Science And Money Essays - Fiscal Policy, Economic Policy

Science And Money For years, everyone has opined on what to do with the budget surplus: fund new educational programs, cut taxes, and so on. Science needs the money. In some technologies, we are beginning to fall behind other countries. We must not allow this to happen. Everyone reaps the benefits of science; increasing funding for research programs would only enhance these benefits. Where would the United States be today without science? Science is a big part of our economy, but today most research and development occur in the private sector. Why has the government cut spending? Because they know that the private sector will do the work. Money motivates the private sector to perform research; when profitability wanes in a certain area, research by the private sector also declines. Kenneth Brown asserts that private firms often focus on their own product rather than work on a broader understanding of science. Should Uncle Sam allow such a deficiency in research? Increased government spending in science would produce a greater breadth and depth of knowledge. You may ask yourself: why is this important? As the world leader in virtually everything, it is imperative for the US to lead the world in science also. Not only for defense reasons, but also to keep pace with other countries so no country can monopolize a scientific breakthrough. Would we want Japan or Russia to come up with a cure for AIDS and have to purchase the knowledge from them? The US needs to lead the world in science; to maintain this position we must apply the budget surplus to federal science research programs.

Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essays

Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essays Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essay Comparing and Contrast the Chemical Disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Essay In today’s modern society, as many countries have been developing very fast, the technologies are reaching high standards of level, for example, the high qualities weed killers and the liquid cleaner. However, as the big invention occurring, the more and more mistakes will be going on, because some technologies, such as weed killer and liquid cleaners are chemicals. With no doubt, chemicals are really harmful for human beings. As people all know that, toxic chemicals are used in the industries, which have to be safely covered and provide very serious use instruction, such as wearing long gloves, safety shoes or masks. However, even the chemicals are under several instructions, but people may have made some serious mistakes which caused a huge damage and large amount of death to people. In this essay, I am going to write about the two disasters that caused a lot of injures by the explosion of poisonous chemicals, which located in India and Italy. According to Shrivastava (1996), on the night of 2/3 December 1984, an enormous accident happened in Bhopal, India, the highly poisonous and unbalanced chemical gas was escaped from the factory and continue to spread over the city which caused by the lack of the attention and care ness. Apart from that, Marchi and Funtowicz and Ravetz (1996) states that in the 10 July 1976, a powerful weed killer which named 245T was exploded in a small town which located near Milan, the 245T contained the most powerful and toxic chemicals, it can kill any live stocks and human very easily, the accident was caused by man made unmanaged instructions and the toxic dioxin was spilled to the atmosphere. Between these two accidents, they were all caused by people not nature. Unlikely, these two took places in different period and locations. Luke (1984) believed that the Bhopal accident was caused by the ignorance of experts. This factory was built in a crowded population environment, and because they against the rule of US safety standard, too much amount of MIC was contained in the store and due to the huge quantity of it, the tank was not strong enough to hold the chemical, as the safety manual required at o degree, the safety system was broken down and water leaking in to it and set off the reaction. The chemicals were released into the air. Bhopal and Seveso were similar in that, according to Marchi Funtowicz Ravetz (1996) because of the unmanaged instructions and the ignorance, the disasters had a substantial damage and effect. According to Gail (2003), the Indian Government made a great effort in trying to manipulate the situation, yet all their attempts failed to provide the sufficient supply of medical services and food supply. There was not enough place for all the injured people to get medical treatment. That is because of the large number of injuries and the lack of doctors and medicine. Added to this, doctors at Bhopal had no idea of what kind of affection they were dealing with. Unfortunately, most people arrived at the hospital when it was too late, others died while waiting for their tern to see a doctor. Similar to Bhopal, Seveso suffered from lack of immediate responses and from ignorance of what exactly happened and what gases were released. Late decisions of evacuation and other responses were made, after the government first move of realizing and defining the accident and its possible consequences. B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz (1996), believe that Seveso had a better response than Bhopal, when a comparison between the two disasters were made. The Italian Government had more ability to absorb the affects in a shorter period of time. Unlike Bhopal, the process of recovery was reasonably good, due to the smaller affects, less damage and the high financial capability. There were compensations to victims, redeployment to people lost their jobs and there was some control on health long-term effects by monitoring them through a practical planned program. The main difference between the effects of the accidents at Bhopal and Seveso is that many people died at Bhopal, whereas there was no any death cases reported in any article at Seveso. Death is considered a short-term effect. David (2002) believes they were roughly 7000 death cases at Bhopal. Baines (1993) mentioned other short-term effects at Bhopal such as difficulty and eye irritation. Similar symptoms appeared on Seveso survivors. Added to this, Shrivastava (1996) points out that people exposed to the released gas had some other short-effects such as cough, vomiting and chest pains. Long-term effects at Bhopal mainly were eye-sight weakness and high possibility of getting different kinds of Cancer. No long-term effects are in detail in â€Å"The long road to recovery†, (B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz 1996), neither in â€Å"Environmental Disasters†, (Baines 1993). These disasters had involved so many people, some were dead, and some were seriously injured . Also, some people may have a great risk of getting the negative effect in their rest of lives. Due to these happened , there must be someone stand up and taking the responsibility for the huge damages and waste . In the disaster of Bhopal , the company which involved in was union Carbide , this company in USA was decreased their value of stocks by this failure. Furthermore, the Union Carbide in India has to accept to pay the funding for the patients and for the damages. Even though, the American company against to accept the legal responsibility which done by themselves. But, the local government and a lot of lawyers have sued the company, and they won the beat, so they got the funding for the injured families and hospitals. (â€Å"Bhopal India† DIS Covering Science). In contrast, according to â€Å"The long road to recovery†, by B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravetz (1996), the company of the Seveso had paid for the hospitals and government and any hurt, and they will be more concern about how to do the securities very carefully and reasonable. To avoiding these things happen again, every people and individuals have done something to prevent these kinds of disasters. First of all, according to the articles, local government had legislate some issues for caring the chemicals and warning people who were working with the chemicals must pay a lot of attentions on it. Also, the companies which producing the chemicals have to be located far from the high proportions of people in the neighborhoods and providing the knowledge for hospitals about how to cure the chemical disease. In conclusion, every one and society have to do something to avoid the disaster happen, because no one wants to die or wants to see other people dead. So, from these two disasters, People have studied how to prevent the disaster happen, and not just blame some one to take responsibility after the disasters. Even though these two serious events had happened years ago, it still named the one of the worst industrial disaster in the world, because many innocent people were died for it, and too many people had to injure the painful during their rest of lives. Essay Foundation 001 Academic writing Comparing and contrast the chemical disasters at Bhopal in India and Seveso in Italy Student full name: Li Fei Lu (Lulu) Teacher: Chris Beard Essay length: 1190 words Reference A chronology of events at Seveso and Seveso adapted from B. De Marchi, S. Funtowicz, and J. Ravertz (1996) Seveso: A paradoxical classic in The long road discovery: Community responses to industrial disaster Edited by James K. Mitchell: United nations University Press. â€Å"Bhopal, India. † DISCovering Science. Online Edition. Gale, 2003. Reproduced in student Resource Center. Detroit: Gale, 2004. http://galenet. galegroup. com/servlet/SRC downloaded 26 November 2004 Cancer fears haunt survivors of Italian chemical disaster (1997) Cancer Weekly Plus Retrieved January 23, 2005, from the Expanded Academic Database David, L (2002) Night of the Gas New Internationalist p34 (2) p9 Retrieved January 23, 2005, from the Expanded Academic Database Shrivastava, P (1996) Long-term recovery from the Bhopal crisis in The long road to recovery: Community responses to industrial disaster Edited by James K. Mitchell: United Nations University Press (adapted)

Credit Risk Models in Financial Institutions Essay

Credit Risk Models in Financial Institutions - Essay Example The most critical factor that affects the 3Cs of a bank is 'Credit Risk'. Banking is a domain where 'risk-free' activity is an unknown concept. Particularly in the field of credit appraisal, risk is associated with every decision made by the portfolio analyst. Although it is not possible to wipe out risk altogether, it can be reduced to a manageable level. Stated simply, 'zero-risk' situation is impossible to be achieved in banking. There have been considerable discussions regarding the role of the portfolio analysts and credit officers in banks. It has been noted that in several cases, officers are forced to 'take' a decision rather than 'making' a decision due to the lack of freedom to analyze and make a decision based on the merits of the case. There are two ways of reaching to a decision; subjective and objective. A subjective decision is based on the impression the bank has about the counterparty. Although this method has a substantial role to play in the decision making process, an objective analysis instils a certain degree of integrity, security and refinement. Credit Risk Management is an activity of paramount importance for any bank. Effective risk management increases the stakeholder value by providing for 'value creation', 'value preservation' and 'capital optimization'. Credit Risk Modelling is the first step towards implementing a robust risk mitigation environment. Credit risk models are intended to aid banks in quantifying, aggregating and managing risk across geographical and product lines (BIS, 1999). The pith of the report will cover various aspects of credit risk modelling such as 'techniques to measure risk', 'building an assessment model' and the various prevalent credit risk models being used world wide. In the process the report also throws light on subjects such as banking risks and credit risk parameters. What is Credit Risk Risk taking is a synonymous with credit appraisal. Risk taking is not an activity that takes place by chance; rather it is a deliberate action in the process of financial decision making. Risk is a factor, which, if it takes effect, produces undesirable outcomes for the bank. Bhargava (Bhargava, 2000) presents an insightful pie chart describing the main financial risks that are prevalent in the banking industry. Figure: Pie Chart showing the proportion of Financial Risks (Bhargava, 2000) It can be clearly seen that Credit Risks occupy a major portion of the pie and a bane for most bankers across the world. Risk Management Group of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision defines credit risk as "potential that a borrower or counterparty of a financial institution will fail to meet the obligations in accordance with the agreed terms" (bcbs54, 2000). In other words, the probability that the receiver of the loan will not pay back in full, within the specified time frame, the complete repayment amount {including any interest and service charge} is called credit risk. Lack of appropriate lending discipline and inadequate system of control generally results in setbacks to banks. Several major banks such as Enron have collapsed due to poor transaction management, incomplete credit information and

Impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer Dissertation

Impact of service quality on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty an application on the banking sector - Dissertation Example With the aim to evaluate the impact of service quality and customer satisfaction on customer loyalty, three objectives were set in Chapter I. Based on a qualitative approach, only secondary data has been used for this study. With customer loyalty as the dependent variable, three independent variables – perceived value, service quality and customer experience have been considered in this study. The study finds that certain dimensions of service quality directly impact customer loyalty - reliability, empathy, responsiveness and assurance. Staff training is thus of importance in delivering quality training to evoke such feelings in customers. In the service economy the relationship between service quality and customer experience has gained immense importance. Customers base their future decisions on the ‘moment of truth’ and hence staging and designing an experience has become an important tool to gain competitive advantage in the banking sector. Banks need to unders tand individual customer needs and personalize service. Perceived value enhances customer satisfaction and this leads to enhanced customer loyalty. Customers evaluate the benefits they receive against the costs they pay for such services. Thus Perceived value in the banking sector independently impacts customer satisfaction leading to customer loyalty. ... 1.4 Conceptual framework 4 1.5 Structure of the Study 6 1.6 Scope of the Study 6 Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Chapter Overview 7 2.2 Definitions 2.2.1 Service Quality 7 2.2.2 Customer Satisfaction and Customer Experience 8 2.2.3 Customer-perceived Value 9 2.2.4 Customer Loyalty 10 2.3 Dimensions and perceptions of service quality 2.3.1 Dimensions of Service Quality 10 2.3.2 The Gap Model 11 2.3.3 Perceptions of Service Quality 12 2.3.4 Summary 15 2.4 Service Quality and Customer Loyalty 16 2.5 Service Quality and Customer Experience 19 2.6 Perceived Value on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty 22 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 23 3.2 Research Design 23 3.3 Research Methodology 23 3.4 Choice of Method 24 3.5 Data Collection 25 3.6 Sources of data 25 3.7 Justification for Literature Review 25 3.8 Data Analysis 26 3.9 Ethical Concerns 26 Chapter IV Findings and Discussion 4.1 The Banking Industry 27 4.2 Service Quality and Customer Loyalty 27 4.3 Service Qual ity and Customer Experience 29 4.4 Perceived Value on Customer Satisfaction and Customer Loyalty 31 4.5 Discussion 33 Chapter V Conclusion and Recommendation 5.1 Conclusion 36 5.2 Recommendations to enhance customer loyalty 37 5.3 Limitations of the Study 37 5.4 Recommendations for further research 37 5.5 Personal Reflections 39 References 40 Figures Figure I Framework for the Study 5 Figure II Customer Experience and Service Quality 30 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background In an intensely competitive business environment, sustainable competitive advantage has become imperative. The service industry has been forced to create new ways of finding competitive advantage (Chen & Hu, 2012). Retaining customers is considered to be more important than creating new customers. Retaining existing

Unifying Forces in East Asia and the role that Versailles Conference Essay

Unifying Forces in East Asia and the role that Versailles Conference played in the development of Asian nationalism - Essay Example In addition, its proximity in terms of geographical outlook has enabled it access its goods and services with a lot of ease. This is a sign of unity that is deeply rooted in the entire region of East Asia in terms of bringing new inventions and technological advancements, receiving information, and letting it be in a constant unity with its neighboring economies thorough getting involved in direct investments. As a result, it has been seen how a long-established flying geese, a form of monetary relations between Japan and East Asia, has ended up as a unifying factor of regionalization. East Asian Culture is further noted as a unifying factor. In this, one sees how common orientation Confucianism and, on the other hand, Buddhism are a unifying force amongst them. Other sub expanses within the East Asian communalities are deeply rooted in linguistic similarity as well as ethnic ties that join them together. Northern China, Southern Korea, Southern China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong amongst o ther East Asian countries have all embraced ethnicity as a unifying factor. They have a logic regional consciousness, mutual interest, identity and common destiny existing amongst them. These are amongst the unifying forces that have immensely tried to unify the entire East Asian communities. However, according to Calder (134-157), this is never the case between US and Japan, as he thinks that the relationship between the countries is deteriorating as they quest for global ambitions. Additionally, these communities have constructed a more articulate Pacific Regional identity, something that has been so significant in improving unity amongst the East Asian states. In another new look, development of Asian nationalisms was greatly influenced by Versailles Conference, a peace conference that was held in 1919. This conference took place after the war, and it had to bring peace within the Asian territory as well as rebuild nationalism at the same time. The peace conference united a number of countries in Asia after the First World War that has separated so many of them. It is imperative to understand that not all countries in Asia embraced the Versailles Conference. In fact, China as a country did not sign the Versailles Treaty but rather preferred walking out of the plan because of its grievances and betrayal that it felt. China was involved in anti-Japanese protest and finally left the Versailles Treaty. Versailles treaty had a greater role in Asian nationalism. For instance, after Japan had succeeded in leading most of Asian undertakings, this peace treaty brought about unity that had long been dreamt of. Asia as a nation had been deprived of personal ruling at the continent because of the influence and authority of power that the powerful Western countries inflicted on them. Step by step, through this treaty, a great unity was implemented. It is after this treaty that a stream of new ideologies including missionary based assistance came into place. In order to achieve a great nationalism in Asia, the people had to embrace new ideas that could assist their economy and education to rise to the required standard. The Versailles Treaty itself had provisions that for sure enabled Asia to rise and recover their nationalism. For instance, Germany, which is regarded as a colonial power, had responsibilities to undertake after The First World War. It had to respect the independence of Australia and other countries while at the same time surrendering its rights and entitlement over other

Comparing Destruction in Steinbecks Flight and Londons To Build a Fir

Journey to Destruction in Steinbeck's Flight and London's To Build a Fire Not many people have to face death in the cold wasteland of the Arctic or rugged mountains of California, but Pepe and "the man" do. Although the ironic destruction of Pepe and the man were caused by relentless forces of nature, their attitudes and reasons for going on their journeys differed. The setting in both stories consisted of extreme climate and conditions. In Flight the climate was desert hot during the day and chilling cold at night. "The Torres family had their farm, a few sloping acres above a cliff that dropped to the brown reefs and to the hissing white waters of the ocean. Behind the farm the stone mountains stood up against the sky." Pepe spent his last days in the mountains where the conditions were harsh. "His throat was almost closed with thirst. He crawled into the heavy brush feeling with his fingers for water. "There was no water in the bed of the stream, only damp earth." In contrast, the climate in "To Build a Fire" was frigidly cold. "Day had broken cold and gray, ...

How far was the growth of the American economy in the years 1890 to 1914 due to the rise of big business? Essay

During the period 1890 to 1914 the American economy grew considerably due to the growth of its capacity to produce, rapid industrialisation and increased domestic consumption. This was, to a large extent, driven by big business. Oil was more readily available which made the transport of goods easier and encouraged development of machinery and industry. Through the dominance of Rockefeller and large oil companies, oil was exploited to the benefit of everyone and especially the embryonic car industry. In 1913, Henry Ford, adopted the moving assembly line, which meant that cars could be produced quickly which made them more affordable and increased sales boosting the economy. Through the work of the steel magnate Carnegie, steel became more readily available due to mass production which supported the development of heavy engineering and production which provided employment. JP Morgan had a leading role in reorganising American railroads which made transport of goods easier and cheaper. Due to ruthless big business culture, smaller companies which were less profitable could not survive, but the economy benefited from streamlined monopolies due to economy of scale. This meant that prices of goods went down and this spurred on the domestic market to buy more. By strictly controlling costs and increasing efficiency, big business moguls such as Vanderbilt, Rockefeller and Carnegie were particularly influential in this respect. In support of the economy banking became more stabilized due to financiers such as JP Morgan who directed the banking coalition that stopped the panic of 1907. This financial crisis almost crippled the American economy due to mass bank closures and major New York banks were on the verge of bankruptcy. The consequence of the intervention of JP Morgan was that banks were then able to provide credit to finance businesses and industry which boosted the American economy. Big business had considerable political influence and exerted pressure on the  government and states consequently passed laws to help big business. The government even extended protection through the Supreme Court such as keeping trade unions weak via super injunctions and the 14th amendment. This enshrined the rights and privileges of the individual, which allowed the development of a laissez-faire business culture. There were however a number of factors which supported the economy which were not directly related to big business. The development of agriculture across the Plains resulted in the cultivation of more land. Technological innovations such as barbed wire helped in this respect because land could be better protected. Innovations such as higher-yielding hybrid wheat made farming much more productive and profitable; this resulted in America becoming a ‘bread basket’ with surplus wheat for export. Likewise the development of technology such as refrigeration was important to farming and the economy. The development of the refrigerated rail car allowed perishable produce to be transported all across America. However, undoubtedly big business helped to fund and channel innovation into even greater profitability. Cheap labour, resulting from immigration, was particularly important to developing the economy and also brought additional skills to the country. As productivity increased trade with Asia created additional markets and demands for products. Indirectly advertising was another area that helped the American economy. Full page adverts in newspapers both in the USA and the rest of the world made people want products and therefore boosted sales and profits. Also the door-to-door salesman developed in this period as new products arrived fuelled demand. In conclusion big business was clearly extremely important in developing the American economy from 1890 to 1914 but many factors interrelate and arguably the government creating a capitalist free market economy through the political influence of big business was a major factor in helping businesses and the economy to grow.