Managing China’s Float

Managing China’s Float Why do you think the Chinese government originally pegged the value of the Yuan against the U. S. dollar? What were the benefits of doing this for China? What were the costs? Over the last decade, many foreign firms have invested in China and used their Chinese factories to produce goods for export. If the Yuan is allowed to float freely against the U. S. dollar on the foreign exchange markets and appreciates in value, how might this affect the fortunes of those enterprises? By some estimates, the decline of the dollar undervalued the Yuan by as much as 40%. That has allowed China to dramatically increase its exports, but at the same time Chinese import restrictions and other trade mechanisms made it more difficult for foreign exporters to sell their products to China. But a stronger Yuan with, and increased purchasing power, may result in an increase in Chinese firms' investment and expansion abroad. How might a decision to let the Yuan float freely affect future foreign direct investment flows into China? If China were to abandon its peg, that could result in a slowdown in its exports. That kind of sudden shift in policy could make foreign direct investment less likely to take place in China. Currently, China is an attractive investment destination, but a stronger, and a less stable Yuan could change that. Under what circumstances might a decision to let the Yuan freely destabilize the Chinese economy? What might be the global implications of this be? Do you think the U. S. government should push the Chinese to let the Yuan float freely? Why? At this point, the Chinese have gobbled up so much of the dollar that they control the largest part of the dollar’s reserves. It is foregone that the Yuan will be the reserve currency of this century, so why not let the currency float freely and allow market forces to dictate its value? That way exports from China can be realized at a fairer value and investment can be more fairly distributed to among countries that have equally cheap labor to China and competing resources for FDI. What do you think the Chinese government should do? Let the Yuan float, maintain the peg, or change the peg in some way? I would think that the Chinese would want to stabilize the Yuan before removing the peg. Their inflation levels have been above 5% over the past two years and given the large supply of money already on hand in their financial system, they could see a dramatic devaluation. With the lessons learned from the Asian financial crises of the mid-1990s and the current U. S. bubble that recently burst, the Chinese would be wise to allow the, markets to absorb some of their dollar reserves as a means to stabilize the value of the dollar.

Media, Minorities, and Multiculturalism

The article Media, Minorities, and Multiculturalism attempts to explain how and why advances in media misrepresentation of minorities continues to be â€Å"couched in compromise†, and to distinguish between the concepts of media racism and racist media. This article also tries to draw attention to the complex factors involving media misrepresentation of minorities, and explores the developments in the creation of multicultural media by inclusion in mainstream media and institutional parallels that exist around alternative ethnic and aboriginal media.There are profound differences between racist media, and media racism. Racist media is media which openly discriminates against people of a certain race or ethnicity, thereby excluding them or denying them of certain privileges, while media racism is reflected in coverage that ignores minorities except in contexts of entertainment or crisis, and depicts minorities are problematic people, and also encoding words that constitute an e lite white discourse in perpetrating ideologies consistent with dominant sectors.The mediaThe mainstream media have been said to be particularly negligent in engaging with diversity in a constructive way, and failing to put the principles of inclusiveness into practice. Although the goal of the media might not necessarily be to diminish or demean minority men and women, the cumulative impact of miscasting has had the controlling effect of depicting minorities as remote or â€Å"removed† people.It has been noted that media that depend mostly on advertising for profit and revenue seem to be the least responsive in the area of change and improvement in minority misrepresentation, and news casting has remained a medium of the negative, even though there have been efforts to avert blatant racism. Men and women of the minority ethnicity are still constantly framed as troublesome people, whose demands and concerns are seen as unpatriotic, especially when they entail concessions or c osts.Over time, mainstream media has continued to misrepresent minority men and women at the news-casting level, advertising, TV programming and film making, even though there have been some changes and improvement in TV programming. For example, in countries like the United States and Canada, black and white viewers are having more and more favorite TV programs in common, which is probably because of the use of multi-ethnic casting in TV programs.Media miscasting tends to portray minorities as invisible, problematized, stereotyped, white washed and miniaturized people. Such an indictment is not entirely true presently, as there have been improvements in the quality of media and quantity of media minority representations.Also, advances in media representation of minorities are continuously â€Å"couched in compromise†, as systematic biases and institutional barriers still exist. In the developing world, media coverage of minorities is miscast because the media is preoccupied with style over substance and with adversity over cooperation. Developing world minorities are mostly ignored or made to seem irrelevant by racist mainstream media, and this has the effect of framing minority peoples as volatile and mindlessly violent, due to the absence of a balanced coverage.Ethnic and aboriginal mediaThere have been positive advances in ethnic and aboriginal media, due a popular and a booming ethnic market, which is reforming the ethnic media landscape. Ethnic media continues to flourish with as many as 50 radio stations airing non-English language and non-French language programs. Canada is a world leader in aboriginal media, and has many aboriginal radio and television networks, which the people look upon as an emancipatory tool for social, cultural and educational construction.Racist media in CanadaOn the basis that a racist media is one in which racism is institutionalized, it can be said that Canada does not have a racist media. Canada does have human rights laws, federal regulatory bodies, and also industry guidelines that are designed to reject deliberate racism. What Canada can be said to have instead, is media racism because the media is not deliberately racist in their coverage despite the racism existing in the mainstream media on personal and institutional levels.Discussion questionsIs racist media different from media racism?How can the concept of racist media be measured?What constitutes racist media?Does Canada have racist media?Reference listMedia in societyMedia, Minorities, and Multiculturalism

Gene Cloning Essay

One aspect of the DNA cloning experiments that is carefully considered is the selection of cloning vectors. A variety of vectors have been created, each being suitable for a particular use. One common vector used in laboratories is a plasmid called pUC19. It is 2686 base pairs long and possesses an origin of replication which allows the production of over 100 copies in a competent E.coli cell. It possesses a multiple cloning site (MCS) which is artificially implanted by adding a polylinker sequence to it. The pUC19 plasmid is also altered by inserting a gene that codes for beta-lactamase which confers resistance to the antibiotic ampicillin (Read and Strachan 2011). The MCS occupies the 5’ end of the gene lacZ (Sherwood, Willey and Woolverton 2012). This gene codes for only the alpha-peptide of beta-galactosidase, an enzyme used to break down the disaccharide lactose into glucose and galactose (Read and Strachan 2011). The aim of this experiment is to incorporate a cDNA called CIH-1, from plasmid pBK-CMV, into pUC19. DNA cloning is dependent on type 2 restriction endonuclease enzymes. They function by cleaving both strands of DNA on specific points known as restriction sites. These sites are reliant on the sequences of DNA that are recognised by them. Different bacterial strains yield varying restriction endonucleases. There are currently over 250 recognition sequences identified (Read and Strachan 2011). Restriction endonucleases can cleave DNA sequences on vectors making them competent for the binding of other DNA fragments cut by the same enzyme. They are thus important tools in the production of recombinant DNA (Ahmed, Glencross and Wang 2011). The first objective of this experiment was to use two restriction endonucleases, EcoR1 and Xba1, to cut pUC19 and pBK-CMV. To ensure that the plasmids were successfully cut, analysis of the plasmid was carried out using gel electrophoresis. Gel electrophoresis is a method of separating DNA molecules using their sizes (Brown 2001). This is made possible due to the negative charge of nucleic acids. The DNA molecules are subjected to an electric field which makes them migrate toward the positive electrode (Hausman and Cooper 2013). The 2nd objective of this experiment was to construct recombinant DNA from pUC19 that was cut by EcoR1 and Xba1. The vector must undergo ligation in order to  form the recombinant. This is achieved by using the enzyme DNA ligase, from the T4 bacteriophage, and ATP to form covalent phosphodiester bonds between annealed DNA molecules in the 3’ to 5’ direction. Ligation takes place at lower temperatures over a long period of time in order to allow optimal activity of DNA ligase (Holmes, Jones, Reed and Weyers 2007). The vector is then taken up by the host cells in a process called transformation. Transformation is an inefficient process as only a very small number of bacterial species can be easily transformed. As a result, the host cells have to undergo some form of physical and chemical treatment in order to make them competent (Brown 2001). E.coli was made competent by incubating it with MgCl2 to achieve the 3rd objective of introducing the recombinant pUC19 to them. Competent E.coli cells have altered cell walls which enable uptake of recombinant pUC19. Transformants can be identified using the selective marker. In the case of pUC19, this is the ampicillin resistance gene. For this reason, the transformed E.coli will be plated in agar containing the antibiotic ampicillin. In order to find transformants with recombinant pUC19, blue white colour selection was has been carried out. EcoR1 and Xba1 cut lacZ out of pUC19 to allow CIH-1 to ligate into it. For this reason, transformants without recombinant pUC19 cannot transcribe the alpha-peptide of beta-galactosidase resulting production of non-functional beta-galactosidase. Non-recombinant pUC19 has the 5’ end of lacZ intact and thus transformants with that plasmid produce functional beta-galactosidase. This can be detected by adding 5-bromo-4 chloro-3-endolyl –beta-D-galactopyrosinoside (X-gal) into the agar plates. X-gal is an analog of lactose which is broken down by beta-galactosidase to produce a blue-coloured product (Sherwood, Willey and Woolverton 2012). For this reason, the transformants possessing non-recombinant pUC19 will produce blue colonies whereas transformants, with recombinant pUC19 will produce white colonies. Isopropylthiogalactoside (IPTG) was also added to the agar in order to induce the transcription of beta-galactosidase. IPTG works by binding to the repressor protein inactivating it (Read and Strachan 2011). Results In figure 1, with the pBK-CMV plasmid, there are two DNA fragments shown as bands on the electrophoresis gel, one band which suggests a fragment size of  approximately 5000 base pairs and one with 500-100 base pairs. These are within range of the predicted band sizes for pBK-CMV. The data collected from the gel electrophoresis gel regarding Puc19 produced only 1 band with the fragment size of roughly 3000 base pairs. This is close to the predicted size of the Puc19 if it has incorporated the CIH-1 molecule (2664+600 = 3264). Table 1 shows the number of colonies of the transformation plates of 3 different samples. Tube 2 which is the positive control, tube 3 which is the negative control and tube 1 which is the colony subjected to transformation and ligation. Dilutions of competent cell colonies are also shown. Tube 1 possessed more white colonies than blue colonies which suggest that most of the competent cells have undergone successful transformation. The colonies produced from tube 2 and 3 are only white as there were no transformation of Puc19 as predicted. Figure 2 shows the results of the separation of DNA fragments from the plasmid DNA of two different white colonies of Ecoli, known as W1 and W2, and a blue colony called B. The DNA fragments from culture B is similar to the fragments produced by normal digested Puc19 in figure 1. There are two distinct DNA fragments of roughly 600 and 5000 base pairs in size shown on both W1 and W2. There is a faint additional band shown on W2. A Nanodrop is carried out in order to determine the DNA concentration of the culture samples B, W1 and W2. The DNA concentration in sample W2 was the highest, with 40.6 ng/uL, which is twice as high as the DNA concentration of W1 and B.

RAL's Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

RAL's - Research Paper Example In spite of the high fees associated with RAL’s, most of those coming from the poor families are the ones who usually apply for it. There is an on-going battle between the government, the consumer advocates and tax preparation companies on the continued offering of Refund Anticipation Loans. Part I Refund Anticipation Loans (RAL’s) Defined A refund anticipation loan is a type of short term loan that is applied by a taxpayer, who wants an early claim on his tax refund. The amount that is acquired through the loan will be repaid by the taxpayer’s anticipated tax refund. It may also be called as â€Å"Rapid Refund† or â€Å"Instant Money.† A contract is provided by the financial institution to be signed by the taxpayer that serves as an assurance that the loan will be paid back through the taxpayer’s tax refund (â€Å"Refund Anticipation Loan Fraud†). Common interest rates for RAL’s start from 50% up to over 500%, the basis of whic h is the length of the time that is needed to process tax forms at the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), that is According to the Center for Responsible Lending. Although this type of loan has been claimed as a way for taxpayers to have their tax refunds earlier in their pockets, more often than not it is advanced only for just a few days or less as compared to the actual date that the IRS releases the tax refund (â€Å"Tax Refund Resources for Consumers†). RAL’s give taxpayers the opportunity to get their tax refund at a sooner date and be able to use the money earlier rather than wait for a couple more days. Even so, problems occur when someone opts to use a refund anticipation loan. Basically the lender knows that the money borrowed will be paid no matter what since the guarantee is the taxpayer’s tax refund; therefore, it is considered as a safer type of loan compared to the other types, but then risking everything just to get the money sooner seems to not so und good at all (Pritchard). Refund Anticipation Loans reflect the taxpayer’s income tax return. Those who would want to avail of this can apply in banks or lenders if they can’t wait till the IRS distributes the tax refunds (â€Å"Advantages of Refund Anticipation Loan†). Some Advantages of Refund Anticipation Loan Speed It will take just a couple of days for the borrowed money to reach the borrowers’ hands. So for those who will encounter any emergencies and are desperately in need, a refund anticipation loan is an instant solution to their problems, instead of waiting for weeks or months from the government (â€Å"Advantages of a Refund Anticipation Loan†). Ease While some people struggle to find companies that will allow them to borrow money due to a bad credit history or the incapacity to pay, with RAL’ s it may not be that difficult. Simply because there is security on the lenders’ part that the borrowed money is repaid through the tax refund, so getting the loan application approved is not at all hard (â€Å"Advantages of a Refund Anticipation Loan†). Fees Fees for services rendered are instantly deducted by the tax preparer from the refund. This could be advantageous to those who cannot even afford the fees that professional tax preparation companies charge (Deutch). Disadvantages of Refund Anticipation Loans It may be the solution to some people’s financial problem, but still there are things that have to be considered

Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Budgeting - Essay Example (Klammer, 1999) A financial reporting system should have several components including assets, which refer to resource primarily controlled by an enterprise. Assets are ownership of a company and should be well recorded in the financial statements to be clearly reflected. Liabilities should also be clearly recorded and equity as well included in the financial statements. Equity is residual interest in assets after all liabilities have been taken care of and is also called owner’s equity. Operating budget versus activity based budget An operating budget refers to a yearly budget presented in terms of cost accounts, functional categories and budget classification code among others. It consists of estimates of total value of resources needed in operation. It is used to track operations in maintenance, wages as well as dividend payments among others. An activity based budget is one in which activities happening in a specific organisation are recorded and costs associated to them ar e recorded as well. (Cokins, 2006) This is followed by act of associating these costs with a company’s goals and hence from this, an activity based budget is developed. ... Though goals are set, both budgets have little or no control at all on whether or not the goals will be achieved. Both activity based budget and operating budget engage all stakeholders hence success or failure is attributed to all. Activity based budgeting and operating budget display some differences. Activity based budget is majorly based operating activities and costs as opposed to operating budget which is based on budget classification codes and cost accounts. Operating budget keeps track of maintenance operations, salaries and wages, and interest payments. Activity based budget on the contrary mainly focuses on a company’s goals and how much has been achieved. (Proctor, 2009) Management of ICBI should adapt activity based budget. It is not hard to come up with and it is rather cheap since it avoids a bloated budget by making sure that relevant activities are recorded and costs associated to them. ICBI management should be sure of goals of the company, activities and res ources required to run these activities. These activities should be recorded and tied with codes. Having recorded all activities required for performance, every cost code should then be associated with costs relevant to them and with special attention to goals of ICBI. Budget guidelines for ICBI There has to be a plan before any budget is made and this plan has some guidelines to help develop it. A budget cannot be made by one mind but requires to have a group of individuals that will work together to help develop a comprehensive budget. It should be prepared within the generally accepted principles and procedures of accounting. A budget should incorporate

THE PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

THE PRE-SOLICITATION NOTICE - Essay Example Contracting processes normally are slower and require spending a lot of time and resources on checking and verification of the offices or other property and this can be sped up through pre solicitation process. Since notices of buying attract many people, pre solicitation notices assist in sorting out the potential buyers from the rest of the group and this also saves a lot of lost hours in trying to determine the serious buyers from the whole lot. The process should have oral presentation where the contract bidders are offered enough information about the process especially its importance and even allowed to ask question. This will enable them make an elite choice or decision in regards to the contract. The language in the pre solicitation notices should be simple and to the point. These notices have technical language which confuses many people and especially the first time contract bidders that they fail to understand what they are getting into. Lastly is the shortening of the notice and the notice process. Many contract bidders are busy and have little patience for long processes not to mention a lengthy notice which they are required to read through before agreeing to it. Reducing the wording and the process altogether will really help the first time contract

'Intellectual Property rights have, throughout history, increased in Essay

'Intellectual Property rights have, throughout history, increased in scope and shifted towards greater protection for their owners'. Critically assess the main - Essay Example l property is very wide and includes literary and artistic works, films, computer programs, inventions, designs and marks used by traders for their goods or services.’1 The law makes sure that the owners of Intellectual Property creations are protected. However, the law in regards to IP rights is never stable since IP rights are many different types of rights developed at its own pace at a national and international level. IP rights are protected at a national level, but at the end of the 19th century International Intellectual Property started to develop at a more international level. Copyright means the right to make copies2. A work will not be protected unless it is original3, fixated.4 Copyright has developed extensively from the time before the printing machine to the modern luxuries of the modern world. The first copyright case dated back to 567 AD. The case of Finnian v Columba where Columba made a copy of his teachers Psalter. Following this the Statutes of the University of Paris in 1223 legalized the duplication of texts for the use within the university.5 Following this the first printer was developed, creating the first ‘bestseller’.6 The printing press brought on a period of piracy and chaos. The factor that brought everything to a comprehensive balance was when the statute of Anne was passed in 1709. If the author was alive when their right expired after 14 years, another 14 years was granted. A dispute arose on whether or not the author had a perpetual common law right to print or publish his work by assigning a perpetual publisher to do so. This dispute was settled in Donaldson v Beckett.7 The author died and his copyright was sold by his executors to Beckett. Who in return sued Donaldson for infringement of copyright. It was stated in this case that ‘the author did have a common law rights that were potentially perpetual (that is, the right of first printing and publishing), but once the work was published, this common law right

Hinduism & Jainism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hinduism & Jainism - Essay Example In Jainism, no practices of food are offered to God or the divine. Consequently, Hindus give offerings of gift and materialistic needs for the divine. Rituals and traditions of sacrifices also differ in both religions. Since Hinduism is more focused on sacrifice, the focus of sacrificing animals is prevalent in Hinduism. In Jainism, this form of practice is refuted and discouraged. As mentioned above, the theory of salvation and afterlife is quite essential in both religions. While the Hindus believe that only God can truly achieve salvation, Jainism insists that humans are the only creation that can reach that level of state. Karma is another focal point that differentiates the two religions. Salvation is another crucial concept in which both religions tend to have differences. Hindus believe that Gods can only achieve salvation. However, the Jainas consider this privilege of human beings only. While Hindus regard Karma as an invisible power, Jainas think that it is something that c omes from â€Å"within.† Clearly, both religions share many similarities but also possess many

Develop a plan for Domestic Destination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Develop a plan for Domestic Destination - Essay Example Through participation the individual provide financial assistance and thus the local individuals are empowered. Additionally, the local community can attain direct financial benefit through conservation of the natural resources (Allen and Frank, 31). Through conservation the heritage and the beautiful environment is protected while the communities benefit from employment thereby achieving a sustainable development. This means that a preserved ecosystem will host tourist to come and witness beautiful planet and social climate (Chawla, 23). Through ecotourism individuals are able to understand the nature, local community and their culture. Medical tourism refers to a travel that tourist undertake to ensure that they can get medical treatment (Kulkarni, 20). The purpose of traveling is to attain and improve their health or fitness. Medical tourism has a long history that dates back thousands of years. For example, in Greece thousands patients were traveling so that they could receive healing from Asklepios in Epidauria . Asklepios was a god who used to heal individuals from any part of the country who had different problems and this was a reason why individuals would travel (Bookman and Karla, 31). In other countries people travel from other parts of country when they hear there is a place where their problem related to medical issues. For example people used to travel from other countries so that they would collect water that was assumed to be holy. For example the waters from the holy shrines have been used by many individuals who move from one country to another so that they will collect the holy water (Stolley and Stephanie, 54). This is a medical tourism since the tourists have one goal of being healed whenever they will visit such places. For the less developed countries, patients tend to seek medical assistance from developed

Les Maitres Fous Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Les Maitres Fous - Essay Example They kill and eat a dog; in traditional Nigerian culture, it is forbidden to eat dogs, so this element is a transgressive ritual that demonstrates the forbidden power the men are channeling. They make noise with the clapping of wooden guns, representing both the formal (marches and parades) and informal (death and destruction) powers of the guns from the British colonial perspective. Only â€Å"pure ones† can participate in the ritual; whether this is because of a belief that the spirits can only fill the pure ones or because of a belief that only the pure should be trusted with the power is not clear, and the answer is probably some admixture of both. Finally, the possessed are tested by burning and boiling: Proving that they have become more than men. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of the film's subjects (or objects, as Rouch extorts and invites the audience to truly participate in the ritual and essentially become Hauka for some minutes) are men. Rouch doesn't note this extensively, but this further complicates an already complex ethnography. It is all well and good to talk about what African colonial memory might be, but this seems to be African male colonial memory and coping mechanisms. Women seem to be reacting differently.

Marketing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing - Research Paper Example Global challenge 1 One of the challenges that an organization is most likely to face in developing and launching its products in the international market is its management efficiency with respect to the production process. This challenge was particularly identified in the development of Hexopater. Management of the production process of a product, whether a locally marketed product or one that targets the international market, has many impacts on the quality of the product to be produced as well as the reliability in the continuous flow of the product into its market. An effective management of a production process begins with development of aims of the production as well as the features of the product, a stage that is crucial and defines the destiny of the product. Inability to develop focused goals that can yield a successful production as well as failure to identify captivating features that will attract customers therefore forms a significant challenge to product launch in the gl obal market. This is because a challenged set of development goals, coupled with poor specification may lead to poor standards that may not be acceptable for clearance across borders (Kumar and Addie, 2006). ... This is because the human resource competence level is reflected in the production process, quality and the image that consumers and even regulatory bodies develop over a product. The overall plan of the production process as well as sales initiatives also determines the extent of challenges that a product can experience in penetrating an international market. Management of the production process is therefore a significant challenge in any product development as it applied to Hexopater (Kumar and Addie, 2006). Global challenge 2 Another challenge facing development of products in global markets is the level of regulations that are instituted by different territories. Though most regulatory measures are meant to check on safety of products to be allowed from other economies, some regulatory measures are done on economic grounds. The impact however remains the same, that regulations undermines the ability to develop and market a product in the international market. An example of such r egulation is the European union’s move to regulate â€Å"tissue related products† (Dodin, 2010, p. 1). This particular regulatory initiative was meant to harmonize laws in the region and to ensure that the developments in scientific processes are monitored and regulated effectively. While the regulations ensured common application of rules in the region, it influenced original regulations in each countries in either way. It either lowered standards for the countries that were highly regulated and raised standards for countries that were poorly regulated. The greatest challenge to new product development in the region would therefore be significant in the countries that were previously less strictly regulated. A firm

Social Implications of Surveillance and Security Essay Example for Free

Social Implications of Surveillance and Security Essay Academic Skills – Essay Plan. a. Essay Question: Discuss the social implications of Surveillance and Security (technologies) dealt with in this course. b. Thesis Statement: Surveillance and security plays an active role at a point in everyone’s life by concentrating on the protection of people and property. They both demonstrate that monitoring is of importance. THIS ESSAY ARGUES.. – How Surveillance and Security deal with social implications: First – the surveillance of children There are positive and negatives to both aspects How it is affecting children lives It is a benefit to them – protecting them Who is actually monitoring/ watching them( parents, teachers etc) Protection over people Second – the importance of policy development through the use of cameras Through images – eg that can be used in court Cameras – images – then can be used in court to save others and prove evidence that a person is guilty. Security – protection over property Thirdly – linking – how both surveillance and security (different) One plays a specific role One is more involved in .. certain aspects Helped to do ** They both link as they are both protecting something of importance Helping to keep the world, environment etc safe. ^ bring in other examples – random ones Both Surveillance and Security have from an angle – helped to protect, manage, direct and influence people by monitoring their behaviour, activities and changing information. This essay argues that the social implications of both surveillance and security †¦ In terms of child surveillance – the social implications are the fact that it is affecting children lives, they are surrounded by this whole process of being watched. For example they could be out with friends and still feel on edge c. Point 1: statement plus evidence ( ie. Quote / paraphrase/summary plus give reference to source): Focuses on children in terms of surveillance and the social implication on that topic (case study) focused on – Article â€Å"The Surveillance of Childrens Mobility† In a sense to be a child is to be under surveillance Children surveillance Parents watch their children to keep them safe and to correct their behavior Teachers keep an eye on students to enforce classroom rules and to maintain discipline Managers of shopping malls and ,any other semi-public places use a variety of methods to keep young people under control in order to maintain those spaces for adult usage, sensibilities and consumption Depending on age, which is critical in this context, it can be argues that surveillance as care is a necessary condition of nurturing and educating children and young people As absence of surveillance has been seen as critical to children’s wellbeing and development in some romantically derived liberal regimes of child nurturing. Some regimes ( as in alternative education systems) are now very much the minority as more attention is focused on the child in the family, the school, public space, by parents, educators, the state nad corporations. Freedom for children is (developed world) urban space has become problematic , particularly in the modern era. d. Point 2: statement plus evidence ( ie. Quote / paraphrase/summary plus give reference to source) Focuses on the importance of policy development through the use of cameras ( images and video evidence) as a form of security – to keep us safe. Security is evident through images and video evidence The process of providing evidence that the images are real Used as evidence in court and in formal internal disciplinary matters, they were asked to describe how the images are â€Å"safeguarded†(protected) How they were labeled as to location and time and what chain of custody policies ensured that the images were not tampered with and were they actually the ones the charges were based on Images were common when it came to criminal  or civil. The media were intrigued by the video evidence as it established who commited what crime, although readers not knowing that they were being perceieved by the false truth Images were publicized widely in local newspapers, on television stations and were often shown on news programs. It was proven by the research program that videos played a huge role in assisting in criminal prosecutions, almost as many agencies reported that they had used images from their surveillance systems as evidence in employee disciplinary actions. e. Point 3: statement plus evidence ( ie. Quote / paraphrase/summary plus give reference to source) link them both together now. f. Conclusion: restating thesis and suggesting a connection between different points It is clear therefore that the social implications of the technologies, Surveillance and Security play a vast role in society. The use of monitoring children (is shown) has a direct influence on their well-being, knowing where they are and what they are doing. This adds a sense of relief to important people in their life surrounding them although it interferes with a child’s independence throughout their life. Monitoring is evidence that this activity prevents accidents and inappropriate behaviour, but also encourages good behaviour. The use of monitoring through cameras not only keeps people and property safe but it is a source of evidence ( in terms of images and video evidence) that can be used to provide evidence to prove the elements of a case of the elements of a defense. Child safety, Stuructured separation and property adds a sense of protection ensuring them to feel safe and secure The social implications both surveillance and security deal with being monitored Surveillance of Children Having parents, guardians, managers, teachers etc be a logical ending to what has been previously been discussed. It must pull together all of the parts of your argument and refer the reader back to the focus you have outlined in your introduction and to the central topic. This gives your essay a sense of unity. never contain any new information. usually be only a paragraph in length, but in an extended essay (3000+ words) it may be better to have two or three paragraphs to pull together the different parts of the essay. add to the overall quality and impact of the essay. This is your final statement about this topic; thus it can make a great impact on the reader. This includes observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, or inception of electronically transmitted information. Thesis Statement a. tells the reader how you will interpret the significance of the subject matter under discussion. b. is a road map for the paper; in other words, it tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper. c. directly answers the question asked of you. A thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. The subject, or topic, of an essay might be World War II or Moby Dick; a thesis must then offer a way to understand the war or the novel. d. makes a claim that others might dispute. is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The rest of the paper, the body of the essay, gathers and organizes evidence that will persuade the reader of the logic of your interpretation. e. Social Implication – pertaining (relating) to human relations, companionship, society or community and its organizational structure. f. g. This means what you do, in terms of your lifetime, how do your decisions effect How does monitoring through parents etc effect the children How does the use of photos and video evidence affect the end result in protecting / putting the bad away example in jail or be charge with an offence. Protects no only that person but others – saves lives When references sources – how do we reference?

Japanese Policing Is Illustrated Criminology Essay

Japanese Policing Is Illustrated Criminology Essay Following the establishment of the London metropolitan police by Sir Robert Peel in 1829, the arrangement of police forces throughout the country was a cumulative process, with each anew local police force operating according to the needs of individual communities they served. Hence, policing was part of the self-directed process insofar as was it was proposed to reflect the needs of the public. In that history, the roots of English policing lay in a particular functionary. The principles of community oriented policing in Britain in addition to several important aspects of its practice e.g. neighbourhood patrols can be traced to the creation of professional policing in the nineteenth century and the ways in which the police mandate was established. Early authors of British policing such as Peel established the notion that effective policing can only be attained with the consent of the community. Established in 1829, The Peelian Principles currently are applicable and used in law enforcement agencies and community policing organizations across the world today. The principles preserve the notion of policing by consent which has been at the core of British policing since. The second and third principles state that the police would not be able to operate without the active co-operation of the community (ACPO 2012). Community policing involves and is seemingly justified as necessary by the Peelian Principles stated above. This remains the case, but the diffi culties facing communities alongside the police have altered over time. In the Peelian model, found in Britain, the police are less pervasive of community than their authoritarian counterparts and, while it is accepted that they do perform an array of servicing tasks, police organizations are more generally equipped towards emergency response and law enforcement than routine intervention in neighbourhood life. In Eastern organisations such as Japan, argues Bayley (1982, police are used as an important element in social control, but in contrast with the other two models, tends to maintain order through harnessing the forces of informal social control. Rather than the use of robust and legal authority, they cultivate community involvement in crime control through extensive, service-style interactions with the community by example and persuasion allowing them to become an integrated part of the Japanese community in which they can regularly advise, engage and mediate functions (Bayley 1976). This conforms systematically to the ideal of the koban In western models of community policing the main function of the police is to maintain order, and where the citizen commonly fails to recognise the legitimacy of the state and its agents, the police. In such societies, the police may carry out a range of administrative tasks on behalf of the state, but rarely provide a public service that addresses the needs of the community. In comparison, a community-oriented system like Japan is one where the main function of the police is to provide a public service that addresses the wider needs of the community as distinguished by the Koban and Chuzaisho. The emphasis here is more on crime as indicative of community problems as an affront to authority. Such a model adopts that the police are afforded considerable legitimacy by local communities. Community policing elements in UK are, for example, incorporated in the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. It facilitates for the administration of crime surveys to organise local priorities in respect to crime and disorder. The English tradition of high levels of discretion and decentralisation of the police service also fit a community-oriented policing style. Community policing is also in operation, albeit sometimes seemingly in disguise, in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. When introduced in western societies it often means that a shift is made towards either more local efforts on crime prevention, a reprioritisation of non-emergency services, increased public accountability or a decentralisation of decision-making on policing (Skolnick and Bayley 1988). Police officers seem to have a great deal of respect in Japan, and koban officers are generally proud of their neighbourhood and the work they do. Needless to say, in many countries around the globe this is not quite the case. Lack of trust between police and citizens will make effective community policing almost impossible. For example following Scarman report (Scarman 1981) on Brixton riots, it focused attention on the needs for the police to develop closer engagements with members of the communities that they served. This led to the sense police were disconnected from the community and as a consequence they lacked the legitimacy required to police by consent. Undeniably Bennett describes community policing as its most basic, a greater working partnership between the police and the public (Bennett 1994: 224). Community police calls for much more decentralisation in the UKs policing system like US which has over 20,000 policing agencies throughout the country (Casey 2010) which is s imilar to the Japanese policing structure where police officers are seen as state servants. After the World War two, the US authorities initiated wide changes in Japan in rebuilding its police systems as a decentralized democratic body to impose a local system of policing from its invasive neighbourhood function. Neighbourhood policing has become the latest model of community policing in the UK, whilst community policing has been a prevalent model in the USA it hasnt been as noteworthy in the UK. Nevertheless during the early 2000s there was growing anxiety to the rise in the publics perception of crime. This eventually led to the development of the National Reassurance Policing Programme (NRPP) which developed a set of practical policing strategies that was orientated, largely, at reducing fear of crime midst the community. The Neighbourhood Policing model developed entirely out of the NRRP, and is undertaking with the extension of the policing family in order to provide each neighbourhood a local policing team that is both visible and accessible (Home Office 2008) much like the koban concept of community orientated policing in Japan where there are situated locally to help police the community. John Alderson (1979), a former chief constable argued that society was changing and that policing styles had to reflect this. Society was becoming free, permissive and participatory and authoritarian policing styles were no longer applicable (Alderson 1979: 376). His vision for the future of policing consisted of important aims that are still relevant in contemporary community policing styles for instance neighbourhood policing. In addition his suggestions placed emphasis on a more pro-active style of policing that works with the public in their communities again much like the koban concept of community oriented policing where they take a much more proactive role in taking a real interest to the local community needs of crime and disorder that is based upon active co-operation by preference to policing by consent. As for crime and community relations, at a time when policing in the UK and USA had drifted into more reactive and detached modes, the Japanese koban appeared to offer a model of community policing at its best and most effective. The Japanese Police Bureau was established in 1874 under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Japanese police were supposedly oppressive and even instituted a thought control operation to blot out any thinking contrary to overt support of the regime in power (Kanfman 1975: 17). After the Second World War, the US assisted Japan in rebuilding its police systems as a decentralized democratic body in an attempt to reduce the power of the police to impose a local system of policing. However these reforms were short lived and by 1954, Japan enacted a Police Law to restructure the police appropriate to cultural its needs (Hoffman 1982; Kanfman 1975) . By far the most well-known of the alternative models to the west is the koban structure of community policing in Japan. However, it contains a similar tradition of historical roots, of police integration with homogeneous communities of citizens, and of effectiveness. The Japanese koban offers a legitimate alternative to present day community policing in Western accounts. To serve local communities, the Japanese have local level substations, known as koban and chuzaisho, a residential police box in the rural areas. In the West the Police officers that would closely resemble the Japanese Chuzaisho officers are the sheriffs in the United States. The unit is typically a two-storey building, recognisable by the traditional red lamp. Koban officers normally do not drive around in patrol cars but are often on foot. This encourages frequent interactions with the community, where issues of crime are not the forefront, similarly with PCSOs in the UK who are highly visible in the communities pr edominantly on foot or cycle patrol. Yano (1989: 127) describes them as All day, policemen at the koban (police boxes) keep watch on the neighbourhood, answers questions, and help those who are in need of assistance. This provides a local presence that is missing in many western societies, although somewhat parallel to UKs concept of neighbourhood teams in the UK. The core purpose of PCSOs is to support Neighbourhood Policing teams in their neighbourhood thus spending the majority of their time within neighbourhoods (NPIA 2008) therefore dealing with community priorities and concerns, through community engagement and effective problem solving but not wholly reminiscent of the koban community orientated policing concept. Kobans form the first line of police response to the public and as such the scope of general assistance is wide. Koban officers may lend out umbrellas, may act as a lost and found office and often run various community activities e.g. distribution of local letters (Leishman 1999) to accepting a range of welfare and social service responsibilities. These officers attempt to become a part of the community, and their families often contribute in performing these jobs whilst in Britain, PCSOs, are uniformed support staffs that help officers tackle issues such as vandalism and antisocial behaviour. The police officers also administer surveys. Police officers conduct twice-yearly house-by-house district surveys on residents for various information e.g. names, occupations, ages, vehicle registration numbers etc. which has almost become a custom in the Japanese culture as its voluntary and rarely opposed. This type of community policing practiced in Japan would create a breach of civil liber ties in the Western community policing models The Koban and Chuzaisho system remains the foundation of Japans centralized police system. In contrast to community policing in western world three common characteristics exist between police box operations relative to the practices of Japanese corporations. In essence, Japanese community policing is meditative of Japanese culture whereas the Peelian model of crime-fighting, much adapted according to local national and cultural circumstances. The result historically was a patchwork of different police organizations concerned to enforce social order in communities from a local source. The theme of Japanese culture is groupism which interconnects the two key concepts of ie and mura. These two ideas cast Japan as one big family, in which each member is required to sacrifice their interest for the purpose of group welfare. Consistent with the concept of groupism, urban police boxes play a central role in carrying out police affairs as a team, relative to the Japanese community. Crime con trol is perceived to be a collective responsibility, a community matter, and not a function solely allocated to the local or state authorities like in the UK. Secondly, samurai heritage forms seniority, the basis of promotion. In the work place, i.e. police officers are promoted on the basis of seniority rather than ability in contrast to that of the UK. Thirdly, the career of a Japanese police officer is a lifetime commitment for both the officer and his family. Like all other professions in Japan, the job directs all other aspects of public and private life whereas in the UK police officers are required to retire after thirty years of service (Alarid Wang 1997). From the above it illustrates Japans is culturally very homogeneous as well as inclusive unlike the west. Apart from ethnic homogeneity, there is a supposed unity in social norms. Japanese culture places significant emphasis on the importance of harmony. Evidently, this is conducive to a community oriented policing style in Japan (Castberg 1990).

Comparative Analysis of Forwards and Futures Contracts

Comparative Analysis of Forwards and Futures Contracts A Mauritian Perspective Abstract This research compares the OTC derivatives market with the exchange-traded derivatives market. Forwards contracts have been used as a representative for OTC markets and Futures for organised exchanges and the costs and benefits of each one have been analysed. This research has been done being with regard to the GBOT setting up in Mauritius. Forwards are frequently used contracts relative to others, in Mauritius. Hence, it is assumed that if the users have to shift to the GBOT, they will use futures contracts as a substitute for forwards since both have similar characteristics except that futures are more sophisticated than forwards. A survey has been done on the top one hundred and twenty companies in Mauritius out of which, only 70 have responded. The questionnaire aimed at determining the current derivatives position in Mauritius and a glance at the perception of the financial officers with respect to GBOT. Even though they believe that GBOT will benefit the country, they are unwilling to enter the market; while most of the respondents are unaware of GBOT and uncertain about the futures market and trade mechanism. Unexpectedly, it was found that some firms use futures for risk management. The results have been used to conclude whether it is viable for Mauritius to introduce an exchange and what measures can be taken to ensure that GBOT is successful. With respect to this research, it seems that the Mauritian market is not ready yet, to conceive this new development in its financial system but there are some measures that can be adopted to combat the inhibitors and there are much lessons to be learned from the record of derivatives mismanagement. List of Abbreviations AML Air Mauritius Company Limited CDS Central Depository and Settlement Company Limited CBOT Chicago Board of Trade CME Chicago Mercantile Exchange CFTC Commodity Futures Trading Commission EFP Exchange of Futures for Physical FSC Financial Services Commission FX Foreign Exchange GBOT Global Board Of Trade HSBC Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited MTM Mark-To-Market OTC Over-The-Counter SEM Stock Exchange of Mauritius STC State Trading Corporation S0 Spot price today ST Spot price at maturity USA United States of America 1.1 Introduction The presence of derivatives market has undoubtedly improved national productivity growth and standards of living. Alan Greenspan (Chairman of the US Federal Reserve System, 2005) Derivatives have gained prominence in the past few decades and are today a vital element in finance. Although they are the latest addition to the financial world, they have been witnessing a high rate of success. They have undergone constant innovation and active trade, notwithstanding the fact that they have led to a more complex form of hedging. Electronic trading and settlement facility has revolutionised the global financial and commodity markets by attracting international investors and increasing liquidity. 1.2 Background Theory 1.2.1 Hedging Hedging is a form of insurance that uses derivatives to absorb financial risk by locking in a price for a particular good. Its essence pertains to the uncertainties associated in prices of goods. Since prices of goods cannot be predicted with certainty, people speculate. Gol (1980) states that when everyone expects a price rise, all opinions seem to converge over a price rise, such that, if speculators enter the futures market, they would also be buyers rather than sellers and their buying activity may further aggravate the price rise. Speculation helps in effective risk management but sometimes backfires; for instance, many airlines speculated a rise in fuel prices and hedged their exposure with derivatives. Unfortunately, the financial crisis 2007-2008 caused fuel prices to decrease considerably in the spot market, but the airlines had the obligation to honour their derivative contracts at relatively higher prices. 1.2.2 Derivatives market Derivatives are financial instruments that derive their value from one or more underlying assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, interest rates, commodities and market indices; for example, an oil futures contract derives its value from the price of oil- oil being the underlying asset. Derivatives are used extensively in financial and non-financial institutions. Forward contracts are the basic derivatives that stemmed from the goods market, and have thereupon paved the way for other derivatives. Some goods traded through derivatives are base metals, precious metals, agricultural products, energy products, foreign currencies, interest rate, and stock indices among others. Other includes contracts based on carbon, commodity indices, credit, fertilizer, housing, inflation, and weather. Source: Futures Industry Magazine 2009 For this research, commodities, assets, and goods are used interchangeably, irrespective of whether they are used in the financial, commodities or foreign exchange markets. 1.2.3 Types of derivatives There are two distinct groups of derivative instruments: forward-based products and option-based products. Forward-based products are termed linear derivatives as they offer a linear payoff and include futures, forwards, and swaps. Conversely, option-based products are non-linear derivatives since they offer a non-linear payoff and include puts, calls, caps, floors, and collars. Other derivatives, such as options on futures, swaptions, and forward caps, combine the features of both forward and option contracts. Derivatives trade in over-the-counter (OTC) markets or in organised exchanges. OTC trading occurs among a few dealers via phone or electronic messages. OTC contracts are mutual agreements made through private negotiations and transacted outside a trading platform. However, some OTC derivatives are cleared via exchanges (e.g. in the Chicago Mercantile Exchange). Swaps, forwards, and customised options are OTC contracts. Exchange-traded derivatives are standardised in terms of quantity and quality (the amount and quality of the good is fixed) and negotiation is not possible. Organised exchanges employ both open outcry system and electronic order matching systems and share similar purposes to securities exchanges. They design the contract terms and operate a clearinghouse, which acts as a guarantor, settles all contracts, and regulates trading. Large securities firms and commercial banks act as derivatives dealers. Futures and standardised options are traded on exchanges. 1.2.4 Players The three broad categories of traders in the derivatives market are hedgers, speculators, and arbitrageurs. Hedgers use derivatives to reduce the risks that they face from adverse movements in prices of goods while speculators take a position to realise gains with a relatively small initial outlay. Arbitrageurs enter the market to realise gains without risking their own capital. Conclusively, hedgers transfer their risk to speculators and arbitrageurs and thus, boost liquidity on the market. 1.3 Objective of Study A well-regulated organised derivatives market encourages a sustainable financial development and increases savings and investment in the long-run, thereby promoting economic growth. However, the concern is how and when to discern the time for its implementation in small economies. This dissertation aims at analysing the benefits and drawbacks of using forwards and futures contracts. Forwards contracts can be used by minority users, without major procedures and regulation. Contrarily, futures require significant concern and assistance of the government to support and ensure a good operating system. The research is carried out with regard to the commodities market being set up in Mauritius. Forwards laid the groundwork for futures, hence, both are treated simultaneously throughout this study. Futures (exchange-traded) are enhanced forms of forwards (OTC) but differing somewhat in the way they are traded. The costs and benefits of the two instruments are analysed and compared. This will indicate whether it is viable for Mauritius to introduce a derivatives exchange and suggests the measures that can be adopted to ensure that its objectives are attained. Swaps and options are excluded from the study because they operate differently and due to word constraint. Forwards and futures are relatively simpler and typically alike, thus, rendering comparison easier. 1.4 Overview of Remaining Chapters Chapter 2 deals with the literature review while Chapter 3 is an overview of the derivatives market in Mauritius. Chapter 4 covers the research methodology section. Chapter 5 presents the analysis and findings of the research, followed by Chapter 6, which concludes this study and includes some recommendations. chapter two: literature review 2.1 Importance of Derivatives Market Several factors such as size, leverage, asset-liability duration, and taxes amongst others, affect the hedging decision of a firm. The Miller and Modigliani theory posits that hedging is fruitless in perfect financial markets. In reality though, markets are imperfect and hedging alters a firms value by influencing its investment decisions. Bessembinder (1991) distinguishes that hedging corporate risk with forward contracts increases firms value by reducing incentives to under-invest. He also advocates that large institutions are more likely to use derivatives due to informational economies of scale. Likewise, Haushalter (2000) finds a positive correlation between hedging decision and total assets and characterises it as the economies of scale in information and transaction costs of hedging. Hedging also enables a firm to negotiate with its customers, creditors, and managers, which improves contract terms. A research on African countries suggests that volatile international capital flows have the tendency to destabilise shallow markets and precipitate a crisis if there is a change in investors appetite and urges adoption of stronger domestic policies and local derivatives markets for financial risk management purposes (Adelegan, 2009). Hedging is a zero-sum game; one does not gain from trade unless another faces a loss. The gain to the buyer will be exactly equal to the loss to the seller of the forward contract, whilst the gain to the seller will be exactly equal to the loss to the buyer. Hieronymus (1971) defines hedging as taking a position in a futures market that is equal in size and opposite to a predetermined position in the cash market. Hence, a loss in one market is offset by a gain in the other market. This principle works since cash prices and futures prices of a commodity are expected to converge as the contract reaches expiry. Anderson and Danthine ( 1981) define a pure hedge term equal to the risk-minimising futures position corresponding to a predetermined cash position. A hedger, thus, uses the possibilities offered by futures markets to minimise his risk. 2.2 Forwards Market A forward contract is a bilateral binding agreement to buy or sell a specific quantity and quality of an asset, at a pre-determined price and pre-determined future time. Normally, contracts specifying settlement in excess of 30 days after the trade date are forward contracts. Forwards are the first and simplest derivatives that sprouted in the sixteenth century in the agricultural markets, wherein they were used primarily to resist adverse price movements. Dong and Liu (2005) advocate that the equilibrium forward reduces commodity price risk; the buyer and seller will transact at the price specified in the contract, whatever the price of the underlying asset in the spot market at maturity. A forward agreement is somewhat like a legal contract, customised with respect to the needs of the particular buyers and sellers, obligating delivery of the underlying asset under the conditions specified in the contract. The buyers and sellers negotiate over the contract terms. Anderson and Danthine (1981) claim that, in the forwards market, speculators are assumed to be risk-neutral, bidding competitively to exercise arbitrage opportunities. 2.2.1 Benefits of Forward Contracts 2.2.1.1 Risk Management Typically, a forward contract alleviates financial risks, thereby protecting traders. There is no initial investment in the forwards market since cash changes hand only on settlement of the contract at maturity. This causes less volatility in cash transactions, rendering cash flows easy to manage. 2.2.1.2 Settlement Facility Cases wherein the seller defaults for some reason, contracts may be mutually settled in cash. Duffie (1989) finds that in practice, only a small fraction of forward positions are actually delivered while most are closed out before delivery by a cash settlement. Sometimes, initial traders are able to transfer their contracts to someone willing to take their obligation. Per se, it offers a certain degree of flexibility. 2.2.1.3 Trade Linkages and other benefits Forwards allows negotiation on the contracting terms, which benefits traders, builds up trust, and strengthens trade links between parties. Wolak (2007) analyses an electricity company and concludes that forward contracts reduce the cost of production as well as its volatility, and increase pro?t. Likewise, Dong and Liu (2005) show that forward contracts in non-storable goods benefit both producers and suppliers. 2.2.2 Costs of Forward Contracts 2.2.2.1 Counterparty Default Risk Forward contracts mitigate financial risks but give rise to counterparty risk (risk of default), which is one of the prominent risks in OTC derivatives. Counterparty risk can cause huge losses. 2.2.2.2 Transaction Costs In order to ensure guaranteed deals, parties with good credit ratings should be identified, which is a very costly task. Nevertheless, these firms do have a possibility to default for reasons such as insolvency or bankruptcy. An ideal illustration is the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank that has created the biggest turmoil in the worlds history; following which, more concern has shifted to the OTC market. 2.2.2.3 Legal procedures Once the terms and conditions of the contract are accepted, they must be adhered to otherwise legal procedures may entail. Forwards market is an unorganised form of trade with no ability to deal with conflicts other than seeking legal recourse that may be too costly. Influential and wealthy parties only may recourse to such practices. Besides, it causes damage to the dealers reputation. 2.2.2.4 Liquidity and Transparency issues There is no possibility of closing out or reversing a forward contract. Thus, forwards lack flexibility and liquidity and forward delivery is not guaranteed in the absence of a regulator. Additionally, since the contract involves only two entities, there is reduced transparency and possibility of mispricing the goods since not all the forces are at work. 2.2.2.5 Market Power and Bargaining Power Market power and bargaining power affect the capacity for negotiation along with the forward equilibrium price. As such, small investors with lesser power may suffer. Dong and Liu (2005) show that the forward equilibrium moves in favour of the participant with high market power, such that he gains from the contract. However, when negotiation costs are very high, both producers and buyers face a loss regardless of market power and use forward contracts for risk management rather than for gains. 2.2.2.6 Informational Inefficiency A study by Mahenc and Meunier ( 1983) stipulates that there is no proper information dissemination in the forward market but under conditions of imperfect information, forward trading indirectly creates efficiency in the spot market. The necessity to deal with the shortcomings of forward contracts led to the emergence of the futures market. 2.3 Futures Market A futures contract is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a fixed amount of an asset at a pre-decided price and date. In this respect, futures share the same characteristics as forwards; for instance, they help buyers and sellers with long term planning by locking in a price. However, futures are more sophisticated than forwards. Financial futures were traded on shares of the Dutch East India Company in the seventeenth century, but modern futures markets originated in Japanese rice futures, which were traded in Osaka in the eighteenth century. Futures emerged with the grading system, which purported to ensure that at maturity, the quality of goods delivered was as specified in the contract, which eventually led to standardisation of futures contracts. Futures are standardised contracts in respect of quantity, quality, delivery date, and location. They trade on organised exchanges, which are responsible for setting the quantity, quality of the underlying asset in the contract. Moreover, the exchange sets the terms and conditions of the contract, which are non-negotiable by the traders. All investors are treated equally; small investors are also able to hedge without difficulty. 2.3.1 Structure of the Futures Market Futures exchanges share the same purpose as securities exchanges. They usually have an integrated clearinghouse for clearing and settlement facility. Brokers, who are also members of the exchange, are responsible to match the buy and sell orders without buyers meeting sellers and vice-versa. Only members are allowed to trade on the platform, thus, a non-member wishing to deal in futures, should trade through a broker. The exchange connects buyers and sellers worldwide, communicates and keeps parties joint and ensures compliance with the terms and conditions of the contracts. Exchanges use open outcry in pits or electronic order matching systems or some use both, such as The Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Some authors argue that the open outcry system is more liquid and transparent than the automated system. Traders need to deposit a margin with the exchange prior to trade. The demand for margin (a percentage of the value of the contract) is referred as collateral or as a good faith deposit (Gay, Hunter, and Kolb 1986). All traders are required to have a minimum stated sum of money in their accounts. Contracts are settled on a daily basis: the mark-to-market system (MTM) which affects the contract price. If price of contract increases on a particular day, the holder makes a profit, which he can withdraw from his account, whereas if price decreases, he makes a loss and the amount is deducted from his account. As such, he is required to deposit a margin, referred as a call margin, to replenish his account to the threshold level, known as the variation margining system. Futures contract protect the value of inventories and partly finances the cost of storage since the future price of a commodity is dependent upon its cost of carry (Future price = cash price +cost of carry). This helps to improve marketing policies, financial planning, and long-term forecasting of prices. If ST is expected to be higher than current S0, then the current futures price will be set at a high level relative to the current S0. Likewise, if ST is expected to be lower at maturity, current futures price is set low. 2.3.2 Benefits of Futures Contracts Fundamentally, futures market confers two main purposes: price discovery and price risk management. The market provides protection against default, manipulation, and abuse. 2.3.2.1 Risk Management and Settlement Guarantee Moser (1998) reckons that futures contracts counteract default risk and protect traders through a set of rules. Firstly, standardisation protects traders as it ensures that the quality of the goods delivered is as specified in the contract. Moreover, the exchange can order its members to produce their financial accounts for inspection if their solvency is doubted. In 1873, the CBOT decided to expel any member who refused to abide by this rule (Andreas 1894). The margining and MTM system also contribute to curtail counterparty default risk as traders are called to supplement their account for the losses incurred on their contracts within 24hours; failure to do so causes their positions to be liquidated. There is a settlement guarantee in case of default while a tight regulation ensures that manipulation and abuse is virtually absent. 2.3.2.2 Price Discovery Futures market is transparent; pricing of commodities are fair and manipulations very difficult. Electronic trading on the exchange platform pools together all forces affecting the price of a commodity, leading to price discovery mechanism, which improves efficiency and lowers costs. Technology renders the exchange highly competitive since the market reacts very fast; prices and transactions are monitored constantly while information is captured continuously and incorporated in the intrinsic value of a good. Telser and Higinbotham (1977) concur that, futures market pools trade from diverse area into a central market, thereby increasing the heterogeneity of potential transactions. They proclaim that futures are liquid as transaction occurs readily at mutually acceptable prices and that homogenisation and clarity of the terms and conditions boost liquidity. 2.3.2.3 Liquidity One need not possess the underlying asset to sell futures while one may not be in need of a commodity to buy futures. Speculators and arbitrageurs enter the futures market without possessing or the intention of buying the commodity. Thus, the transfer of risks to different players in the market increases liquidity and maintains the equilibrium in demand and supply. Telser and Higinbotham (1977) statistically demonstrate that as the number of traders in the market increases, the market clearing prices become normal. Futures can be squared-off (reverse a position) without negotiation, thus making delivery non-mandatory. Positions can also be rolled-over. If period for hedge is later than the expiry date of the current futures contract, the hedger can rollover the hedge position by closing the existing position in a futures contract and simultaneously taking a new position in another futures contract with a latter expiry date. 2.3.2.4 Transactional and Informational Efficiency Futures market increases the informational efficiency of cash market and promotes import and export competitiveness. Cox (1976) empirically demonstrates that futures trading increases traders information about forces affecting supply and demand. His analysis rejects the claim that futures trading impose costs on producers, consumers, and others who handle the physical commodity. Additionally, evidences from more fully informed traders suggest that futures trade increases efficiency in spot markets. 2.3.2.5 Increase Export Competitiveness When entering forward contracts, exporters do not, usually, possess the entire stocks for export. Futures market enables them to hedge their projected purchase, until they have to buy in the physical market for exporting. Taking a position in the futures market will help to offset the gain/loss in the physical market; that is, at maturity the net loss/gain in futures market offsets the gain/loss in the physical market. Thus, exporters can accept contracts with longer duration and increase their competitiveness. 2.3.2.6 Offsetting gains and losses in the physical market Futures market also allows a hedger to take a position in the futures market opposite to the position he takes in an over-the-counter market. Such a transaction is termed: exchange of futures for physical (EFP). The OTC and futures positions should be for the same underlying assets or at least similar in terms of value and quantity. This results in the flexibility of customising the physical market with respect to the needs of traders, parallel to the OTC market and at the same time enjoying settlement guarantee in an exchange. Usually, margin requirements for EFP transactions are lower. EFP may seem appealing but is inefficient in fair pricing. Exchange Officials apprehend that EFPs would harm the futures market by reducing volume and liquidity and inhibit fair price discovery. 2.3.2.7 Diversification of portfolios Futures on commodities serve to diversify portfolios, since they are less volatile than financial securities. Bodie and Rosansky (1980) report an average excess return of 9.5% per annum for an equally weighted portfolio of commodity futures between 1950 and 1976. Their analysis reveals that equities are riskier than commodity futures. Furthermore, total return of the equally weighted commodity futures was negatively correlated with the return on long-term bonds, suggesting that commodity futures are effective in diversifying equity and bond portfolios. The benefits of diversification from commodity futures tend to be larger for longer holding. A similar analysis carried out by Gorton and Rouwenhorst (2005) confirms that commodity futures returns have been effective in providing diversification of both stock and bond portfolios. Weiser (2003), on the other hand, contends that commodity futures returns vary with the stage of the business cycle. He finds that commodity futures usually perform well in the early stages of a recession while stock returns are generally disappointing and in later stages of recessions, commodity returns fall while equities perform well. 2.3.3 Costs of Futures Contracts 2.3.3.1 Complexity Despite appealing benefits, futures contracts inherit some costs and the prime one is the complexity of handling them. Futures were generated to deal with the limitations of forwards but, in so doing, they brought a more complex form of hedging. Proper knowledge of the market is crucial; otherwise, hedgers may face unwanted losses. 2.3.3.2 Basis Risk Basis risk (the difference between spot and futures price) is inbuilt in futures market. Hedge positions are usually not perfect due to this difference. Working (1962) emphasises that the existence of basis risk prevents the elimination of all risks. Brorsen (1995) finds that changes in basis can cause forwards to be cheapest in some periods and futures to be cheapest in others. Therefore, the benefits of hedging can be enjoyed when the market is well understood. Advanced futures concepts about hedge positions, hedge ratios, and types of hedges should also be mastered as they benefit hedgers differently in different markets. 2.3.3.3 Mark-to-Market System (MTM)-cash drain out The transaction costs involved, such as, initial margin and variation margin in the MTM system freezes up working capital that could have yielded interest. Furthermore, the margin call should be paid before next opening of the market- a very short delay. These daily settlements make transactions volatile and cash flows cumbersome to maintain. Margin costs and brokerage commission discourage some investors, especially small traders, to enter the market. Williams (1986, 1987) shows that risk-neutral firms will hedge if transaction costs are lower in the futures market than in the cash market. Moreover, instances of dual trading exist, whereby brokers trade on behalf of their clients to earn a commission, without improving the customers position. 2.3.3.4 Large Number of Participants needed Futures contracts fail for lack of interest by market participants, that is, a low trading volume. Telser and Higinbotham (1977) statistically demonstrate that the benefit of an organised market is an increasing function of the number of potential participants and hence, an increasing function of the turnover of the potential participants in that market. They conclude that an organised futures market survive only if it is perfectly competitive, which is achieved when there are many participants. If the open interest (number of contracts outstanding) in the futures market declines, the volume of trade falls relative to the open interest. The commission and the margin are raised consequently. They even assert that there is a cost to the emergence and survival of an organised exchange. 2.3.3.5 Standardisation issues Standardised nature of contracts may cause over-hedging or under-hedging. For example, a contract specifies  £1000 to be sold while a hedger may need only  £800. Therefore, he over-hedges by  £200. Conversely, say a hedger needs  £1100, he under-hedges by  £100. 2.3.3.6 Uninformed Investors Increase Volatility Uninformed investors may increase price volatility in the futures market. If the market is inefficient in information, futures prices become biased predictors of future spot prices and causes cash prices and future prices to diverge rather than converge. Usually, futures contracts with longer maturity are closer to spot prices since time is required to assimilate unanticipated shocks. However, Kaminsky and Manmohan (1990) suggest that it is impractical to make any generalisations about the short-term and long-term horizons in commodity futures market. They find that for longer periods several markets are not fully efficient. In addition, Chernenko et al. (2004) study a wide range of futures and forward rates from financial markets and conclude that forward and futures prices are not generally pure measures of market expectations; per se, they may not be an efficient forecast of the future prices of assets. 2.3.3.7 Losses Faced By Investors Other studies indicate that large scale, professional speculators can profitably forecast commodity prices, but small traders cannot. Stewart (1949) considers futures-trading accounts for small-scale speculators and discovers that they face huge losses. Moreover, Houthakker (1957) and Rockwell (1967) find that large speculators earned profits and small speculators incurred losses for a particular set of data. Similarly, Working (1931) estimated that speculators in wheat futures, incurred losses. Empirical research shows that, for cattle and wheat producers, futures markets have lower transaction costs than forward contracts, while for small firms like farmers, the contracting costs might be higher because of opportunity cost of time in learning about futures, setting up a brokerage account, and managing margin calls. It would be unnecessary for small groups of traders, well acquainted with each other to transact among themselves than use futures. 2.3 Derivatives Mishaps The history of derivatives has witnessed some spectacular losses in the derivatives markets, which includes losses made by both financial (e.g. Amaranth hedge fund, Barings Bank) and non-financial institutions (e.g. Orange country, Shell, Metallgesellschaft). The Metallgesellschaft (MG) is a German oil company, which used futures to hedge its exposure in its early 1990s. MG hedged its position with long positions in short-dated futures contracts that were rolled forward. However, the price of oil fell and then came the margin requirements, which caused short-term cash flow pressures. Members of MG claimed that these were short-term cash outflows and in the long-run, there would be a cash inflow. However, this led to a serious issue as huge cash was drained out of the system. Consequently, MG executives closed out all their hedged positions. Therefore, one lesson to be learned is to be alert at all ti

Voltaires Candide as an Attack on Optimism Essay -- Candide essays

Voltaire's Attack on Optimism in Candide      Ã‚   Leibnitz emphasized, in his Discours de Metaphysique (Discourse on Metaphysics) (1686) the role of a benevolent creator. He called the constituent components of the universe monads, and while the philosophy of monads is of little concern to readers of Candide, the conclusion which Leibnitz drew from these monads is crucial to an understanding of optimism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leibnitz argued that all of these monads were linked in a complex chain of cause and effect and that this linking had been done by a divine creator as he created the harmonious universe. Since he was benevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient, he logically would create the best of all possible worlds. Hence, everything that happens in the universe is part of this greater plan, and thus must be for the best. Humans cannot appreciate how the evils encountered in every day life contribute to the best of universes and universal harmony, but they do, nonetheless.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Optimism was attractive to many because it answered a profound philosophical question that mankind had been grappling with since the beginning of faith: if God is omnipotent and benevolent, then why is there so much evil in the world? Optimism provides an easy way out of this philosophical dilemma: God has made everything for the best, and even though one might experience personal misfortune, God (via your misfortune) is still helping the greater good.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Voltaire's experiences led him to dismiss the idea that this is the best of all possible worlds. Examining the death and destruction, both man-made and natural (including the Lisbon earthquake) Voltaire concluded that everything was not for the best. Bad things do ha... ...e respond, in closing, to his friend the Optimist?    "That is very well put, said Candide, but we must cultivate our garden" (75).    Works Cited and Consulted: Bottiglia, William. "Candide's Garden." Voltaire: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Durant, Will, Ariel Durant. The Story of Civilization: Part IX: The Age of Voltaire. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965. Frautschi, R.L. Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968. Lowers, James K, ed. "Cliff Notes on Voltaire's Candide". Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc. 1995. Richter, Peyton. Voltaire. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1980. Voltaire's Candide and the Critics. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1996. Voltaire. Candide. New York: Viking Publishers, 1998.   

Mr. Mefisto - Foreign Language Essay :: Foreign Language Essays

Abstract Mr. Mefisto. Before asking who he is, the first question must be, he exists or not? I did not meet him directly, face to face, but I heard a lot about. If you ask people who knows they will give you all kind of answers. They will tell you that, he us good, bad, obedient or is THE GOD. My opinion is that it do not exists by it self, it exists as a relation between you and the World. If you are not in Harmony with the World, you are under his power. D-ul Dracu , Inainte de a te intreba cine e Dracul, cred ca trebue sa te intrebi daca intradevar exista. Eu nu m-am intalnit cu el, fata in fata, dar din timpuri stravechi si pana astazi, multi spun ca intradevar exista. Fortale Binelui si Fortele Raului. Cu Achriman fiind "intunericul absolut" si Christos "Iubirea Vie". Sunt persoane care ar trebi sa stie. Chistos a scos un demon dintr'un om si l-a bagat intr'o ciurda de porcii. In zilele noastre Papa Paul Ioan II zice " Demonul exista, are regatul sau, are un program bine stabilit †¦." iar Papa Benedict XVI, zice "Dracul e o prezenta misterioasa, dar reala, personala, nu simbolica" . Asta e convingator ? O idee interesanta apare la Gnostici ("comoara" Templarilor e probabil o copie a Evangeliei apocrife a lui Toma) cu Simeon Magnus si bineinteles cu Valentinian in "Imnul Perlei" Dar mai ales in critica Legei Mozaice prin "Scrisoarea catre Flora" a lui Ptolomeu, "Lumea nu a fost creata nici de Dumnezeu Tatal si nici de Satana, ci de Demiur g". Ceace ar putea explica dece Dl Dracu exista. Sau dece Seful Ingerilor s-a razvratit inpotriva lui Dumnezeu. Daca exista inceputul exista si sfarsitul. Daca exista Ying exista si Yang. Tot nu sunt absolut convins, dar sunt inclinat sa accept, pentru ca stiu ca ceva e Bine si ceva e Rau. Nu stiu de unde stiu, dar cred ca e in legatura cu idea de "Just" si "Injust" Cred ca e just ca Socrate sa se si e injust sa furi bomboane dela copii. Acum cand de bine de rau, cred ca Dl Dracul exista, as vrea sa stiu cine si ce e. Nu cred ca e sarpele care a ispitit-o pe Eva. Am vazut in o catedrale din Gubbio, o fresca cu tentatia Evei. Sarpele avea maini si merge pe 2 picioare.

Establishment Notions of Englishness Essay

In what ways did the iconography, the music, the lyrics and the performances and behaviour of punk rock acts present a challenge to ‘establishment notions of Englishness’ in 1976-77? The early roots of Punk rock were appearing in the form of The Velvet Underground in 1965, closely followed by The Stooges and MC5 in 1969, but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that punk began to globalise, hitting Australia in 1972 with The Saints. Within a year, legendary Punk club CBGB’s opened it’s doors for the first time, becoming a constant dwelling for the up and coming acts of the 70’s, and more importantly, providing a regular crowd of punk kids to listen to them. Britain in the early 70s, according to Spicer, was filled with ‘political frustration, surging unemployment and a gag-reflex to the patriotic froth generated by in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, giving punk’s raw noise a particular spice and vigour. The UK had either been in decline, recession, stagflation or worse since the end of the swinging sixties.’ (Spicer, 2006: 3). ‘Eight years later when the idealism of the 60s had well and truly faded, the strategies and rhetoric of street protest were still going strong. So when mainstream politics wouldn’t even listen to what was driving the kids insane, the Sex Pistols’ cry of â€Å"Anarchy in the UK† seemed like a viable alternative.’ (Spicer, 2006: 5) ‘Punk came with a philosophy that was influenced by the anti-establishment turmoil reverberating from the 60’s.’ (Spicer, 2006, Page 4), so in a time when the youths of Britain were so ignored and undervalued as a part of society, it seemed like a natural outlet to make the government and the authorities stand up and take notice of what they were saying. Renowned Manchester based punk journalist and singer John Robb stated that ‘Punk Terrified the establishment’ (Robb, 2006: 3), suggesting this outcry for non-conformism was having an impact and the message of challenging the government was being heard. Despite this, however, critics are still divided about whether the punk phenomenon was in fact a significant cultural shift. ‘Was it just another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer a real challenge to the  complacency of the times? A Challenge that was more than just musical and sartorial, but p olitical as well?’ (Spicer, 2006: 2). Hebdige stated that ‘the punks were not only directly responding to increasing joblessness, changing moral standards, the rediscovery of poverty, the Depression, etc., they were dramatizing what had come to be called â€Å"Britain’s decline† by constructing a language which was, in contrast to the prevailing rhetoric of the Rock Establishment, unmistakeably relevant and down to earth (hence the swearing, the references to â€Å"fat hippies‟, the rags, the lumpen poses). The punks appropriated the rhetoric of crisis which had filled the airwaves and the editorials throughout the period and translated it into tangible (and visible) terms’ (1991: 87). A significant part of the construction of the punk rock movement in the British media was the fashion of the stars, which was later emulated by the fans, with the iconic style quickly becoming a obligatory staple of â€Å"being punk†. According to Paul Gorman, speaking in Punk: The Whole Story, ‘Almost every element of punk’s style, attitude, politics, musical tastes and even personnel emanated from two tiny clothes shops on Chelsea’s King’s Road 30 years ago.’ (2006: 84) These two shops were Acme Attractions and SEX, both in London. Don Letts, ex-employee of Acme, and later member of Big Audio Dynamite said in Punk: The Whole Story, ‘Acme was more than a shop. It was a club, a lifestyle, a forum for talent. It reflected the way London was going – it was about multi-culturism’ (2006: 84). I think this really exemplifies the importance of the fashion and self-representation of the punk movement, even at the beginning. Robb recalls, ‘I saw photos of punk rockers in the papers, and I knew instantly what they sounded like. Never had a music and its threads been so closely associated’ (2006: 2). Hebdige also observed, ‘The various stylistic ensembles adopted by the punks were undoubtedly expressive of genuine aggression, frustration and anxiety. But these statements, no matter how strangely constructed, were cast in a language which was generally available – a language which was current’ (1991: 87). I feel this rings true in a big way, especially when you contrast another artist of ’74 with the way, for example, the Sex Pistols presented themselves. In image one, we see the Sex Pistols wearing typical punk style  clothing, however, in image 2, The Who, another British band making music in 1974, are seen to be sporting a much more reserved fashion, that could be classed as smart/casual, due to the tailored trousers, tucked in shirts and sports jackets, and even be called patriotic, with the presence of a union flag jacket. In contrast, while the Sex Pistols are also wearing union flag attire, however, it seems to be done so in a satirical, ironic way. The flag is cut into and is covered in holes, which could suggest the way that the punk youth saw the state of the government, or at least what they thought of it. Similarly, there is also a sports jacket being worn, however, it is teamed with a punk print T-shirt, which could easily be seen as a rebellion against the notion of looking presentable and dressing in your Sunday best. Ruth Adams discusses Hebdige’s notion of punk fashion being a bricolage, and states ‘Bits and pieces of both officially sanctioned and popular English culture, of politics and history were brought together in a chaotic, uneasy admixture to form a new culture’ (2008). I feel this accurately describes the way punk took what it wanted from English culture and used it as a way to challenge the established notions of â€Å"Englishness†. Icons such as swastikas were often wore as a fashion statement , however, ‘for punks like Siouxsie and Sid Vicious it became just one more ingredient in the imagery of offence – not devoid of meaning, but mainly a way of getting up the noses of the straight and the narrow’ (Spicer, 2006: 4). You can imagine that this explicit and in your face approach to fashion and iconography would starkly contrast with the dreary fashion of the 70’s. Spicer states that ‘as the decade that saw beige, brown, orange and gold recommended as a desirable colour scheme for the home, the 70’s had little going for it stylistically either’ (2006: 3). I feel that this contrast in style would have made punks even harder to ignore, insuring that someone was always looking at them and listening to what they had to say. ‘Punk rock lyrics are typically frank and confrontational; compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they frequently comment on social and political issues’ (Laing, 1985: 27). An obvious example of this would be â€Å"God Save The Queen† by the Sex Pistols (1977, Sex Pistols). At the time of  release, the song was highly controversial, mainly for the fact it was explicitly ‘anti-monarchy’, implying that the Queen was a part of a fascist regime, as shown by the lyrics ‘God save the queen, the fascist regime’, and also for quite blatantly writing England off as being bleak and without any hope, shown in the lyrics ‘There is no hope in England’s dreaming’ and ‘There’s no future, no future, no future for you’. This contrasted significantly with the jingoistic ideals that were being put forward in the wake of the Queen’s silver jubilee. Savage stated, ‘â€Å"God Save the Queen† was the only serious anti-Jubilee protest, the only rallying call for those who didn’t agree with the Jubilee because [†¦] they resented being steamrollered by such sickening hype, by a view of England which had not the remotest bearing on their everyday experience’ (2001: 352-353). Laing speculated that ‘Punk was a total cultural revolt. It was a hardcore confrontation with the black side of history and culture, right-wing imagery, sexual taboos, a delving into it that had never been done before by any generation in such a thorough way’ (1985: 27). I feel this really sums up the ideology at play with ‘God Save The Queen’, as it was a total revolt of the dominant ideology at the time it was released. Punk rock is not known for its musical ingenuity, its creativity, or even its skill. John Robb described punks as ‘The DIY brigade fumbling with musical instruments, trying to make sense of the world with three chords learned last week on second hand guitars’ (2006, Page 3). I feel this expresses the rebelling of the establishment in a way that goes above lyrics or fashion. Here we can see that punk was not about pleasing people or making everyone happy, it was about doing what you wanted because you could, and not caring if people liked it or not. This directly challenged the English ideology of the 1970s, which was predominantly all about keeping a stiff upper lip, being polite, and being, for lack of a better word, nice. Rock journalist Caroline Coon wrote about the Sex Pistols’ live performances, stating that ‘participation is the operative word. The audience revels in the idea that any one of them could get up on stage and do just as well, if not better than the bands already up there’ (1982: 98). This again draws on the angry, challenging, do-it-yourself attitude attached to the punk genre. Machin describes the discourse of the melody of â€Å"God Save The Queen† by the Sex Pistols in a way that epitomises the ideology of the genre. ‘Here [image 3] we can see that much of the melody remains on the first note. There is therefore very little outward giving of emotion or positive energy. This means that there is something very contained about the way it is sung. In fact, the vocalist sings the song generally at a high pitch which conveys emotional intensity. Yet in this intensity there is no emotional outpouring or pleasure. There are only short sharp occasional outbursts on the 4th note. This is fitting of the punk discourse of nihilism and cynicism.’ (Machin, 2010: 105) Philip Auslander proclaimed that ‘we may not usually think of musical performance, apart from opera and musical theatre, as entailing characterisation in the conventional dramatic sense. Nevertheless, we must be suspicious of any supposition that musicians are simply ‘being themselves’ on stage’ (2004: 6). Auslander goes on to quote Frith, who states that musicians are ‘involved in a process of double enactment: they enact both a star personality (their image) and a song personality, the role that each lyric requires, and the pop star’s art is to keep both acts in play at once’(2004: 6). I feel that this observation directly applies to the punk rock era, as it exemplifies the explicit and hyperbolic style of the genre. This can be exemplified by Sex Pistols front man, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten). In the public eye he is an anarchist punk rebel who is not scared to speak his mind and does not care who he offends, however in real life he is a man who was bullied as a boy for having an English accent while at his grandparents’ home in Cork, Ireland. This performance persona is a prime example of the way that punk challenged the notion of Englishness, as everything about â€Å"Johnny Rotten† was anti-establishment. This is typified with the quote from Rotten himself, stating â€Å"I’d listen to rock ‘n’ roll, but I had no respect for it. It was redundant and had nothing to do with anything relevant†. Here, he is dismissing everything that already exists in England as not being relevant or influencing him in any way, suggesting that he was the change that England needed. Auslander later goes on to discuss that ‘both the line between real person  and performance persona and the line between persona and character may be blurry and indistinct, especially in the case of pop music performers whose work is heavily autobiographical’ (2004: 7). Again, I think this is extremely relevant to the analysis of the performance of John Lydon as Johnny Rotten, as punks felt this allegiance with him through his work as he was them while he was on stage. He was also a working class, angry young person with no money who resented the royal family and the government. Al Spicer asked the question, ‘was it just another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer real challenge to the complacency of the times?’ (2006: 2) and I think the answer to this would have to be that they really did challenge the system, in every possible way. Punk as a movement intended to shock and defy the norm of 1970s England, to rebel against the complacent and austere ideals of the time and radically confront the patriotic notions of Englishness put forward by the royal Jubilee, and I think that they succeeded. Instead of merely writing protest songs, punk bands were a protest. Every fibre of their existence protested, whether it was scandalous lyrics, deplorable fashion choices or unrestrained, extroverted stage personas who would say what they thought, and never care about the repercussions. Punk was one vast protest across England and the notion of English ideals. Bibliography Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music: Image, Sound, Text, London: Sage. Spicer, Al. (2006) A Rough Guide To Punk, London: Rough Guides. Blake, Mark (Editor) (2006) Punk; The Whole Story, London: Dorling Kindersley. Sabin, Roger (Editor) (1999) Punk Rock, So What?, London: Routledge. Robb, John (2006) Punk Rock; An Oral History, London: Elbury Press. Adams, Ruth (2008) â€Å"The Englishness of English Punk: Sex Pistols, Subcultures and Nostalgia.†Popular Music and Society, 31.4, P. 469–488. Hebdige, Dick (1991) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge. Savage, Jon (2001) England’s Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, London: Faber & Faber. Laing, Dave (1985) One chord wonders: power and meaning in punk rock, Milton Keynes: Open University. Auslander, Philip (2004) Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 14, London: Routledge. Boyd, Brian (2010), The Making of a Rotten Public Image, The Irish Times: 08 Aug 2010 Issue. Coon, Caroline (1982) The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion, London: Omnibus Press. IMAGE 1: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/12/30/1230675664257/Sex-Pistols-in-1978-001.jpg IMAGE 2: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsUwtTu-9piVAtmhfFA8o06858NxxwQaXbx1xCmojVIR4clnJ7YFocMfsMHoHDdN-1bS85Io92g4YGrRbEQZjvGUwtmkjY7qFs9zeyGOwuva1I4d2zJHc9-9lORnVKhpbvolN9Xb623Ig/s1600/The+Who.jpg IMAGE 3: Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music: Image, Sound, Text, London: Sage. Page 104.