Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Description Essay - 2

Rhetorical Analysis Assignment Description - Essay Example Some people have argued that the events of the September 11 terrorist attack on the US soil had an effect on immigration laws in the country. Thus, the fears expressed by the author in the unchanging number of illegal immigrants in the US are justifiable, if one considers the intention of some of these illegal immigrants. The terrorist attack have made the United States of America to tighten immigration laws as the laws are now stricter than they used to be before the September 11 terrorist attack. Immigrants suspected of having any connection with terrorists would be jailed for about seven days without being charged in the court of law. Prior to the 9/11 terrorist attack, the immigration laws were lenient and the barrier set around immigration has made it difficult to obtain visas to screening process is now more intense than what it used to be before the 9/11 attacks. The fact that the author did not try relate the issue of illegal immigration to the terrorist attack is actually a flaw in his writing as the author did not provide her readers with a good background knowledge on the subject matter. Security officials have realized that they have to do more to combat the problems of terrorism due to the 9/11 attack. The police departments have now improved their services and are now better prepared in the event of another terrorist attack. The police have now been empowered to monitor people’s conversation and survey people’s electronic mails. This was not the case before the terrorist attack as people were left alone to guard their private lives without the fear of being watched. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was also established by the Bush Administration in 2002 to combat terrorism locally. The author’s reference to the Department of Homeland Security as she brings out data about the deportation of 400, 000 immigrants by Federal immigration authorities (Preston) shows the extent at which the author develops logos in the

Case Study Healthcare Funding Policies Term Paper

Case Study Healthcare Funding Policies - Term Paper Example 5 Works Cited 9 Name of the Student Name of the Professor Name of the Course Date Healthcare Funding Policies INTRODUCTION: HEALTH CARE POLICIES Presently, the costs of healthcare policies, intricacies in healthcare systems, cost challenges, and various other factors are responsible for the increase in the demand of the health care policies. Health decision making is vital to the growing economy as it ensures the welfare of the people and also has a profound impact on the socioeconomic, political, and cultural context. The different funding methods have different impact on the public health decision making and its way of choosing the regulatory mechanisms. The health care systems of varied nations are largely influenced by the guidelines prepared by World Health Organization (WHO). Similarly, the health care systems in the USA encompass various regulations that are enacted by the US government like Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 and Patient Protection and Afford able Care Act. The US government plans to impose further regulations for the benefits of the common people. Health care policies of the USA will be introduced in the study and its benefits to the common people. ... HEALTH CARE POLICIES: UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE POLICIES The growing health concerns among the common people, regarding the health care system in varied nations have led to frustration. Situations like overcrowded emergency rooms, extra fees for health care facilities and non government aid for health benefits are also regarded as important health issues (Jackson). Apart from health care policies, which are largely influenced by the government regulations, the health care policy consensus group is a collaboration of organizations, which signify various points on the continuum and the spectrum (â€Å"How US health care reform will affect employee benefits†).The key features of the universal health care policies are price consciousness, consumer empowerment, social solidarity, quality of healthcare, clinical autonomy, responsiveness, conflicts of interest etc. In the United Kingdom the health care facilities provided by the government are largely based on need and not the ability to pay. The National Health Services (NHS) provided by the government are free and provide medical facilities worth ?2400 annually. The UK health care policies are designed to keep in the mind the age, sex, education, race, and class of the common people. The social and health care insurance is designed by the government keeping universality, price regulation, open enrolment, and a regular benefits package system. Universality includes compulsory insurance, which includes subsidization for the sick and healthy patients. Price regulation includes risk compensation for the insurers especially for the highly risk ensured (Singh & Kant 200). In the USA the health mechanism is given due consideration and is not regarded as a gift,

School Event Essay Example for Free

School Event Essay This was a very interesting post!! I am high school math teacher in an urban district and I think the students need a detox at the beginning of the year. I think the most frightening thing is how many students just â€Å"hate† school. I think educators in my school district have been lead to believe that we start teaching subject skills on day 1. We don’t always have the chance to get to know our students on day one except for their names and maybe their birthdates. I really appreciate the links to the tools you use during your detox week. We have personal learning plans for our students using our district wide online system but they are very tedious and it’s more of chore for the students because the questions focus on short and long term goals and some of them just haven’t thought about goals for themselves. I think if schools spent time getting to know their students we could avoid a lot of the misbehavior. I also think that some teachers don’t want to get to know their students because teaching is just a paying job. Teachers need to be detox as well, we could have talks during our first few days of professional development with teachers to help them let go some of negative feelings they have against their students. I don’t know if I could go ice blocking with my students but I wonder if my school could start off the school year with a spirit week instead of at the middle of or end of the school year. I think most students would like to see their teachers have a little fun instead of viewing them as the wardens at the state prison. I think the first impressions dictate how people will treat us in the future so why not share a smile and then talk about classroom environments that function safely and productively for all.

Using The Evaluation Framework Economics Essay

Using The Evaluation Framework Economics Essay The possession of an ownership advantage gives a firm the opportunity to sell goods overseas but it fails to explain why this is carried out through production in the foreign market rather than exporting to the foreign market. As a result, there is the need for an evaluation framework. LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this Unit, you should be able to understand and grasp the following: the importance of an evaluation framework; the 4 criteria of the evaluation framework; assess the contribution of MNEs in a foreign country by using the Evaluation Framework. THE EVALUATION FRAMEWORK The contribution of MNEs to the development of the host nation, more particularly developing countries or LDCs has been the subject of much debate over the years. Whilst it is generally accepted that MNEs do contribute by way of technology transfer, skills diffusion and by bringing much needed finance capital, nevertheless criticisms abound as to the negative impact of MNEs in that they are viewed as exploiting the local labour force, they transfer outdated technology, and they strip the LDCs of much needed resources. However, MNEs were and still remain a very important ingredient of growth, especially for developing countries. This is why it is crucial for a host countrys government that it should be able to assess FDI in a policy context. The latter process is usually done by way of an Evaluation Framework. An evaluation framework usually encompasses 4 criteria. 3.3 Efficiency of Resource Allocation Efficiency of resource allocation relates to the extent to which there exist complementarities between of economic interests between the multinationals and the host countries. In a similar vein, it highlights the following: under what conditions do the operations of the TNC in a host country contribute to the world economic welfare that could not be achieved before? However, the presence of MNEs in host countries is often prompted by government-induced imperfections including protection from imports. Such a situation mainly occurred when countries were adopting an import substitution industrialization strategy. Adopting an import-substitution strategy entailed a high level of protection, via tariffs, import restriction measures and quotas, which discriminated against exports via explicit and implicit tax of export activities and an overvalued foreign exchange rate. Also, the government used investment license, differential taxes, tax holidays, exemptions and remissions to influence resource allocation between industries and sectors. The proponents of IS strategy firmly believed that they would be able to meet the domestic demand for manufacturing products; provide employment opportunities for skilled labour; ease pressure on the balance of payment and strengthen the long term productive capacity of the economy by importing the production technology via foreign firms  [1]  and by using the infant industry argument. Under such an era of protectionism  [2]  , MNEs were mainly regarded as being of a market-seeking  [3]   nature. Firms set up plant within foreign nations in order to supply their national markets in the most profitable way possible. The key location advantages (in Dunnings terminology) which determined these market-seeking investments were the cross-border transport and communication costs; artificial barriers (import restrictions) to trade in goods and services; the size, income per capita and the expected growth of the local market. Though cost considerations were deemed important and even decisive in certain marginal markets, an efficiency-seeking motivation was deemed to be of a very secondary nature (Pearce, 1999). However, the overwhelming consensus is that IS was a failure  [4]  . IS strategy has turned out to be self-defeating since it has resulted in huge increases in imports of equipment and inputs while transfer pricing constituted a severe drain on foreign exchange. Also, IS granted excessive protection to industries producing inefficiently non-essential goods for high-income elite. Furthermore, fiscal credit and exchange rate policies, coupled with subsidies on imports of capital goods, made it possible and advantageous to entrepreneurs to rely on high capital intensive equipment produced abroad and technology unsuited to the factor proportions prevailing in less developed countries. As a result, a new orthodoxy emerged in the late 60s and early 70s which stressed the role of exports of labour intensive manufactures as an engine of growth. This represented a return to the static theory of comparative advantage with trade based upon different factor proportions prevailing in various countries which meant that the pendulum turned full swing for development policy in LDCs from import substitution to manufactured exports. Export oriented strategy not only encourages free trade  [5]  , but also the free movement of capital, labour, enterprises and an open system of communication. It also entailed more efficient allocation of resources with firms competing internationally  [6]  based on their relative comparative advantages. These considerations, coupled with the emergence of trade blocks, were factors motivating changes in the strategic orientation of MNEs. MNEs underwent a complete restructuring of their global and regional supply profiles. This entailed locating  [7]  manufacturing operations in only a few countries but exporting for a wider market. Each subsidiary were opened to a fully competitive market situation which permitted the realisation of economies of scale and the attainment of optimal efficiency in production (Pearce, 1999). The where to produce clearly gained in prominence during such an era which led to MNEs redistributing their unchanged ownership advantages in order to create an international network of subsidiaries  [8]  which optimised their supply of established range of products. Thus, investments undertaken by MNEs were mainly of an efficiency-seeking nature. However, one should not underestimate the crucial role played by the government during that period. It was not only the choice of trade strategy but also the appropriate role of government policy which was at the heart of the development issue. For example, export-oriented growth and appropriate macroeconomic policies  [9]  were mutually of economic development in the NICs. The integration of NICs into world and regional economies was essential for their long-term growth. This required less government intervention and greater reliance on private initiatives and market forces. It provided an environment conducive to foreign investment and domestic entrepreneurship. The Government was expected to actively promote economic growth and use its resources to direct and support the private industry. It was the pursuit of such appropriate policies by these developing countries governments permitted shifts in their pattern of international specialisation in response to the changing structure of their comparative advantage at different levels of industrial development. As a result, the efficiency of resource allocation improved, the rates of growth accelerated, with benefits accruing to all concerned. DISTRIBUTION Distribution relates to the extent to which the gains arising from the MNEs operations are distributed between the partners. The host country would demand a fair share of the benefits created by the investment. However, the identification of a fair distribution is very difficult since it is almost impossible to price correctly some contribution such as technology diffusion and managerial expertise which are intangible in nature. In addition, the issue of distribution is even more contentious especially when profits of the multinationals are due less to the efficiency of resource allocation and more to market distortions or imperfections created and sustained in the first place by the government to attract these foreign firms. Also, the distribution of such rent is influenced by the relative bargaining strength of the multinationals and the host governments in the light of factors such as tax concessions, tariff protection and labour training. In this light, it may be argued that there is a direct relationship between the bargaining strength of the host country and its level of industrialization such that, the lower the industrialization level, the weaker its bargaining power. Finally, host nations are unable to extract their fair share of benefits because imperfections in the market for factors of production in which the multinationals are strong permits them to earn monopoly rent on these factors. SOVEREIGNTY Sovereignty relates to the ways in which the multinational may compromise the economic independence of host nations in either the short or long term. It highlights how the behaviour of multinationals may compromise the effectiveness of certain aspects of the host countries policies. For example, the intra-group transfer of rent, via transfer pricing practices, may undermine the autonomy of the host countries in areas such as fiscal policy, monetary policy, trade policy and its attempt to control and organize the structure of industries. SELF RELIANCE Self-reliance relates to the ways in which the operations of the multinational may undermine the viability or independence of local firms or enhance their potential. The self-reliance issue also crops up during the investigations of the impact of multinationals on the industrial structure of the host nations; for e.g. the level of concentration and/or modes of operations. It is also concerned with whether the operations of multinationals in the host nations may either enhance or hold back the availability of particular types of skills for local enterprises since there are claims that multinationals remunerate better their employees than local enterprises. However, there is no reason as to why the relationship between local enterprises and multinationals should be a competitive one. They may in fact complement each other rather than act as rivals. For e.g. multinationals may have recourse to indigenous forms for their supply of inputs and this may lead to significant benefits for the indigenous firms by way of improved technology, better quality control procedures and diffusion of skills. EXERCISES 1. MAURITIUS CASE STUDY Mauritius is unique in having had a wealthy class of sugar plantation owners who were actively seeking to diversify their investments in the first years of independence. They have experimented with horticultural and industrial exports, as well as with tourist facilities, for many years. It took the arrival of Hong Kong and Taiwan textile firms to get industrialization going, however. And South African hotel chains first brought the tourist facilities up to world class standards. Why couldnt they do it alone? The key missing ingredient was the much vaunted keystone of the new economy: knowledge. Mauritian investors lacked the depth and breadth of knowledge needed to create viable industry and tourism on their own. The overseas Chinese and South African investors brought in-depth knowledge of how to run an efficient firm. They also had intimate knowledge of customers and their preferences, as well of what the competition was offering. They were able to train the Mauritian workforce, interspersing production lines with faster Chinese workers and more flexible Indian ones to bring up productivity. Domestic investors, whether the sugar barons or more locals of more modest and ethnically diverse origins, unanimously reported that they were not squeezed out by foreign investment. On the contrary, they worked with, learned from, and in many cases bought out foreign investors. Ethnicity has been handled delicately in Mauritius, in surprising contrast to analysts predictions at independence. The few dozen Franco-Mauritian sugar barons who controlled the economy at independence in 1970 faced the classic South African nightmare of being washed into the sea. The majority of the electorate comprised landless descendants of cane-cutters brought in from the Indian subcontinent as contract labor. Yet Mauritians found a stable accommodation, in both politics and the economy. The constitution explicitly recognizes ethnic minorities, providing for 10 percent of parliamentary seats to go to also rans from ethnic minorities that would otherwise not be represented. The tiny new polity attained in two decades an economic transition from monocrop Sugar Island to a balanced economy in which textiles, tourism and sugar are the pillars. New forays are being made into business services, information technology and other diverse export products. Indo-Mauritians are still minimally represented as entrepreneurs, though they dominate the civil service. Sino-Mauritians, hitherto concentrated in smallscale commerce, enhanced their status through association with Hong Kong and Taiwan industrialists whose knowhow and investment initiated the textile sector. Economic tensions are worked out in annual tripartite negotiations between labor, government and employers, most of whom are Franco-Mauritians. Sound institutions have played a critical role in the process. The rule of law has prevailed consistently. The sturdy financial sector, led by Mauritius State Bank since 1828, provides investment capital to both domestic and foreign investors. The British tradition schools graduate fully bilingual, often tri- and quadrilingual students, whom employers find a great asset in the new global economy. Foreign And Local Investment In Mauritius Mauritius was chosen as a case study because it has a reputation as a country in which foreign investment has played a critical and unanticipated role in industrialization, driven largely by good policies. The case study bore this out, but added great complexity to the portrait. Ethnicity was a complicating factor that could have derailed growth, and sound institutions played as important a role as policies in its success. An Overview of Investment Policy and Performance in Mauritius In the 1960s as independence from Britain approached, James Meade and Burton Benedict published several studies that foresaw a bleak economic and political future for Mauritius.11 Meade proposed strategies to improve the standard of living while taking into consideration projected continuing rapid population growth (then over 3% per year). He foresaw pressures of population growth on economic resources on this small volcanic isle and suggested several mitigating strategies, including increasing productivity, encouraging emigration and family planning. Burton Benedict challenged Meades proposed solutions, asserting that even if Meades suggestions on ways to increase productivity were followed, this would not produce results strong enough to counter the population growth problem. To the Malthusian logic in these first analyses, Benedict added concern over the future political stability of Mauritius. He analyzed the 1953 and 1962 censuses and documented the impact of ethnic, religious, caste and linguistic fragmentation on local politics-from the national level to the squabbles over a repair contract for a small town road. He began with the observation that Mauritians rarely identified themselves and others as Mauritians. In 1962 people from the Indian subcontinent were the majority, but did not comprise a single ethnic group. 50.5 percent of the population was Hindu and 16.2 percent Muslim Chinese comprised 3.4 percent of the population, and the General Population, mainly Creoles and Franco-Mauritians constituted 29.9 percent. Although Africans had been brought to Mauritius in slavery, African languages and ethnic groups had melded into a mixed population speaking the Creole French patois that gradually became a lingua franca of the Island. The Indo-Mauritian population was 63 percent Hindu Sanatan and 19 percent Muslim Hanafi. There were generally endogamous minority sects of both major religions (the largest of which were Arya Samaj and Ahmadiyya), as well as Indian Christians. Castes had consolidated into a bipolar mode. They had no corporate organization, but were generally endogamous. Chinese were nearly evenly split between Christians and Buddhists. Indo-Mauritians were further split by language, which sometimes had ethnic connotations. Hindi was the mother tongue of 36 percent of the total population and Urdu of 13.5 percent. Smaller Tamil and Telugu groups rarely intermarried with other Hindus. The General population of metisse, Franco-Mauritians and others was 96 percent Roman Catholic. The Franco-Mauritian families, are mostly descendants of French nobility who fled there during the French Revolution. The British gained control of the island during the Napoleonic wars andgoverned it until 1968, but the French families dominated the domestic society and economy. For the dependency theorists of the 60s, Mauritius was an archetypical monocrop colonial economy. It depended on sugar for 99 percent of exports and one third of GDP. Cane fields occupied 90 percent of arable land. Of that, 55 percent was owned by 25 Franco-Mauritian families, often dubbed sugar barons. The remaining 45 percent of sugar estates were owned by 84,000 small farmers, predominantly of Indian origin. Almost no food was produced on the island. The majority who would dominate numerically in a democratic Mauritius was a land-poor population of former indentured laborers on sugar plantations from the Indian subcontinent. Until recently they had been considered transients, not counted as members of the population. Benedicts complex analysis of the ethnic situation did little to lift the prevailing pessimism about Mauritius future. The colonial government commissioned Meade to head an appointed commission to produce an economic strategy. The Meade Report was to strongly influence the government in creating its initial import substitution industrialization policy. The key recommendations in the Meade Report included tariff protection for certain local industries, a decrease of corporate tax from 40 to 30 percent, tax holidays for five of the first eight years of a company, priority of capital expenditure for projects leading to productive employment and the abolition of tariffs on importation of machine tools and equipment. These policies already focused on investment promotion, a policy which successive Mauritian governments have consistently favored. Even as early as 1960, investment in Mauritius reached 30% of GDP, a figure only recently achieved by the most successful economies in East Asia and largely unheard of in the developing world. At this time, however, neither the new government of Mauritius, nor others in the developing world, had recognized the connection between investment policy and the larger political and economic context. A number of trends of the first government, which was dominated by the Mauritian Labour Party from independence in 1968 until 1982, limited the effectiveness of investment promotion incentives. One concern of foreign investors was political stability. There had been some communal violence just before independence, and the new Hindu dominated government maintained a fragile truce with minorities, including Muslim, Chinese and Franco-Mauritians. Other concerns centered around macroeconomic policies. Currency controls and protective tariffs designed to nurture import substitution industries [for the tiny national market], raised energy and transaction costs and times for potential exporters. The involvement of government in labor/ management negotiations and the creation of state corpora tions in key sectors led investors to take a wait and see attitude toward government. And the fledgling transport and telecommunications infrastructure was barely adequate. The idea of creating an export promotion zone (EPZ) was added to the policy mix in 1970, only two years after independence. It was inspired by the success of Taiwan. Within a year the EPZ legislation was passed. In a stroke of brilliance, industrial leaders and policy-makers realized that Mauritius, being a small island with readily controlled access, could declare the whole island an EPZ-it did not need to have a fenced area. This allowed investors to build in dispersed locations, to facilitate transport for their workers and/or their products. Only a few foreign investors took advantage of the EPZ law in the 1970s, however. Mauritius isolated location in the Indian Ocean, its currency controls and uncertain political situation reportedly influenced the first investors to limit their commitments. What became the flagship textile firm, for example, was set up initially to do only the manufacturing marketing and management were based in Japan and Hong Kong respectively. By the end of the 1970s Mauritius was experiencing many of the same problems that other African countries had with state corporations, protective tariffs, and currency controls. With no petroleum resources, it had been hit hard by OPECs escalation of oil prices and the global economic distortions that ensued. Government was running unsustainable annual deficits, the balance of trade was negative, industry was stagnant, and foreign exchange rationing slowed down all transactions. A devastating cyclone catalyzed a change in direction and in government. An alliance of former opposition parties, the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM) and Mauritian Socialist Party (PSM), won the 1982 elections, changing the dominant party position for the first time since electoral politics was introduced in 1947. The new government scrapped the mixed strategy of the 1970s, liberalized the currency, retreated from subsidizing state corporations, and put its full efforts into voluntary structural adjustment and promoting export-led growth. In retrospect, a recent government report sees that decision as an inevitable logical consequence of Mauritius geographic situation. The report, Mauritius at Crossroads (1995) explains that as a small island, physically limited by lack of arable land and relying solely on sugar for foreign exchange, Mauritius was condemned to turn to an aggressive export strategy. However, it was not until the early 80s that foreign investment actually took off. And, it appears, partly as a consequence so too did domestic investment take off. Today, according to Mauritius at Crossroads, every Mauritian is taught the concept Export or Die. This philosophy has led to the development of a sound business environment which is friendly to investors, both local and foreign, and which offers an attractive investment incentives package to compensate for the lack of resources and the no-longer inexpensive labor force. The older generation of industrial and government leaders also stresses that Mauritians have learned to make a virtue of their ethnic diversity. The switch to an export-led strategy came at a time of crisis. The ill-paid labor force was still predominantly of Indian origin, as was the government, whereas the industrial sector was led by Franco-Mauritians, Hong Kong/Taiwan investors and a few Sino-Mauritians. Several interviewees described the moment as if they had looked at one another, then at the surrounding hundreds of miles of ocean, and decided that they would sink or swim together. For the export strategy, Mauritius needed to reach out to Hong Kong and Taiwan textile magnates, who had the capital and skills to organize a competitive industry. Franco-Mauritian local capital and know-how, and contacts were needed to open up European markets. A cooperative, trainable labor force was needed to attract investors. And government needed to be fully committed to its investor-friendly strategy. Mauritius had hard-working bilingual predominantly male labor force. They were skilled in farming, not industrial work. Most analysts doubted that Hindu or Muslim women would ever come out of the home and into the workplace. Within six or seven years, Mauritius had full employment, and industrial workers were mainly women. Policies were the main, but not the only factor in investment decisions. Promoting investment has been on the top of the governments industrial agenda throughout the different development phases, but the understanding of what works for investors, for government and for the society as a whole, has evolved continuously. The first clearly defined policy came in 1961, as the colonial government began to prepare for an independent Mauritius, with the Industrial Development Tax Relief Act. The Export Processing Zone took effect in 1971, as one of the first acts of the newly independent government. Support services for exporters were given a fillip in 1981 with the Export Service Zones Act. In 1985, the Mauritius Export Development and Investment Authority (MEDIA) was established as the executive arm of the Ministry of Industry. Its main responsibilities are to attract investment, promote exports and manage industrial estates. Investors clearly weighed these incentives against the inconveniences created by location, lack of local food and fuel supplies and small market size. The only major policy disincentive for foreign investors is that they are not allowed to own land. Government has compensated by providing fully equipped industrial sites for lease. Hotel investors generally partner with a local landowner. In the 1980s Mauritius offered inexpensive labor, but within a decade the development of the textile and hotel sectors had brought wages to a middle level, by world standards. From the late 1980s through early 1990s, Mauritius experienced full employment. Rising wages have gradually priced the textile industry out of its mass-production T-shirt lines, and forced b oth government and industry to rethink development strategies. The Industrial Expansion Act of 1993 was a partial response to this dilemma. Through it Mauritius confirmed its commitment to permanent zero tax rates for exporters, and added a bundle of new-targeted incentive programs, providing for high technology investors, offshore financial services and freeport services. The full range of incentive programs Mauritius which were offered is shown in Table 6.1. To increase confidence in the industrial sector in general, corporate tax for manufacturers who do not qualify for the EPZ zerorate was cut from 35 to 15 percent. Table 3.1: Manufacturing Fiscal Incentives INCENTIVE SCHEMES QUALIFYING ACTIVITIES INCENTIVES Export Enterprise (EPZ)  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  All manufactured goods for exports  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Produce of deep sea fishing (Including fresh or frozen fish)  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Printing and publishing as well as associated operations  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  IT activities  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Agro Industries  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No customs duty, or sales tax on raw materials and equipment  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No corporate tax  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No tax on dividends  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No capital gains tax  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Free repatriation of profits, dividends and capital  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  60% remission of customs duties on buses of 15-25 seats used for the transport of workers.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Exemption from payment of half the normal registration fee on land and buildings by new enterprises.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Relief on personal income tax for 2 expatriate staff Pioneer Status Enterprise  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Activities involving technology and skills above average existing in Mauritius and likely to enhance industrial and technological development.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Applicant companies may come under one of three broad categories: (a) new technology, (b) support industries and (c) service industries.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No customs duty, or sales tax on scheduled equipment or materials.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  15% corporate tax  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No tax on dividends  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Free repatriation of profits, dividends and capital Strategic Local Enterprise  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Local industry manufacturing for the local market and engaged in an activity likely to promote and enhance the economic, industrial and technological development of Mauritius.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  15% corporate tax  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No tax on dividends Modernization and Expansion Enterprise  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Two broad categories:  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Investment in productive machinery and equipment, such as automation equipment and processes and computer applications to industrial design, manufacture and maintenance CAD/CAM)  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Investment in anti-pollution and environment protection technology to be made within 2 years of date of issue of certificate.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No customs duty on production equipment  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Income tax credit of 10% (spread over 3 years) of investment in new plant and machinery, provided at least Rs 10 million are spent and this occurs within two years of date of issue of certificate. (This is in addition to existing capital allowances which amount to 125%of capital expenditures.)  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Enterprises incurring expenditure on anti-pollution machinery or plant benefit from a further incentive, i.e. an initial allowance of 80% instead of the normal 50% Industrial Building Enterprise Construction for letting purposes of industrial buildings or levels thereof, provided floor space is at least 1000 square meters. Special conditions: The applicant can only be a company intending to erect an industrial building to be let to the holder of a certificate (other than an industrial building enterprise certificate) issued under this Act or to an enterprise engaged in the manufacture or processing of goods or materials except the milling of sugar.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  15% corporate tax  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  No tax on dividends  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Registration dues for land purchase: 50% exemption  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There is also a non-fiscal incentive, namely the disapplication of the Landlord and Tenant Act, i.e. rent control Source: Destination Mauritius, Mauritius Export Development and Investment Authority (MEDIA). Table 3.2: Services Fiscal Incentives INCENTIVE SCHEME QUALIFYING ACTIVITIES INCENTIVES Offshore Business Conduct of business with non-residents and in currencies other than the Mauritian Rupee. Activities include: offshore banking, offshore insurance, offshore funds management, international financial services, operational Headquarters, international consultancy services, shipping and ship management, aircraft financing and leasing, international licensing and franchising, international data processing and other information technology services, offshore pension funds, international trading and assets management, international employment se

The Zone Diet Versus the Atkins Diet Essay -- Health Nutrition Diet Ex

The Zone and Atkins diets aim to achieve lower levels of insulin in the bloodstream. The Zone diet reduces carbohydrates by structuring calorie intake to a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, 30% fat ratio. The ratio decreases the amount of carbohydrates consumed, inturn lowering overall insulin levels. The Atkins diet also lowers insulin levels by lowering the quantity of carbohydrates ingested. This four phase diet begins with extreme limitation and gradually allows small amounts of carbohydrates. Though these diets implement different approaches they both reduce the insulin levels in the bloodstream. The Zone diet’s main concern is a lifelong optimization of the body’s metabolic function by regulation of levels of insulin in the bloodstream. These insulin levels are largely affected by the types of food consumed. Studies have shown that the consumption of foods high in carbohydrates lead to an increased level of insulin in the bloodstream. This increase in insulin levels is believed to lead to increased hunger and possibly obesity. In order to decrease the levels of insulin in the bloodstream, the Zone diet follows a strict formula of types and amount of food ingested. This one phase diet follows the notion that a diet should have a balance and avoid ketosis, or causing the body to think it is starving. This balance limits meals to a 40-30-30 composition. 40-30-30 means that 40 percent of a meal’s calories should be fiber rich carbohydrates, 30 percent should be low-fat protein, and 30 percent should be fats. Contrary to the Food Pyramid, the Z one diet decreases the amount of carbohydrates and increases the amount of protein. This decrease in carbohydrates lowers the levels of insulin and alth... ... The Zone and Atkins diets share the same main goal to regulate insulin levels in the bloodstream. Each has a unique way of achieving this goal. The Zone diet focuses on a strict calorie intake breakdown of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fats. This structure of calorie consumption causes a decrease in the amount of carbohydrates ingested. The diet is not only strict in the proportions of the types of food consumed but also requires six precisely spaced Zone meals throughout the day. The Zone diet requires close adherence to guidelines, but the Atkins diet is in ways more flexible. The Atkins diet begins with an extreme limitation of carbohydrates and gradually allows small quantities, but has no other restrictions. Through balance or severe limitation of carbohydrates, the Zone and Atkins diets aim to reduce large insulin levels in the bloodstream.

Its Time to Terraform Mars :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

It's Time to Terraform Mars "Earth is Heaven. Venus is Hell. Mars is neither, yet." K.G.M. Paterson Introduction Our solar system began to form 4.6 billion years ago from a swirling mass cloud. Give or take a couple of million years, the gas cooled and joined to form large bodies called â€Å"protoplanets,† which later became the planets we know today. Whatever was left after the planets formed became comets or asteroids, strewn about all over the solar system. After 100 million years, the enormous ball of gas at the center of this swirling mass cloud overheated and exploded in a huge nuclear reaction. This reaction gave birth to the sun we know today. This sun has enough energy to provide for nine planets, and just the right mix of masses and orbits to provide Earth with the right ingredients to support life. Of course, after many more millions of years, these right ingredients led to the recipe for human life; soon people of the ancient world observed the movements of the planets. The ancient Greeks thought they were wandering stars, and gave them the name planetes, or wanderers . Of course, the Romans conquered the Greeks, and renamed the planets after their gods. Earth is the only planet whose name doesn’t derive from ancient Greek or Roman mythology. Earth comes from the Old English word Gaia; but the Romans called our planet Terra, hence Terra Firma. Mars was said to be named after the god of war because of its angry red color; but early on Mars was worshipped as a god of growth and fertility. Earth This third rock from the sun has just the right mix of variables to encourage and sustain life on it for so many years. But why here and no where else you ask? Most of it has to do with the fact that it is the third rock from the sun. The distance from the sun (150 million km) is just the right distance to allow for water to exist as a liquid, an important ingredient to sustain life. With over 2/3 of the planet covered with water, the Earth’s oceans are perfect for regulating the temperature of the planet at a consistent 22 °C, another important ingredient to allow life to survive. With a powerful magnetic field

Investment Banking

Investment Banking in 2008 Group Report 1. Failure Analysis: Identify the major factors that contributed to Bear Stearns’s failure? Who stood to benefit from its implosion? How did Bear Stearns’s collapse differ from the ‘Long Term Capital Management’ failure a decade earlier? What could Bear Stearns have done differently to avoid this fate? In the early 2000’s? And during the summer of 2007? And during the week of March 10, 2008? (1) Identify the major factors that contributed to Bear Stearns’s failure? Bear’s somewhat cutthroat and renegade culture of maverick may have contributed a lot to their failure.This culture somehow made it killed by the credit crisis, while other investment banks survived. But the direct factors resulted in Bear’s implosion were the failure of Ralph Cioffi’s High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund and Enhanced Leverage High-Grade Structured Credit Strategies Fund, which invested in sophisti cated credit derivatives backed by mortgage securities. And these failures cost Bear more than 1. 6 billion dollars to prop up two hedge funds. And the failures of two hedge funds led to a continuous questioning about Bear’s financial stability.At the same time, Bear concentrated its business on CDOs, which means it had high exposure to this item. Thus when credit crisis happened, it is significantly impacted. And in early 2008, Moody’s downgraded 163 tranches of mortgage backed bonds issued by Bear. Almost everyone realized that Bear will face liquidity problem. But meanwhile, Bear highly relied on repo to finance itself. When lender lost confidence in Bear, it failed in finding another effective way to find cash. In sum, the reasons above contributed to the failure of Bear in 2008 crisis. (2) Who stood to benefit from its implosion?JP Morgan is the beneficiary from Bear’s bankruptcy. It gained a company which had $172. 61 worth less than 8 months ago with an i ncredible low price of $10 a share. (3) How did Bear Stearns’s collapse differ from the ‘Long Term Capital Management’ failure a decade earlier? The origin in LTCM’s failure was the high-leveraged structure. It obtained excessive debt for the investment of the bonds. Simultaneously, the market capacity was not sufficient to support LTCM’s large bloated size. As time had gone, market competition and capacity diminished its profitability.But with such a high leverage, LTCM had no other choice but to gain enough profit to move on. Therefore, they got a foot into some unfamiliar area. Meanwhile, as to the trading strategy, LTCM held a large quantity of asset with low liquidity. However, situation was different from what they had predicted. Big loss happened eventually, but LTCM could not sell asset for enough cash. It inevitably had to go bankruptcy. High leverage structure of Bear’s hedge fund also had great impact on its collapse. But the awful strategy of Bear’s management should blame most for its bankruptcy.If it was in a less turbulent environment, things might be different. Continual bad news about Bear from executives’ unmannered behavior to its first quarterly loss since foundation ruined the confidence of investors. And another difference in the failure of both was that Bear mainly died of market failure. When the whole market was fear of the loss of subprime asset, the large subprime assets holding companies such as Bear Stearns, could not avoid a fate of great loss and liquidity problem. (4) What could Bear Stearns have done differently to avoid this fate?In the early 2000’s? As an investment bank, Bear was just in pursuit of the return while underestimated the potential aftermath of being too risky. Most of its profit was composed of fixed income securities. Meanwhile, Bear should not let each hedge fund manager just specialize in a particular security to make volatility. It is obvious that Bear’s risk management had significant flaw. Furthermore, since the over-confident Bear was desperate for the incredible return, it was not attentive to such supernormal growth of the housing price.They should not just concentrate on CDOs without also devoting their asset in other business, as diversification is so important for a firm. But it may not happen, since Bear was not less greed than the surrounding. And during the summer of 2007? If Bear realized the market could not be defeated, they should have controlled Cioffi’s risky action of raising new hedge fund with a higher leverage. Conversely, they should liquidate the fund. If the liquidation was performed, they should not have lost such great amount in this worthless fund.And meanwhile it began to try to search for cash to finance itself. Except those worthless ‘toxic assets’, Bear still had some assets, which could provide it some cash flow. If Bear sold these assets earlier with determination, they might not sink in liquidity problem so deeply. And during the week of March 10, 2008? After Bear was downgraded by Moody, market had lost confidence in it. Almost everyone realized bear’s liquidity problem. When pointed out to have liquidity problems, Bear’s executives should realize the severity of the crisis rather than believing the worst was once again behind them.Even though they could not recover from the difficulty, prime actions could be taken, including exposing the reality to the market, reassuring the investors, making urgent strategies, applying for emergent aids from the Fed, and applying for temporary held in stock trading. 2. Liquidity Crisis and Business Model of Investment Banks: What is the role of Liquidity for banking and investing banking firms? Is perception of Liquidity more important for a banking/investment banking firm than manufacturing firms (such as Ford or Boeing)? Why?What could Bear Stearns have done to address its Liquidity concern s, which initiated the run on the bank? Looking back, what lessons can we infer from Bear Stearns’s failure regarding the business model of investment banks? Looking forward is the concept of ‘pure-play’ investment banks sustainable? (1) What’s the role of liquidity for banking and investing banking firms? Liquidity can reveal the untrue existence of cash (and cash equivalents), short-term investments, accounts receivable and accounts payable, etc. To which extent it lives up to the real condition.It measures whether the bank’s business is legal, reasonable and whether the financial status is promptly and properly reflected on the financial reports. Liquidity risk is also important. It values the repayment of debt and reminds the board of the corporation’s risk at any time. Managing liquidity is a daily process requiring bankers to monitor and project cash flows to ensure that adequate liquidity is maintained. The investment portfolio serves as the primary source of liquidity and represents a smaller portion of assets. Investment securities can be liquidated to satisfy deposit withdrawals and increased loan demand. 2) Is perception of Liquidity more important for a banking/investment banking firm than manufacturing firms (such as Ford or Boeing)? Why? Yes. The main sources of funding for commercial banks are deposit, interbank borrowings, commercial banks deposits, the international money market borrowings and the issuance of financial bonds, among which the short-term deposit accounts for the vast majority of the proportion. However, these funds are primarily used for commercial loans, discounting business, securities investment, etc. These higher profitability and long-term loans account for the absolute proportion in the composition of assets.This mismatch between assets and liabilities makes the liquidity of assets very important in banks’ operation. Since when sudden changes occurred in the market, a large n umber of customers will be forced to perform withdrawal, therefore the bank will be very difficult to realize its assets and to meet its liquidity needs. In some sense, it is similar for the investment banks. The difference is just that they do not raise money from retail depositors; most of the money is funded in the interbank market and is used to hold illiquid mortgage backed securities.Once banks were not able to provide funding for business, a banking contagion will occur and spread. A traditional manufacturing business is generally funded by equity or long-term debt and has steady cash flows from business operations. Even in the case of a collapse of such businesses, it would not have the same contagion effect as banks. (3) What could Bear Stearns have done to address its Liquidity concerns, which initiated the run on the bank? 1. The basis of the modern financial system is not physical assets, but people’s confidence in this system.Actually when the rumor of BSC runnin g out of cash was widely spread, BSC was forced to make a public announcement to ensure the public that their financial situation was solid and their liquidity was sufficient. Unfortunately, BSC did not take valid action or provide strong evidence such as strengthen its financial sheets or reducing leverage to convince investors. The board should pay more attention to the operation of the corporate rather than participate in a bridge tournament. 2. BSC could reduce leverage by selling their risky assets to generate cash during a period of financial stress.They should maintain enough reserves in the form of short-term instruments of the highest credit quality to meet the obligation. So an amount of funds should be invested only in instruments that have guaranteed liquidity, like treasury instruments. 3. Bear Stearns, three-quarters of whose revenue was still dependent on the market (see the source below), should adopt diversification strategy to find a real alternative to business an d improve its finance. The plans could be accelerate the development in other countries and diversified business, including equities, investment banking and asset management businesses.Source: http://finance. sina. com. cn/money/future/20080403/09024705325. shtml (4) What lessons can we infer from Bear Stearns’s failure regarding the business model of investment banks? Diversification of the investment is the foremost thing to consider for any matured investor. Investing heavily into one company, one industry, or having only one investment strategy is unadoptable. You are banking for speculation that one company or industry will always do well. But in fact, it is hardly possible to be in perfect condition at any time.You must make your investment portfolio diversified. Maybe an element of international stocks can be added into the portfolio. When the U. S. market is unprofitable, it still has the chance to get profits from Asia and Europe so as to keep the portfolio solid. So metimes high leverage can kill a firm. In March 2008, Bear owned tangible equity capital of about $11 billions versus total assets of $395 billions—a leverage ratio of 36. For several years, this reckless financing bring the company a profit margin of about one third and a return on equity of twenty percent.However, when the market endured a sharp downturn, Bear lose a lot of capital and willing creditors. During the ensuing months, the same story was to be played out at scores of other banks and non-banks. (5) Looking forward is the concept of ‘pure-play† investment banks sustainable? The performance of a pure-play investment bank can be highly influenced by the type of investing style which targets at it. For instance, if a pure-play bank's business is favored by growth investing, the company will do well during a bull market, where growth stocks tend to outperform the market.Conversely, a pure-play bank associated with growth investing will do poorly during bea r market, when a value investing strategy is historically more profitable. What’s more, the pure-play investment banks have relied heavily on short-term capital, especially repo transactions in which counterparties take collateral as security against the cash they lend. As public companies, pure-play banks faced pressure to deliver return on equity comparable to that of universal banks, even as those banks put competitive pressure on traditional advisory businesses such as M;A, underwriting, and sales and trading.In response, pure-play banks resorted to the two advantages they had over non-depository institutions: unlimited, unregulated leverage capacity, and increasing reliance on proprietary trading to deliver earnings. 3. Systemic Banking Crisis and Regulation: What is a â€Å"systemic banking crisis†? What is ‘banking contagion†? What was the rationale for the creation of ‘fire-wall’ of separation between investment banking and commercial b anking in USA that was institutionalized by the Banking Act of 1933? Why did the regulators weaken and phase out that ‘fire-wall of separation’ in 1990s?Identify the major Deregulatory Acts and its role in the meltdown of the investment banking industry? In your opinion, based on lessons from past global banking crisis, what steps should regulators institute now to address similar future problems? (1) What is a â€Å"systemic banking crisis†? Systemic banking crisis refers to the crisis detrimental to the whole financial system. It is the fatal chaos that several disastrous crises occur simultaneously, such as monetary crisis, banking system crisis, foreign-debt crisis, etc.The crisis expands from one financial market to another. For example, from the stock market to the real estate market or foreign-trade market, etc. (2) What is ‘banking contagion†? Banking contagion refers to a scenario where the banks, which initially affected by some crisis sprea d to the other banks even the other countries whose economy is previously healthy. In this scenario, the expansion could be very quick and disastrous. The international spread might cause the whole banking system to be paralyzed and need another several more years for recovery. 3) What was the rationale for the creation of ‘fire-wall’ of separation between investment banking and commercial banking in USA that was institutionalized by the Banking Act of 1933? There are 3 major factors. 1. Risk of losses (safety and soundness). Banks that engaged in underwriting and holding corporate securities and municipal revenue bonds presented significant risk of loss to depositors and the federal government that had to come to their rescue; they were also more subject to failure with a resulting loss of public confidence in the banking system and greater risk of financial system collapse. . Conflicts of interest and other abuses. Banks that offer investment banking services and mutu al funds were subject to conflicts of interest and other abuses, thereby resulting in the harm to their customers, including borrowers, depositors, and correspondent banks. 3. Improper banking activities. Even if there were no actual abuses, securities-related activities are contrary to the way banking ought to be conducted.The Act prohibited the combination of a depository institution, such as that, commercial banks (those that accept deposits) were prohibited from engaging in most investment banking activities, including underwriting and selling securities, and from affiliating with investment banks and other companies â€Å"engaged principally† in the trading of securities. Likewise, investment banks were barred from accepting deposits. (4) Why did the regulators weaken and phase out that ‘fire-wall of separation’ in 1990s? Inspired by a desire to make U. S. nvestment banks competitive with foreign deposit-taking investment banks such as UBS, Deutsche Bank, an d Credit Suisse First Boston, a Republican Congress and President Clinton passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999, permitting insurance companies, investment banks, and commercial banks to compete on equal footing across products and markets. (5) Identify the major Deregulatory Acts and its role in the meltdown of the investment banking industry? 1999–Glass-Steagall Act Fell The repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 had larger ramifications than any other steps in deregulation.Repealing this act made it possible for investment banks to be savings and loan banks and to receive to the same government protections as savings and loan banks. An investment bank could make investments with people's savings, sometimes irresponsibly, and those investments now were guaranteed by the federal government. 1988–Securitization In 1988, securitization, or repackaging assets as a financial instrument to sell to investors, became legal. Banks were a llowed to sell their mortgages to SPVs. Mortgages were no longer being made to hold but to sell, and lending requirements became substantially more lenient.This created a combination of bad loans and banks without the funds to back them up. 2004–SEC In 2004, the SEC abolished the â€Å"net capital† rule, which restricted the amount of debt their brokerage units could take on-demonstrated this growing appetite for leverage. This led investment banks to leverage themselves at a financially irresponsible 30 to 1 percent, meaning that for every $1 they had on hand they had $30 in debt. When some of these investments collapsed, the banks did not have the ready capital to maintain their companies. Ultimately, increased leverage and proprietary trading ravaged the nvestment banking industry, leading to the collapse, merge, or restructure of all 5 major pure-play banks on Wall Street. This time, the SEC took the unprecedented step of temporarily banning short sales of financia l institution stocks. The ban caused massive losses in hedge fund portfolios and dissuaded them from making additional investments, denying would-be issuers access to needed capital. Moreover, the SEC placed a ban on so-called ‘naked’ shorting, which reduced the total amount of short interest that could accumulate in a stock. 6) In your opinion, based on lessons from past global banking crisis, what steps should regulators institute now to address similar future problems? 1. The regulations should be placed on the fundamental part of economy. For example, when there seems to have bubbles in one field, the Fed should not ignore. It should adjust the policy towards the industry to change the unbalanced situation. 2. To fortify the risk awareness continuously in traders’ mind, especially those who control the wealth of millions of people. Their behaviors might have huge influence to the market and the profitability of the firms. 3.The Fed should research for adjustm ent for investors from the market of different systems to ensure that obstacles will not exist in multinational trades. Meanwhile, policies of staying resistant to exterior crisis should be prepared in case of the explosion of crisis. 4. Federal Bailout and Public Policy: Why did the Federal Reserve bail-out Bear Stearns? Why was Lehman Brothers allowed to collapse while Bear Stearns was not? Is the Fed orchestrated sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America the optimal solution for addressing the crisis? Could Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have survived with out becoming bank holding companies?In your view, what public policy role should the Federal Reserve play in maintaining sustainability in global banking and stability securities markets? Why was there such a public out-cry against the bailout of Wall Street investment banks? Based on this recent performance how would you rate the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis? (1) Why did the Federal Reserve bail-o ut Bear Stearns? If Bear went bankruptcy, it would affect other firms in Wall Street as well, since Bear was a market leader in prime brokerage and clearing who provided trading and back-end services to many other Wall Street financial institutions.Most customer asset would get frozen in the event of bankruptcy, and many hedge funds had collateral in the firm. Because of Bear’s holding of 13 trillion credit default swaps, the collapse of Bear would influence many other companies, which means too big to fail at that time. However, the Fed didn’t forecast that this kind of matter will happen again. The Fed Reserve bailed out Bear Sterns just to avert crisis and dissuade further irresponsible risk-seeking. The bailout benefited Wall Street at the expense of Main Street and the low share price was to discourage banks from taking on similar risk. 2) Why was Lehman Brothers allowed to collapse while Bear Stearns was not? The decision to let Lehman Brothers fail was largely m ade by then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the British Financial Services Authority. The public outcry over the taxpayer assumption of $29 billion in potential Bear losses made repeating such a move politically untenable. Therefore, the Fed refused to back Lehman’s liabilities and backstop losses from Lehman’s toxic mortgage holdings. Moreover, Barclay’s quitted the acquisition, worrying that it could not be satisfied with the timely shareholder approval, which directly led to the collapse of Lehman.The Fed also wanted to set it as an example, to let other company to know that not every time the government will come out to bail out the company, so they will have deliberate consideration repeatedly before making all kinds of risky investments. (3) Is the Fed orchestrated sale of Merrill Lynch to Bank of America the optimal solution for addressing the crisis? No. This transaction doubled the investment banking size of Bank of America. Furthermore, it exposed Bank of America to mortgage-backed securities, which had negative impact on the long-term credit rating of the bank.This transaction could not prevent the occurrence of another such case like Merrill Lynch’s, and this behavior could not bring unforgettable lesson to other banks. (4) Could Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have survived without becoming bank holding companies? No. According to the research, Goldman Sachs was a major beneficiary of the government’s bailout of the financial services industry, not only through AIG but also through its ability to fall under the regulatory umbrella as a bank holding company, which made it eligible for debt guarantees and other government backstops.Every financial services company on the earth wanted to become a bank and line up for the handouts coming from Washington such as American Express, GE Capital, and GMAC. Even Willem Buiter, a former central banker, wanted to become a bank. Goldman was in a more precarious position than bank holding companies because of the vulnerabilities of being a broker-dealer. Nouriel Roubini warned repeatedly before Lehman’s collapse that the large full services broker-dealer model was broken. (5) In your view, what public policy role should the Federal Reserve play in maintaining sustainability in global banking and stability securities markets?From the lesson of subprime housing crisis, we think the Federal Reserve should control the capital, but without influencing the supply and demand. Since this crisis was created by those bad loans, the government’s control would limit people to invest on housing market, and somehow be better for people who are really in need of a place to stay. Furthermore, we have several pieces of advice to the Fed, besides in housing matters: a) Regulate the gross domestic and international banking environment. b) Reinforce the supervision over the risk control of investment banks. ) Restrict the expansion of any potential crisis once any symbol occurs. d) Do best to avoid the asymmetric information in the market. e) Ensure a fair and open environment for trading. (6) Why was there such a public out-cry against the bailout of Wall Street investment banks? People’s being against to government’s bailout the Wall Street had 2 main reasons. First, people believed Wall Street got this mess by themselves and they should be the one to clean it up, rather than that the government used tax payer money to save the Wall Street.They thought this was not fair, because this kind of action would increase the US government’s debt, and tax payer would have to pay more tax in the future to cover this debt. This debt may take a long time to be recovered. Second, when the government did get involved in the Wall Street crisis, the free market would not exist anymore, and next time if any firm had problem, they would ask the government to save them, which would totally be against the American economic policy , and belief. 7) Based on this recent performance how would you rate the Federal Reserve’s response to the financial crisis? Based on the recent performance, we think they had done what they had to do, but we think they should let the economic fail, based on the free market of American. They should let the invisible hand control the market, and the market should flow freely by itself. It will come back up, however long it takes. Now the government is using the tax payer’s money to cover Wall Street crisis, which actually is not fair.