Book review of Economic Sophisms, by Frdric Bastiat Essay

Book review of Economic Sophisms, by Frdric Bastiat - Essay Example In this book Economic Sophisms Bastiat tries to combat the problems of protectionism through many arguments. His famous satirical work known as the ‘Candle makers’ petition’, which is reproduced in many economic textbooks all over the world, is also included in this book. (Hart, 4-7; Hazlitt, 5) The collection consists of three parts. The first part contains the popular essays; the second is his sophisms, consisting of 35 articles on protectionism. The third part was written in a short period of time before his death and consists of the thought that society and the economy are in harmony and government intervention was unnecessary - ‘The world is not sufficiently aware of the influence that sophistry exerts over it.’(Bastiat, 93) The author’s thesis is that one should have the freedom to buy anything from anyplace as that is in one’s best economic interest. The most important argument present in the whole book is how a few men have been able to loot others by making them believe that they are getting looted for their own benefit. Many still lack the basic understanding of such economics and that kind of looting is prevalent even now. Since, the not so intelligent common man, might not be able to decipher the intricacies of an economic policy, the ones forming the rules are in a position to loot the poor off their wealth. Bastiat not only uses wit and satire but also uses the words of the policy makers to point out the fallacies to the general public (Spencer). The book consists of a number of styles of writing. Keeping in mind the general public as the reader Bastiat includes a number of different yet simple styles which they can understand. His book consisted of essays in conversational prose, written informally, and this is the dominant type. They have a very conversational tone and quotes from individuals having the opposite view have often been incorporated in these. This style reflects the fact that they might have been used in speeches before and contains reactions or exclamations from the writer (Hart, 8). The second type of essay format he uses is essays written in dialog form where Bastiat created characters to build up a conversation where ultimately the free market supporter would win the debate. The characters would often be in professions such as petitioning, economist, woodcutters, ironmasters and artisans (Hart, 9). Thirdly, he would write essays consisting of economic tales, which shows his love for literature. These economic tales point out important economic aspects to the layman in an easy manner, and included funny remarks. Important stories include ‘Reciprocity’, ‘Stupidville’ and ‘Childishtown’. These tales make the work of economics less boring and ignites the enthusiasm of the reader (Hart, 10). The fourth type of essays was fictional letter to government officials. These were similar to the economic tales and were considered funn y and satirical. These fake letters were written to many fake government officials such as Council of Ministers, various Cabinet Ministers and to the Chamber of Deputies, sometimes even the King, and contained requests for easy solutions of economic complexities. The writer uses a ‘reductio ad absurdum’ method to push his point usually taking up a topic used by his opponents. Sometimes ridiculous demands made by the opponents were used to show

Activity Based Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Activity Based Costing - Essay Example Currently at Stream International, there is no defined way of recruiting and appointing people. Personnel management and conductance of HR activities at Stream International do not follow a charted procedure. As given in the case data, 34 different people conduct HR activities. Due to this, some of the activities like payroll, training etc. get duplicated. For Stream International, costs of human resources hiring, training, development and even allocation of resources is getting duplicated. Jobs are getting redundant because too many people are hiring individuals without any consideration of specific requirements categorized by departmental needs, roles and skills demanded. Controlling and supervision is also getting haywire because employees are not under single leadership. Also, due to excessive hiring by a number of HR people, roles have become ambiguous. Thus, people have outnumbered actual job duties. If number of recruiters at Stream International is large and undefined, recruitment will not be efficient because views and opinions will bound to clash and appropriate candidate would be difficult to find who can fulfill wishes of all. As such, first of all, there has to be made a central recruitment team or division which carefully analyzes manpower requirements of divisions, skills demanded and then hires accordingly. Re-engineering the recruitment process has to be undertaken. While doing so, departmental (Leitner 2004:3) dependencies have to be taken into account. For example, if an employee can undertake two activities of two different divisions, there is no need to hire two separate individuals for both the activities. By identifying people requirements based on departments, salaries, bonuses, incentives, training and development and other expenses can be easily apportioned to the respective business so that costs and

Art Paper Essay Example for Free

Art Paper Essay The picture shows a tree almost completely bare of its leaves. Shot vertically from an upward perspective, it is set against a clear but dusky sky. The slender reddish-gray tree features a slight elbow-like stump near the base, suggesting an initial angled development before growing up straight. The main branches forks from around the tree, as the lesser and fine branches appear to swing around and entangle in the crown area. The bark of the tall trunk itself is rather smooth and the fine branches on top seem dainty and struggling for new foliage. Beneath, the stump and the visible area below it appear hazy, as these spots obviously form closest to the camera lens that took the photograph. The picture juxtaposes the shadowed underside of the tree branches against a dim bluish sky. Bibliography Perspective_Tree.jpg (Picture). Index of /~jpadley/Images/Mindy_Sarah. Gonzaga University. 2006. Retrieved 1 Dec.1. http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~jpadley/Images/Mindy_Sarah/ Perspective_Tree.jpg.

Analysis of Chinas Healthcare Systems

Analysis of Chinas Healthcare Systems China went through a drastic change in 1978 from communism to a better economic change by Deng Xiaoping. He ushered china into new era. Even though he made huge reforms economically, China was lacking any significant reforms in medical systems. China prior to 1978 had a centralized medical system. Now its split between private and public services. Chinas public healthcare is inconsistent. The developed and established cities have easy and direct access to hospitals and lot of advanced medical services but the rural areas and towns dont have even basic medical needs. The quality in some health care facilities is up to Western standards even though their methods are different. (Gao,chen,4). Health care system is divided into government and private sector. Government provided majority of healthcare infrastructure and private sector provided majority of health funding. China urban health care system implemented new Basic Medical Insurance system (BIS) for urban employees, co-funded by employer and employee. Also, launched pilot projects to cover urban residents even outside workforce. Rural Health care system was also started consists of new co-operative medical health insurance system co-funded by government and rural population. By the end of 2007, NCMS covered 86% or rural population and is target to cover 100% by 2010. China is one of the fastest ageing countries and has more people aged 65 years. Chinas health care system during 1948-1978. Centrally Planned. Health care for all. Reimbursement system. Urban Health Insurance Plans GIS and LIS. Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (CMS). Face of healthcare was barefoot doctor. No private clinics/hospitals. Another reform between 1978- 2000, decentralization Healthcare responsibility shifted to local bodies. Collapse of traditional healthcare system. Out-of-pocket expenditure increased drastically.   Permission granted for profit hospitals and clinics. Between 2000 -2005, merger of GIS and LIS into Basic Urban Employee Health Insurance plan à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Rural co-operative medical scheme launched. Commercial insurers allowed to enter market. And in 2005-2012, healthcare for all. The new health care reforms focused on expanding health insurance coverage and improve healthcare system. The reforms also focused improving the quality in delivery of health services. Chinas elderly population is around 200 million and is increasing but their health-care and facilities are decreasing. Due to lack of health-care 3/4th of their elderly population is suffering from non-communicable diseases. Their health care system is unfair and is not changed according to the meeting needs of new age. Only a small percentage of population is covered by proper health-care. The elderly population has only few nursing homes and rehabilitation services. (Hamed,3) Moreover, the elderly population have less knowledge about safeties and precautions. Health-care education and promotion of safety guidelines are necessary. Many diseases can be avoided with by properly educating and spreading the safety principles. Public health care funding decreased over the years and at the same time house hold expenditure raised. China tried to change and improve their health-care system over the years through fee for service plan to reimbursement affects even then the health-care system is under stress. Increasing in the number of aging population and decrease in younger generations will cripple the country in the future. Moreover, the ageing population is a burden on the economy. (Wang, Chen,1). Government Initiatives to Meet Elderly Society Challenge. Implementation of various chronic-disease prevention programs at national level. Local government agencies training laid-off workers in long-term care. New reforms enabled for special geriatric medical training at undergraduate level. The number of geriatric units also are increased. Government and private organization efforts has increased elderly home and gave raise to many new nursing homes. Community based elderly care services were also started in many urban areas. Government has understood the health issues and started to allocate more funds towards imp roving elderly care. Chinas government health expenditure spending is very low according to international standards per capita expenditure is also low. Between 1987-2007, China has increased its efforts in improving health status of its population. Chronic diseases, non-communicable diseases accounted for 80% deaths. People of china had a high exposure rate to risk factors. Since 2003, many safety precautions and awareness campaigns are lead to protect people from infectious diseases. Health organizations also have focused eradicating water borne illness. Later huge investments were carried out to stop water borne pollution. A new national environmental performance information disclosure program has also been started to improve health care. Chinas population relatively young by international standards à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢However, rapid aging will soon begin in China. Chinas one child policy and aging population are creating huge economic and social challenges for society from growing and developing. These are some of the issues that are causing stress on Chinas health care system. References 1) Gao, Chen, Xu, Fei, and Liu, Gordon G. Payment Reform and Changes in Health Care in China. Social Science Medicine 111 (2014): 10. Web. 2)  Hamed, Abdula. The Problems of Chinas Health Care System Reasons for This Development and Improvement Suggestions. Hamburg: Diplomica Verlag, 2010. Web. 3) Wang, and Chen. Population Ageing Challenges Health Care in China.The Lancet 383.9920 (2014): 870. Web. 4)  The Lancet. Ageing in China: A Ticking Bomb. The Lancet 388.10056 (2016): 2058. Web.

The Impact of Technology on Business Essay -- Technological Business e

The Impact of Technology on Business The word business, trade, exchange of commodities are all synonyms. In the early age of civilization business was carried out on the basis of Bata trade as currency came into existence and there were business set Ups our perception started to change towards business but more so since the last 50 yrs with the advent of the information technology the world has turned around. With the establishment of the Internet business has got globalize Businesses are now able to approach overseas market they are no more confined to their areas of their establishment. Business today is inextricably intertwined with technology, from the smallest home office, to a multinational corporation with multiple monolithic legacy application. It is impossible to be in business today without confronting the issues of technology. The way we do business today is different than 30 years ago. Technology has evolved around the areas of telecommunication, travel, stock market, shipping even around our daily lives. E-commerce a system by which people can buy, sell and deal without even seeing the person on the other side has taken a front seat in improving the economy of countries around the world. Technology today has made it possible for monetary institutions to help locate the customers resources and help solve their problems at any given time through online banking. The Internet, a boon to all business, is playing a part of a catalyst; it links millions of customers to its suppliers and vice versa due to this, manufactures are able to cut the role of middlemen a nd are able to deal with the customers, giving them the ability for direct input from the customers about their choices and views of their product. The busi... ...tune magazine on May 2000. In one of the interviews with Kurt Kammerer, the writer Justin Fox contends, "The core of his business is software that uses intelligent agents to arrange business transaction online"(Fortune, 2001) business is also changing the traditional way of doing things,there are virtual markets like(http://www.ebay.com)where by which people are buying and selling products Today there are no limitations to what technology can do to change the way we do Business. From online malls like(http://www.mall.com) to sites likeE-Bay technology has changed the way we do business. What we can conceive we can achieve. What is coming up next might impact our ways of doing business but the major impact, the major changes have began and what will lead now will be enhancing those changes. We have discussed many ways that technology has impacted our businesses.

Santeria and Lukumi Religions Practiced by Hispanic Caribbeans :: Religion Religious Caribbean Essays

Santeria and Lukumi Religions Practiced by Hispanic Carribeans Religious origins: The Yoruba religion was brought to the Hispanic Caribbean approximately four hundred years ago by African slaves during the period of conquest and colonization of the new world. The religion remained traditionally strong among the African community until the Spanish conquerors began to prohibit its practice. When the Spaniards reached the New lands they brought with them the religion of the reigning King. That is Queen Isabella's religion; Catholosism. The conquerors forced the slaves to accept the Catholic faith as their new religion. The African, stripped already of their dignity refuse to give up their religious beliefs, this belief being all they brought with them. Knowing of the negative ramnifications, punishment and sometimes even death if caught "devil worshipping" it meant that in order to continue to worship theri Gods the angry Africans had to find a way to practice thier religion. They astutely hide theri religion behind Catholic religious practices and saints. The religion is therefore called "Santeria" or the way of the saints. According to Migene Gonzalez-Wippler Santeria is neither a cult or a sect. "It is a monotheistic religion, where God is seen as the creator of the Universe and of humanity. The orishas, syncretized with catholic saints, are repositories of God’s powers and the mediators between humanity and the Supreme Being. During this same period the Lukumi religion was also developed. The Lukumi religion is very similar to that of Santeria, while Santeria utlizes the Catholic Saints and prayers for ritualistic purposes Lukumi does not. Lukumi tends to make African images to represent the Orisha and makes little or no use of Christian prayers. The Lukumi religion is a less diluted form of Orisha worship and was mostly concentrated in Cuba. In Santeria, Yorubas then continue to worship and honor the Orishas and to practice their strong religious beliefs. The Yoruba rituals are modified and made similar to that of the Catholic religion. As aforementioned , when the Africans where brought to Cuba and the other New Lands they saw themselves forced to disguise theri ancestral religion and to embrace the church of theri captors. This created a complex religious mixture of beliefs. Because of its roots in Africa the worship of the saints has been a misunderstood religion, sometimes reffered to as unciviliazed and almost always viewed as a dark religion or a devil worshipping religion.

Employment and Performance Essay

When allocating work, what things should be taken into consideration? When Allocating work you need to implement a clear and precise goal that is achievable within the given time. The availability, knowledge and skills of the staff need to be considered before assigning them to a particular role to ensure the best outcomes. Why are performance management systems necessary and how do you think performance appraisals contribute to performance and productivity in an organisation? Performance management systems help direct employees toward organisational goals by letting employees know what is expected of them and how it will be achieved. When an employee has been given the performance management system, they should know clearly what is expected of them and know what they will be assessed on. It is also a good opportunity for employers to praise employees on the areas that they have excelled in and also to identify areas that need further improvement. 3. What steps might be taken if it is necessary to follow-up performance appraisals? Some steps that need to be followed when evaluating performance appraisals are: †¢Set performance goals with each employee. †¢Set developmental goals with each employee. †¢Shift focus from their past performance to their future performance. †¢Working directly with the employees. †¢Provide the employees with formal and informal coaching, guidance, feedback and direction. Assessment Activity 11 Explain what coaching and mentoring are, making certain that the differences between the two processes are clearly explained. Mentoring is relationship orientated which provides a safe environment where the mentored shares whatever issues affect his or her professional and personal success. Mentoring is always long term because it requires time in which both partners can learn about one another and build trust. Coaching is more tasks specific. The focus is on concrete issues, such as managing more effectively and improving technical and practical skills. Also a coach can successfully be involved with the coached for a short period of time, maybe even just a few sessions. The coaching lasts for as long as is needed. Assessment Activity 12 Why is necessary to document and record performance? Documenting employee performance sends the message to an organisation’s workers that their work is observed and acknowledged. As employees realise their work is acknowledged their level of engagement in their job increases. This causes productivity to increase. Also when managers meet with employees to discuss their performance reviews, employees can ask their managers questions about comments they gave regarding their performance. They can also discuss personal items such as work and life balance issues that impact their performance and work with their managers to arrive at solutions to the challenges. Assessment Activity 8 1. Why is it necessary that performance monitoring and evaluation be continuous process? To ensure employee improvement, productivity, satisfaction and to make it into an effective communication tool that enables feedback from employees to management as well as from management to employees. 2. Why should both managers and employees receive suitable training in how to handle performance review/appraisal interviews? Managers and employees both need training so they understand how the system works, how they can and should contribute, what the results of an appraisal should be and how the appraisal process fits with the organisations procedures and expectations for future performance. 3. How and how often do you think performance appraisals should be held and why do you think this? I think performance appraisals should be held two times a year to discuss performance, counselling and developing employees, discussing compensation, job status, or disciplinary decisions. In what ways can you recognise the contribution of your work group members and why should you do this? Some ways you can recognise contribution of your work group members are: †¢Public recognition for their contributions. †¢A thank you for doing the job. †¢An email note. †¢Time off. †¢Getting the group together to do a fun activity that’s not work related. With rewarding the team, they will likely work much harder if they feel that what they’re doing really makes a difference, and that their efforts are noticed by those with power. What is feedback and why is it important that managers and supervisors provide informal feedback to staff on a regular basis? Feedback: Information about reactions to a product, a person’s performance of a task, etc. which is used as a basis for improvement. It’s important that managers provide informal feedback to employees on a regular basis to ensure they fully understand if they are meeting the required goals and also to encourage improvement and acknowledging a job well done in a causal and non-formal way.