks. Since abortion is illegal in Mauritius and in this globalized world it is still considered as a taboo, there is very few empirical evidence on this issue in Mauritius. Women fear or sometimes are ashamed of talking on this issue. Sometimes after having an abortion done illegally that they make use of the contraceptives method. The study will provide an insight of the perceptions of young women on the issue of abortion. Rational of the study The purpose of this study is to provide an insight of the perception of the issue of abortion among young women in Mauritius since the rate of abortion is increasing and many women are having post abortion complications. Aims and objectives To evaluate the perception of the issue of abortion among young Mauritian women. To assess their understanding on the causes and consequences of abortion among young women. Chapter outline Chapter 1 is the introduction. It will give an introduction of abortion and will give and overview of what will the dissertation consist of. Chapter 2 is the literature review and it will give an overview of the situation. Chapter 3 is the methodology. It will give an overview of the methodology used to carry out the study. The study will be a qualitative study using in depth interviews as the perceptions of women are to be assessed. Chapter 4 is the report finding and analysis. In this chapter the findings will be presented and analysed by using graphs, charts. Chapter 5 is the conclusion and recommendation. Man, through the ages from primitive, non-literate societies to advanced, industrialized and sophisticated societies, has attempted to control conception by a variety of largely crude and rule-of-thumb methods. When he failed to prevent conception he tried to interrupt pregnancy. As a means of fertility, abortion is as old as humanity and probably occurs in all cultures. Throughout recorded history women have resorted to abortion to terminate unwanted pregnancies, regardless of moral or legal sanctions and often at considerable physical or psychological risk and cost. Definition of abortion Abortion means ending a pregnancy. There are different definitions of abortion and they are as follows: Medical and pro-choice communities definition The definition used by the medical and pro-choice communities is: the end of a pregnancy before validity of the fetus. i.e. the termination of the process of gestation after the time when the zygote attaches itself to the uterine wall (about 14 days after conception), but before the fetus is possibly capable of surviving on its own (currently 23 to 28 weeks from conception). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists definition According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has defined abortion as occurring before the 20th week (134th day) of gestation. There are two types of abortion: Accidental abortion: a termination of pregnancy before viability that occurs naturally, without medical intervention. This is commonly called a miscarriage by the public. Therapeutic abortion: a termination of pregnancy via the intervention of a physician through surgery or the use of RU-486 or some other medications. Pro-lifers definition Pro-lifers sometimes define abortion as an intentional interruption of the development process, at any time from conception to birth. Definition from Wikipedia An abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by the removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the uterus, resulting in or caused by its death. An abortion can occur spontaneously due to complications during pregnancy or can be induced. Statistics on abortion According to World Health Organisation, every year in the world an estimated 40-50 million women faced with an unplanned pregnancy decide to have an abortion. 20 million of them resort to unsafe abortion, often self induced or obtain clandestinely. These unsafe abortions are carried out by untrained person under poor unhygiene conditions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. Worldwide in 1995, there were approximately 45.5 million abortions. Of these 19.9 million were unsafe or clandestine abortions and about 25.6 million abortions took place in countries where the procedure is legal under a broad range of conditions. Why seek an abortion? An unwanted or unplanned pregnancy is at the start of the abortion decision making process. Some of the most commonly declared reasons for having an abortion are the following: (Alan Guttmacher Institute. Aborto clandestine: una realidad Latinoamericana. New York, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, 1994 (in Spanish)) A woman is unable to raise a child because she and her partner receive a low salary, have unstable jobs or are unemployed or are students The relationship between the women and her partner is unsufficiently stable for the couple to be sure of raising children together or because the man stopped providing emotional and economic support to the women when the pregnancy was discovered. The women or the couple have all the children they want or they want another child but not at this time The pregnant adolescent or unmarried woman fears rejection by her family and society Some young single women wish to attain a certain level of personal satisfaction before becoming mothers In certain cases, the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest or the fetus is abnormal. Other reasons why women decide to terminate their pregnancy are as follows: They do not want more children or want them later on They are not married Their contraceptive method failed A child would disrupt their education or ability to work They cannot afford to raise a child Their relationship with their partner is bad They are too young Their parents objects They do not want their parent to know Methods of doing an abortion Many women are confronted with an unwanted pregnancy resort to a variety of techniques to induce an abortion. Many of these procedures begin in the womans home and end in the hospital emergency room. They may include self-administered abortifacients taken orally or administered vaginally. When women turn to others for help, the uterus may be manipulated by an unqualified person who may introduce a probe, catheter or sharp object to cause an abortion. Private physicians and other medical, paramedical and pharmaceutical facilities may also provide abortion services for a fee, using high-dose oral or injected hormone treatments such as misoprostol, aralen, quinine or oxytocins illegally. Millions of women through the centuries have followed old wives tales about drugs that produce abortion. Many have been the primitive, painful and dangerous methods used for abortion. Historically both tribal and urbanized societies have employed a variety of methods to end unwanted pregnancies. German Greer in her book Sex and Destiny described some of the abortion methods used throughout the world. They include the application of pressure outside the womb using logs and rocks, jumping on the womens abdomen as well as internal methods such as the ingestion of highly toxic chemicals and the use of various implements inside the uterus. In todays more industrialized societies technology has simplified the abortion procedure to a few basic, safe methods. For example medical and surgical abortion methods. Medical abortions use medications to end the pregnancy. This can be accomplished with a variety of medications given either as a single pill or a series of pills. It is commonly known as the Abortion Pill RU486 (brand name Mifeprex). Medical abortion causes an early abortion through the combination of the two medications, mifepristone and misoprostol. In Mauritius, it is commonly known as Cytotec. Some examples of surgical abortion methods are: Vacuum Aspiration and Dilation and Curettage: This abortion procedure, also known as DA or suction aspiration, uses gentle suction to remove all of the pregnancy tissue. Additionally, dilation and curettage or DC, may be necessary after a vacuum aspiration. In this procedure, a separate curette (a spoon-shaped instrument) may be used to help remove any remaining tissue that may be lining the uterus. Dilation and Evacuation (DE): This method uses the same procedures as DC procedure while also using additional surgical instruments (such as forceps). A DE abortion is usually performed during the second trimester of a pregnancy (roughly 13 to 24 weeks since conception). Induction Abortion This procedure is used to end a second or third trimester pregnancy through the use of medications that trigger the start of contractions. This, in turn, expels the fetus from the uterus. Induction abortions must be done in a hospital, so that the woman can be monitored during the entire procedure. During this procedure, a woman will undergo all the steps of delivery and childbirth. Induction abortions are usually only performed if there is a medical problem or illness present in the fetus or the pregnant woman. Intact Dilation and Extraction This method is performed after 21 weeks of pregnancy and is also referred to as DX, Intact DX, Intrauterine Cranial Decompression and Partial Birth Abortion. This abortion procedure takes about 2 to 3 days and results in the extraction of an intact fetus. Risks associated with abortion Abortion may impair a womens health through a variety of early and late somatic complications, which may occur at the time of the abortion or soon thereafter or which may be discovered much later, perhaps in connection with another pregnancy or with efforts to become pregnant again. Studies in Hungary and in Japan have shown that premature births tend to occur more frequently among women who have had induced abortions than among women who have not had them. Death According to the best record based study of deaths following pregnancy and abortion, a 1997 government funded study in Finland, women who abort are approximately four times more likely to die in the following year than women who carry their pregnancies to term. In addition, women who carry to term are only half as likely to die as women who were not pregnant. The leading causes of abortion related maternal deaths within a week of the surgery are hemorrhage, infection, embolism, anesthesia, and undiagnosed ectopic pregnancies Breast cancer The risk of breast cancer almost doubles after one abortion, and rises even further with two or more abortions.   Cervical, ovarian, and liver cancer   Women have had an abortion done face the risk of cervical cancer, compared to non-aborted women. Ovarian and liver cancers have also been linked to single and multiple abortions. These increased cancer rates for post-aborted women are apparently linked to the unnatural disruption of the hormonal changes which accompany pregnancy and untreated cervical damage.   Uterine perforation The risk of uterine perforation is increased for women who have previously given birth and for those who receive general anesthesia at the time of the abortion. Uterine damage may result in complications in later pregnancies and may eventually evolve into problems which require a hysterectomy, which itself may result in a number of additional complications and injuries including osteoporosis.   Cervical lacerations:   The risk of cervical damage is greater for teenagers, for second trimester abortions, and when practitioners fail to use laminaria for dilation of the cervix.   Placenta previa Abortion increases the risk of placenta previa in later pregnancies (a life threatening condition for both the mother and her wanted pregnancy) by seven to fifteen fold. Abnormal development of the placenta due to uterine damage increases the risk of fetal malformation, perinatal death, and excessive bleeding during labor.   Complications of labour Induced abortion not only increased the risk of premature delivery, it also increased the risk of delayed delivery. Women who had one, two, or more induced abortions are, respectively, are more likely to have a post-term delivery (over 42 weeks). Pre-term delivery increases the risk of neo-natal death and handicaps. Handicapped newborns in later pregnancies Abortion is associated with cervical and uterine damage which may increase the risk of premature delivery, complications of labor and abnormal development of the placenta in later pregnancies. These reproductive complications are the leading causes of handicaps among newborns.   Ectopic pregnancy Abortion is significantly related to an increased risk of subsequent ectopic pregnancies. Ectopic pregnancies, in turn, are life threatening and may result in reduced fertility. Endometritis Endometritis is a post-abortion risk for all women, but especially teenagers are more likely to acquire endometritis following abortion.   Immediate complications   The nine most common major complications which can occur at the time of an abortion are: infection, excessive bleeding, embolism, ripping or perforation of the uterus, anesthesia complications, convulsions, hemorrhage, cervical injury, and endotoxic shock. The most common minor complications include: infection, bleeding, fever, second degree burns, chronic abdominal pain, vomiting, gastro-intestinal disturbances, and Rh sensitization. Clients and abortion provider Clients are usually referred to a provider by a family member or friends who have used the service before. Sometimes the help of intermediaries such as person from the community, a chemist or a lay health provider may be sought. This informal information network is the main source of accessing services in illegal contexts. Women do not always obtain satisfactory services from the first provider they visit and sometimes refuse a service because the cost is prohibitive. In contexts of illegality or poor availability of services the choice of provider is limited but where options exists, women demonstrate a concern for quality of care and safety. Frequently mentioned reasons for choosing a particular provider include the fact that he or she is known to be experienced in performing abortions. A variety of techniques to induce abortion are used depending on the type of provider. Traditional methods vary widely and range from abdominal massage to insertion of roots, twigs, catheter, holy water, bitter concoctions etc. Many service providers ignore the psychological needs of women undergoing abortion or post abortion care and focus only on the physical aspect of the abortion. Motives and attitudes of providers tend to vary considerably and are not always focused on providing appropriate abortion-centered care. In a study in a public hospital in Mexico in 1998 where women were admitted with incomplete abortions were interviewed, it was reported that these women often felt considerable worry, fear, and /or guilt in addition to physical pain, that the staff were short of skills and time, and in many cases showed little interest in providing a minimally dignified encounter. Cost and abortion Unwanted pregnancy is a social problem of major urgency to society and of central important to individual women who must accept the consequences or seek alternative solutions. The cost of a legal abortion varies from country to country. For example, in Romania, the price of an abortion is less than US$3 public clinics but may be as much as US$15 in private clinics. In Armenia, abortion was provided free of charge until August 1997; since then, the charge has increased gradually form about US$7.50 in 1997 to approximately US$9 in 1999 and general anesthesia raises the charge to approximately US$13.50. In Lithuania, abortions under 6 weeks gestation cost approximately US$15; those beyond 6 weeks gestation cost approximately US$22. Private practices also offer abortion services ranging from US$100 for vaccum aspiration to US$200 for dilation and curettage. In the Russian Federation although abortion is theoretically free of charge, prices may reach US$50 in some clinics. A study was carried out on induced abortion in Mauritius (Study on induced abortion in Mauritius: Alternative to fertility regulation or emergency procedure? July 1993. A total number of 475 women who had undergone an abortion were interviewed. 7.1% of the women obtained abortion by aspiration. Aspiration is done mainly by private doctors and is accessible only to those who could afford to pay for the procedure. The cost varied from Rs 1000 and Rs 4000 depending on the expertise and qualifications of the doctor. Historical evolvement of abortion The practice of abortion dates back to ancient times. Pregnancies were terminated through a number of methods, including the administration of abortifacient herbs, the use of sharpened implements, the application of abdominal pressure, and other techniques. The first recorded evidence of induced abortion is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BC. A Chinese record documents the number of royal concubines who had abortions in China between the years 500 and 515 BC. According to Chinese folklore, the legendary Emperor Shennong prescribed the use of mercury to induce abortions nearly 5000 years ago. Many of the methods employed in early and primitive cultures were non-surgical. Physical activities like strenuous labor, climbing, paddling, weightlifting, or diving were a common technique. Others included the use of irritant leaves, fasting, bloodletting, pouring hot water onto the abdomen, and lying on a heated coconut shell. Evolution of abortion related laws in some countries Historically laws on abortion have been influenced by religious attitudes that consider abortions a sin. Women seeking and obtaining abortion were considered perpetrators of a wrong. The extent to which a woman has a legal right to determine the fate of her pregnancy is differently interpreted in the different countries. Societies attempted to restrict the practice of abortion, partly on religious and moral grounds but undoubtedly largely because the primitive methods available until relatively recently resulted in the death or maiming of large numbers of women. Despite often severe penalties on abortionist and aborted women alike and the high risk of illness and death, abortion continued to be employed. With the evolution of medical science, safer methods of abortion emerged, thus removing one of the principal bases for restricting abortion. Changing religious and moral views, coupled with the realization in many societies that illegal abortion using primitive and dangerous methods is wide spread, lead some countries to liberalize their abortion laws. Termination of pregnancy at the request of the women was first legalized in the Soviet Union on November 8 in 1920. Historically abortion was legalized in most Eastern European countries following the 1920 Soviet Union. In 1920 Lenin legalized all abortions in the Soviet Union. In 1931 Mexico was the first country in the world to legalize abortion in case of rape. 1932 Poland was the first country in Europe outside Soviet Union to legalize abortion in cases of rape and threat to maternal health. In 1935, Iceland became the first Western country to legalize therapeutic abortion under limited circumstances. In 1935, Nazi Germany amended its eugenics law, to promote abortion for women who have hereditary disorders. The law allowed abortion if a woman gave her permission, and if the fetus was not yet viable, and for purposes of so-called racial hygiene. In 1969, Canada passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69, which began to allow abortion for selective reasons. In 1971, the Indian Parliament under the Prime Ministership of a lady Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, passes Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 (more commonly referred to as simply MTP Act 1971). India thus becomes one of the earliest nations to pass this Act. The Act gains importance, as c India had traditionally been a very conservative country in these matters. In 2007 the government of Mexico City legalizes abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, and offers free abortions. On August 28, 2008, the Mexican Supreme Court upholds the law. In 2008, the Australian state of Victoria passes a bill which decriminalizes abortion, making it legally accessible to women in the first 24 weeks of the pregnancy. In 2009, in Spain a bill was passed to decriminalize abortion, so as to make it legally accessible to women in the first 14 weeks of the pregnancy. The evolution of religious views on abortion Mans attitude towards abortion have ranged over a wide spectrum, from approval, bordering on encouragement to total prohibition and condemnation; all the way from the early civilizations Assyrian, Babylonian, Hindu, Greek and Roman to the present day. History is strewn with evidence that abortion has always been a subject of interest, if not of controversy. Provisions for abortion in almost all contemporary societies and the rituals prescribed in these societies, lead one to suspect that attitudes towards abortion are a part of a universal cultural process in the same manner as attitudes towards puberty or mating. Eastman has demonstrated the lack of historical correlation between the attitudes of societies towards abortion and their ethical conduct or intellectual sophistication. Our own attitudes towards abortion are thought to be derived from the commandment Though shalt not kill, and its Judeo-Christian interpretation. A major factor in the evolution of present-day attitudes towards abortion has its origin in the gradual breakdown of the repressive sexual mores of the Victorian Age. An important cause of this change and one which has received little attention, is the devastating effect of the First World War which left in its wake disillusionment and loss of hope in a social system whose values, buttressed by a Victorian moral code, had brought on the slaughter. Weisner (7, p.24) notes that the concept of the phase in which the fetus is imbued with life varies according to culture. The degree of approval or disapproval of induced abortion will depend in part on this concept. For 70% of weisners Chilean study population, life does not begin at the moment of conception but is generally defined as beginning somewhere between the first and third month of the pregnancy; the state prior to this is considered a blood clot formation. The early Christians views The attitude of early Christians is that anything that interrupted human life, be it contraceptive potion or poison or abortion was disapproved of and denounced as murder. The Catholic views The Catholic Church believes that life begins at conception and therefore the removal of a zygote, embryo or foetus is considered as murder and is hence forbidden. The Hindu views The Hindu scriptures from the vedic age down to the Smritis (100 BC-AC100) called it bhruna-hatya (foetus murder) or garbha-hatya (pregnancy destruction) and condemned it as a serious sin. The Jewish views The popular Jewish wisdom of the Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides (written between 50 B.C and A.D 50) says that a woman should not destroy the unbirth babe in her belly nor after his birth throw it before the dogs and vultures as a prey. Similarly the first century Jewish historian and apologist Josephus wrote The law orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the foetus. A woman convicted of this was regarded as having committed an infanticide, because she destroyed a soul and diminished the race. Abortion law in Mauritius The legal provisions governing abortion in Mauritius are a result of the intermingling of elements of French and English law. The French ruled Mauritius from 1721 to 1810, while the British ruled from 1810 until independence was attained in 1968. The provisions of the Penal Code dealing with abortion are derived directly from the French Napoleonic Penal Code of 1810 and from the British Offences against the Person Act of 1861. They were not modified by the 1938 revision of the Penal Code of Mauritius. Abortion is generally illegal in Mauritius under the Penal Code. Any person procuring an abortion or supplying the means to procure an abortion is subject to imprisonment for up to 10 years. A similar punishment is prescribed for a woman who induces her own abortion or consents to its being induced. Physicians, surgeons and pharmacists who facilitate or perform an abortion are also subject to imprisonment. Nonetheless, under general criminal law principles of necessity, an abortion may be performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. Abortion in Mauritius Abortion is the dread secret of our society. It has been relegated for so long to the darkest corners of fear and mythology that an unwritten compact virtually requires that it remains untouched and undiscussed so writes Lader in the introductory remarks of his 1966 work on abortion. Abortion, unlike many countries, is illegal in Mauritius is not permitted under any circumstance. Despite these strict legal parameters, clandestine illegal abortions are being performed in all corners of the island, by untrained doctors, nurses, midwives and wise women, and mostly under unsafe conditions. There are no reliable statistical data available on the number of abortions performed in Mauritius. More than 2,800 post abortion complication cases have been registered in Government hospitals in 2000. The number of abortion is estimated to range between 15,000 to 20,000 and almost equal to the number of live births annually (Mauritius Research Council Biomedical Research, September 2001 pg 33). Any form of abortion which is defined as the termination of pregnancy is illegal in Mauritius yet a large number of cases are admitted at hospitals and clinics following complications of abortions. A Mauritius family planning official has estimated that there is one abortion for every live birth. Among 2008 official cases of post abortion complication registered in 1997, 798 occurred among youth below the age of 24 years old. Mauritius has a high incidence of unsafe abortions because of unprotected intercourse experienced by many young women in a rapidly industrializing environment. The Mauritius Family Planning Association (MFPA) tackled the issue of unsafe abortion in 1993. The MFPA organized an advocacy symposium in 1993 on unsafe abortion. The advocacy campaign of the MFPA consists of having abortion legalized on health grounds and improving family planning services, especially for young unmarried women and men. The full support of the media was secured on the abortion issue: articles appeared, meetings were attended by the press, and public relations support was also received from them. The MFPA worked closely with parliamentarians. A motion was tabled in 1994 in the National Assembly which called for legalization of abortion on health grounds, but the Church squelched its debate. In March 1994 MFPA a conference on Unsafe Abortion in Mauritius with the participation of over 100 representatives from 2 0 countries. Studies on abortion in Mauritius It is estimated that each year there are some 20,000 cases of induced abortion, which is illegal in the country. Since abortion services are illegal, post abortion services addressing complications are often a womans only point of contact with the public health sector. A study was carried out on induced abortion in Mauritius (Study on induced abortion in Mauritius: Alternative to fertility regulation or emergency procedure? July 1993. A study based on a sample of 475 women admitted to three hospitals with complications due to induced abortion revealed considerable use of unreliable methods (e.g., withdrawal and natural methods), frequent method switching, and inconsistent use of modern methods. The study also found that women seeking abortion were usually under 30 years of age, and 20% of women with abortion complications were not using any method, and some 50% were using an unreliable method at the time they become pregnant. It emerged that with increasing numbers of women employed, their work schedules hindered their going to a family planning clinic and resulted in abortion being used as a