Film Analysis Update Essay

I have selected the film â€Å"Elizabeth: the Golden Age† because I became extremely fascinated on why of all the monarchs who have ruled England, she is the monarch that has been included in various forms of literature as well as having an era in England’s history named after her. After selecting the film for this paper, I first watched the entire movie without pausing and just noting down scenes that I considered as the most important. After that I watched the film again carefully so much so that I would pause the film once in a while in order to note down important parts of the film. My next step was to go to the Library and began to study the book â€Å"England’s Elizabeth: an Afterlife in Fame and Fantasy† by Michael Dobson and Nicola J. Watson in order to get a better understanding how authors, poets and filmmakers have depicted Queen Elizabeth I in various forms of literature and productions. The best resource materials I came across were â€Å"Behind the Mask: the Life of Queen Elizabeth I† by Jane Rush Thomas since it gave a very objective outlook on the life of Queen Elizabeth I. In the paper, the summary of the film would first be presented on the paper followed by the presentation of information from resource materials which would either support or challenge certain scenes in the movie, specifically the role of Mary Stuart in the attempted assassination of Queen Elizabeth I and the war between Spain and England. From there a comparison on the accuracy of the depiction of this chapter in the life of Queen Elizabeth I in the film will be analyzed since there were some events shown in the film that appear to contradict historical documentations.

Book design, visual analysis on “The Art of Looking Sideways”

The above quote was used by The Daily Telegraph to describe Alan Gerard Fletcher on his obituary. Fletcher was a well-known British graphic designer who was awarded the Prince Philip Prize for Designer of the Year, and was elected the President of the Designers and Art Directors Association in 1973 and was also elected as the International President of the Alliance Graphique Internationale from 1982 to 1985.He wrote a number of books, but his master piece, which was written on the topic of graphic designing and visual thinking and took him nearly 18 years to finish is the book under consideration known as â€Å"The Art of Looking Sideways†.In the words of the reviewers at the Library Journal, â€Å"this book will delight anyone who enjoys unexpected visual and verbal play, cultural and historical observations and insights, and staggering amounts of trivia and anecdotes† (The Art of Looking Sideways by Alan Fletcher, p.1).The book is very extra ordinary and one of its ki nd, and the author has succeeded in presenting a nearly beyond description mixture of tales, citations, illustrations, and strange realities that presents the reader with an astonishingly warped visualization of the pandemonium of modern life (Alan Fletcher, p.1).Book Design and Visual Analysisâ€Å"Graphic designers (presumably with the support of publishers) seem to have embraced the principle that size matters. First there was Life Style, Bruce Mau's cinder-block-size illustrated meditation/portfolio. And now, at more than a thousand pages and weighing in at slightly less than a large infant, we have Alan Fletcher's The Art of Looking Sideways†.The book is based on about seventy two chapters, which have titles like Culture, Improvisation, Colour, Ideas and the likes. Comprised of nearly more than a thousand, the book is a brilliant treatise on visual thinking, one that exemplifies the sense of play and the extended frame of reference of the designer.A number of designers a s well students of design usually go through the pages of this book in order to grasp ideas, while others go through the book in order to enjoy the gently challenging mind-teasers the book has to offer.Putting together the most determined of sets for his work, aligned with a background encircling art, drawing and literature from pre-history to the current day, Fletcher has put forward a persuasive case for the role that graphic designs play in the course of civilization.The book is very visual. It has more illustrations than text. According to sources, â€Å"Sideways isn't so much a book you read; rather, it's an experience you savor over time. If it were a bottle of wine, you'd want to sip it gradually, over a period of years. Gulping is completely out of the question.On every page, you'll find a juicy little nugget† (Buchsbaum, p.1). The design of the book is rather very creative. With every turn of the page there is something new present there waiting for you to go through . The Art can easily amuse and enthuse all of the people who like the interaction amid word and image, and also those who appreciate the odd and the unpredicted.The book is nothing to read, but it can rather be taken as a visual experience by the reader, where a new image, with a new twist is waiting for the reader. The front and the back cover of the book can be taken into consideration to understand what to expect inside the book, but even that might not be much help.Through the visuals, the author or lets say the designer has put forward some pieces of information, which we would in general consider useless and ignore.All of the visuals and the illustrations that have been presented by the author barely have any connection with each other. Even on opposite pages, the reader would find pictures that are completely opposite each other.For example, presented on page number 162, is a picture of a water color of flowers along with a short note about The Academia in Venice and the art that are exhibited in its galleries and right next to it on the opposite page paragraph by Philip Roth, which also has quotes from Nietzsche, Baudelaire, Wilde, Paul Auster, Napoleon Bonaparte and many others, as well as a concise description of the word â€Å"mopery† intermingled within it.Now both of these pictures have no relation what so ever amongst themselves, which shows the broad horizon of the images that the author had. The pictures can be said to be very random and are very stimulating, which would challenge the viewer into seeing and thinking from a completely different perception, which is sideways.The design of the book consists of all kinds of visual stimuli, which makes the viewer look at ordinary everyday things with a completely new perception. In the words of the author of the book, â€Å"I am intrigued by apparently useless information, such as 8% of the population is left-handed; giraffes only sleep five minutes every 24 hours; Italians kiss twice, the S wiss three times; is a zebra a white animal with black stripes or vice versa; and, are you left or right eyed?This book is everything I was never taught at school. It has no thesis, is neither a whodunit nor a how-to-do-it, and has no beginning, middle or end. It is a book for visually curious people, full of things to make you think twice† (The Creative Life, p.1).

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 43

English - Essay Example There is a systematized industry and motif working behind the embalming of bodies and Jessica wanted to bring these points before the common mass, just to make it stronger that the procedure considered inevitable is not at all mandatory. An expert on death and dying, Jessica Mitford is completely against embalming dead bodies after death and puts forward many valid points in support of her contention. Her motive of writing this essay is explicit from the very beginning of the literary piece. She has placed a strong objection regarding the secrecy maintained during embalming. Another major purpose of writing this essay was to make it clear that the process of embalming is barbaric and it is evident that her real goal in writing this essay was to reach the common mass so that common people should understand, how barbaric the practices are and the mystery that actually lies behind the closed doors of the funeral parlors. She clearly claims that the ritual of embalming in North American funeral tradition is grotesque. Yet, people seem to remain ignorant about it. By highlighting these points, she wanted to create a common awareness against these rituals and tried to correct them. She brings out evidences to make her contentions more concrete. She wanted to show that a planned industry works behind these traditions which try to make burial a pleasurable thing. This ritual, according to Jessica, only prevails in North America and does not occupy any place in the tradition of other areas apart from it. She writes with specific examples. She brings forth the example of the ritual of open - casket ceremony only common in North America. She ends her essay with the following line that completely complements her intentions behind writing the essay:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"He has done everything in his power to make the funeral a real pleasure for everybody concerned. Consequently well over 90

Hi-Tech Gadgets Application in the Business Processes Essay

Hi-Tech Gadgets Application in the Business Processes - Essay Example Data, information and knowledge are the three major elements of the informed choices that need to be effectively linked within the organizational goals and objectives to promote collective goals through shared vision. Therefore, it becomes crucial to understand these factors so as to exploit them and gain leverage to improve and improvise performance outcome. The data can be broadly defined as the facts related to various issues and subject areas within the organizational paradigm. The information is the process of streamlining the data into certain specific format and order so that they acquire value addition by virtue of their arrangement in specified manner. Knowledge becomes the most important part of organizational functioning. Knowledge can be defined as the ideas, thoughts, opinion, observation, application of all these in our everyday life and categorizing them in some systematic format so that can be further used, modified or changed as per our need. The diversity in the are a of knowledge is the most important aspect of it. In the context of the organization, knowledge primarily is the expertise of the workforce to exploit the information to improve performance outcome of the organization. Knowledge management through effective communication becomes important part of workplace (Raghuram, 1996). The knowledge worker through his expertise in the defined area becomes an intrinsic part of developing processes within and outside the organizational capabilities. The entities within the database can be broadly defined as standalone information that is intrinsically linked to the wider domain of inter-related factors that significantly impact the organizational outcome. The huge scope of database through effective exploitation of information has not only improves and improvised the performance outcome but it has also opened a huge plethora of  opportunities for the organizations.

How do people survive a catastrophe Research Paper

How do people survive a catastrophe - Research Paper Example No one wants to go through a flood or wish this upon anyone else, but they do happen. Pre-preparation for flood protection include: Avoid building in a flood plain, if possible, strongly consider buying flood insurance and elevate and reinforce the home, consider elevating the HVAC, electric panels, etc. for protection from flood waters (Schneider, 65). Consider constructing outside barriers for rising water protection; develop an emergency kit with required medicines, nonperishable foods and sufficient bottled water to cover the family for several days. Also, develop an evacuation and communication plan, orienting the family with its contents (Bierens, 34). Flood survival tips include listening to the radio and television for weather information. If a flash flood is a possibility, move to higher ground and do not wait for instructions to move. Be aware of rivers, streams, drainage channels and other areas known to flood easily. Flash floods can occur with very little warning, such as rain clouds or heavy rain. Before leaving the home cut off the utilities, close open valves and disconnect electrical appliances. Do not touch electrical equipment if you’re wet or standing in water, do not walk through moving water. Six inches of moving water can make you fall. If you have to walk in water, walk where the water is not moving. Use a stick to check the firmness of the ground in front of you. After the flood avoid floodwaters. Since floodwater could be contaminated with oil, gasoline, raw sewage and other substances. Water may also be electrically charged from underground or downed power lines. Stay away from down power lines and repo rt them to the utility company. Stay out of buildings that are surrounded by floodwaters. Use caution when entering buildings (Hamilton, 104). The foundation could have hidden damage. Service damaged septic tanks, cesspools, or pits as soon as possible. Damaged

Understanding managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Understanding managment - Essay Example The LIPC Integration Plc is a company undergoing a revolt from its employees from the aspects of introduction of new techniques within the payment system of the company. Further, the LIPC Integration Plc management team is adopting a rather different approach to the compensation strategies of the employees, a development that is not receiving the support of the employees. Thus, the bureaucratic approach by the management is raising varied issues within the given departments of the company employees. The suggestion to compensate employees depending on the given actual grade performance is raising mixed reactions for the employees and the complaints are virtually reaching a heightened level of aggravation. The issues in consideration at the management level include that the management is unwilling to increment the pay for the workers. The organization management is unwilling to adopt a different work structure for the workers as they are requesting, a factor that is reflecting their pr actice of the classical theory, which has the core characteristic of being too rigid and authoritative. This classical theory is in effect casing defect in the successful implementation of the proposed changes I the organizational management of the employee needs. The classical theory helps the organizational management to focus on its structure and the planned economic rewards rather than the individual freedoms and a conducive working environment. This establishment is affecting the approach of effective management that LIPC Integration Plc could adopt to manage the needs and expectations of the workers. The workers approach to the position undertaken by the organization is another perspective that is key to understanding the accommodation of the organizational theories in the management process. The workers in the design department have reiterated their

Library Research Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Library Research - Assignment Example For our company performance play a vital role in determining pay, promotions, transfers, terminations and other such decisions that impact well-being as well as the overall company performance. Thus access to objective performance evaluation systems is key to the overall benefit of the company, employees and the society. An objective performance management system will help improve the relationship between the managers and their subordinates as well as boost motivation (Jackson et al.2011). As a newly designated manager for the HR department, we would ensure that performance management is properly designed, documented and implemented (Pope, ). It should be clearly understood that proper execution of the program cannot be done without cooperation of line managers and unless the top management shows commitment to it. Activities such as ensuring performance management is embraced on a daily-basis, timely completion of performance reviews, providing valuable feedback throughout the process and making developmental opportunities available to high performers are all responsibilities of line managers. Thus it is the proper execution of the performance management program by management and line-managers that can make or break it. The role of HR for this proper execution would be to: According to the evaluation of past organizational practices, some departments have informally attempted to introduce performance-based pay systems in the form of appraisals. This process needs to be properly documented and managed by the HR department in coordination with other department managers. It has been proven in a study conducted by Subramanov, Krause, Nortom and Burns in 2008 that creating a model for competitive pay can be used as incentive to enhance a company’s performance via enhanced employee performance (Chow et. Al, 2012). Some aspects that the new appraisal system should incorporate are: The role of performance of company executive and their management teams

Organization development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Organization development - Essay Example In addition, it differs from other change programs because it emphasizes on process instead of problems. It focuses on identifying behavioral patterns and interactions that cause and sustain problems. Change often causes strong feelings of unease when people sense that they have victims to external forces and lost power over their working lives. Leaders should win over other employees to avoid rebelling the change. These major forces are significant in helping a leader to identify necessary course of action to deal with the mixed reactions. They help leaders to turn the opposing forces to their advantage rather than meeting them head on. Purpose is the most important because once it is communicated; people remain steadfast about the change despite the inevitable difficulties. However, success is the least important because it takes time to nurture success and the people can still resist change. In my opinion, the preferable mode for an effective OD program is consensus mode. it creates a climate here feelings are honestly and truly shared the OD program. Decisions are often made through continuous sharing of feelings and perceptions openly on organizational effectiveness and self fulfillment. To some degree, all key partners are involved in the OD program thus ensuring effectiveness and support of the

HMR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

HMR - Essay Example Human resource management looks after all these activities. HRM can be considered as a process which involves four main duties. These include acquisition, motivation, development and overall maintenance of the human resource of an organisation. HRM can be considered as that branch of management which is responsible for maintaining relationships among the employees and the organisation. The nature of HRM varies widely and depends on its role in the organisation. HRM is an inherent part of an organisation. From broader perspective, this role is followed by almost all members of an organisation rather than only the department for personnel management. The function of human resource management is pervasive. It has to be performed by managers at all levels and it is not limited to only one department or group. It permeates to each and every department of an organisation regardless of the category and function. Major activities of this department include manpower planning, placement, emplo yment, compensation and appraisal and training of the employees. HRM is a continuous process which is present at every stage of the organisation. The fundamental objective of human resource management is contributing to the goals of the business and organisation. The department functions by ensuring efficient utilisation of the human resource and also increasing the potential of the people in the organisation so that they can fully utilise the resources of the organisation (Maloney). HRM functions can be categorised as managerial and operative functions. The managerial functions include planning, organising, controlling and directing. On the other hand, operative functions include activities such as procurement and development of function, providing compensation and benefits to them, record keeping and maintenance of good industrial relations. The structure of human resource management in UK is very strict. Most of the organisations in UK, have highly delegated HRM departments which looks after the organisation. As early as from the 1980s, the centre has effectively delegated the responsibility of HRM to various agencies and department. This suit has been followed by a majority of public sector organisations in the UK. Big organisations and most of the private sectors are now focussing on maintaining their own HRM department. Human resource management is most evident in the health care sector in UK while local authorities and smaller groups do not have any proper human resource management format. The basic difference between human resource and human resource management is that human resource consists of a group of individuals who constitute the workforce of a business, organisation or an economy; they are tangible assets of an organisation. On the other hand, human resource management includes management of these assets for the best utilisation of the resources of a business or organisation. Principles of Equal Opportunities Equal opportunity in employment ref ers to equal rights in the field of jobs, services and benefits to all individuals, employees and perspective employees in an organisation (Equal Opportunity). Equal employment opportunity is determined to provide equal and fair outcomes in almost all employment areas which include functions such as selection, recruitment, information access, management

Touching Spirit Bear Essay Example for Free

Touching Spirit Bear Essay In the novel Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen he discuses the idea of morals. As the reader reads the novel it is filled with many important lessons from many perspectives. Understanding that all these lessons made Cole a better person. The most important lessons learnt from the book are life is what you make it, forgiveness, and that people can change. The lesson â€Å"life is what you make it† was a big part of the novel. But also this lesson was reflective. When Edwin asked Cole to go to the freezing pond, he gave him a stick and says that the right end of the stick represented happiness while the left end represented anger. Cole broke the anger side of the stick, until he recognized that everytime he broke off the angry side it appeared again. Edwin teaches Cole that anger could not be completely destroyed. â€Å"Yes, was a big deal. It was a party. It was a feast. It was a sharing and a celebration. All because that is what I made it. Yours was simply food because that is all you chose for it to be. All of life is a hot dog. Make of it what you will. I suggest you make your time here on the island a celebration. † (Pg. 166) The hotdog also represented that life is what you make it. Cole made his hotdog just a plain hotdog. While Garvey on the other hand made his hotdog with great care. Garvey’s hotdog was a celebration because that’s is what he intended it to be. Cole made his hotdog just a plain hotdog and it did just that. The sky also symbolizes this lesson. Cole had the decision to look at the clouds or the sun. If Cole had looked at the clouds he would think the weather would be cloudy. If Cole had looked at the sun it would seem as if it was sunny outside. If we were to look at life as a horrible and dreadful place that’s how life is going to be, because that is how we made it. If looking at life as a joyful, beautiful place that’s how life is going to be lived. It will be lived like a celebration! Celebrating every moment of life and living everyday to the fullest. Throughout the novel, Cole is challenged to forgive and to earn forgiveness. Cole had to be willing to forgive himself and those who had hurt him. A lot of forgiving had to be done before Cole could fully heal. First, he was to forgive himself. â€Å"You’ll dance that dance when you’re ready. † (Pg. 184) Garvey said to Cole associating to the dance of anger. For most of the novel Cole was full of so much anger, but by dancing the dance of anger, he let go of some of his emotions and forgiving those who had hurt him. After Cole’s infusion of rage of anger Cole was not as angry as before, he will always know that anger was inside of him but he had the choices to let go and forgive those who had hurt him. He was then ready to move on. Cole could not fully move on without Peter’s forgiveness. Next, Cole needed to help Peter. Cole was truly sorry for what he had done but needed to prove that to Peter and his family. He needed to show Peter that he trusted him, and he wanted to see if Peter could trust him. So before he started his healing, Cole asked to bring Peter to the island to give him a new start. He wanted Peter to get the second chance at life just like Cole had gotten a second chance in the circle justice. This lesson is very important to the book. It teaches that forgiveness is the start to moving on. It shows us that Cole got a second chance by forgiving and receiving forgiveness. Cole experiences extreme anger throughout the novel. He was even known and portrayed as a very angry person. As Cole gets to understand the idea of forgiveness and the beauty of life he changed to become a better and a peaceful person. There are no bad people in the world just people who make bad choices. Cole made several mistakes in his life but has learnt from them and is going through taking dips in the freezing pond, rolling the ancestor rock to get rid of his anger so he would not make the mistakes of anger taking over him again. The Cole first sent to the island was feeling consumed by anger, bitterness, and the feeling to unwillingness to change. While the Cole at the end on the novel is a normal boy that is trying control his anger problems and trying to earn forgiveness from others. After Cole had changed he seemed to think that the island could change anyone. Cole thinks to himself that he has really changed. â€Å"He felt like a new and a different person. † (Pg. 198) That’s why he wanted to bring Peter, the boy who had tried to commit suicide twice after Cole had beaten him up to the island to see if he can change on the island and have another chance at life, like Cole had received. At the end, both Peter and Cole changed spiritually and mentally. The lesson â€Å"People can change† is an important lesson from the book because even Cole the juvenile delinquent had changed into a normal teenage boy controlling his anger. The most important lesson that Cole learnt was that life is what we make it, to forgive and to earn forgiveness, and that anyone can change. Cole always had the options to live life happily but he never knew how to start. But as he learned from the lessons taught to him by many perspectives, he now knows how to start living life without the anger taking over him, he knows how to control his anger. Cole is now more knowledgeable looking at the right end of the stick, centering his life on the sun not the clouds, and making his life a celebration.

Fair Representation of Financial Statements

Fair Representation of Financial Statements 1. INTRODUCTION The Financial Reporting Standards Board was formed to resolve the problems faced by the international financial reporting regiment. In particular, it hopes to promote the standardization of international accounting standards through its International Accounting Standards (IASs) to facilitate transactions and improve financial markets. Underscoring the FRSBs philosophy is to enable the fair presentation of financial statements. This report discusses this concept and evaluates whether the application of a standardized accounting reporting regiment would achieve its objectives with a critical examination of some accounting standards. 2. FAIR PRESENTATION DEFINED Whenever we mention the fair presentation of financial statements, we are referring to the accounting concept of true and fair view. The phrase true and fair in an accounting context does not have the same meaning as true and fair in a general context. Thus, true in an accounting context does not mean in accordance with the facts or not false and fair in an accounting context does not mean just or unbiased. The most generally accepted interpretation of true and fair in an accounting context is that accounts are true and fair if they are prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Thus courts have held that accounts based on historical cost present a true and fair view. Riley has pointed out that the various Companies Acts require the presentation of a true and fair view and not the true and fair view. The implication is that in a particular circumstance no single view is true and fair but that there are several views each of which is true and fair. Presumably, any generally accepted accounting method provides a true and fair view. There are some who argue that different accounting standards does not inhibit the adoption of fair presentation while others believe that a uniform international standard like IAS is the best means of achieving fair presentation of financial statements. 3. THE CASE FOR DIFFERENT ACCOUNTING STANDARDS 3.1 Diversity is Desirable It has been argued by some that a range of accounting methods is desirable because of the diverse circumstances of different businesses. In some circumstances one method would be desirable and in other circumstances some other method would be most appropriate. Diverse accounting methods are necessary because of diverse circumstances. For example, it could be argued that when a non-controlling interest in another company is acquired and where there is a substantial influence over its policies, the equity method would reflect the circumstances more accurately than simply showing the investment at cost. Given a variety of accounting methods, it is argued that management should choose the one which best reflects the unique circumstances of the situation. The ability to choose the most appropriate method should lead to comparability of accounting reports. More meaningful comparisons would be possible because accounting reports reflect the circumstances in each case. The independent auditor should ensure that management selects the most appropriate method for the presentation of a true and fair view. If management does not choose the best method, the auditor will not confirm the presentation of a true and fair view and a qualified audit report should result. 3.2 Arguments Against International Financial Reporting Standards Just as there are many compelling arguments in favour of IAS, there are also equally compelling arguments against it. One of the major criticisms against IFRS is that poorly developed and developing countries view it as a form of imposition of rules or neo-colonization by economically superior countries (Mednick, 1991). Secondly, standardization goes against the inherently flexible nature of accounting. One of the key principles of accounting is substance over form, so providing international standards would be contrary to this. When accounting rules are standardized or harmonized, they cannot possibly be flexible enough to fit into the enormous scope of different national situations, legal systems, stages of economic growth and cultural differences. Instead of aiding progress, such rigid and inflexible standards may actually hinder it. Next, some experts argue that it will be very difficult for international accounting standards bodies like the IASB to reach a universal consensus on some issues. As a result, concessions and compromises will have to be made so that it becomes acceptable to the international community (Berton, 2000). When this happens, the standards become inadequate and permissive. Another argument against international accounting standards is that it could be dangerous as the standards may erode profits and cause volatility in the balance sheets of the companies (Parker, 2002). As a result, companies need to educate their investors about the effects of international accounting standards on the reported profits and liabilities. Finally, some have expressed concern that international standardization or harmonization may cause standard overload. Companies that have to deal with social, political, national and economic pressure will be overextended to comply with the more complex and expensive international requirements. This may add to operating costs. 4. THE CASE FOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS 4.1 Problems with Diversity There is the availability of a wide choice of accounting methods. For many transactions, accountants are able to choose from a selection of accounting methods each of which is equally acceptable and which often give widely different results. However, there are two main types of criticism leveled against this kind of diversity. One, it is suggested that the availability of several acceptable alternative accounting methods for a single transaction could make the accounting reports of different companies non-comparable. Differences in reported results could reflect different accounting procedures rather than different performances. For example, suppose that Company A expensed all research and development expenditure, used FIFO for inventory and depreciated its assets on a straight-line basis. Any differences in the reported profits and balance sheets of the two companies would be due, at least in part, to differences in accounting procedures and any assessment of relative performance and financial position would be difficult to make. The critics argue that diversity in accounting methods reduce the utility of accounting reports by measuring corporate performance in different ways. Two, it is also suggested that the availability of different accounting methods allows management to choose those methods which give the desired result. In other words, profits could be manipulated by the choice of accounting method. If management wants lower profits, conservative accounting procedures could be used. Choosing accounting procedures to satisfy management objectives is sometimes described as creative accounting. In America, researchers have found substantial evidence of creative accounting. The critics regard creative accounting as particularly bad and conclude that financial statements cannot be used with any confidence to measure or compare managerial performance. The common element of these two criticisms is that the availability of a choice of accounting methods leads to a lack of comparability in accounting reports. 4.2 Increased Disclosure The second argument for IAS is to seek increased disclosure. Two types of increased disclosure are suggested. One, it is argued that the problems of diversity could be at least partially overcome by detailed disclosure of accounting method. Under this proposal, accounting reports would include a statement of the methods used to compute depreciation, unearned income, inventory and so on. It is suggested that this additional data would enable statement users to recast the accounting reports into a form suitable for comparison with the reports of other years or other companies. Two, it is suggested that where an accounting method is different from that used in the previous report, the fact of the change of method and the effect of the change on reported profits or balance sheet items should both be disclosed. With this additional information statement users would be able to restate the accounting reports of a company to make them comparable on an interpreted basis. The effect of creative accounting would be disclosed. It should be noted that the increased disclosure response leaves companies and their auditors with a choice from a range of accounting methods. Diversity in accounting method is not reduced. The increased disclosure allows statement users to make accounting reports comparable by recasting them in the form they need. Increased disclosure is a solution to the problem of diversity can be criticized on the grounds that the benefits may not be shared equally by all statement users. It requires a statement user with accounting skills to recast financial reports on a comparable basis. Statement users without access to these skills would receive no benefits from these additional disclosures. Indeed, they may be worse off as sophisticated statement users recast the financial reports and to make better decisions. Any solution to the diversity problem which places the one on statement users and which could therefore discriminates against a group of users is clearly unsatisfactory. 4.3 Increased Uniformity It is also widely believed that a universal adoption of IAS would contribute to uniformity of financial statements internationally. When different standards are used, it is sometimes difficult to compare the financial performance of two companies. Comparability would eliminate misunderstandings about the reliability of foreign financial statements and would remove one of the most important impediments to the flow of international investment. Narrowing the range of choice of accounting methods is usually described as increasing uniformity. In most cases, increased uniformity is achieved by issuing statements of accounting principles or standards which specify the accounting method for a particular transaction or event. Increased uniformity means that the same accounting methods are likely to be used in the same circumstances by different companies and at different times. The onus is on management and accountants rather than statement users. There are several arguments used to support the case for greater uniformity of accounting method. Firstly, the most important argument is that uniformity of accounting procedures will allow comparisons of accounting reports. Similar situations will be reported in a similar way and results will be directly comparable. Any difference in reported results will be due to differences in the circumstances and not in the accounting method. Secondly, many accountants believe that increased uniformity would make their jobs much easier. Choosing an accounting procedure is for many accountants time consuming and difficult. It may lead to conflict between management which wants creative accounting and accountants who believe that another method is more appropriate. With uniformity, the chance of conflict over accounting method would be reduced. Thirdly, with uniformity, accountants would be better able to defend their procedures in court. Because their choices would be limited, they could not be accused or choosing an accounting method to meet the needs of any particular group. This in an important consideration for accountants. 4.4 Cost Benefits There are numerous financial benefits of having IAS. The first is that it decreases the cost of data collection (Choi et al, 1999). Time and money will be saved on consolidating divergent financial information when more than one set of reports is required to comply with the different national laws or practice. Secondly, it is believed that the ease of comparison of information and the reduced cost of collecting data will help spur the development of capital markets through the inflow of foreign capital (Don and Thomas, 1995). Investors, financial analysts and foreign leaders will be able to understand the financial statements of foreign companies and they would be able to compare the investment opportunities that will assist them to make the correct investment decision. This in turn will also facilitate the movement of funds. As taxes are levied on the total income of a business, it would be of great help to national tax authorities around the world if net income was calculated on si milar accounting principles and practices. In addition, this will provide firms with a competitive advantage. International accounting and disclosure standards would make it easier to conduct the competitive and operational analyses needed to run a business. It will also become easier for top management to manage important relationship with stakeholders such as customers and suppliers. Multinational corporations will benefit the most and it will also become easier for them to fulfil the disclosure requirements for international stock exchanges. Finally, harmonization of accounting standards will decrease audit costs and increase the efficiency of the audit (Choi et al, 1999). 5. DIFFERENCES IN ACCOUNTING TREATMENT To better understand how universal adoption of IAS would eliminate differences in accounting treatment, let us consider some examples of divergent accounting treatment. For this purpose, a comparison is made between IASs and the United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US-GAAP). 5.1 Changes in Depreciation or Amortization Method According to IAS 16 and IAS 38, there is an explicit stipulation that changes in depreciation or amortization method must be accounted for as a change in estimate. However, US-GAAP treats these changes as changes in policy by demonstrating the cumulative effect of the change in the income statement. These require retrospective changes, which are not required by IAS. 5.2 Impairment of Assets IAS 36 uses a discounted impairment trigger, because the value in use is by definition a discounted value. Reversal of impairment losses recognized in prior years is allowed. On the other hand, in the US-GAAP, if the sum of the expected cash flows is less than the carrying amount of the asset, the entity shall recognize an impairment loss. This means that the impairment trigger is an undiscounted amount. Reversal of previously recognized impairment losses is prohibited for assets to be held and used. 5.3 Impairment of Goodwill According to IAS, the recoverable amount of a cash generating unit should be compared with the carrying value of its net assets. Resulting impairment losses should first be deducted from goodwill and then from other assets on a pro-rata basis. However, US-GAAP requires determination of the implied fair value of the goodwill. If the implied fair value is less than its carrying value, this carrying amount should be reduced. Such a goodwill impairment test cannot affect the carrying values of other assets. 5.4 Business Combinations in-process Research and Development For IAS, purchased in-process research and development that meets the recognition criteria for an intangible asset should be valued at fair value. Even if it is not a separate identifiable intangible asset, the IAS method results in capitalization of those costs as part of goodwill. Under US-GAAP, purchased in-process research and development assets both tangible and intangible should be charged to expense at acquisition date if no alternative future use for the assets can be determined. 6. INCONSISTENCIES IN IAS Although IASs are deemed to improve fair reporting, there are occasional inconsistencies that often hamper their effectiveness. Indeed, the IASB has tried to correct some of these inconsistencies, but there are still flaws in the overall framework. The following are some of the inconsistencies that have been corrected in recent years. 6.1 Classification of Tonnage Taxes in IAS 112 In some countries, shipping companies are allowed to choose to be taxed on the basis of tonnage transported, tonnage capacity or a notional profit instead of the standard corporate income tax regulations. In the past, tonnage capacity was regarded as a basis for taxable income. This is based on a flawed assumption. Income taxes are calculated on taxable profit which implies net, rather than gross amount. Taxes either on tonnage transported or tonnage capacity are based on gross instead of net amount. Therefore, such taxes would not be considered income taxes and would not be presented as part of tax expenses in the statement of comprehensive income. 6.2 Accounting for Sales Cost in IAS 38 Some problems arise among real estate developers. IAS 2 does not permit selling costs to be capitalized as inventory if the real estate units are considered to be inventory. However, other standards conclude that some direct and incremental costs recoverable as a result of securing a specifically identifiable contract with a customer may be capitalized in narrow circumstances, for example in IAS 11 (Paragraph 21) and IAS 18 (Appendix 14(b)(iii)). Hence, it is not possible to reach a conclusion on the appropriate accounting for board categories of selling and marketing costs in all circumstances. 6.3 Disclosure of Idle Assets and Construction in Progress in IAS 16 In accordance with paragraph 74(b) of IAS 16, an entity is required to disclose the amount of expenditures recognized in the carrying amount of an item of property, plant and equipment in the course of its construction. Paragraph 79(a) encourages an entity to disclose the amount of property, plant and equipment that is temporarily idle. Paragraph 112(c) of IAS 1 requires an entity to provide in the notes information that is not presented elsewhere in the financial statements that is relevant to their understanding. The disclosure regarding idle assets might be particularly relevant in the current economic environment. Therefore, IASB should review all disclosures encouraged with the objective of either confirming that they are required or eliminating them. 7. CONCLUSION To end, all accountants agree that the fair presentation of accounting and financial statements is important. However, what exactly constitutes fair presentation is a contentious and debatable matter. Some insist that adopting IFRS is the best way of achieving this objective while others assert that substance is more important than form and that it is perfectly acceptable to use different accounting standards so long as it shows some form of fair presentation. While I personally believe that it would be ultimately benefit the international financial community to have one standard to prevent confusion, its implementation is still some years away.

Justice often masks an occurrence of injustice in many forms and in :: English Literature

Justice often masks an occurrence of injustice in many forms and in the crucible by Arthur Miller, the leaders of Salem, believe that the way that they are dealing with people of strange happenings is right and just but is actually wrong and unjust. Justice can be defined as the right and moral decision and general beliefs. Injustice can be defined as unfairness and a lack of justice. Someone who is done by an injustice may have been judged to harshly. In "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, the target audience is young adults to the older generation. This play is based on real events which occurred in 1692. The Crucible is saying that in Salemat this time there is very little justice, this is shown when Hale says "Goody Proctor, I have gone this three month like our lord into the wilderness. I have sought a Christian way, for damnations doubled on a minister who counsels men to lie." In this Hale is saying that he no longer follows the beliefs of Salem and he now follows the beliefs of Christianity. Justice is conveyed in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" by having a character like Hale, who comes into Salem as a man who strongly believes that accusing and hanging people because of witchcraft is right and just, but he later realizes that what he believes is wrong and unjust. He then decides to change his ways. Also at the end of Act 1, there are many quick accusations being made which leaves the reader in suspense and a long wanting to know what will happen to all these people who were accused. The leaders of Salem believe that what they are doing is right and just, but in reality it is an injustice. This is how justice can often mask injustice. Justice often being masked by an injustice can also be seen in the text "Justice without a Conscience." This text is showing a statue of Lady Justice, who usually represents, Anti-discrimination, fairness and justice, is now representing discrimination, unfairness and injustice by the statue not wearing a blindfold which allows her to be discriminative against people, her scales are unbalanced which would make things unfair. Also the blindfold is pulled over her mouth stopping her from speaking which represents that justice is not always heard. There is a man passed out at the base of the statue. This is using a high angle shot to show that the man is very insignificant and lady justice is large and very important. Another text which shows justice being masked by an injustice is a cartoon where an upper class man has just shot a woman, killing her.

Al Capone and Probation Essay -- essays research papers

Al Capone is the single greatest symbol of collapse of law and order in the United States during the Prohibition Era. The act of Prohibition brought power to Al Capone, which he used to expand his organized crime activities into a stranglehold over the city of Chicago. Liquor trade became very profitable during Prohibition, and the struggle for control over the bootleg empire erupted into a full-scale war between rival gangs in Chicago. Capone gradually came to symbolize all the criminal evils of prohibition; to many throughout the world, he became the symbol of a lawless nation#. Publicity grew around the actions of Capone, with accounts of his sordid activities published in newspapers along with his image of power, money, and wickedness#. Using the funds that he had collected from his bootlegging operations, Capone ensured that friends were elected to certain political positions, which in turn, amplified his control over Chicago#.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alphonsus Capone was born on January 17, 1899 in Brooklyn, New York. Capone quit school in the sixth grade at age fourteen. He became part of the notorious Five Points gang in Manhattan and worked in gangster Frankie Yale’s Harvard Inn as a bouncer and bartender. While in New York Capone murdered two men and hospitalized a rival gang member, however he was tried for his crimes. With a reputation for a willingness to kill, Yale sent Capone to Chicago to work as a bodyguard.#   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capone arrived in Chicago in 1919 and started to work for head mobster John Torrio.# Soon he was helping Torrio manage his bootlegging business and increasing the territory of gang control. Capone eventually became Torrio’s full partner in saloons, gambling houses, brothels, nightclubs, distilleries and breweries and earned a reported income of $30,000,000 a year from liquor alone#. Capone expanded his control into the suburbs to the extend that some places became known as â€Å"Caponeville.†# When Torrio was shot by rival gang members and consequently decided to leave Chicago and the â€Å"outfit†, he reportedly told Capone, â€Å"It’s all yours, Al.† #   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Prohibition did not create organized crime#. However, it did create a new opportunity for lawbreakers and for the spread of criminal activity. It allowed Capone to expand his force and gain incredible power over the city of Chicago. P... ...ion for the years 1925-1929 and for failing to file tax returns for the years 1928 and 1929. The Department of Justice also charged him with conspiracy to violate Prohibition laws from 1922-1931.# Although Capone had his lawyers offer to settle his tax claims for four million dollars, the Treasury Department was not willing to make any deals. Found guilty on several accounts, Capone was sentenced to eleven years in federal prison. After his release, Capone’s health deteriorated rapidly and he was forced to withdraw from the outfit. In 1947, at the age of forty-eight Al Capone died of health complications.#   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through his organized crime activities, Al Capone seized the opportunity that the Prohibition Act created in the 1920s. By exploiting the demand for liquor created by Prohibition, his bootlegging activities helped to fund and expand his organized crime empire#. Al Capone has aroused the nation against prohibition’s gangs and developed a deep as lasting revulsion among the people. Brought to power by prohibition, Al Capone clearly demonstrated to America the evils of organized crime.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Two Halves of the Same Song

Two Halves of the Same Song â€Å"My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America† (526). This is the first sentence in â€Å"Two Kinds† by Amy Tan spoken by the narrator’s point of view, Jing-mei, the daughter. The story was a direct reflection of love vs. rebellion with the mother and the daughter, presented in a humorous almost sounding sarcastic tone to show the two kinds of people in the story; the one the mother thought the daughter should be and the one the daughter thought she should be, and in the end they realized that that was the same person. The story begins by giving humor to some of the mothers beliefs as if they were silly; such as in America a person is unlimited to what they could be even if that is to be famous or simply a homeowner, To understand what the mother meant you would have to know a little about her background and where she came from. She was from China where women didn’t have very many options on what their role in life could be, so for her daughter she felt that there were endless possibilities. Her mother in my eyes was more of what we like to call â€Å"stage moms†. She hoped for her daughter to be the best at something, anything instead of nothing at all, so she came across pushy verses loving. One would think that these were the mothers dreams trying to be fulfilled through the daughter. Jing-mei started to feel like she had to be someone she wasn’t in order to make her mother proud. She said â€Å"I was filled with a sense that I would soon be perfect. My mother and father would adore me† (527). Apparently she felt like if she wasn’t great at something they wouldn’t love her. The narrator makes it seem like it was the mother all along who wanted the daughter to be something she wasn’t, but at one point the daughter wanted to succeed just as much as much as her mother did, but the fear of failure and rejection stopped her. Next came the piano lessons. The idea of Jing-mei playing the piano was odd, because her mother was watching an American TV show and saw a young Chinese girl playing. â€Å"Ni-Kan† her mother would say which meant, you watch, and then made her practice the piano day after day to become better than the Chinese girl on TV. After this point the daughter rebels against the mother trying to fail to prove that this is who she was, â€Å"ordinary†. If she didn’t try at anything she couldn’t fail. The daughter didn’t realize how proud her mother was of her just for trying. In the earlier days when you were born you were born into a certain class, and that class defined who you could become in life whether it be a king, farmer, merchant, or a blacksmith. In this story the situation seems very similar. Why would Jing-mei want to be famous or talented when her mother was merely a house cleaner? Maybe she was content with the life she was born into and didn’t feel as if she needed to be talented to be happy. Her mother put her in a recital bragging to her friends how Jing-mei loved to play the piano. This was her opportunity to show her mother who she was and it wasn’t the person she wanted her to be, so Jing-mei went up and played horribly. However, through all of the disobedience trying to stay true to who she was, which seemed to be a slacker, the mother still pushed her to try and not give up. Years later the mother dies and Jing-mei realizes that her mother truly did love her and was proud of her. She only pushed her because she wanted her to be the best at who she wanted to be and let her know that just because you are born into a certain lifestyle that doesn’t define who you are, you define who you are. The tone of the story begins to sound happy verses the angry, sarcastic, and once comical tone making fun of the mother. Jing-mei actually starts to get the point her mother tried so hard to install in her. One of the last sentences of the story caught my eye. It seemed to sum up everything in the story and why the conflicts of interests occurred. â€Å"And after I played them both a few times, I realized they were two halves of the same song†(534). Two halves of the same song could have been the title for Any Tan’s short story. The mother and the daughter both wanted the same things: for the daughter to be happy, and be the best at what made her happy but looking at it from only one way you would not have figured that out. In this story it was told solely from the daughters point of view. If the mother were to narrate this story it would have been completely different. Maybe she would have not seemed as so unhappy with her life that she had to live it through her daughters, but the daughter would have seemed as someone who didn’t care for there mothers affection and just wanted to be disobedient. There is always two sides to a story but in this case they seemed to be arguing the same story. â€Å" Two halves of the same song†(534).

Internal analysis of Ryanair Essay

1. Internal audit of tangible, financial and intangible resources Tangible Resources 1. Human Resources * Ryanair currently employs 2000 people (2003) from 25 nations. * The pay is performance related and among the highest in the airline industry (Annual Report 2004, p. 5). Travel concessions and participation in the share option program is granted to all employees. In 2003 over 30% (639 in total) of employees took part in the stock option program – the average pay per employee was about 53.000 (Annual Report 2004, p. 21). * CEO Michael O’Leary has significantly shaped Ryanair. 2. Physical resources * Ryanair operates 72 aircrafts (Annual Report 2004, p. 3). All aircrafts are of a single type. Ryanair has ordered 225 brand new Boeing 737-800 aircrafts. The average aircraft age was about 10 years vs. easy Jet’s was 5.1 years (2003). However with the deliver of the new aircrafts, Ryanair’s figure will enhance. The average age of the fleet is important, as maintenance costs depends on this. * Facilities: Dublin Airport facilities, but no major other ones. Financial Resources * Ryanair will stay mostly unhedged in 2005 (Annual Report 2004, p. 12). * With a quick ratio of 2.7 Ryanair has enough cash even if all liabilities  have to be paid at once (Brealey et al., 2001). Ryanair has also shown good profitability. * Ryanair is listed on a stock exchange, obtaining capital in form of equity capital. In total, Ryanair has 1.5 billion in shareholder funds (Annual Report 2004, p. 12). The stock was very attractive to investors, outperforming its benchmark index. Intangible Resources * Ryanair has access to medium sized airports which provide cheap slot licences. The average airport charge applied to Ryanair was less than 7 . * Ryanair has an option to get 200 additional brand new Boeing 737-800 from Boeing. * Internet as major distribution platform with very huge attraction Ryanair’s most important assets are aircrafts and access to secondary airports. But this alone doesn’t make this airline successful: the real assets are the employees and particularly the CEO Michael O’Leary. Ryanair has a solid financial statement and a good profit track which is currently negatively influenced by the ongoing price war. 2 Threshold and core competences and resources 1) Threshold Resources * Availability of aircrafts and access to (low cost) airports * Internet as sales and marketing device 2) Threshold Competences: * If a sudden oil price shock occurs or the exchange rate develops  unfavourable this may have negative effects on net income. The ability to hedge exchange rate risks and oil prices is therefore a core threshold competence. * Customers expect to get cheap ticket prices, punctuality and highest safety standards from Ryanair. Ryanair must therefore be able to provide customers with lower fares than their competitors. * The ability to generate income from ancillary services (in order to subsidise the lowest ticket prices). Threshold capabilities of Ryanair are: the ability to keep flying from A to B on a low cost basis and sustaining competitive ticket prices. Core capabilities/competences: Efficient low cost base Ryanair always searches for possibilities to cut costs. Low operating costs within the complete value chain, subcontracting and economics of scale (performance related pay, efficient aircrafts, use of secondary airports, internet as marketing and sales device†¦) make it possible to provide the cheapest ticket prices available. Sound financial statement Very sound financial statement (e.g. liquidity ratio, shareholder funds†¦). Leadership style of Michel O’Leary CEO Michael O’Leary (Effective, charismatic leadership) and Ryanair’s management. The management of Ryanair received several awards and Michael O’Leary was named one of â€Å"25 European business starts by the Financial Times†. High market power Ryanair has a high market share, and the possibility to act as a price leader (sound financial figures making it possible to initiate and sustain a price war) Employment policy Effective employment handling: Every 7th employee (191 in total) was promoted internally (Annual Report 2004, p. 5), keeping people who already know the company which in turn reduces costs (introduction†¦) and enhances motivation. Employees have also the interest to bring the company forward because over 30% already are shareholders. Sustainable competitive advantage according to Lynch (2003) of Ryanair is: the low cost basis (key success factor), offering of the cheapest ticket prices (in order to target price sensitive customers) and the abilities of the management and the CEO (leadership) of Ryanair. In addition to that first mover experience (experience from competing against BA and Aer Lingus at the beginning) may also have benefited the company. 3 Ryanair’s dynamic capabilities Dynamic capabilities provide a constant flow of opportunities (Lynch, 2003), from which Ryanair could take advantage in order to sustain the competitive advantage: * Ryanair immediately responds to opportunities and threats in order to cut costs and sustain the low cost basis (e.g. abandonment of ice cubes†¦) or to increase profits (e.g. ancillary services†¦) * Constantly shaping the internet as the main communication device to its customer (marketing and sales, booking†¦). * Ryanair wants to provide the lowest fares. Therefore the company must be  very flexible and always at least react (or outperform) competitors in terms of the price. * Ryanair’s aim is to enlarge. This means to add constantly more routes and boost of frequencies on rotes with high demand. As it can be seen, Ryanair’s dynamic capabilities are flexibility and the ability of rapid adoption to changing conditions. Hence the competitive advantage is not static (e.g. low cost basis). This is what Brown and Eisenhardt (1998) define as â€Å"continual revolution† (Lynch, 2003 [p. 130]). 4 Strength and weaknesses of Ryanair By referring to the above said, it’s possible to identify the following strength and weaknesses. Strength/Weakness * Efficient and low operating costs (e.g. airport charges, same type of aircraft, economics of scales, cost cutting where possible†¦) * Immediate reaction of the management to use opportunities (e.g. when ice cube weren’t fee of charge anymore, Ryanair stopped ordering them) * Excellent career opportunities and effective employment handling (e.g. no union exists so far, good integration of employees in the company via the stock options program) * Because of their obtained size they have to some extend pricing power * The financial statement is sound (e.g. for sustaining the price war) * High load factor (about 85%, which is one of the best in the industry) * Strong performing CEO and management (e.g. several awards) * First mover experience (Ryanair and its management shaped the whole European airline industry) * Good safety record * Hedging policy (Ryanair remains unhedged although PESTEL analysis concluded an instable environment) * Ryanair added too much capacity in a short time frame (overcapacity may lead to deteriorating load factor and danger of high fixed costs) * Ryanair doesn’t consider people without internet (more passenger may be attracted if Ryanair wouldn’t merely use the internet) * The behaviour of the CEO towards government officials As it can be seen, Ryanair fulfils all key success factors. The cost leadership approach is certainly Ryanair’s major strength and provides competitive advantage. However there were some weaknesses identified: for now, the company should at least rethink its hedging policy. The classification of factors into strength and weaknesses can be misleading. For example, the enlargement of the fleet can lead to economics of scope. But at the same time, there is the risk of creating overcapacity (and thereby deteriorating performance indicators, e.g. load factor). Hence some issues may be both, a possible strength and weakness. The same is true for opportunities and threats. This is a limitation of the SWOT analyses.

Dont get me started on… Valentine s Day

Valentine’ s Day is trying to abduct me into a fake world where everything is glorious and perfect, a world we all wish to be living in. February 14th is the date I most dread every year. Couples get loved up and forget about the important things in life, such as working nine to five to pay the enormous bills that are piled in a drawer or scattered in the living room. Using Valentine’s Day as a runaway from bills isn’t going to make things better. Running away from Valentine’s Day sounds more appealing, it stop’s us from meeting women like these: 1) The hopefuls: These are women who get excited on Valentine’s Day because they believe their special person is out there somewhere, and loneliness isn’t an option. 2) The women who know love only exists in fairytales. These women would sit alone watching a romantic movie. They would cry, curled up on the sofa, every time there’s a romantic scene, while their full mug of hot chocolate gently warms the palms of their hands. Valentines Day is an excuse to advertise couples kissing and holding hands in public. Why would you want to advertise kissing? Which leads to interaction, which surely leads to†¦ yeah, you get my point? It’s not the best example for kids now-a-days is it? Wherever you go, even at the local shop, you’re reminded of this day with hearts, cupids and silly poems on the front of handmade cards. Believe it or not, I caught the bus and I went to town for a small portion of chips with sausage in batter, My FAVOURITE. And on the standing notice board, written in red chalk was: VALENTINES DAY OFFER, small portion of chips and sausage in batter,  £2.99 only. What a massive bargain. I’d never thought I’d hate to love the meal I always devour, little did I know.  £2.99 was a bargain, but I turned away and went in the nearby corner shop, to pick up some cheese and onion crisps instead. At least I could enjoy eating without the reminder of Valentine’s Day on my back. We all know when it’s coming, we’re not stupid. Living close to cinemas, restaurants, shopping centres, bowling alleys and night-clubs could be perceived to be an incredible place to live; everything is close by (except the chip shop). I guess it’s convenient as I’m quite out going, but it is the worse place to live on February 14th. Why? Because the whole area is full of teenagers drunk with fatigue, and middle-aged couples walking tall and ecstatic as if they are The bee’s knees. The only people with class on this irritating day are old people, they are respectful and they don’t go out with the hundred-and -something year old partner. They keep to themselves, like everyone should. Right? People that go out on Valentine’s Day are not paying attention to others feelings, now how selfish is that? Husbands and wives become immediately closer in 24 hours however, after 24 hours it was like they never were. Love is unconditional and is â€Å"life-long† if you love the person. But Valentine’s Day only lasts 24 hours. So, what about the other 364 days? We don’t have love your pet day, because you’re supposed to do that anyway. New years and Christmas are two good reasons for going out and celebrating. A new year is a day where we all are overwhelmed for the year to coming, while Christmas is celebrating Jesus’ birthday. And then there’s Valentine’s Day†¦ An interesting way for the government to continue making a ridiculous amount of money – which would probably be spent on single parents benefits. This makes me think. Government= a greedy bunch of people who needs money to operate. So that’s it. Valentine’s Day is just a day the government make money, they don’t care about lovers. People are not thinking outside the box and why there really is a valentine’s day, it’s all a part of the government’s evil and sick plan.

Role of Islam in Economic Develpoment

International Ataturk-Alatoo University Role of Islam in Economic Development Done: Aizhamal ZHUMALIEVA Checked: Ibragim KONCAK 2012 Content Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Statistics and Trends†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Economics of Wealth Generation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Islamic Merchants†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 Islamic Law and Economic Growth†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Islamic Banking†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 IntroductionResearchers like Huntington (1996), Landes (1999), and Inglehart and Baker (2000) argue that explanations for economic growth should go further to include a nation’s culture. Their argument absolutely makes sense because culture affects personal traits such as honesty, thrift, willingness to work hard, and openness to stranges, which consequently influences economic outcomes. Religion is thought to be one of the most important dimensions of culture. Thus Weber (1930) argued that religious practices and beliefs had important consequences for economic development.Islam is no exception, just as David Landes, the Harvard economic historian, wrote in his book à ¢â‚¬Å"The Wealth and Poverty of Nations†, â€Å"No one can understand the economic performance of the Muslim nations without attending to the experience of Islam as faith and culture,† In 10th century, which is known as Golden Age for Islam, Muslim societies led the world in science, philosophy, culture and prosperity. But soon it came to the end, and Islamic countries have long lagged behind other countries. It is easy to define with the help of analysis of current international financial data.Those data highlight the great inequality in income between Christian dominant and Muslim dominant countries. The richest countries in the world are those of Europe, North America, and East Asia. Only a small number of Muslim countries approach to their income levels, and this is only due to their oil wealth. In many of Muslim countries income growth is low so that gap is widening. Scholars are sure that it is not just coincidence but Islam has significant influence on economic a scents and descents. If it is so, what role does Islam play in economic performance? How does it affect economic advancement?What spheres and industries does Islam influence? Is there any way to solve the problem? The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between Islam and economy and critique some Islamic mechanisms that drag the economic activity. The first part of the paper suggests some statistical data that reflects general image of economic state of Islamic countries. Next section defines the process of wealth generation and impact of Islam on capital, innovation, and literacy. After, Islamic trading patterns are analyzed. Then Timur Kuran’s, well-known economist, arguments about economic effect of Islam are stated.And the last part reviews Islamic financial institutions. Statistics and Trends Level of economic development, whether measured by per capita income or variables like trade, literacy, science, scholarship and technology, has long been lower in the Islamic world than in Christian world, especially those of in West. Here is one empirical data that prove this situation with income per capita being a dependent variable. Table 1 is a regression model, which include 132 countries covered by the World Development Report for 1995, shows that relationship exists between Islam and per capita income.In the first regression, independent variable is the share of Muslim within total population, this regression indicates statistically significant negative relationship between two variables, but its fit is poor. The second regression, which includes additional independent variable, has considerably better fit. Membership in OPEC turns out to be a significant contributor to income, and location in Subsaharan Africa a highly significant depressor. The Muslim share of population remains very significant negative determinant of income.The model also reflects the fact that the African, South Asian, and East Asian countries with large Muslim mino rities tend to be poorer than countries with Muslim majorities located in the Middle East. Table 1 The Relationship between Islam and Per Capita Income | (1)| (2)| Constant| 3. 33| 3. 55| Share Muslim| -0. 41***(-2. 57)| -2. 07****(-2. 87)| Square Share Muslim| | 1. 76**(2. 29)| OPEC Member| | 0. 42*(2. 20)| Susaharan Africa| | -0. 67*****(-5. 77)| R-squared| 0. 4| 0. 34| Notes: 132 countries were included in the regression. Asterisks *, **, ***, ****, ***** denote significance at the 0. 03, 0. 2, 0. 01, 0. 005, and 0. 0000 levels, respectively. Following charts show the Muslim share of global income and the share of global population. Income share is 5. 98 %, which is strikingly less than population share, which is 19. 22 %. According to this data we can assume that Muslims average income obviously lower than of non-Muslims. In most of the countries, where Muslims live in large numbers, are generally poorer. And few will deny this fact. To investigate how this outcome came up I wil l review the process of wealth creation and the role of Islam in this process. Figure 1 Economics of Wealth GenerationLevel of income in an economy is related to the volume of goods and services produced. The amount of this production in the long term is determined by three factors: the availability and exploitation of natural resource; the quantity of productive capacity in terms of buildings, infrastructure, machinery plant and equipment; and the availability, ability, training and resourcefulness of the workforce. These â€Å"factors of production† are essential to income producing capacities. Natural resource endowment of a country is a matter of circumstance, religion has nothing to do with availability of natural resource.Islamic countries, especially those in the Middle East are very lucky to have oil wealth, the biggest contributor to Muslim economy. Physical resources however are man-made. The availability of these resources depends on accumulation of physical invest ment in building construction, purchase of equipment and maintenance of the stock of these assets. It is here that the culture and religion, Islam in particular, may play a role. In order to create physical productive asset, what economists call â€Å"capital†, long process of planning, risk taking, vision and enterprise are required.Arthur Lewis (1955, 105) argued in his textbook on economic growth: â€Å"Some religions are more compatible with economic growth than others. If religion stress upon material value, upon work, upon thrift and productive investment, upon honesty in commercial relations, upon experimentation and risk bearing, and upon equality of opportunity, it will be helpful to growth, whereas in so far as it is hostile to this things, it tends to inhibit growth. † He did not provide the classifications of religion according to their support for development.But other economists like Luigi Guiso, Paola Sapienza, and luigi Zingales did. They conducted a mu ltinational set of surveys that covers sixty-six countries. In a study that appeared in the Journal of Monetary Economics, they noted that, â€Å"on average, Christian religions are more positively associated with attitudes that are conductive to economic growth, while Islam is negatively associated. † In comparison with people of other religion, Muslims were generally less disposed to agree with pro-market statements such as â€Å"Competition is good†, â€Å"private ownership of business an industry should be increased†.It means that Muslims are not willing to adopt industrialization and modernization, without which creation of capital is barely possible. Report clearly indicates that Islam sufficiently discouraging economic development in terms of physical resources. The same opinion had Daniel (19958, 405) who wrote in his best-known work, The Passing of Traditional Society, that â€Å"the top policy problem, for three generations of Middle Eastern leaders, has been whether one must choose between ‘Mecca or Mechanization’ or whether one can make them compatible. He observed that Islam was inimical to the structural changes essential to the Islamic world’s progress. Affirmatively Islam played very effective role in capital creation and obviously negative. So, if country’s aim was to develop, choice would ultimately get resolved in favor of ‘mechanization’. The third factor of production is human resource. This is not jus a matter of population. People need to be educated and trained in order to make use of the physical capital. Religion may play a role here too – possibly negative one.To the question whether Islam contributed to shaping the educational system that limited curiosity and innovation Lewis (1982, 229) answers in the affirmative. But how? Islam highly encourages education. It might have stemmed from the closure of the gate ‘ijtihad’, which meant end of freedom of in novation, independent judgment, and that all answers were already available and needed merely to follow and obey. Treating Islamic learning as perfection helped support an educational system that emphasized rot learning and memorization at the expense of problem solving.Granting that the prevailing educational system must have limited inquisitiveness and innovation, it could have extinguished new ideas and the desire for change. This resulted in overwhelmingly illiterate Muslim population. The scene has not changed a lot in present days either, series of reports for United Nations pointed out that adult literacy rate barely topped fifty percent, which is disastrous for economic development. If there is no human resource who can tackle technology, machinery what are they needed for anyway?The nature of progress is improvements in physical capital over time that deliver increased output for given amount of material and labor input – higher productivity. By labor meant highly ed ucated and trained people, whom obviously lacks Muslim world. This ‘knowledge deficit’ has severely impeded economic growth. One thing that I cannot skip is the attitude toward women in Islam. In Islam women are inferior to men. Recent figures from the International Labor Organizations, published by world Bank, indicate that in the Middle East and North Africa, women comprise 28 % of the total labor force, whereas the world average is 40 %.As a group, these countries have the lowest female labor force participation in the world. One of the lowest figures is Saudi Arabia with 16%. This is reflection of cultural values regarding women in Muslim countries, values inseparable from religious values, which form following consequences. First, it decreases the overall income of country. If women were engaged in paid employment, increasing the labor force by 30%, additional contribution to national income would be around of 10%. Second, this limitation reduces potential producti on.Third, it is associated with higher birth in these countries, which correspondingly per capita income growth rate. So, this Islamic wise about women contribute to relative poverty. Now, as we have obtained sufficient image on how Islam has influenced the process of wealth generation I would like to take a quick look at Muslims trading patterns. Islamic Merchants The fact that Muslims ended up to be poor at trading puzzles me because the founder of Islam, The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have been a merchant, and in one occasion he reportedly said, â€Å"The trustworthy merchant will sit I in the shade of Allah’s throne. It is especially puzzling that Muslim merchants, given that early Islamic thought harbor certain pro-competitive traditions, along with Muslim consumers who stood to benefit from greater competition, failed to counter the anti-competitive influence of the guilds. Sabri Ulgener (1981) suggests that trading patterns were influenced by the economic moralit y associated with Islam. The foremost objective of Muslims’ economic doctrine is to replace the individualistic economic morality with a communalist morality.Which means Muslim do not support private ownership and income inequality, which is necessary to provide incentive for individual effort, and it leads to discouraging consequences for merchants. As private property rights were not protected in Islamic countries it is possible that trade with Muslims or in their countries was inefficient, and merchants simply avoided having any deal in Muslim world. Of course this is not the only reason for static trading pattern, there are tons of factors that could affect it.We just see that Islamic morality might have had an impact on merchants. Islamic Law and Economic growth The economist Timur Kuran, who grew up in Turkey and teaches at Duke University, traced the causes of fault in achieving industrialization and stable growth in his well acclaimed book, The Long Divergence: How Is lamic Law Held Back the Middle East. Islamic societies were slow to develop banks, commercial courts, joint stock companies, and the business organizations, for which Kuran blames social customs and religious rules, i. . Islamic laws. He focuses on laws covering business partnership and inheritance practices. These, he argues, discouraged the emergence of modern industrial corporations. In medieval times, trading partnership was the leading form of the business in the Middle East. In Islamic partnership any individual partner could end the relationship at will, and even the most successful ventures were terminated on the death of partner. As a result of these rule, most businesses tended to be small and short-lived.By the end of nineteenth century, the most durable trading entities in many Islamic countries were operated by non-Muslims, such as Armenians and Jews, Kuran adds, these organizations too were limited in their ability to raise money from outsiders because the region lacke d non-governmental financial channels. And this held back the establishment of corporations which would do huge contributions to economy. The other thing, according to Kuran, which hindered business consolidation is inheritance customs. Quran dictated that if Muslim merchant died at least two-third of his estate had to be split among surviving family members.This egalitarian Islamic law of inheritance discouraged the accumulation of wealth by dividing it among family members. The permissibility of polygamy fueled this problem as it divided the assets of wealthy merchants with multiple wives and children. Further, it prevented the creation of long-lasting, capital-intensive companies. These provocative claims are not backed up by statistical and empirical works, they generally derived basing only on a history. One can argue that claims are just hollow claims as Adeel Malik, professor in University of Oxford, did.But Kuran’s claims are sound and rational. In Western countries f or instance giant corporations were vital part of economic engine, which fueled prosperity, and they didn’t have any rules slightly related to those of Islamic. This could mean that Kuran is right with his arguments and Muslims should pay a little attention to them and may be check up their rules and see whether it is compatible with modern economic and financial system. Islamic Banking While investigating Islamic economy, it is impossible to ignore their financial system.Islamic economic doctrine on prohibition against riba, Arabic word which means â€Å"interest† or â€Å"usury†, is widely known. Muslim world convinced that conventional financial system is decadent, immoral and inequitable. However, in modern world, the one who is out of this system is out of economic advancement because financial institutions are the only monetary support for a business investment. Muslims may think that Muslim lenders and borrowers have long found their own ways to circumven t, but some data prove the opposite. First of all Islamic Banks are deficient.These banks exist not in all predominantly Islamic nations. They have constituted only a small share of the national banking system. For instance in thirteen out of fifteen major Islamic countries listed by Henry and Wilson (2004 b:7), Islamic banks accounted for less than 17% of the share of commercial bank deposits in late 1990s, in Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria, and Tunisia Islamic banks were nonexistent or minuscule. By the year 2000 only three countries – Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan- had Islamized their banking system.The implication of this information is that Islamic bank appears to be important in only very small number of Muslim countries. Shortage of banks is huge obstacle for new investments and emergence of any industrial businesses. Furthermore, Islamic banks are at a competitive disadvantage before other domestic or foreign bans for three reasons. First, a problem of moral h azard arises. Second, accounts in an Islamic bank must yield a return at least close to that of their competitors in order to attract deposits.Third, these banks are burdened with a curious problem of adverse selection. So, the future of Islamic banking does not seem to be glowing. As we see, the prohibition on interest serves no beneficial purpose. Elaborate scheme to circumvent such transactions because of their supposed immorality or due to their prohibition serve no purpose but except to increase costs and increase inefficiency. Conclusion This paper has reviewed important areas of economic activity and the role of Islam in it. And religion affirmatively has great influence on economy of Islamic world.Basing on all finding I conclude that Islam was inconductive to economic development, or at least less supportive than was Christian dominant countries. Few Muslims appreciated the discoveries and innovation, which has been fatal cause for physical resource or capital. The nature o f Islamic education was not helpful in developing open minded citizens fully equipped to fulfill their ambitions and potential. Islamic attitude toward women negatively affects production and income. Very few Muslims were seeking to capitalize, which caused uncomfortable conditions for merchants.The constraints and costs imposed on financial institutions by the nominal prohibition on interest payments preclude a free market in financial capital, causing inefficiencies, moral hazard in banking system, and limiting the funds for investment. These were drawbacks of religion that possibly caused stagnation in Islamic countries. And of course there are ways of getting out of this situation. Recent history provides examples of Muslim countries seeking to engage I the global economy and some of them succeeding.Indonesia, for instance, in 2008 its inflation adjusted GDP per capita was five and half times what it was in 1990, in Malasia during the same period, it rose almost six fold. Just a generation ago, both of these nations were overwhelmingly rural and poverty stricken. Today, they are industrialized middle-income countries. May be some Islamic countries should follow the lead of Turkey, the country which was transformed into an economically vibrant democracy. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of Turkish Republic, in 1929 abolished the caliphate and imposed strict church-state divide.After 1980, Turgut Ozal removed barriers to foreign trade and investment. Party’s Islamic heritage hasn’t prevented it from embracing a policy of economic modernization. Today, Turkey is the world's fifteenth-largest economy and a member of G-20. Example of Turkey suggests that it is possible to industrialize, modernize and still be faithful to religion, but Islam should not intervene in economic and political activities for its own sake, this will prevent Islam from being changed under the political influence and will maintain its cleanness.So, Islamic countries are not i n perfect condition, however they have all opportunities to prosper. This research paper analyzed just some of the factors, further researches and surveys needs to be conducted to identify other possible problems of static economy of Muslim world and to provide empirical and statistical information on Timur Kuran’s arguments. References Role of Islam in Economic Develpoment International Ataturk-Alatoo University Role of Islam in Economic Development Done: Aizhamal ZHUMALIEVA Checked: Ibragim KONCAK 2012 Content Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Statistics and Trends†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Economics of Wealth Generation †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Islamic Merchants†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦5 Islamic Law and Economic Growth†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Islamic Banking†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 6 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 IntroductionResearchers like Huntington (1996), Landes (1999), and Inglehart and Baker (2000) argue that explanations for economic growth should go further to include a nation’s culture. Their argument absolutely makes sense because culture affects personal traits such as honesty, thrift, willingness to work hard, and openness to stranges, which consequently influences economic outcomes. Religion is thought to be one of the most important dimensions of culture. Thus Weber (1930) argued that religious practices and beliefs had important consequences for economic development.Islam is no exception, just as David Landes, the Harvard economic historian, wrote in his book à ¢â‚¬Å"The Wealth and Poverty of Nations†, â€Å"No one can understand the economic performance of the Muslim nations without attending to the experience of Islam as faith and culture,† In 10th century, which is known as Golden Age for Islam, Muslim societies led the world in science, philosophy, culture and prosperity. But soon it came to the end, and Islamic countries have long lagged behind other countries. It is easy to define with the help of analysis of current international financial data.Those data highlight the great inequality in income between Christian dominant and Muslim dominant countries. The richest countries in the world are those of Europe, North America, and East Asia. Only a small number of Muslim countries approach to their income levels, and this is only due to their oil wealth. In many of Muslim countries income growth is low so that gap is widening. Scholars are sure that it is not just coincidence but Islam has significant influence on economic a scents and descents. If it is so, what role does Islam play in economic performance? How does it affect economic advancement?What spheres and industries does Islam influence? Is there any way to solve the problem? The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between Islam and economy and critique some Islamic mechanisms that drag the economic activity. The first part of the paper suggests some statistical data that reflects general image of economic state of Islamic countries. Next section defines the process of wealth generation and impact of Islam on capital, innovation, and literacy. After, Islamic trading patterns are analyzed. Then Timur Kuran’s, well-known economist, arguments about economic effect of Islam are stated.And the last part reviews Islamic financial institutions. Statistics and Trends Level of economic development, whether measured by per capita income or variables like trade, literacy, science, scholarship and technology, has long been lower in the Islamic world than in Christian world, especially those of in West. Here is one empirical data that prove this situation with income per capita being a dependent variable. Table 1 is a regression model, which include 132 countries covered by the World Development Report for 1995, shows that relationship exists between Islam and per capita income.In the first regression, independent variable is the share of Muslim within total population, this regression indicates statistically significant negative relationship between two variables, but its fit is poor. The second regression, which includes additional independent variable, has considerably better fit. Membership in OPEC turns out to be a significant contributor to income, and location in Subsaharan Africa a highly significant depressor. The Muslim share of population remains very significant negative determinant of income.The model also reflects the fact that the African, South Asian, and East Asian countries with large Muslim mino rities tend to be poorer than countries with Muslim majorities located in the Middle East. Table 1 The Relationship between Islam and Per Capita Income | (1)| (2)| Constant| 3. 33| 3. 55| Share Muslim| -0. 41***(-2. 57)| -2. 07****(-2. 87)| Square Share Muslim| | 1. 76**(2. 29)| OPEC Member| | 0. 42*(2. 20)| Susaharan Africa| | -0. 67*****(-5. 77)| R-squared| 0. 4| 0. 34| Notes: 132 countries were included in the regression. Asterisks *, **, ***, ****, ***** denote significance at the 0. 03, 0. 2, 0. 01, 0. 005, and 0. 0000 levels, respectively. Following charts show the Muslim share of global income and the share of global population. Income share is 5. 98 %, which is strikingly less than population share, which is 19. 22 %. According to this data we can assume that Muslims average income obviously lower than of non-Muslims. In most of the countries, where Muslims live in large numbers, are generally poorer. And few will deny this fact. To investigate how this outcome came up I wil l review the process of wealth creation and the role of Islam in this process. Figure 1 Economics of Wealth GenerationLevel of income in an economy is related to the volume of goods and services produced. The amount of this production in the long term is determined by three factors: the availability and exploitation of natural resource; the quantity of productive capacity in terms of buildings, infrastructure, machinery plant and equipment; and the availability, ability, training and resourcefulness of the workforce. These â€Å"factors of production† are essential to income producing capacities. Natural resource endowment of a country is a matter of circumstance, religion has nothing to do with availability of natural resource.Islamic countries, especially those in the Middle East are very lucky to have oil wealth, the biggest contributor to Muslim economy. Physical resources however are man-made. The availability of these resources depends on accumulation of physical invest ment in building construction, purchase of equipment and maintenance of the stock of these assets. It is here that the culture and religion, Islam in particular, may play a role. In order to create physical productive asset, what economists call â€Å"capital†, long process of planning, risk taking, vision and enterprise are required.Arthur Lewis (1955, 105) argued in his textbook on economic growth: â€Å"Some religions are more compatible with economic growth than others. If religion stress upon material value, upon work, upon thrift and productive investment, upon honesty in commercial relations, upon experimentation and risk bearing, and upon equality of opportunity, it will be helpful to growth, whereas in so far as it is hostile to this things, it tends to inhibit growth. † He did not provide the classifications of religion according to their support for development.But other economists like Luigi Guiso, Paola Sapienza, and luigi Zingales did. They conducted a mu ltinational set of surveys that covers sixty-six countries. In a study that appeared in the Journal of Monetary Economics, they noted that, â€Å"on average, Christian religions are more positively associated with attitudes that are conductive to economic growth, while Islam is negatively associated. † In comparison with people of other religion, Muslims were generally less disposed to agree with pro-market statements such as â€Å"Competition is good†, â€Å"private ownership of business an industry should be increased†.It means that Muslims are not willing to adopt industrialization and modernization, without which creation of capital is barely possible. Report clearly indicates that Islam sufficiently discouraging economic development in terms of physical resources. The same opinion had Daniel (19958, 405) who wrote in his best-known work, The Passing of Traditional Society, that â€Å"the top policy problem, for three generations of Middle Eastern leaders, has been whether one must choose between ‘Mecca or Mechanization’ or whether one can make them compatible. He observed that Islam was inimical to the structural changes essential to the Islamic world’s progress. Affirmatively Islam played very effective role in capital creation and obviously negative. So, if country’s aim was to develop, choice would ultimately get resolved in favor of ‘mechanization’. The third factor of production is human resource. This is not jus a matter of population. People need to be educated and trained in order to make use of the physical capital. Religion may play a role here too – possibly negative one.To the question whether Islam contributed to shaping the educational system that limited curiosity and innovation Lewis (1982, 229) answers in the affirmative. But how? Islam highly encourages education. It might have stemmed from the closure of the gate ‘ijtihad’, which meant end of freedom of in novation, independent judgment, and that all answers were already available and needed merely to follow and obey. Treating Islamic learning as perfection helped support an educational system that emphasized rot learning and memorization at the expense of problem solving.Granting that the prevailing educational system must have limited inquisitiveness and innovation, it could have extinguished new ideas and the desire for change. This resulted in overwhelmingly illiterate Muslim population. The scene has not changed a lot in present days either, series of reports for United Nations pointed out that adult literacy rate barely topped fifty percent, which is disastrous for economic development. If there is no human resource who can tackle technology, machinery what are they needed for anyway?The nature of progress is improvements in physical capital over time that deliver increased output for given amount of material and labor input – higher productivity. By labor meant highly ed ucated and trained people, whom obviously lacks Muslim world. This ‘knowledge deficit’ has severely impeded economic growth. One thing that I cannot skip is the attitude toward women in Islam. In Islam women are inferior to men. Recent figures from the International Labor Organizations, published by world Bank, indicate that in the Middle East and North Africa, women comprise 28 % of the total labor force, whereas the world average is 40 %.As a group, these countries have the lowest female labor force participation in the world. One of the lowest figures is Saudi Arabia with 16%. This is reflection of cultural values regarding women in Muslim countries, values inseparable from religious values, which form following consequences. First, it decreases the overall income of country. If women were engaged in paid employment, increasing the labor force by 30%, additional contribution to national income would be around of 10%. Second, this limitation reduces potential producti on.Third, it is associated with higher birth in these countries, which correspondingly per capita income growth rate. So, this Islamic wise about women contribute to relative poverty. Now, as we have obtained sufficient image on how Islam has influenced the process of wealth generation I would like to take a quick look at Muslims trading patterns. Islamic Merchants The fact that Muslims ended up to be poor at trading puzzles me because the founder of Islam, The Prophet Muhammad is believed to have been a merchant, and in one occasion he reportedly said, â€Å"The trustworthy merchant will sit I in the shade of Allah’s throne. It is especially puzzling that Muslim merchants, given that early Islamic thought harbor certain pro-competitive traditions, along with Muslim consumers who stood to benefit from greater competition, failed to counter the anti-competitive influence of the guilds. Sabri Ulgener (1981) suggests that trading patterns were influenced by the economic moralit y associated with Islam. The foremost objective of Muslims’ economic doctrine is to replace the individualistic economic morality with a communalist morality.Which means Muslim do not support private ownership and income inequality, which is necessary to provide incentive for individual effort, and it leads to discouraging consequences for merchants. As private property rights were not protected in Islamic countries it is possible that trade with Muslims or in their countries was inefficient, and merchants simply avoided having any deal in Muslim world. Of course this is not the only reason for static trading pattern, there are tons of factors that could affect it.We just see that Islamic morality might have had an impact on merchants. Islamic Law and Economic growth The economist Timur Kuran, who grew up in Turkey and teaches at Duke University, traced the causes of fault in achieving industrialization and stable growth in his well acclaimed book, The Long Divergence: How Is lamic Law Held Back the Middle East. Islamic societies were slow to develop banks, commercial courts, joint stock companies, and the business organizations, for which Kuran blames social customs and religious rules, i. . Islamic laws. He focuses on laws covering business partnership and inheritance practices. These, he argues, discouraged the emergence of modern industrial corporations. In medieval times, trading partnership was the leading form of the business in the Middle East. In Islamic partnership any individual partner could end the relationship at will, and even the most successful ventures were terminated on the death of partner. As a result of these rule, most businesses tended to be small and short-lived.By the end of nineteenth century, the most durable trading entities in many Islamic countries were operated by non-Muslims, such as Armenians and Jews, Kuran adds, these organizations too were limited in their ability to raise money from outsiders because the region lacke d non-governmental financial channels. And this held back the establishment of corporations which would do huge contributions to economy. The other thing, according to Kuran, which hindered business consolidation is inheritance customs. Quran dictated that if Muslim merchant died at least two-third of his estate had to be split among surviving family members.This egalitarian Islamic law of inheritance discouraged the accumulation of wealth by dividing it among family members. The permissibility of polygamy fueled this problem as it divided the assets of wealthy merchants with multiple wives and children. Further, it prevented the creation of long-lasting, capital-intensive companies. These provocative claims are not backed up by statistical and empirical works, they generally derived basing only on a history. One can argue that claims are just hollow claims as Adeel Malik, professor in University of Oxford, did.But Kuran’s claims are sound and rational. In Western countries f or instance giant corporations were vital part of economic engine, which fueled prosperity, and they didn’t have any rules slightly related to those of Islamic. This could mean that Kuran is right with his arguments and Muslims should pay a little attention to them and may be check up their rules and see whether it is compatible with modern economic and financial system. Islamic Banking While investigating Islamic economy, it is impossible to ignore their financial system.Islamic economic doctrine on prohibition against riba, Arabic word which means â€Å"interest† or â€Å"usury†, is widely known. Muslim world convinced that conventional financial system is decadent, immoral and inequitable. However, in modern world, the one who is out of this system is out of economic advancement because financial institutions are the only monetary support for a business investment. Muslims may think that Muslim lenders and borrowers have long found their own ways to circumven t, but some data prove the opposite. First of all Islamic Banks are deficient.These banks exist not in all predominantly Islamic nations. They have constituted only a small share of the national banking system. For instance in thirteen out of fifteen major Islamic countries listed by Henry and Wilson (2004 b:7), Islamic banks accounted for less than 17% of the share of commercial bank deposits in late 1990s, in Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Syria, and Tunisia Islamic banks were nonexistent or minuscule. By the year 2000 only three countries – Iran, Pakistan, and Sudan- had Islamized their banking system.The implication of this information is that Islamic bank appears to be important in only very small number of Muslim countries. Shortage of banks is huge obstacle for new investments and emergence of any industrial businesses. Furthermore, Islamic banks are at a competitive disadvantage before other domestic or foreign bans for three reasons. First, a problem of moral h azard arises. Second, accounts in an Islamic bank must yield a return at least close to that of their competitors in order to attract deposits.Third, these banks are burdened with a curious problem of adverse selection. So, the future of Islamic banking does not seem to be glowing. As we see, the prohibition on interest serves no beneficial purpose. Elaborate scheme to circumvent such transactions because of their supposed immorality or due to their prohibition serve no purpose but except to increase costs and increase inefficiency. Conclusion This paper has reviewed important areas of economic activity and the role of Islam in it. And religion affirmatively has great influence on economy of Islamic world.Basing on all finding I conclude that Islam was inconductive to economic development, or at least less supportive than was Christian dominant countries. Few Muslims appreciated the discoveries and innovation, which has been fatal cause for physical resource or capital. The nature o f Islamic education was not helpful in developing open minded citizens fully equipped to fulfill their ambitions and potential. Islamic attitude toward women negatively affects production and income. Very few Muslims were seeking to capitalize, which caused uncomfortable conditions for merchants.The constraints and costs imposed on financial institutions by the nominal prohibition on interest payments preclude a free market in financial capital, causing inefficiencies, moral hazard in banking system, and limiting the funds for investment. These were drawbacks of religion that possibly caused stagnation in Islamic countries. And of course there are ways of getting out of this situation. Recent history provides examples of Muslim countries seeking to engage I the global economy and some of them succeeding.Indonesia, for instance, in 2008 its inflation adjusted GDP per capita was five and half times what it was in 1990, in Malasia during the same period, it rose almost six fold. Just a generation ago, both of these nations were overwhelmingly rural and poverty stricken. Today, they are industrialized middle-income countries. May be some Islamic countries should follow the lead of Turkey, the country which was transformed into an economically vibrant democracy. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder of Turkish Republic, in 1929 abolished the caliphate and imposed strict church-state divide.After 1980, Turgut Ozal removed barriers to foreign trade and investment. Party’s Islamic heritage hasn’t prevented it from embracing a policy of economic modernization. Today, Turkey is the world's fifteenth-largest economy and a member of G-20. Example of Turkey suggests that it is possible to industrialize, modernize and still be faithful to religion, but Islam should not intervene in economic and political activities for its own sake, this will prevent Islam from being changed under the political influence and will maintain its cleanness.So, Islamic countries are not i n perfect condition, however they have all opportunities to prosper. This research paper analyzed just some of the factors, further researches and surveys needs to be conducted to identify other possible problems of static economy of Muslim world and to provide empirical and statistical information on Timur Kuran’s arguments. References