Ethics and Financial Services Essay

Question A1 Outline the frauds identified in the case and explain the inconsistencies with proper accounting treatment. Relate your answer to broad accounting concepts and accounting standards where relevant. (8 marks; approximately 800 words) Answer: Livent Inc. is a theatre production corporation registered in Toronto, Canada. Therefore, all the accounting behaviours were subject to the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of Canada. In a broad sense, the GAAP imposes four main constraints on the accounting behaviours of companies – objectivity, materiality, consistency and conservatism. In the case of Livent Inc., there are several behaviours that was inconsistent with the proper accounting regulations in general. Large kickback scheme At the very beginning of the entire fraud by Livent, the two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, fabricated transactions that did not exist at all, in order to transfer the revenue of the company secretly to their own pockets. They made the fake transaction on their balance sheet by colluding with their vendors. Drabinsky and Gottlieb received the money from vendors and asked them to fabricate evidences of charging fees. Manipulation of accounting records The kickback scheme sacrificed the net profit of the company, and as a result, Drabinsky and Gottlieb started manipulating the records. There were evidence from later investigation that Livent was exaggerating its revenue from the box office to show that it kept good income statement with good  profit. Also, they asked the accountants at Livent to modify the financial statements to hide the potential financial problems Livent had and to exhibit good operating performance to attract more investment. Drabinsky even used special software to manipulate the financial statements to make them as if they were the original record and hard to be detected. Keeping the fraud as secret to auditors With the help of the special software, Livent Inc. was able to keep two records of their financial performances, the phony one and the real one. And the outside auditors did auditing of Livent based on the phony financial records Livent provided. Therefore, the Deloitte, Livent’s outside auditing company, could hardly see signs of fraud during annual auditing. Significantly, the fraud of Livent Inc. broke the accounting principle of objectivity, which is also the primary standards companies should stick to. The objectivity principle basically requires that all kinds of financial statements the companies offer should be based on the facts. That is to say, every transaction and item recorded in the financial statements should be supported by unbiased and objective information. Under no circumstances are the managers, shareholders and accountants allowed to fabricate or distort any accounting reports and materials of the company. However, what Drabinsky and Gottlieb did at Livent went against the accounting standards. The fact that the two partners urged the internal accountants to modify the seasonal expenses and liability is definitely away from the proper professional behaviours. Livent benefited from manipulating its performance with additional investment and bank loans, which boosted aggressive expanding plans of Livent. It is even intolerable that the company invented the special software, which allowed unlimited arbitrary modification of all the accounting records of the company. This made the fraud much easier and less likely to be discovered because it enabled the manipulation looked as if they were the original data. Elrod and Gorhum (2010) made quantitative research on the way of detecting fraud by examine the extent to which the cash flow from operation and the earnings from continuing operations are correlated. Livent Inc. forced the accounting staff in the company to comply with the fraud behaviour without any doubt. The executives showed a â€Å"matter-of-fact† attitude toward the fraud. The accountants, independent auditors were not working independently and objectively as required by GAAP. On the contrary, they have been coerced or instructed to make fake accounting records, and did not show cooperation with the independent outside auditors. GAAP intends to ensure auditor independence. But Messina used her previous influence at Deloitte to disturb the independency of Deloitte auditors in examining the financial performance of Livent. The objectivity principle additionally restricts unreliable reports, materials and sheets offered to the auditors for annual auditing. Under the current accounting principles and standards in Canada and the United State, the auditors are responsible only for ensuring the preparation of all the accounting documents of the company align with the GAAP. But the outside auditors do not have access to the detailed daily record of the company. Therefore, the annual auditing is unable to prevent managerial collusion if the company provides counterfeit accounting materials. Livent was giving the fake balance sheet, income statement and other reports to Deloitte, which is not allowed by the accounting standards to a broad extent. Some companies correct their cheating behaviour when the situation improves, which makes it even harder to be detected. Nonetheless, such behaviours done by Livent are inconsistent with the standard professional ethics and regulations. Moreover, the aggressive developing strategy Livent had taken also violated the conservatism principle that the GAAP requires. This principle asks the accountants to exclude the uncertain income or revenue, while include the possible losses and risks in the financial statement. The conservative accounting behaviors are necessary because they can effectively prevent the shareholders and investors from potential losses. But in this case, Drabinsky is in such a haste to pursue aggressive development of the company, and obviously was exaggerating its revenue as well as concealing its losses. Question A2 Describe the corporate ethical culture at Livent Inc. How did this culture affect employee behaviour? Explain and justify your answer. (12 marks; approximately 1,200 words) Answer: Several researches supported the argument that the corporate ethical culture had large influences on the behaviours of the employees and their ethical judgements. The company does not have to have a specific code of ethics for the employees to constraint their ethical behaviours. The corporate environment in itself is enough for influencing the ethical behaviours inside the company. Nwachukwu and Vitell (1997)’s research found that the ethical culture in corporate has certain impact on the moral conviction of the employees upon what is right and wrong. Fraudulent behaviour was a very significant issue in the development of companies. It was because that it had tremendous impacts on the corporate, the employees as well as the public. Also, the difficulties in preventing such behaviours were to define, prevent and detect it. Schwartz (2013) made research and emphasized the three key factors in maintain an ethical corporate culture in the company. They are the set of ethical beliefs or values throughout the company, establishing â€Å"formal ethics program† and the ethical leadership throughout the development of the company. However, in the case of Livent’s fraud, all the three factors were lack in the system of the company. They had no clear ethical values, as the self-regulation mechanism, set and administrated inside the company to constraint the behaviours of not only the employees, but the senior executives as well. The unethical culture set by the top executives had not only influenced, but also forced all the staff, especially the accountants, to cooperate and to help conceal the fraud from being detected by the outsiders. This caused the company running under a set of very unethical corporate culture. It seemed to be routine to manipulate the financial records in Livent Inc. for quite a long time. As early as the year of 1990, Drabinsky, together with his best partner Gottlieb, began the kickback scheme to illegally create fake transactions to transfer money from the company to their own pockets. Then later Dranbinsky and Gottlieb had to tell even bigger lies and got more people involved in in order to make up for the expense losses from the kickback plan. The company lacked ethical leadership from the very beginning. To make the financial performance of Livent look promising,  Drabinsky and Gottlieb meddled in the daily accounting records as well as the preparation of the annual financial statements that were handed in and were examined by the auditing company, Deloitte. The executives and the senior level staff were not establishing positive example inside the company so as to maintain a positive ethical corporate culture. What’s even worse, they acted as the leading role in such fraudulent behaviours and arbitrarily got the other employees into the serious fraud scheme. Drabinsky and Gottlieb shouted at and coerced the staff and even the senior level managers to fulfil their ambition. They developed a specific computer software inside the company’s accounting system, so that they were able to take control of the financial status of the company. They could adjust any amount and transaction records in the system to make the quarterly, semi-annually and annually report of financial performance of Livent look promising to invest in. Even worse, by applying the software, Livent was able to cheat on the accounting records as if they were the raw figures, and avoid being discovered. It had also facilitated the fraudulent behaviours and motivated the employees and the executives to fraud continuously. Another serious issue inside Livent, besides the manipulation of the accounting records and financial statements, is the overwhelming attitude of viewing fraud as a matter of fact among executives as well as the employees. Even if some of the accounting staff including Messina and Webster questioned the unethical behaviours they got involved in, they were influenced by the overall environment and paid no attention to the fraudulent behaviours in Livent. They took for granted that what they did was to follow the instructions of the executives so as not to get fired. The employees would see Drabinsky shouting and bullying the accountants and even the senior level staff in the company if they had any different opinions against him. This was in fact establishing bad example for the employees and was to warn the other staff to just accept the deviant behaviours as a matter of fact. For a long time, employees were aware of the fraud happening, but were unwilling to avoid it. Llopis et al. (2007) argued that â€Å"effective communication is essential for the ethical message to be properly assimilated†. However, in Livent, the top two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, were much too autocratic in the way of managing the company. There  were barely any information about the ethical culture passed to the employees, and the staff had little freedom to do their job but to listen to Drabinsky’s instructions. Last but not least, Livent Inc. lacked proper self-regulation mechanism to prevent the non-ethical behaviours. More often than not, self-regulation are considered as the last prevention of bad corporate ethical culture. Schwartz (2013) pointed out that the set of ethical value of the company was critical for making ethical decisions. Real self-regulation should not be independent of the public interest. Instead, the behaviours under self-regulation should be compatible with the social values and principles. In addition, as the ethical value of the company should not be arbitrarily decided by the executives or a few people in the company; instead the set of ethical value should gain the consent of the majority of the employees (Llopis et al. 2007). Yet, what the set of value acquiesced by the employees in Livent went against the public’s interest, and thus led to the unethical corporate culture overall. Formally, inside Livent, they did not have complete ethical programs including regulations on the professional operation of each position to prevent fraud. The ethical value of the company should be clearly stated in the policies and regulations, or even set incentive mechanism to encourage the employees to follow and to form good habits. In conclusion, there were three factors causing the unethical corporate culture inside Livent. The first is the long-standing fraudulent behaviours from the top executives, which were then passed down to the employees of lower levels arbitrarily. Second element of the unethical culture was the attitude of taking committing fraud as a matter of fact, and thus no one in the company were willing to discourage it. Finally, the lack of internal ethical corporate regulations or values established throughout the company accelerated the forming of unethical corporate culture. Working under such environment, the employees got involved in the fraudulent behaviours willingly or unwillingly forced by their boss. Moreover, their original ethical judgement became vague as they got used to the prevalent fraudulent working culture after a long time. They loss the sense of justice to judge the right and the wrong things. They might even rationalize what they had  done to be just and necessary. PART B Question B1 Why do you think Maria Messina become complicit in the fraud(s)? Explain your answer using the fraud triangle. (15 marks; approximately 1,500 words) Answer: The fraud originally started with the large kickback scheme by Drabinsky and Gottlieb, and finally Maria Messina, as the chief financial officer of Livent, got involved and helped in the huge fraud. Messina’s motivation to become complicit in the fraud can be explained by the theory of fraud triangle, which reveals much of the psychology of committing a fraud. The three key factors in the fraud triangle, considered as prerequisites of fraudulent behaviours, are the pressure, the opportunity and the rationalisation of doing it. Pressure The pressure of committing the fraud, according to the theory of fraud triangle, is more often than not â€Å"non-shareable† (Dellaportas 2013). The type of pressure may be related to financial issues, or may come from the job and working atmosphere. Dellaportas (2013) pointed out that the evil ideas can also be the source of pressure that causes fraud. People in Livent who joined in the fraud had different reasons of incentive to do illegal things as they had different kind of pressure. For example, for the two executives, Drabinsky and Gottlieb, they shared financial pressure. At first, their greed for money stimulated them to design the large kickback plan to secretly transfer money from the company to their own pockets. And later, just as Brenna and McGrath (2007) described in the paper, the executives had the motivation to fraud to keep the company at good performance so that they could gain high bonus as well as keep continuous outside investment for the company. But the motivation and pressure for Messina was a little different. Although as CFO of Livent, her bonus was linked with the performance of the company, the evidences in the  case and in the trial were insufficient to decide whether her fraudulent behaviour was directly motivated by financial pressure. However, it is clear that she was forced to involve in the fraud, like many other accountants at Livent, because of the coercion of Drabinsky and Gottlieb. Messina testified that the executives including Drabinsky would shout at the accountants and force them to cooperate in work. She worked under the pressure of the executives in the company. Messina would be at the risk of losing her job if she did not follow the instruction of Drabinsky. The financial situation was negative long before Messina joined Livent, meaning the fraud had already started before Messina was able to stop it. Taking over the responsibility of managing the financial performance of the company, she was faced with the situation out of her control. The environment of fraud and routine to manipulate the financial records had long been formed. The frequent use of software that enabled Drabinsky to easily manipulate the financial records and financial statements as much as he wanted was a common behaviour in Livent, acquiesced by everyone in the company. Under the threat of Drabinsky, Messina thus had no choice but to try her best to manage the fraud from being detected, making herself really exhausted by the daily work. The pressure Messina faced as the chief financial officer was unable to share with other colleagues and she was forced by the financial pressures to involve in the fraud. She could feel the threats from Drabinsky and the already very troublesome financial situation. And she could perceive that her subordinates and other staff in Livent were suffering the bully and coercion from their executives as well. Opportunity The factor of opportunity in the fraud triangle refers to the ability to commit the fraud and in the situations like the one in the case, such opportunity mainly results from having specific professional skills or knowledge. That is to say, the person was able to manipulate skilfully and knew how to avoid being discovered by his supervisors or regulations. In addition, the trust that the person is able to accomplish the job in accord  with laws also contributes to the opportunity. The trust existing in the relationship between the supervisor and the employees may contribute to getting authorized without careful screening. The trust caused the space of opportunity to fraud expanded. In case of Livent, Messina was an experienced accountants as well as a Chartered Accountant, who had been promoted to partner of the Deloitte &Touch, LLP in Canada. Her previous experience in the industry enabled her to have a good knowledge both in accounting and auditing. That is to say, Messina potentially knew how to manipulate the accounting records daily and prepare the fraudulent financial statement annually. Also, she understood the normal practice of outside professional auditors, who were responsible for examining the financial performance of the company and avoiding inconsistency with the GAAP. Thus, Messina could give professional advice to Drabinsky and Gottlieb so that their manipulation of the accounting records would not be detected in the annual auditing. Besides her professional knowledge and skills in assisting in the fraud in accounting, the opportunity for Messina to get involved also includes the trust on her and her influence in her previous company. Messina had worked at Deloitte Canada for quite a long time and had been promoted to position as partner before she left the company and became CFO of Livent Inc. She had therefore built broad relationship within Deloitte, who was the outside auditing firm for Livent at that time. As Dellaportas (2013) pointed out in the research, insufficient internal regulation and supervision upon such fraudulent behaviours prompted the fraud to continue without being detected by others. However, in the specific case of Livent, there was no self-regulation mechanism at all, since the entire company, from the executives to the employees of the lowest-level, got involved in the fraud. Thus, it was hopeless to discover and discourage such deviant behaviours by the people inside the company. This caused the fraud of Livent to continue to expand and to be very serious. Rationalisation The rationalisation is not rational, instead it is an excuse for the person  who commits the fraud to justify the behaviour to himself. Coleman (1987) discussed this factor of fraud within the context of white collar crimes, and he argued that rationalisation is not an â€Å"after-the-fact† excuse. In fact, people who commit the crime do not realize that their behaviours are deviant. A large number of white collar crime criminals argued that they considered the laws to be unjust or unreasonable, causing them to break the rules (Coleman 1987). The factor of rationalisation is more risky than the other two factors because the people who have violated the laws believed that they had the right reason to do so. He also mentioned other common argument of the fraudulent behaviours. They claimed that such behaviours were the only way for them to achieve the goal or to â€Å"survive† (Coleman 1987). Based on the research results from Dellaportas (2013), he identified the three most common way of denial that people think to justify their fraudulent behaviours. People would rationalize their behaviour as they deny the â€Å"responsibility, injury and victim†. First, the offenders will shirk responsibility and say someone else are supposed to be in charge of the fraud. Secondly, they justify what they have done by arguing that there is no victim in this situation. Finally, if there is victims, the offenders may consider that the victims deserve the sufferings. Thus, they are free from taking responsible or even committing their fraud is illegal. Definitely, there were rationalisation inside Messina that made her behaviour â€Å"just† according to her own value. After quitting the partner position at Deloitte, Messina believed it to be right or rational for her to help Drabinsky in the fraud. Or otherwise, she would lose her job and would be unable to survive. And the overall atmosphere inside the Livent, considering what they were doing as â€Å"matter of fact†, alleviated the employee’s sense of responsibility for the fraud. Messina could hardly feel guilty and never considered about the consequences of helping the company’s fraud. She might rationalize her efforts in the fraud as under the instruction of Drabinsky, instead of out of her own willingness. The above analysis clearly dissected the reasons why Messina became complicit in the fraud from the perspective of psychology. However, as Dellaportas (2013) discussed, the influence of each factor in the fraud triangle varied  from case to case, and was not often equally impacting the fraud behaviours. Recent researches intend to improve the fraud triangle by considering additional factors into the model to better understand the behaviour of fraud in current times. What Messina had done assisted the fraud in Livent to continue for quite a long time after she joined Livent. Messina became the complicit in the serious fraud due to the pressure she was facing, mainly financially, the opportunity she was able to take advantage of and the rationalisation she found for herself to justify her deviant behaviours. Dellaportas (2013) discovered, through case study from ten accountants’ committing fraud, that the opportunity of committing fraud was a much more important factor in dete cting fraud and to take control of it. The motivation and rationalisation contributed less in this kind of accounting fraud cases. Question B2 Comment on the adequacy of the disciplinary action taken against Messina. (5 marks; approximately 500 words) Answer: Finally, Messina was fined for $7,500 and was suspended from doing accounting practice for two years. It is adequate but not enough punishment for Messina’s violation to the accounting standards according to the facts already known. After joining Livent, what Messina did in the Livent’s case of fraud went against the code of professional ethics, which discourages cheating and manipulations. Also, her behaviours broke the securities law in the United States, where the trial of Livent was held. Her involving in the fraud conflicted the interest of the public, especially the investors, who were unable to judge the real performance of Livent from their financial reports. Messina abused her authority in Livent and her influence on Deloitte, for the interest of her own and the executives at Livent. At the very beginning of joining Livent, Messina faced coercion and threats from Drabinsky to keep decent records by manipulation. However, she did not take positive action to resolving the conflict of interest between Drabinsky and herself. Proper ways when one faces conflict of interest is to  quit the job or decline to do the fraud. Messina could have turned to a confidential counselling firm for advice so that she did not have to get involved further in the fraud. On the one hand, it is enough punishment for her involvement in the fraud. She helped the accounting department at Livent to conceal the manipulation of financial statements. Also, as former partner at Deloitte, she abused her influence on the outside independent auditors to comb the financial reports of Livent before they filed to ensure the fraud undetected. What she did violated the standard professional codes for accountants and auditors, and thus she should be subject to penalty. According to the documents from Securities and Exchange Commission (1999), Messina was involved in discussion and approval of every manipulated records. She helped to hide these materials from the auditors so as not to be discovered the inflation in the company’s revenue. On the other hand, the SEC is conservative in judgement because of lack of evidence in proving Messina’s role in the fraud. First, it requires further investigation of the case to identify what she really did and her attitude in the fraud supported with evidence. Moreover, Messina, according to the case material, did show adversarial attitude toward Drabinsky’s fraud plan at first. It means that she still sticked to professional discipline in the beginning, though she yielded to Drabinsky’s bullying later. Also, Messina showed humble attitude in investigation and trial, and cooperated with the commission to investigate the case. It is adequate that the judges punished Messina both financially and professionally. She not only has to give back the illegal money she gained from the fraud, but also should be prevented from doing the practice until she can finally reflect on her mistakes before returning to the business as chief financial officer. However, the amount of fine is too little for Messina to realize her improper behaviours, considering the massive consequences of the fraud and the amount of money they benefited from manipulation. But the judgement should after all based on the evidences and regulations. The judge should take the good and bad things Messina had done  throughout the fraud into account to decide. Also, the punishment against Messina requires further investigation of her role in the fraud, which is disputable. References Coleman, J W 1987, ‘Toward an integrated theory of white-collar crime’, American Journal of Sociology, vol 93, no. 2, pp. 406-439. Dellaportas, S 2013, ‘Conversations with inmate accountants: Motivation, opportunity and the fraud triangle’, Accounting Forum, vol. 37, pp. 29-39. Elrod, H & Gorhum, M J, ‘Fraudulent financial reporting and cash flows’, Journal of Finance and Accountancy, vol. 11, pp. 56-61. Llopis, J, Gonzalez, M R & Gasco, J L 2007, ‘Corporate governance and organisational culture: The role of ethics officers’, International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 96–105 Nwachukwu, S LS & Vitell, S J 1997, ‘The influence of corporate culture on managerial ethical judgments’, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 16, no. 8, pp. 757-776. Schwartz, M S 2013, ‘Developing and sustaining an ethical corporate culture: The core elements’, Business Horizons, vol. 56, pp. 39-50. Securities and Exchange Commission, 1999, Securities and Exchange Commission versus Garth H. Drabinsky, Myron I. Gottlieb, Robert Topol, Gordon C. Eckstein, Maria M. Messina, Diane J. Winkefein, D. Grant Malcolm and Tony Fiorino, 99 CIV.0239, Litigation Release No. 16022, retrieved 15 Aug 2013, .

Kite Runner Essay

Khaheld Hosseine, in his novel The Kite Runner, suggests that the causes of the vicious cycle of lies are trying to forget the past and push the guilt away and leads to guilt, problems, and the relationship between Amir and Hassan; only when Amir tells the truth, humbles himself, and changes his hierarchy/status quo and only then can the vicious cycle of lies be broken. Amir has said many lies to Baba and some of them were about Hassan steeling his things and blaming that Hassan took them to get Hassan in trouble and by doing this it adds to Amir’s guilt and makes Hassan and Amir more separated. One of the main reasons Amir was so guilty was the scene in Kite Runner when Hassan was getting bullied and eventually raped by Assef. While this was happening Amir was watching and did not know what to do because he was so scared and â€Å"in the end I ran† (77) and for not defending Hassan Amir was a coward. If Amir would have gotten help from Baba or Ali, or just become brave and put a stop to the madness all of this would not happen. Kite Runner would have not been the book it is today without Hassan’s rape, this caused Amir to have guilt and all the other terrible things happen to him later in the book. A great surprise in the book were that Amir and Hassan were half brothers and had the same father and that Baba was keeping this secret from them all of these years and leading to Amir finding out and getting angry why Baba did not tell this to him, and Rahim Khan explained that no one but himself, Baba, Ali, and Sanaubar had known about the matter in order to preserve their honor. Hassan never found out. Amir was furious at all of them for keeping the secret. He screamed at Rahim Khan and left the apartment. Amir thinks that if he knew Hassan was his brother he would have treated him better and probably would have not died and they would not have been separated in the first place. All of these thoughts in Amirs mind were making Amir have so much guilt and by breaking theses cycles he would have to tell someone. At the end of the book the general asks why Amir brought a Hazara boy to America and Amir replys â€Å"†You will never again refer to him as ‘Hazara boy’ in my presence. He has a name and its Sohrab† (25). Amir breaks a cycle of lies by defending a Hazara in front of the general. To finish it all of Amir and Sorab are flying the kite and Amir was the kite runner. The think significant about Amir being the kite runner was that only Hazars are kite runners and Amir asks if he should run Sorabs kite for him, Amir thinks he sees a nod and then says â€Å"For you, a thousand times over† (25) and Amir put himself to that level like Hassan and finally broke the vicious cycle of lies and truths. .

It’s anti-life Essay

Now I’m not going to delve into the argument of whether an unborn fetus is life because that’s a complete and utter waste of time. But I do want to know if life is as valuable as everybody claims. Do you really think about how valuable the life of a beggar is when you meet him or her down the street? Do you value the life of a murderer when you’re facing him at gunpoint? Do you value the life of a corrupt government official when he is using his power for profit? The truth is we only value life when the absence of life is there. The rest of the time we don’t really give a crap about it. We waste life, we self-destruct, we kill, we steal and yet when we see a loved one die or when we find out we’re dying we start valuing life. Isn’t that simply hypocrisy? The truth is, the only life that’s valuable to us is our own life and the lives of those who are close to us. You people rant about how important human life is yet when exposed in our vulnerable state all you see is a facade of hypocrisy to shield your irrational beliefs. You brag about valuing the human life yet all you really care about is your own selfish life. It isn’t life that’s important to humans. What’s important is the â€Å"person† inside each and every human being. You can tell me that the reason why some people don’t care about life is because there is good and there is evil when it comes to people. If that is so then that means that life is also either good or bad. And when it comes to human nature, people almost never put any value into anything that is bad. Euthanasia is defined as the practice of ending a life prematurely in order to end pain and suffering. The process is also sometimes called Mercy Killing. Euthanasia can fall into several categories. Voluntary Euthanasia is carried out with the permission of the person whose life is taken. Involuntary euthanasia is carried out without permission, such as in the case of a criminal execution. The moral and social questions surrounding these practices are the most active fields of research in Bioethics today. Many Supreme Court cases, such as Gonzales v. Oregon and Baxter vs. Montana, also surround this issue. Voluntary euthanasia is typically performed when a person is suffering from a terminal illness and is in great pain. When the patient performs this procedure with the help of a doctor, the term assisted suicide is often used. This practice is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. It is also legal in the state of Oregon, Washington and Montana. Passive euthanasia is carried out by terminating a medication that is keeping a patient alive or not performing a life-saving procedure. Active euthanasia involves the administration of a lethal drug or otherwise actively ending the life. These two types of procedures carry different moral and social issues. Euthanasia Debate Controversy There is a lot of controversy surrounding the issue of euthanasia and whether or not it should be legal. From a legal standpoint, the Encyclopedia of American Law categorizes mercy killing as a class of criminal homicide. Judicially, not all homicide is illegal. Killing is seen as excusable when used as a criminal punishment, but inexcusable when carried out for any other reason. In most nations, euthanasia is considered criminal homicide: however, in the jurisdictions mentioned above, it is placed on the other side of the table with criminal punishment. Arguments regarding the euthanasia debate often depend on the method used to take the life of the patient. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act made it legal for residents to request a lethal injection from a doctor. This is seen in other jurisdictions as being a criminal form of homicide. However, passive euthanasia through denial of drugs or procedures is considered to be legal in almost all jurisdictions. Those who argue for euthanasia feel that there is no difference. Those who are against it disagree. Euthanasia and Religion Many arguments also hinge on religious beliefs. Many Christians believe that taking a life, for any reason, is interfering with God’s plan and is comparable to murder. The most conservative of Christians are against even passive euthanasia. Some religious people do take the other side of the argument and believe that the drugs to end suffering early are God-given and should be used. One of the main groups of people who are involved with the euthanasia debate is physicians. One survey in the United States recorded the opinions of over 10,000 medical doctors and found that sixteen percent would consider stopping a life-maintaining therapy at the recommendation of family or the patient. Fifty five percent would never do such. The study also found that 46 percent of doctors believe that physician assisted suicide should be allowed in some cases. The controversy surrounding euthanasia involves many aspects of religion, medical and social sciences. As this is one of the most studied fields of bioethics, one can rest assured that more studies will be performed to learn more about this issue and how to best address it. Firstly, I disagree with your definition of euthanasia. Euthanasia is the putting to death, by painless method, of a terminally-ill or severely debilitated person through the omission (intentionally withholding a life-saving medical procedure, also known as passive euthanasia) or commission of an act (active euthanasia), as defined by the leanlegal dictionary online. I also find your first point confusing; in what way does the legalisation of euthanasia affect the close family ties in Filipinos? I, being a Filipino, can relate, and I fail to see your point. Secondly, define what you mean by â€Å"the doctor’s ethics†? In a case to case basis, a doctor will not be performing euthanasia if he/she is against it, therefore it is a fallacy to generalise to all doctors. Lastly, euthanasia is against the constitution, that is why the topic is should it be legalised. Saying it is currently not legal is restating the topic, no relevance. Now for my arguments. Firstly, the financial costs of keeping a person on a life support machine are enormous, not to mention hospital bills and 24-hour medical care. 80% of the Filipinos live in poverty, how many people can afford this? What happens then if the family cannot afford keeping the relative on life support? Do they get arrested? Secondly, the emotional distress that is caused by seeing your loved one in a vegetative state for an extended period of time while doctors continually tell you that there is no hope for recovery is potentially traumatizing. Some people who consider this as suffering for the vegetable loved one will want euthanasia, but they haven’t the option. Legalising this will not force everyone to take this course, but rather only provide an option. Lastly, the medical facilities and time that is devoted towards the vegetative patient with low chances of recovery could be spent helping someone else in greater need. Already in the Philippines we have a shortage of medical personnel and equipment, this additional burden will only cause more damage.

Monetary Policy Framework in the UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Monetary Policy Framework in the UK - Essay Example Stable price of products and confidence are important in controlling the inflation rate of the economy. The interest rates are controlled by the obligation of the government to control the inflation target in the economy. Hence the bank controlled the inflation rate through controlling the interest rates that are charged on the commercial banks. On the other hand financial stability includes protecting against threats to the whole financial system of a country. There are threat to the economic which are detected by the bank's surveillance and market intelligence functions which are dealt with through financial and other operations in the economy. These operations can be based at home or abroad. (Millard, 2006) All the above are important factors that are regulated through the monetary policies. In the UK, the Bank of England is bestowed with the role of a central bank. There is a monetary policy committee that deals with issues concerning the regulation of monetary policy in the economy. Throughout the history of the UK, there have been changes in the monetary policies that have helped to shape the economy of the UK. This paper will look closely at the way the monetary policies have been changing in the UK and look at the interaction that has been there between monetary polices and the inflation rate. ... This has corresponded with the changing rate of inflation in the country which has been caused by many factors. In order to streamline the performance of the economy, the monetary policies have been likewise changing with time to suit the environment. The bank of England in conjunction with the parliamentary committee have been playing crucial role in the changing of monetary policies in the country. There change in monetary policies has been corresponding with the changes in the rate of inflations. The bases of inflation control have been the use of integrated strategies to control the great demand. This has been implemented in conjunction with the banking sector which has played a crucial role in offsetting the rate of inflation in the country and likewise through the monetary policies. (Benito and Wood, 2006) The most notable change in the monetary policies in the UK has been the change that took place in the 1990 due to the changing landscape of inflation. By the standards of history, the performance of the economy under the inflation rate of this time had been unique. Between the periods of 1972 to 1992, there was recorded the lowest size of business-cycle frequency fluctuation. The unemployment-inflation trade-off displayed the greater stability was the greatest ever and the rate of inflation was the highest ever. But since then there has been historically unprecedented stability in the economy. Many economists have argued that this cannot be attributed only to the monetary framework but it can also be attributed to good luck in the performance of the macro economic policies. This has also been attributed to substantial consolidation of the fiscal policy which turned a deficit of 8% in 1993

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

Euthyphro - Essay Example Because their opinions about holiness are at odds, Socrates who is portrayed by Plato as a person who is eager to engage in discourse with the people on Athens asks Euthyphro what his concept of holiness is so he might learn from how Euthyphro defines it. Says Socrates, â€Å"Tell me then, what is the pious, and what the impious, do you say?† (5e) Initially, this is how the concept of holiness emerges in the dialogue between Socrates and Euthyphro and it soon takes a prominent position in the dialogue as it becomes the main topic of their conversation as they wait to be shown into court for their respective cases. In response to Socrates’ question, Euthyphro provides him with three basic definitions by which he thinks holiness is defined. Every time Euthyphro gives Socrates a definition for the concept of holiness, Socrates gives him an argument to refute it and thus Euthyphro is forced to provide another definition. Finally, when Euthyphro gives the third definition an d Socrates refutes it, Euthyphro storms off annoyed with Socrates for disagreeing with all his attempts to define what is holy. First, he says â€Å"I say that the pious is to do what I am doing now, to prosecute the wrongdoer, be it about murder or temple robbery or anything else, whether the wrongdoer is your father or your mother or anyone else; not to prosecute is impious.† (5e) Thus holiness is defined by prosecuting those people who are blasphemous and go against religion. Second, he says â€Å"Well then, what is dear to the gods is pious, what is not is impious† (7) Thus, holiness is defined by what the gods like and mutually consent. Lastly, Euthyphro tells Socrates that â€Å"I would certainly say that the pious is what all the gods love, and the opposite, what all the gods hate, is the impious.† (9e). Therefore, piety is what lies within the bounds of actions the god’s love and those that the god’s hate, become automatically unholy. Socra tes refutes Euthyphro’s definitions at each stage by providing elaborate counter arguments of his own. To Euthyphro’s first definition that holiness is punishing people who go against religion, Socrates says that this is a definition that excludes a variety of holy things that have nothing to do with persecuting blasphemous people and thus an incomplete definition that doesn’t hold on various counts. To Euthyphro’s second definition that holy things are those that are approved by the gods, Socrates says that this definition is also flawed because the gods are often fighting and there is seldom a time they all agree on one thing, thus no deed is holy according to this definition. He says â€Å"Then according to your argument, my good Euthyphro, different gods consider different things to be just, beautiful, ugly, good, and bad† (7e) and that â€Å"The same things then are loved by the gods and hated by the gods, and would be both god-loved and god- hated†¦ And the same things would be both pious and impious, accord ­ing to this argument?† (8) Euthyphro is disgruntled but has no choice but to agree with Socrates. Lastly, Socrates refutes Euthyphro’s statement by asking him to consider an important statement â€Å"Consider this: Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?† (10) and he asks Euthyphro to run a parallel comparison between the preceding statement and the fact that â€Å"that which is being carried is being carried because someone

Digital Firm Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Digital Firm - Assignment Example core purpose of the technological platforms in the digital firm involves the integration and exchange of information within the organization’s major key players. In the global scale, changes in working location, business agility and automation of business processes have led to the reconfiguration of the working culture within an organization and hence the proliferation of digital firms. The evolving trend in information and communication technology have devalued the need of an established location such as an office and instead advocated for direct contact with employees, suppliers and customers for effective business undertakings. The electronic collaboration and online teamwork have enabled digital firms to carryout international projects, which were extremely expensive and time consuming in the traditional fixed locations. Such stances enable employees and other key players to work from their convenient locations using telecommunication channels. The use of technology has enabled the contemporary digital firms to acquire the necessary expertise to conduct their business regardless of their business size. The notion is compounded by the fact that cheap telecommunication channels are easily accessible. The traditional big organization were considered less agile as compared to the small firms but using technology the big firms are able to act small in order to reap maximum benefits. The digital firm makes use of information systems to carry out its activity, which lead to the automation of all the business processes. In order to enhance the automation of business processes, digital firms engages in the reengineering of working processes and procedures before a new technological infrastructure is introduced. In a digital firm, the required efficiency is attained through redefining, redesigning and refining workflow within the various structures of the organization. Coca-Cola firm, which is an international food processing organization that employs information

Net-a-Porter Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Net-a-Porter - Case Study Example Since its launch in the year 2000, the company Net-A-Porter have been able to successfully establish itself as a premium luxury brand selling online designer fashion clothing for women. Net-A-Porter with its innovation strategy along with highly developed offering have been able to achieve huge success and had also won award for the best shop at â€Å"British Fashion Week† and the best e-retailer in â€Å"UK Fashion Export Awards.† The online fashion retailer sells more than 150 top luxury fashionable brands and offers express delivery throughout the globe and delivery the items on the same day in Manhattan and London (Net-A-Porter, â€Å"About Us†). The paper aims to discuss the case study on Net-A-Porter and answer to some of its question in relation to the brand and its strategy. Therefore below are the answers to the questions asked for in the case study â€Å"Net-a-Porter.† What are the considerations that need to underpin decisions on the pricing str ategy? Pricing is one of the 4ps that a marketer needs to take into consideration before deciding on the strategy. It is an important aspect of marketing and also for branding strategy as it tends to be one of the first indicators of brand positioning for the consumers and also regarded as the most flexible Ps. It has been seen that prestige and luxury brands adopts the premium pricing strategy in order to emphasise the strength of the brand, high quality associated with luxury goods which also helps them to differentiate from mass fashion brands. The target audience for the luxury brand are comparatively less price sensitive and actually expects that luxury products to be highly priced rather than to be priced economically. Pricing tends to form branding process as the consumer tends to judge the position of the respective brand and its value through the adopted pricing strategy. In addition, luxury brands are those brands whose ratio of functionality towards price is low and the r atio towards situational utility and intangibility with respect to price seems to be high. This indicates that price of premium products is relatively higher as compared to the price of products having similar kind of tangible features but with high intangible quality along with associated benefits of premium products teds to justify the high price (Okonkwo 140). In addition to the above consideration while deciding on the pricing strategy, Net-A-Porter is an online luxury brand and thus online pricing premium strategy is also a consideration for the brand. The premium pricing strategy involves setting a higher price as compared to similar products. The premium pricing strategy also referred to as skimming pricing strategy as it is an attempt to â€Å"skim the cream† from the market. Based on the above definition Net-A-Porter premium pricing strategy will help it to maximise profit in areas where the customers are willing to pay more for the desired product. In the process of adopting the premium pricing strategy, price quality signaling is also an important and essential factor. With the premium pricing strategy Net-A-Porter can use to improve its brand identity in the specific given market. The higher price the brand demands signifies highest quality product and thus it will be convenient for the brand to charge high price. The next consideration is the level of competition among the brands in the same product segment. Premium pricing is a short term strategy; the longer

Article Analysis I Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article Analysis I - Essay Example Pakistan itself is a newly industrializing country (NIC) and therefore alongside India and China, a big emerging market (BEM). President Musharraf’s is no longer in power in Pakistan, but the social and economic situation in the country is more or less the same with free market incentives and continued privatization. Thus, it â€Å"offers investors a rare, dual strategic opportunity, as both a production and export platform and as a growing market itself†. From a westerner’s business perspective looking to identify new opportunities for investment, the socio-cultural, political-legal, economic and the competitive environment are all important considerations. At the same time however, it is a country beset with numerous problems too. For example, social inequalities are a big problem, its social infrastructure is not fully developed; there have always been tensions with India over Kashmir, and there are American trained militants in the border areas with Afghanistan. So, whilst Pakistan’s economic growth has tremendous potential, there are also risks and pitfalls peculiar to Pakistan. MNCs and other business people can avoid these pitfalls in many ways. The major points and issues are listed below. All of these fulfill the need for information and awareness, which is the primary purpose of a robust multinational and global market research. Strategic advantages can be gained by being quick, or if possible first, as this helps to gain market share. Telenor for example, is a Norwegian company that has quickly established itself as a major player in the telecom industry in Pakistan. A good understanding of culture â€Å"is critical to understand the wide range of cultural identities in Pakistan when developing market segmentation strategies, pricing policies, and promotional strategies†, and for targeted marketing. Central to this is knowing that the partitioning of India and Pakistan led to the latter being created as an

Schizophrenia in children Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Schizophrenia in children - Research Paper Example As the definition indicates, the major symptoms of this disorder include visual and auditory hallucinations, abnormal behavior, and strange feelings and they adversely affect the child’s ability to function normally and to maintain interpersonal relationships. To illustrate, a child who has developed schizophrenia may become shy and reticent and try to live in a world of his/her own. Nearly 50% of children with schizophrenia show severe neuropsychiatric symptoms. Although this mental disorder has no definite cause, it is often correlated to risk factors like family history. Some recent studies claim that brain changes and biochemical and environmental factors may contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Generally physical, laboratory and psychological examinations are conducted to diagnose schizophrenia in children. ... Prevention of childhood schizophrenia is less possible because many of the early signs of this disorder are very similar to the signs of other disorders. Treatments As discussed already, pediatric schizophrenia is a chronic condition and it needs lifelong treatment even though symptoms may be subsided during some periods of treatment. The treatment for childhood schizophrenia is generally led by a psychiatrist specialist. Since this disorder can affect many areas of the victim’s life, other professionals such as pediatrician, psychotherapist, family members, psychiatric nurse, and social workers are also included in the treatment team. Medications and psychotherapy are mainly employed to treat childhood schizophrenia (Loth & Pataki, 2012). Antipsychotic medications play a central role in treating this disorder although they have not been specifically approved for treating schizophrenia in children. Second generation antipsychotics or atypical antipsychotics are initially used to treat pediatric schizophrenia because they have fewer side effects. As Kuehn (2009) notes, Risperidone and Aripiprazole are the only two second generation antipsychotics that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat this mental disorder in children. Similarly, first generation antipsychotics or conventional antipsychotics are also used to control schizophrenia in children and they are equally as effective as atypical antipsychotics. However, conventional antipsychotics have more severe neurological side effects. In addition, psychotherapy treatments such as individual therapy and family therapy are employed to manage childhood

Reading and answer questions 5 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading and answer questions 5 - Assignment Example Following the submission, the court held the VII workplace act that protects employees from workplace discriminations. I agree with the case since human dignity hold at all costs. Moreover, persons of the same sex must not harass each other since such actions reduces the dignity of the harassed and they are against work ethics. Question 2 of 4: IN MEDINA RENE V. MGM GRAND, please paraphrase in your own words the following: (1) the facts of the case (2) the issue/question presented; (3) the holding/conclusion; (4) the reasoning; and (5) if you agree or not with the case, why or why not? RENE V. MGM GRAND presented the question whether the accused should be charged under the under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C.  §Ã‚ §Ã¢â‚¬â€š2000e et seq (Meiners, Ringleb, and Frances 182). The case before that court was that plaintiff’s coworkers harassed him based on his sexual orientation. The Supreme Court determined that the plaintiff was sexually harassed. This judgment was substantial in upholding the humanity at workplace and strengthening ethical conducts at workplace. Question 3 of 4: IN PROWEL V WISE, please paraphrase in your own words the following: (1) the facts of the case (2) the issue/question presented; (3) the holding/conclusion; (4) the reasoning; and (5) if you agree or not with the case, why or why not? This case was also a sexual harassment at workplace. It was a harassment was based subjected to a gay worker. The case was judged under Title VII; however, the standing attorney related it to sexual stereotyping. His workers called him princess while the church called him sinner. Despite the sexual harassments, the court dismissed Prowel’s case (Anzalone 142). This judgment was not appropriate since it was a means of encouraging stereotyping of homosexuality in the society. Schultz’s work dwells on the sexual harassment at work place and the environments that may facilitate such harassments (Gould 166).

Measuring the Enthalpy Change for the reaction Essay Example for Free

Measuring the Enthalpy Change for the reaction Essay Observation: 1) To start with, the copper sulphate solution is transparent blue colour. 2) At the fourth minute, using the glass rod to stir the solution as the Zinc powder is placed into the solution, the colour changes into dark turquoise and the solution fizzes due to the chemical change. 3) The Zinc powder then dissolves in the solution. 4) As I stir the solution, the colour changes to grey with black precipitate. 5) Then, the solution gradually changes from grey to black with black precipitate. At the twelfth minute, the black precipitate dissolves yet the solution continues to fizz showing the chemical reaction is still taking place. After collecting the data and recording my observations, I then draw a linear graph in order to work out the temperature rise which occurred at the fourth minute. I decided to draw my graph landscape as I figured out that drawing the graph landscape is the best method to draw the conclusion and working out the temperature rise as the data are more spread out so I can draw out a more accurate measurement. After working out the change in temperature from the graph, I will then use the value to calculate the heat given out (in Joules) during the experiment. The equation that I will be using is: q = mc ?T Hence, q = 4.18 x 28.1 x 50.0 = 5872.9 J Moles of aq copper sulphate used in the experiment: Volume x concentration = 50.0 x 0.500 = 0.0250 moles 1000 1000 Moles of Zinc power used in the experiment: Mass = 4.761 = 0.07283 mr 65.37 =0.0728(3s.f) In the method given, I was asked to weigh out the mass of the Zinc powder between 4.5g and 5g. This shows that the reagent Zinc is in excess as the mass of Zinc does not effect the outcome of the results. The limiting reagent for this experiment is copper sulphate solution. Hence, I will be using the moles of copper sulphate to work out the rest of the calculation in the experiment. I will then use the values that I have worked out from the previous calculation to work out that molar enthalpy change for the reaction: ?H = -q = -5872.9 = -234.9 Moles x 1000 0.0250 x 1000 = -235(3s.f) Note: This is assuming that the experiment is under standard condititions. During this experiment, I must also consider the errors into account as they could affect the overall results. The apparatus that I used for this experiment is the most likely cause of error for example, transferring the Zinc powder from the weighing boat to the polystyrene cup is an error as there would be Zinc powder leftover on the weighing boat but in this investigation, it would not be the case as Zinc powder is in excess so the error would not take into account. First of all, I will work out the maximum percentage error in using each piece of the apparatus. This is to ensure that I have include all the possible errors in the apparatus and so that I can comment on whether if the apparatus contributes in affecting the overall results. The maximum percentage error in apparatus: Error in balance = à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.001g = 0.001 X 100 4.761 = 0.02100 %( 4s.f) Error in the thermometer = à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.2 = 0.2 X 100 28.1 = 0.7117 %( 4s.f) Error in 50ml burette pipette= à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½0.05 = 0.05 X100 50.0 = 0.1% Overall maximum percentage error= 0.8327% = 0.833% (3s.f) Hence, after working out the maximum percentage error, I can use the figure to estimate the degree of uncertainty in my enthalpy change. The enthalpy change is -235 in 3s.f. I have decided to use 3s.f as an appropriate degree of accuracy so the maximum percentage error 0.8327% will be 0.833% in s.f. In my opinion, the maximum percentage error is small so therefore I dont think it will effect my enthalpy change to an extent as the smaller the number of the maximum percentage error, then the more accurate my enthalpy change will be. I also thought of including the error of the stopwatch but it wouldnt affect the maximum percentage error much so therefore I decided to exclude it from my calculation as the error is tiny and can be discarded. Conclusion The reaction between Zinc and Copper Sulphate solution is an exothermic reaction meaning that the reaction releases heat to its surrounding. Therefore, theoretically, the temperature of the solution would increase when the reaction is taking place. This is proven in my results table as when I added the Zinc powder to Copper Sulphate solution at the fourth minute, the temperature dramatically increase from 19.2à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C to 40.2à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C. The reaction is spontaneous as the temperature increase very rapidly and then gradually slowing down in the later time interval. From my graph, I have drawn the best fit line for the data that I plotted onto the graph to show a trend that the temperature gradually decrease after a set amount of time. The best fit line proves the accuracy of my results as the best fit line crosses most of the data that I plotted which shows that the data that I collected is reasonably reliable. The best fit line also helps me to identify the anomalies of my values as I can clearly distinguish the anomalies from my values by using the best fit line. However, I must also take into account of the two anomalies which I circled on the graph and these points do not respond to the trend of the values. This may be due to the possible errors that could have taken place during the experiment. For example, at the fifth minute after that Zinc powder has been added, the temperature that I collected (40.2à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½C) is an anomaly as it does not fit into the best fit line. This may be due to the fact that I havent stirred the solution properly with the glass rod so the heat may not spread through some parts of the solution so by recording the solution with the thermometer, I may receive an unreliable value so therefore I must take into account that it is important to stir the solution vigorously to ensure that the heat is spread out throughout the solution and to ensure that the precipitate has completely dissolved and no sludge remained. In order to see how well the performance of my results are, I will need to use the theoretical value of the enthalpy change and compare it with the value of my enthalpy change so that I can see how far my value is from the correct value. The theoretical values that I used are from the chemistry data book; JG Stark, H G Wallace, 1982, Chemistry data book, page 57. The values that are used for Copper aq and Zinc aq are: By using the Hess Law, I will work out the theoretical enthalpy change by using these values from the data book. = -(+64.4) + (-152.4) = -216.8 Kjmolà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ I will then compare my value with the theoretical value of the enthalpy change. To do this, i will work out the percentage difference between my experimental value and the theoretical value. This is to see how big the percentage difference between my value and the theoretical value as the smaller the percentage, the more accurate my value will be to the theoretical value. So first, I will work out the difference between my experimental value and the theoretical value. -216.8-(-234.916) = 18.116 Kjmolà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Then, I will use this value to find the percentage difference between my experimental value and the theoretical value.

Created in the Image of God Essay Example for Free

Created in the Image of God Essay The theme â€Å"Created in the Image of God† is saying that everyone is special and no human life should be wasted because God loves us all equally and has a plan for everyone. This theme also explains that everyone is created differently for a reason. The song Don’t Laugh at Me is about the people in the world that are made fun of and Mark Wills is saying that in God’s were all the same. The song Don’t Laugh at Me represents the theme â€Å"Created in the image of God† because Mark Wills is explaining that God made us all different for a reason and he loves us all equally and we shouldn’t be treated different because we have braces or because we are blind; we should all be treated the same. The theme of Narcissism is a self-centered love. Narcissism is when you love the way you look more than you love others, it is being obsessed with the way you look. The TV show Jersey Shore is a show where there are eight people living in a house and they go partying every night and they are all obsessed with the way they look. The TV show Jersey Shore represents the theme of Narcissism because the cast members of Jersey shore are all obsessed with the way they look, they go to the gym every day, they spend way too much time on their hair and on their clothes. The theme â€Å"When Love Goes Wrong† is explaining to us when we should know that your relationship is not good anymore and if we realize these things happening in our relationship, we should get out of the relationship. The song The Best Days of Your Life is about a guy cheating on his girlfriend and he got the other girl pregnant. His girlfriend is now trying to get over him. The song The Best Days of Your Life represents the theme â€Å"When Love Goes Wrong† because the couple in the song, their relationship was ruined when the boyfriend cheated on his girlfriend. The theme of inclusivity is including everyone and making them feel welcome even if you aren’t best friends with them. The picture I chose of children playing shows the three children sitting down playing and one child standing and it represents the three children letting the one child play with them. The picture of children playing represents the theme of Inclusivity because these children are letting the one child play with them even though they may not like that child, they are being nice and letting him play with them, because they are doing the catholic thing to do by letting him play with them.

Fair Value Accounting (FVA) in Barclays Bank Plc

Fair Value Accounting (FVA) in Barclays Bank Plc Before starting Research Methods, it is vitally important to understand the real meaning of Research in general. Research is a planned and methodical approach of finding answers to the questions'(R Cottrell J F McKenzie; 2010) It is an organized set of actions and steps which we will follow to achieve our objectives. There are many factors in Research Method which are always done to get the most precise results. Research is a pre-planned method, not a spontaneous approach. It is focused and limited to a particular scope. A good research is focused on appropriate, valuable, imperative questions and their answers. If there are no questions, there is no point of doing research and similarly finding answers to those questions is the most important. Whether its an answer to a hypothesis or even a simple question. A good research is ineffective unless we find the answers to the questions. A good Research is a major key to complete a successful project, report or Dissertation because if the research is not professional and well organized, then it is nearly impossible to complete a Project or Dissertation. TYPES OF RESEARCH METHODS:- Research methods can be categorised into two types. They are:- Deductive Research and Inductive Research. In research methods, conclusions are based on these two methods. Both are widely used in research projects. DEDUCTIVE METHOD:- Deduction follows an approach which is top-down or from general to specific. Aristotle a Greek philosopher described deduction as Drawing conclusions by applying rules or principles; logically moving from a general rule or principle to a specific solution(www.hubpages.com/hub/Types-of-Research Dated:03-05-2010) It is the procedure of getting a conclusion that is certain to pursue, if the data given is factual and the analysis used to achieve the conclusion is right. In deductive method, the grounds (facts) give an assurance of 100% accurate conclusion. EXAMPLE OF DEDUCTIVE METHOD:- There are 15 packs of cigarettes on the top-shelf of the cigarette case, There are 7 packs of cigarettes on the lower-shelf of the cigarette case. There are no cigarettes anywhere on the middle-shelf cigarette case From the above, it can be concluded that there are 22 packs of cigarettes in the cigarette case. INDUCTIVE METHOD: Induction method is from precise to general. In induction, we scrutinize some events, deduct a pattern and draw conclusion. This method involves moving from an exact condition to a common conclusion. This method is undefined and investigative. It does not give 100% assurance of reality but a chance of being accurate. EXAMPLE OF INDUCTION METHOD:- This coffee is hot. (Specific, based on a direct observation.) All coffees are hot. (General, can be applied to any ice) OBJECTIVES OF RESEARCH METHODS: The key objectives of this research are:- To Critically Analyze the Role of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) in Barclays Bank Plc. Norbury Branch, London and what are its effects on Barclays Bank Plc. before, during and after Credit Crunch? To Investigate whether the systematic risk is associated with the financial crises of Barclays Bank Plc. or not? To Highlight the impact of market to market reporting in contributing financial difficulties for Barclays Bank Plc. To Find out the contagion of Barclays Bank Plc with Recommendations Conclusion. KEY LITERATURE REVIEW:- An efficient banking system is an indicator of sustainable economy (Imola; 2006). Banks perform fundamental roles not only in financial system of a country but also globally due to their nature of business performance and corresponding assets policy. Banks play the role of financial intermediaries in an economy (Imola; 2006) FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING: DEFINITION: Financial Accounting Standards define Fair Value Accounting as: The price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (Whittgton; 2008) ROLE OF FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING AND ITS BACKGROUND: In accounting, fair value is used as an estimate of the market value of an asset or liability for which a market price cannot be determined. The measurement of assets and liabilities takes place at three levels. At the first level, the fair value of an asset or liability is calculated at quoted prices if the market is active for that asset and liability. At second level, the cost of similar assets and liabilities are taken for evaluation and at last level, the market for these assets and liabilities are not available, the standard supports to use market to model approach for valuation of assets and liabilities (MacNamara; 2009). Evaluation of assets and liabilities at Level three is considered to be more problematic. This increases the manipulation risk because of non availability of market prices. (Penman; 2009) argue that for most of the loans, the quoted prices are not available in the markets. Even if the prices for these loans are available, they do not reflect the private information of these loans for banks. Therefore, to determine the fair value of these loans, different valuation models are used (Penman; 2007). Financial Accounting Standards (FAS) allows financial institutions to report their assets at level three but the opponents of (FAS) argue that it has forced banks to value troubled securities at lower prices (MacNamara; 2009). Wall Street Journal claims that the reporting of assets and liabilities on Fair Value Accounting (FVA) causes financial institutions and banks to write down their mortgage backed securities (Gold, 2008). However, most of accountants, regulators and investors defend this by arguing that it provides more accurate and transparent reflection of a company‘s position (MacNamara; 2009). Kurt N. Schacht managing director of CFA (Institute of Chartered Financial Accountants) argues that fair value measurement is only relevant information under the prevailing circumstances (Gold; 2008). ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING (FVA):- Many Banks around the world have started revising their estimates of credit losses. Several parties blame FVA for the sub prime crisis (G.Ryan; 2008). The controversy has been observed during the discussion paper on Statements of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS 2006) that the interpretations made by Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) about fair value ignored the transaction costs and entity‘s specific assumptions (Whittington; 2008). However, the advocators of FVA argue that FVA is not responsible for crisis. It is just a reporting and measurement system of assets and liabilities (Christian Laux; 2009). Wallace (2009) suggests that the fair value accounting is not the main cause of current financial crisis. He names it as a messenger of current crisis and advocates that FVA has helped us to recognize the problem earlier otherwise the situation would be much worse as compare to its current position (Wallace; 2009). Moreover, the advocators argue that the accounting rules contradict with framework of institutions. They point out that sometime managers make deviations from market prices due to their own interests (Christian Laux; 2009). Singleton (2006) argues that historical cost accounting is out of date and there is a strong possibility that management manipulate it. In modern era, the current values based reporting (e.g. market based) are more relevant and reliable. Henceforth, the supporters suggest that it is difficult to say that FVA is responsible for the current crisis (Singeton; 2006). The supporters further assert that under FVA, assets and liabilities are recorded at the price, at which these assets and liabilities can be sold (Gold; 2008). Thus, FVA represents the current market condition and provides accurate financial information of an entity. (Stephen; 2006). In support of FVA, Stephen Penman (2006) mentions the following points. Firstly, inventors are more interested in value not in cost. Secondly, in prevailing situations the historical prices are not relevant to provide up to date financial position of a business. Thirdly, the fair value is based on reality of assets and liabilities actual financial position. Further, it reflects the true economic substance. Finally, as markets are efficient, they are not influenced by a single firm or business. Therefore, the information based on market prices is more relevant (Stephen; 2006). Finnegan (2009) concludes that FVA is suitable to apply in both periods e.g. when market prices are available as well as when markets are inactive and market prices are not available (I.Victor; 2009). However, the opponent asserts that FVA is irrelevant and misleading especially for those assets and liabilities which are held for long term (held to maturity).They further argue: firstly, as efficient market hypothesis theory does not always true in real life. It fails in some situations. Therefore, in the situation of inefficient market FVA provides wrong information to investors and creates liquidity problems. Secondly, FVA measurement model are not reliable and finally, FVA contributes pro cyclicality in the financial system (Mary E. Barth; 1995). In spite of all criticism, The FASB IASB believe that fair value measurement of financial assets is more relevant in producing useful financial position of firm as compare to historical cost based measurements. They argue that fair value shows the current cash equivalent of the business‘s financial instruments rather than the price of acquisition of financial instruments (Benston; 2008). Further, supporting FVA, the former chairman of SEC Mr. Breeden, suggests that all financial institutions like banks as well as publicly held companies should report their financial position on market based because market based information are most relevant to financial attributes (Mary E. Barth; 1995). Allen and Carletti (2008) assert that banks may become insolvent with the effect of market to market prices. The valuation based on market prices creates instability in market prices that affect the value of banking assets and this leads to ruin banking portfolio and contagion (Mahan, 2009). However, the advocators of FVA assert that it has provided early warning of current crisis and asked banks to take corrective actions (Wallance; 2009). Mahan (2009) points out that the fair value is not a single reason of the current crisis the other factors, for example, inadequate risk management, poor lending requirements, the assessment of rating agencies and insufficient capital requirements are also contributors of these crisis. Mahan (2009) claims that the banking regulation, especially the capital requirement is also one of major reason in failure of banks. However, the logic behind the capital requirement of regulators and central bank is the same as the secured loans issue by banks to creditors to protect market from financial distress and keep insurance of market discipline. Recently, the London based International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) declared that they are going to change the market to market rule and will follows the United States Standard. Recently, the US companies are reporting their assets under level three categories (Morgan; 2009). BARCLAYs BANK PLC. CONCERN ABOUT FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING (FVA) DURING FINANCIAL CRISIS:- Barclays explain the following reasons for rejection of FVA during financial crises. Firstly, they argue the FVA is irrelevant for investors. It does not communicate the rationality (Christian Laux; 2009). Critics of FVA have accused it of pouring fuel on the fire rather than simply measuring the flame (Morley; 2008). Secondly, it is not suitable for banking industry and finally, they said fair value is inappropriate for those assets which are held for long term (i.e. held to maturity) and the assets which have no active market (i.e. for illiquid assets). In the mid of 2008, when the crisis reached at its maximum point, the bank started blaming FVA and their main focus of criticism was the valuation of liquid assets. Barclays argue that FVA has played an effective role in creating these crises. On the other side of the coin, (Ball; 2000) (Leuz; 2003) suggested that investors, and other interested groups e.g. Accountants and customers have opposite opinion. These interested groups are against the suspension of FVA standards. For example, during November 2008, the joint letter to SEC the Consumer Federation of America, Centre for Audit Quality, Council of Institutional Investors, Investment Management Association, and CFA Institute assert that investors are more confident on the standards (i.e. FVA) which are more transparent and report current and relevant information for valuation of financial instruments regardless of the direction of markets (Christian Laux; 2009). Nicolas (2008) argues that the illiquidity criticism spots light at the market conditions for many financial instruments. These instruments were imbalanced from August 2007 and were not reporting the true prices in markets on the basis of demand and supply principle. Most of prices did not reflect the potential to generate the future cash flows associated with an assets or investment. Nicolas (2008) further argues that fair value compelled Barclays Bank Plc. to record assets and liabilities on the value which is unjustified by economic conditions. Resultantly, Barclays Bank Plc. was forced to raise new capital under depressed valuation conditions to meet the legal solvency requirements which resulted in reduction in the equity value of existing shareholders. The pro-cyclicality criticism of fair value is based on the idea that when there is boost in market prices it apparently strengths the balance sheet of Barclays Bank. However, in the time of reduction in market prices, it damages the economic position of the bank more severely (Amola; 2006). Futher, Nicolas ( 2008) argues that as the studies support that markets do not work efficiently during the time of crisis when every participant is in the condition of uncertainty and market information are disordered. Therefore, the accounting standards which rely on market‘s information, damages the decision of it‘s users. Additionally, he argues that criticism of pro-cyclicality of FVA is not only when markets are inactive for securities but also in the normal conditions of economy (Nicolas; 2008). Regardless of criticism of FVA, Wallace (2009) suggests that elimination of fair value standards is not solution to the problem. The government should focus on stabilizing the financial markets, rebuilding investors confidence by promoting liquidity conditions in markets and improving regulations (Wallace; 2009). Barclays Bank can overcome the shortcomings of historical cost accounting. Reporting at FVA standards, the bank can record their financial instruments including loans at fair value (market based price). Buckland (2005) also argues that for the purpose of monitoring and supervision, the supporters of FVA consider it more reliable source of information. EMPIRICAL LITERATURE REVIEW RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:- During existing literature review, I observed that mostly, the underlying subject has been discussed working papers, reports, conferences and general argumentations. The following literatures give the guidelines to understand the issues related to financial crisis, systemic risk and FVA standards. I went through the following literature to understand my topic of research. Magnan (2009) provides general overview of FVA on financial statements. He briefly explains the origins of FVA, its applications and role in the financial crisis. He believes that FVA has contributed in acceleration of financial crisis especially in banks and financial institutions (Magnon; 2009). Magnan (2009) explains, how fair value has contributed and created financial crisis? He describes that at the start of 2007, some of the financial institution‘s (including Barclays Plc.) assets and liabilities drop in value and this drop in value forced these institutions to report assets and liabilities lower at their balance sheets. This reporting at lower value negatively affected their capital adequacy ratios (Magnan; 2009) Morley (2008) discusses the role of accounting standard setters and their comments about the FVA. Further, spotting light at the problems of FVA they argue that the sharp fall in market values of many financial instruments adversely affect the market price of these instruments. Additionally, they point out the challenges IASB is facing after the recent financial crisis. They state that the political threat to IASB‘s independence and credibility is continuously growing. Moreover, the headlines such as, Bank‘s accounting gets murkier (Wall Street Journal, November, 11, 2008). The third quarter reports of banks provide evidence that bank‘s accounting system get murkier e.g. The Royal Bank of Scotland is said to have avoided booking à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¤1.4 billion of losses as a result of the rule change, and Deutsche Bank, Lloyds TSB and HSBC collectively are said to have avoided booking losses of â‚ ¬1.5 billion (Morley; 2008). SYSTEMATIC RISK-DEFINITION:- The banking regulations were introduced in the system to avoid systemic risk in the sector (Allen; 1995). The regulators of prudential law are fully aware of the danger that systemic risk can produce in the banking sector. Systemic risk is the risk that can breakdown an entire system (Acharya; 2002). Kaufman (2003) founded that there is high correlation between systemic risk and failure of banking system in a country, a number of countries or throughout the world. Sohnke. M (2005) defines systemic risk as The risk of a failure of the global banking system resulting from a failure of the global inter-bank payment system (Sohnke M; 2005). SYSTEMATIC RISK BANKING SYSTEM:- In the case of the banking industry, all banks are connecting to each other due to inter-banking transactions (Sohnke M; 2005). They have common deposits, loans, payment systems and other different indirect services to other financial institutions. Inter-banking system works within a country as well as across countries. Therefore, the adverse shock that effects on a bank in a system damages the entire system. Thus, the insolvency of one bank transforms the insolvencies of other banks in the system. The theory and evidence advocate that the danger of contagious systemic risk in the banking industry is faster and stronger as compare to any other industry (Kaufman Scott, 2003). Additionally, Kaufman (2003) suggests that the initial failure of a bank starts knock on reaction in the system. However, at the start of this shock, the other banks do not expect its transmission to them. Kaufman (2003) explains that if a bank has smaller capital to assets ratio, this means that the bank is highly leveraged. Therefore, this set of banks transfer their insolvency to other banks in a system (Khan; 2009). Moreover, Kaufman (2003) suggests that in banks, the downward trend in the credit market affects the quality of private and public information. This information also increases the uncertainty in the credit market and badly affects these market conditions. In such situations of uncertainty no participant wants to take risks. Therefore, investors quickly transfer their funds to a safer place (Kaufman Scott; 2003). Cifuentes, Ferrucci, and Shin (2005) argue that when assets and liabilities are reported on market to market basis and there are also external solvency requirements (e.g. prudential regulation), these situations lead to increase of risk in the financial system. They further argue that when the prices of assets are falling, these assets disrupt the solvency ratio of firms. Prudential regulations in banking system demand banks to maintain capital reserves for their solvency in estimation of risk associated with institutions (Khan; 2009). Plantin (2008) has observed that banks sell their assets when prices of assets were falling and purchased assets when prices were rising. Such acts of banks increased the volatility in market prices which increased the probability of rise in the systemic risk in banking sector. MARKET TO MARKET REPORTING FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING:- Plannutin (2008) suggest that when markets are inactive, FVA becomes more inefficient as compare to historical based accounting (Plannutin G; 2008). As market to market accounting increases the probability of pro-cyclical trades that creates the illiquidity situation in markets. The logic behind is that when the market is illiquid for particular assets as compare to other assets which have active market, the sale of assets adversely affects the price of assets and firm for whom there is no seller or buyer ( Khan; 2008). Therefore, it can be argued that under the FVA reporting (which is based on market to market), prices of assets and liabilities further decline prices of assets and liabilities for which no markets exist. Further, in such situations of uncertainty, the management of these firms sell these assets at lower prices. In reaction to this, pro-cyclical trades starts which increase the overall risk especially in the banking sector. Therefore, we can understand that during the recent financial crisis, how the FVA is associated with the systemic risk of banking system? As the market for banking assets became illiquid during the financial crisis and sale of assets of other firms increased pressure on bank‘s management to sell their asset at lower prices (Pollock A 2008). JUSTIFICATION:- Why I have chosen the role fair value accounting in Barclays Bank Plc.? Being a student of MBA Banking and finance, this topic will give me a unique opportunity to cover both fields of my MBA in one research i.e Banking as well as Finance. Fair value accounting will help me to learn about the finance and financial crises while FVAs role in Barclays Bank Plc. will give me a chance to understand more about UK Banking system. This topic will also provide me empirical evidence about the role of fair value accounting in Barclays Bank Plc. I have a strong desire to built my career in Banking or Finance sector in future as those two fields are of my interest so definitely, this topic will be help me to achieve my future goals. It is also pertinent to mention here that three of my close friends working in Barclays Bank Plc. (two of them working in the same branch i.e.Norbury, london) which will give me an easy access to the data to complete my research methods/dissertation without any hurdles. HYPOTHESIS:- To make an assumption or prediction about any research is not an easy thing to do but on the basis of literature review, I can predict that the role of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) in Barclays Bank Plc. has a positive effect on UK Banking industry as (Nicolas; 2008) argues that Fair Value Accounting compelled Banks to record assets and liabilities on the value which is unjustified by economic conditions and it has played an important role in Barclays Bank Plc. success during credit crunch. I can also predict that the systematic risk is not associated with the financial crisis of Barclays Bank Plc. and by highlighting the impact of market to market reporting in financial difficulties for Barclays Bank Plc, It is assumed that its contribution for the banking industry was vital during financial crisis. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:- Research methodology consists of two types of research. They are:- Primary Research. Secondary Research. PRIMARY RESEARCH:- Primary Research is research which is used to gather statistics for a precise task. Types of primary data collection methods include:- Personal Observation:  The observation of the respondent by a skilled observer or by electronic tools e.g camera, video. The aim is to observe customer response and activities to a product or consumer service. Personal Interviews:  Face to face interview between an interviewer and the respondent. ADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL INTERVIEWS:- In detail answers achievable. Qualitative statistics can be obtained from small sample. Observation improves precision. Understanding leads to less refusals. DISADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL INTERVIEWS:- Costs qualified Interviewer expensive. Interviewer bias. Difficult to get an appointment if the interviewer is a busy person. Invasion of privacy. FINDINGS ANALYSIS-PRIMARY RESEARCH:- SCOPE OF QUALITATIVE METHOD:- To collect the primary data for my qualitative analysis, Ill develop questionnaires to identify answers of the research questions in the dissertation. Ill follow (B Healey; 2005) approach who developed close ended questionnaires with check boxes to answer these questions. Gannon (2001) asserts that amongst all the other research techniques, the questionnaires have been given high priority due to negligible cost and scope for easy evaluation they offer. Close ended questionnaires are one of the most common used tools for getting opinions ( L H Wang; 2006). Further, it is an adequate way to get the opinion of experts from the relevant field of research that has good representation of practical experiences and expert knowledge. Underneath this logic, most of companies, Banks and government agencies use this method to collect information. LIMITATIONS OF QUALITATIVE METHOD: Gannon (2001) critics that the information gathered as the results of questionnaires are limited because mostly questions ask in questionnaire allow only positive or negative response. Additionally, it is pragmatic that sometime the respondents refuse to answer certain questions or giving their answers in hazel and even sometime do not read the questions (Sproull; 2001). Chambers and Pretty claim that in spite of problem with answering the questionnaires, it was considered that it is time consuming, expensive and not suitable for reaching at conclusion ( Marslan; 2001) . SECONDARY RESEARCH:- Secondary research is the most general research method engaged in the every field today. It involves dealing out facts figures that has already been collected by a different party. With this research, researchers will check with previous studies and findings such as reports, press articles and earlier market research projects in order to come to a conclusion. This has comparatively low cost in comparison to  primary research. TYPES OF SECONDARY RESEARCH:- There are different types of resources offered for secondary research. The most well-known are: Published statistics: survey, housing and social security statistics Published texts: abstract work, secondary analysis by  experts  and reports Media: documentaries as a source of information Personal documents: diaries ADVANTAGES:- Economical and reachable especially at University/College Library. Often the only source, for example historical documents Books. Only way to look at major trends. DISADVANTAGES:- Lack of stability of perception. Biases and inaccuracy can not be checked Available data often increase more questions than they answer. The worry over whether  any  statistics can be completely detached from the perspective of its gathering or not. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS-SECONDARY RESEARCH:- SCOPE OF QUANTITATIVE METHOD:- Prior to 2004, UK firms and Barclays Bank Plc. were preparing their financial statements according to UK GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). 2005 was the first year when International Accounting Standard Board (IASB) and UK Accounting Standard Board asked UK firms Banks including Barclays Bank Plc. to prepare and report their financial statements at IFRS. (Ormrod; 2007). Additionally, Gannon and Ashwal claim that more than hundred countries worldwide use International Accounting Standards on either a compulsory or on a permitted basis and more countries are expected to follow in the near future.(Ormrod; 2007). Ill consider year 2005 when Barclays Bank Plc. adopted IFRS as start of FVA regime. Henceforth, year 2005 to date, Ill take as my sample period for quantitative testing. Ill use secondary data sources to gather information for quantitative analysis eg Barclays website, Journals, Books. Ill collect the details of assets and liabilities which are reported at fair value of different banks from the web sites of these banks and then Ill compare them with Barclays Bank Plc. This study will provide me evidence that the difference between reporting assets and liabilities at fair value and book value on investment securities explains the share prices of insurance companies and banks as (Penman; 2007) described. LIMITATIONS OF QUANTITATIVE METHOD:- Mirosevich (2008) argues that most of quantitative methods are based on classical tests which produce correct results only when underlying assumptions are fulfilled. These tests produce incorrect P-values, effect sizes and confidence intervals when they violate the key assumptions to calculate P- values. Therefore, the evaluations of these results mislead the research objectivity (Mirosevich; 2008). The researchers observed that the assumptions made under quantitative methods to test hypotheses are mostly not correct in real life. Many factors are to be considered constant or assumed not affecting the dependent variables. Therefore, the results obtain from such tests are sometimes misleading the research goals (Mirosevich; 2008). RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION:- The debate of costs and benefits of fair value will go on and the analyses conducted in this study are considered to be a new addition to literature which addresses important and complex issues of FVA in current debate of accounting usefulness. These issues require further investigative studies. The financial crisis has made clear that the financial statements organizers need additional guidance to calculate fair values in illiquid markets. Users of these financial reports need better disclosures of financial information especially at the critical level 3 inputs. The users of financial information are interested to analyse the sensitivity of fair value measurements and its influence on the Barclays Bank Plc. Accounting standard-setters need to consider the demands of interested parties and issue guidance and disclosures accordingly. Preparers need to provide these disclosures in an informative fashion, and users must analyze them carefully and dispassionately. Additionally, accounting researchers and teachers can contribute to all of these processes. Indeed, for all of us who care about accounting and its role in the economy, there is much work need to be done (G.Ryan; 2008). Further, I believe that more time and research is required to determine reality that whether FVA has played its role in failure of Barclays Bank Plc. or not? To understand the role of FVA seems vital for future developments and implementations of accounting standards in Barclays Bank Plc. Additionally, future studies of FVA will give new shape and directions to financial reporting framework. I hope that over next few years, most likely the conduct of lot of empirical studies will give us a distinct answer to the question about the role of FVA in Barclays Bank Plc. during financial crisis. The debate of FVA mainly revolves around the issues cost and benefit of reporting assets and liabilities at fair value and its role during financial crisis. The researchers such as Penman (2007) Simatupang

What To Do About Immigration Essay -- United States Immigration Essays

What To Do About Immigration The concern about the impact that immigration imposes on American society is not a new one. Since the discovery of the New World immigrants from all over the world moved to American continent in search of a better life, that this vast and rich in sources, yet scarce in population land had promised them. Soon the immigrants outnumbered the native population. They came from England, Europe and Asia. In addition, millions of Africans were imported as slaves. By 1700 the United States became a country of immigrants and more were still to come. At that time America welcomed everybody who ventured to settle in the new country. At the end of the last century, however, not all immigrants were gladly received. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 shut the door for Chinese immigrants. It was followed by Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924 which restricted immigration from southern and eastern Europe. Finally, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 restricted the number of immigrants from every nation. Today, as the United States experience "the fourth wave" of immigration, the debate about what to do about it heats up. According to Linda Chavez, "In 1993 [?],over 800,000 legal immigrants were admitted to the United States and an estimated 300,000 illegal aliens settled here, more or less permanently. Over the last decade, as many as ten million legal and illegal immigrants established permanent residence?" (327). However, as Kenney David remarks the numbers by themselves, may not be so disturbing, for the foreign-born people represent only 8.7 percent of entire population of the United States (311). What bothers many Americans is the fact that the majority of immigrants comes from Latin America, predominately Mexico. The main objective of so-called "nativists", to whom one can refer Nicolaus Mills, is that the growing ratio of Hispanics leads to disintegration of the American nation as a union. In his article called "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears" he explores the issue of immigration and the problems it causes. Mills sees immigration as a threat to American nation as an ethnic group. He expresses his concern that high birth rates and liberal immigration laws allowing to bring relatives result in a high percentage of Mexican population in some areas. In his article Mills agrees with Peter Brimelow saying that "... ...motherland and I want it to prosper. To my opinion, the best the American society can do regarding immigration is like Kennedy concentrate on positive aspects of immigration, as Mills be aware of the problems, and work out the solutions like Chavez does. And regarding the ethnic and cultural imbalance that some Americans fear the problem seems to be somewhat exaggerated. Many Americans enjoy Mexican cuisine, like to dance salsa, and build the houses in Spanish stile, why not to accept people themselves? Works cited Chavez, Linda. "What to Do about Immigration." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 327-337. Kennedy, David. "Can We Still Afford to Be a Nation of Immigrants?" The Aims of Argument.A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E.Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 304-325. Mills, Nicolaus. "Lifeboat Ethics and Immigration Fears." The Aims of Argument. A Rhetoric and Reader. 2nd ed. Ed. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channel: Mayfield Publishing, Mountain View, California, 1998: 339-347.