Factors That Affect the UK Pension Crisis

Factors That Affect the UK Pension Crisis Investigating the factors that affect the UK pension crisis Introduction This review examines the background literature regarding the causes of the UK pension crisis[1], and the various measures taken to combat the crisis. In order to understand the nature of the problem, it is first necessary to consider a bit of background on the UK pension system, and UK demographics. There is some debate over which types of pensions – pay as you go (PAYG) or funded schemes – are best. Barr (2006, 2) explains that ‘[i]n a PAYG scheme pensions are paid out of current income. In a fully funded scheme, pensions are paid from a fund built over a period of years from members’ contributions. Virtually all state pension schemes are mainly PAYG; private schemes are generally funded (though not necessarily adequately).’ The UK state system ‘is a complex mix of several components, paid for on a pay-as-you-go basis though a mixture of national insurance contributions and general taxation’ (Hills, 2006, 116). Non-state, voluntary schemes include occupational pensions which may be either defined contribution (DC) or defined benefit (DB) schemes, and private pensions which are usually DC. In recent years the majority of occupational DB schemes in the UK have closed. The demographics of the population have changed significantly over recent years. Barr (2006, 4) argues that ‘[a]verage age at death in the UK (and similarly in other countries) has been rising steadily at least since 1860 Clearly, as more and more people live to pensionable age and, having achieved that, live longer and longer beyond that, the costs of pensions rise and, as a proposition in pure logic, rise disproportionately.’ However, the UK also faces some country-specific pension issues, and these will be the focus of this dissertation. At the root of the problem with PAYG schemes is the ageing population, but there are other factors which affect the supply and demand of funded schemes, and against which policy may be more easily directed. Three of these are drawn out in this dissertation. As such, and for clarity, this literature review is structured around the three themes: public knowledge and understanding of pensions in the UK; the level of private savings in the UK; and the recent decline of DB schemes in the UK. However, it should be noted that these three factors are interrelated, as will be demonstrated in the analysis that follows. Public pension knowledge Pensions are always subject to a problem of imperfect information – when one considers how and how much to save for retirement, the decision is made on an estimate (not a certainty) of life expectancy. However, there are further problems in terms of knowledge and understanding of pensions, particularly in the UK. ‘On the microeconomic side, the advantages of consumer sovereignty are predicated on well-informed consumers, a very strong assumption in the case of pensions. Individuals are imperfectly informed, first, because of uncertainty about the future—individuals are not well-informed because nobody is well-informed. Second, they are imperfectly informed in the face of risk (Barr Diamond, 2006, 20). This second problem is particularly acute in the case of the UK. As the DWP (2006, 12) outlines, ‘[a] long-standing feature of the UK pensions system has been its complexity, which can confuse both employers and individuals trying to make the best financial decisions for the long term.’ Hills (2006, 123) confirms this point, and elaborates on it: ‘The UK pension system is—perhaps understandably—poorly understood, and that understanding has if anything declined in recent years: in 2000, only 53 per cent of the population reported at least a ‘reasonable, basic’ knowledge of pensions, but by 2005 this has fallen to 47 per cent. At the same time, levels of trust in pension providers and financial products are low. Even if people do realize that their pension will be inadequate, this combination makes it very hard for them to make a plan to do something about it.’ In addition to high levels of confusion about the pension system in the U K, there is relatively high freedom for the individual to decide how and how much to save for retirement. Banks et al (2002, 16) explain that ‘[t]he UK pension system allows individuals a great deal of choice over how much they save for their retirement and in which form they save.’ The DWP (2006, 6) claims that it is ‘helping people to make better informed choices about their retirement, introducing a range of pension forecasts to give individuals an understanding of the income they are likely to receive in retirement. Since their introduction, the Government has issued just over 20 million of these forecasts and we are developing web-based retirement planning services.’ These measures may not, however, be sufficient to guide individuals through what remains a complicated system. Considering the government also seeks to place the responsibility for pension decisions firmly with the individual[2], it is likely that more needs to be done to increase public knowledge and understanding of saving for retirement. Blake (2000, 233), for example, does not view such measures as sufficient. ‘The fact that membership of pension schemes at the second pillar remains voluntary is highly worrying for reasons of myopia and moral hazard. Compulsory contributi ons are seen as one way of dealing with individual myopia and the problem of moral hazard. Myopia arises because individuals do not recognise the need to make adequate provision for retirement when they are young, but regret this when they are old, by which time it is too late to do anything about it. Moral hazard arises when individuals deliberately avoid saving for retirement when they are young because they know the state will feel obliged not to let them live in dire poverty in retirement.’ In the next section, the problem of the lack of private savings will be considered in more detail. Lack of private savings Relative to many other countries, there is a lack of private saving in the UK. As the DWP (2006, 11) explains, ‘[r]etirement undersaving has arisen for a variety of reasons: because individuals have not trusted private pensions, because suitable savings vehicles have not been available to them, and because, in the face of a historically complex pensions system, financial short-sightedness and inertia have left inaction as the default option.’ This demonstrates the interrelationship between public knowledge of pensions and retirement income and levels of saving (eithrer through pensions or otherwise). This point is reiterated by Davis (2004, 22) who claims that ‘[s]urveys suggest there is a major underestimation of saving needs for retirement – and most individuals focus on pensions only 10 years ahead of retirement†¦ The saving problem may partly be linked to poor information.’ Clearly a lack of easily accessible and comprehensible information ha s contributed to the low levels of private savings in the UK. However, there are also other reasons. In addition to understanding how the system works, it is necessary that individuals are presented with the right incentives to encourage private saving. Davis (2004, 4)explains that ‘essential background for evaluating private pensions is provided by the structure of social security pensions. As in all countries, the scope for developing funded private pensions in the UK is conditional on the nature of compulsory, pay-as-you-go social security pension provisions. Broadly speaking, the development of social security in the UK has been favourable to private schemes, particularly as a consequence of the rather limited scope of social security on offer and the ability of employees to opt out of earnings-related social security pensions.’ However, in practice, low levels of private saving suggest that such incentives have not been sufficient. In addition, there are various disincentives to save for retirement and, indeed, there are disincentives for financial advisors to provide advice on retirement savings to those with low incomes. This is due to the risk that by the time they retire, their savings will disqualify them from certain means tested benefits to which they would otherwise have been entitled. Davis (2004, 10) argues that in the UK ‘[a] systemic incentive problem is that income support has a non-pension income test, such that benefits are withdrawn when incomes accrue, which discourages saving by low-income workers, and may also discourage membership of pension schemes.’ In a similar vein, the Economist (2005) argues that ‘[m]uch of the blame lies with the pension credit, one of Labours pet policies, which is damaging the incentive to save. By 2025, almost two-thirds of pensioners will be eligible for this means-tested payment, which tops up the meagre basic state pension. Since it is withdrawn at a rate of 40%, they will thus in effect be liable to the top rate of income tax on their savings income.’ In order to combat the low levels of saving in the UK, the government has developed various initiatives to promote and encourage saving. According to the DWP (2006, 15), they are going to ‘[i]ntroduce low-cost personal accounts to give those without access to occupational pension schemes the opportunity to save. People will be automatically enrolled into either their employer’s scheme or a new personal account, with the freedom to opt out. Employers will make minimum matching contributions.’ By creating a scheme into which people are automatically enrolled unless they opt out, this is likely to impact on private savings since, as Hills (2006, 123) explains, ‘[s]avings behaviour does not follow the optimizing pattern predicted by some economic models. Instead people procrastinate about difficult financial decisions and display considerable inertia. Interestingly, it appears that membership of otherwise identical pension schemes in terms of incentives such as employer contributions is much higher when people are automatically enrolled into them, with the right to opt out, than when they have to make a conscious decision to opt in.’ The closure of defined benefit schemes Traditionally, the UK has had a high level of private pensions as the state pension was meager and most employers offered DB occupational pensions. In recent years, however, most DB schemes (at least for private sector employees) have been closed to new entrants. This can be seen as a result of two key factors: increasing longevity and, more recently, the poor performance of the stock market. According to the DWP (2006, 10), ‘[s]ince the 1970s, employers have been retreating from occupational pensions as rapid increases in life expectancy and then the end of the high equity market in the late 1990s pushed costs higher than had been anticipated when occupational pension schemes were designed. This trend has continued, with 2 million fewer members of open private sector occupational pension schemes in 2004 than in 2000.’ The relatively poor performance of the equity market has certainly had a major impact on the nature of occupational pensions since funded pension schemes in the UK have traditional relied very heavily on investment in the stock market. The Economist (2002), for example, claims that ‘Britains pension funds have punted heavily on equities for many years. That strategy has paid off handsomely, but it does expose them to greater risk in the short term than more cautious strategies which put more money into less volatile bonds. The bear stockmarket of the past two years has hit pension funds hard and brought home to companies the investment risk that they are shouldering. At the same time they have become more aware of the risk of rising life expectancy at older ages, which increases the cost of a defined-benefit promise.’ These two issues combined have led to the closure of many schemes, and by the end of 2002, many schemes were running with large deficits (Davis, 2004, 12). The closure of so many DB schemes is deemed to be a contributing factor to the pensions crisis for two main reasons. The first is that the alternative – usually an occupational DC schemes – is considered more risky for individuals. The second is that there is generally a lower take up of DC pensions as compared with DB schemes. Thus, in effect, the switch to DC schemes is discouraging saving. Each of these two reasons will now be examined in turn. As Barr (2006, 2) explains, ‘[i]n a DB scheme, often run at the firm or industry level, the pension a person receives depends on his or her wage history and on length of service. One feature of this arrangement is that the risk of differential pension portfolio performance falls on the employer, and hence is shared more broadly than with DC arrangements. Second, the pension a worker gets is not fully actuarially related to his or her previous contributions.’ However, it can be deomnstrated that DC schemes actually tend to be more beneficial for employees who change employers several times over the course of their career (since such employees are effectively punished for each switch of employer in the DB system). Since most individuals these days do change employer at least a few times, this provides a strong argument for the case that a DC pension can be at least as good as a DB pension. Turning to the second reason, there is indeed evidence to suggest that individuals take up DC pensions at a lower rate than DB pensions. According to the Economist (2005), ‘[w]hen companies close their DB schemes, they typically offer a defined-contribution plan, in which employees build up their own pot of pension money. However, contribution rates into these DC plans tend to be much lower. According to the GAD [Government Actuary’s Department] survey, the total contribution rate from employers and employees into DC schemes is 8.9% of earnings compared with 18.8% into the private DB schemes.â⠂¬â„¢ This problem again relates back to the problem of lack of public knowledge and understanding of pensions. If DC pensions can be shown to be at least as good as DB pensions for the majority of employees, and yet the take up rate is lower, there must be a problem of information or incentives. In order to combat the so-called ‘problem’ of the closure of DB schemes, therefore, it may be more important to improve information about, and incentives to take out, DC pensions, rather than to try to resurrect the system of DB pensions. In the words of the Economist (2002), ‘[t]he way forward is not to lament the demise of final-salary schemes but to make DC plans work.’ Conclusion At the heart of the UK pensions crisis are two issues which work together to cause a crisis. With an ageing population, the dependency ratio increases to the extent that it is not possible to rely on PAYG schemes. At the same time, the level of savings within the UK is too low for the retired population to be able to rely on funded pensions. The low level of savings can be seen as caused by a number of factors, including a lack of clarity and information on pension requirements and choices, a lack of trust in the financial services sector and the information it provides, as well as certain disincentives which discourage individuals, particularly in the low income sector, from saving. The closure of DB schemes has interacted with the poor information and lack of trust to discourage certain people (who would previously have enrolled in a DB scheme) from enrolling in the DC alternative. All of these problems are interrelated and it is the combination of them that can be seen as causing the UK pension crisis. In the words of Davis (2004, 22), ‘the savings gap is aggravated by †¦ the deficits and closure of defined benefit funds, loss of confidence in personal pensions and also in life insurance generally following mis-selling of personal pensions.’ As such, it is a combination of policies that is required to tackle these problems. Bibliography Banks, J., Blundell, R., Disney, R., Emmerson, C. (2002). Retirement, Pensions and the Adequacy of Saving: A Guide to the Debate. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Barr, M., Diamond, P. (2006). The Economics of Pensions. Oxford Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 15-39. Barr, N. (2006). Pensionse: Overview of the Issues. Oxfor Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 1-14. Blake, D. (2000). Two decades of pension reform in the UK: What are the implications for occupational pension schemes? Employee Relations , 22 (3), 223-245. Davis, E. P. (2004). Is there a Pension Crisis in the UK? London: The Pensions Institute, Cass Business School. DWP. (2006). Security in retirement: towards a new pensions system Executive Summary. London: Department for Work and Pensions. Economist. (2002, February 22). End of the party: How bad for employees is the decline in final-salary pensions? The Economist . Economist. (2005, June 23). Pension reform: The shape of things to come. The Economist . Hills, J. (2006). A New Pension Settlement for the Twenty-First Century? The UK Pensions Commissions Analysis and Proposals. Oxford Review of Economic Policy , 22 (1), 114-133. Mullan, P. (2002). The Imaginary Time Bomb: Why an Ageing Population is not a Social Problem. London: I B Tauris. Footnotes [1] While discussion of the UK ‘pension crisis’ is very common, it is worth bearing in mind that the current situation is not unanimously viewed as a crisis. Barr (2006), for example, argues that a problem exists but not a crisis. Mullan (2002) does not even consider it to be a problem. [2] â€Å"We need to be clear that individuals must be responsible for their own plans for retirement. The reforms will ensure the provision of high-quality savings vehicles, and a solid state foundation to private savings. But the choice of how much to save, the level of risk to take with investments, and how long to work must be available to the individual. That provides the right balance of choice and support for individual responsibility.† (DWP, 2006, 22)

Gene Therapy Regualtion :: Science Genetics Essays

Gene Therapy Regualtion Gene therapy techniques are a rapidly growing area of interest and concern. Gene therapy technologies will have great impacts on how deal with medical problems and perhaps even on how we live our lives. Yes, gene therapy is something that will probab ly impact your life in one form or another. There are many issues discussed related to this topic, one of which is regulation. Who should regulate this research and to what extent should it be regulated? The following essay addresses the later question . This essay will explain what gene therapy is, how it is regulated, and will discuss the philosophies on how it should be regulated. Who ultimately decides the uses of gene therapy, and will those making these decisions keep your interests in mind? It is in the best interests of everyone that society develop proactive means of regulating gene therapy to maximize benefits and minimize the risks. Human gene therapy is one of the newest advances bridging science and medicine in our modern world. In the most basic sense, it involves changing the genetic composition of certain cells in the human to correct a "defect" in the genetic code that is c ausing undesirable characteristics such as a disease. A person's genetic code is responsible for coding proteins which constitutes our physical makeup. A single alteration to this code can result in a lethal disease. In gene therapy, genes with the cor rect code are inserted into the cell. The method of choice to insert desired genes into human cells is through a virus vector in which the virus inserts modified DNA to replace the DNA that is causing the genetic problem (Coutts). Once the DNA is in th e cell, it can code for the desired protein needed to make the patient well. If the cells that are treated in your body are not reproductive cells, this type of gene therapy is called somatic cell therapy. This technique means it only affec ts those trea ted cells and will not be a genetic trait passed on to future generations. In somatic gene therapy, treatments often have to be conducted every couple of months because cells continually are being replaced in the body. Germ-line therapy is a procedure in which reproductive cells are altered. This results in future generations that carry this same alteration. Much debate over gene therapy has erupted as scientific advances have brought this technology to the application phase.

Changing police culture Essay

The New Zealand police for the last 30 years has faced an unfriendly and an unprofessional police culture that has infringed on both the rights of fellow police offices and those of the society as a whole. This culture of open and fear less sexual misconduct and harassment of women through rape and other forms of sexual assaults. Reports indicate that most of the alleged perpetrators of these violence are high ranking policemen like the police commissioner himself. In the year 2007, the police commissioner gave findings on changing the police culture to give confidence to the public on the utility of the New Zealand police. There rests several critical elements that could hinder successful implementation of the recommendations by Margaret Bazley commission. First and foremost, I think the time lapse when the New Zealand police had started committing these types of insults had created a different culture amongst them. Culture in this respect means a shared organizational values and beliefs as well as norms that guide the action of individuals. Most of it was concentrated within the police force itself with policewomen victims of their colleagues. This is a major critical point towards the implementation of the police culture change. It therefore needs to be taken on board to achieve results for the New Zealand police and their acceptable conduct. In addition to this, the tradition that what they used to do was right according to them it portrayd a major challenge to abandon such behaviors. Their socialization and mental orientation become a stumbling block to a swift adoption of a crime free police force. Changing a culture is a process that needs time and it goes in steps. The other challenge is engraved on leadership and the wide spread misconduct of the police force across all ranks up to the commissioner. This goes ahead to crimes committed in the vicinity of the police commissioner and no action is taken. This confirms that down to the juniors, the situation is incomparable. For there to be positive change, I think there must be a radical move that exempts none of the alleged victims. The biggest problem now arises on who among them arrests the victims. Organizational culture involves status assumption in organizations with the leaders being assumed to be role models. With the findings of the investigate magazine, it reaffirms that only top ranking police officers were the perpetrators of sexual violence against their colleagues. A police cover is the worst the police can ever trade with on matters of public interest. In most organizations, bureaucracy is the order and that this cannot be assumed neither altered. This is even terrible because it exist with the top ranking officers since they are the source if information to the public. The lack of a purely independent investigative body of handling police complaints against their fellow officers. It is very hard for the police force to investigate itself on matters of social injustice. Even the government itself cannot perform because it still has to protect the reputation of its workers. It is only a body with no vested interests that can give results on dealing with complaint of the police force. The formation of a body with powers to investigate past crimes committed by the police force meant that the current and the ongoing were lawful to be put on hold awaiting investigation. The long procedural process of going back to 1980s up to 2007 gives the police a lot of confidence in terrorizing their colleagues due to the lack of immediacy in handling the allegations that arise. This is because culture unites people psychologically and includes a mission to meet. The threats to successful implementation of the recommendation is the diversity of offenses by the New Zealand policemen. Most officers are alleged to have committed several offenses. Dewar for example was convicted of four charges. It calls for the police commissioner to take radical steps in resolving the conflict since he is part of the problem. None of the junior police officers can accept to be prosecuted unless the police commissioner starts. Based on their previous culture it is hard for them to break the already held norms. It even goes further such that those officers convicted of crimes threaten to resign then it becomes hard to eradicate the culture. The formation of the â€Å"independent complain authority† cannot achieve if the police are not willing. Who will report those cases if the police themselves are already held in one culture? The police commissioner, Mr. Howard Broad was forced to respond to his own allegations of misconduct. He was affected positively and negatively as a leader. On the positive approach, he must have felt challenged that as a role model he had failed his juniors. The best was to try to avoid such suspicious allegations and promise to take responsibility of implementing the entire culture change. The trait theory puts it clearly that leadership is founded on personality. As a human being like any other and having been in a situation of an engraved culture over along time makes him fall in some uncalled for mistakes. However, his colleagues look at him like a teacher. He is very willing to a successful implementation of the recommendation though in a challenging environment. The police commissioner need to take his allegations of his misconduct and reaffirm his colleagues that he is ready to lead like a an example. Leadership is situational so he needs to work hard and give results on culture change. The greatest work ahead of the commissioner is to ask for corporation from the rest of the police. The government has the duty to get a competent person to lead the culture change in the police if Mr. Broad’s efforts are declared inconsequential. Mr. Broad as a leader is fully committed to preserving the reputation of the police however he may be thought of having committed a social misconduct. He says that his role as a police commissioner is to cement the reputation for performance and integrity within the police. This shows how much confident he is in dealing with the scenario. On the other hand, the allegations made on the police commissioner affects his ability negatively. Being the head, many of his junior officers may not take the initiative to listen to his advice. Such will divide the police to those who are loyal to the commissioner and those who are the direct opposite of his commands. This is likely to make work hard for Broad in implementing the recommendations. The inability of Mr Broad to take any action on a pornographic movie shown in his house shows how he is covering his friends. This is likely to persist with other high ranking officers not unless his case brings justice to the aggrieved parties. Here Broads ability is depicted as a failure and even leading the culture change may be hard for him based in people’s knowledge of his behavior. Regarding his personality as the lead team in the culture change, Mr Broad has two wars to fight. First, as the police commissioner he has the role of being an example to the whole New Zealand police. They are supposed to view him as a symbol of unity and service to protect the people of New Zealand. On the other hand, he has the duty to protect the reputation of the whole force on the public and give confidence to the public on their commitment to serving them. From the case leading culture change in New Zealand, there are lessons on the issues of managing culture change. Several issues need to be taken into consideration in the process of reforming persistent behaviors. The interest of reforming the police should be based in recognition of collective attitude of the organization as a whole and sideline the attitude of individual officers. The police need to find evidence on misconduct by some police officers and legally deal with officers condoning inappropriate sexual activity. The New Zealand police management lacked inappropriate policies, procedures and practices to deal with unending cases of sexual misconduct. This encompass the unavailability of standards of work amongst the front line staff. This is a shorcoming of many organizations. According to the inquiry done by Bazley, it found that standards varied across police Districts. This inconsistency resulted to the unavailability of procedures to deal with them. To address this, there needs to be drafted code of conduct for sworn police officers. The quality of investigation is vital in handling complaints against police officer’s. The complaints process on the police should be made public top enhance public confidence on the police. Prompt handling of the complaints is vital in radically driving the culture change. However, the force lacks resources to publicize its findings. The government of New Zealand has the duty to invest in the Public Complaints Authority for it to perform its duties. Changing culture of a police force is a process that also involves sustaining public confidence in the police. Police officers need to adhere and demonstrate standards of ethical and moral behavior. The police management system should comprise technocrats in administration who understand culture and organizational leadership. The management has to portray competence in handling police matters and maintaining a culture that supports police standards. This kind of management is supposed to break the strong bonding amongst the police which hinders them investigate their colleagues. The issue of on duty an off duty remain a problem among the New Zealand police. According to leadership theories, a leader remains a leader to at all costs and that he has a duty to those he leads. With such concerns, the male dominated force needs to view the work of the police to be a full, time job with responsibilities to meet. This operates by enhancing public confidence on the police.

A Brief Guide to the Features of APA Format Essay Example

A Brief Guide to the Features of APA Format Essay Example A Brief Guide to the Features of APA Format Essay A Brief Guide to the Features of APA Format Essay APA FORMAT Below is a brief guide to the features of APA format. For source types not listed here, consult a handbook such as Anne Raimes Keys For Writers, available in the Writing Center. Basic Features of APA: In the text of your paper Include the author, year, and page citation for each source At the end of your paper Include a list of all sources used in your paper Alphabetized by authors last name Alphabetized by title if author is unknown Create list on a new page titled References. In text citations, Print sources: Basic Format for a Quotation Critser (2003) noted that despite growing numbers of overweight Americans, many ealth care providers still remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to the poor and the young (p. 5). Despite growing numbers of overweight Americans, many health care providers still remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to the poor and the young (Critser, 2003, p. 5). Note: use page numbers ONLY f or direct quotes. f youre paraphrasing, sue Just the author and date. Sources with Two Authors According to Sothern and Gordon (2003), Environmental factors may contribute as much as 80% to the causes of childhood obesity (p. 04). Obese children often engage in less physical activity (Sothern Gordon, 2003, p. 104). Author Unknown Children struggling to control their weight must also struggle with the pressures of television advertising that, on the one hand, encourages the consumption of Junk food and, on the other, celebrates thin celebrities (Television, 2002). You maybe use ch to reference a chapter in a long work such as a text book, or par to indicate paragraph in a work without page numbers. Personal Communication Cite personal communication such as an interview or e mail in your text like so: Smith, personal communication, 4 Sept. 2008). DO NOT list in your References page Works cited in another source: If you cite a work quoted by another source, you MUST cite where you found it, like so: Smith says that using APA format will make you smarter (cited in Jones, 2003). In text citations, electronic formats Author Known Atkinson (2001) found that children who spent at least four hours a day watching TV were less likely to engage in adequate physical activity during the week. Author Unknown The bodys basal metabolic rate, or BMR, is a measure of its at rest energy requirement (Exercise, 2003). Date Unknown Attempts to establish a definitive link between television programming and childrens eating habits have been problematic (Magnus, n. d. ). Reference to an entire Web Site: If you reference an entire web site, give the compete URL in your in text citation. DO NOT list it in the References page: Research on The Mozart Effect has generated an institute with a Web site providing links to research studies ( mindinst. org). References page format List references on a separate page consecutively numbered use hanging indent (indent all but first line arrange alphabetically DO NOT list a reference to an entire web site or e mail communications, but cite them in the text. Books: Single Author Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Book title. Location: Publisher. Reagan, M. D. (1992). Curing the crisis: Options for Americas health care. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Two Authors Cohen, L. G. , Spenciner, L. J. (1994). Assessment of young children. White Plains, NY: Longman. Three to Six Authors Pratkanis, A. R. , Brecker, S. J. , Greenwald, A. G. (1989). Attitude structure and function. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Note: If a book has more than six authors, after giving the sixth authors name and nitial, use et al. (not italicized and with a period after al) to indicate the remaining authors of the book. Periodicals, General Format Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number, pages. Journal Articles (continuous pagination) Saywitz, K. J. , Mannarino, A. P. , Berliner, L. , Cohen, J. A. (2000). Treatment for sexually abused children and adolescents. American Psychologist, 55, 1040-1049. Journal Article (issue by issue pagination) sexually abused children and adolescents. Psychology 55 (4), 1040-1049. Magazine Articles Henry, W. A. , Ill. (1990, April 9). Beyond the melting pot. Time, 135, 28-31. Newspaper Articles Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4. Electronic Sources Article from a Database Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number (issue number), pages. Retrieved month date, year, from Database name. White, B. (2002, July 30). Stocks make more big gains. The Washington Post, pp. A1 . Retrieved August 1, 2002, from NewsBank database. Electronic Newspaper Article Hilts, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2000, from nytimes. com Online Document Author, A. A. (Date of publication). Title of article. Retrieved month date, year, from http://web address Document with Author and Date Murray, J. P. Children and television violence. (1995). Retrieved July 19, 2001, from ksu. edu/humec/kulaw. htm Document with No Author, No Date GVUs 8th WWW user survey. (n. d. ). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http:// www. cc. gatech. edu/gvu /user_surveys/survey-1997-10/ Begin with the title of the document if there is no author n. d. = no date

Great Depression gds essays

Great Depression gds essays Effects of the Great Depression on Canada During the Great Depression of the 1930's, Canada's Prairie provincessuffered more than any other area in Canada. This time frame brought forthe farmers many years of droughts and grasshopper plagues, as each yeargot worse without any rainfall whatsoever. The impact of the GreatDepression on the Prairie provinces was devastating and it's impact on theregion was social, political and economical. During this periodunemployment reached high levels, prices of products were falling andpurchasing power was getting very weak. To try to help out unemployedpeople, mostly men, the government introduced relief camps. During the1930's in Prairie Canada, the Great Depression created harsh conditions andit was a struggle until it ended. The event which triggered the Great Depression was the Stock Marketcrash of October 24, 1929 in New York. Another important cause was that: Later in the 1930's, the wide adoption of the gold exchange in many countries was widely criticized as a great mistake which greatly contributed to the severity and length of the Great Depression. 1. In Canada, wheat, the most important export, was being over-producedaround the world, despite the fact that the 1928 supply of wheat was stillavailable in 1929. A good reason for the stock market crash in 1929 was that, the values of stocks of the New York Stock Exchange were grossly over-valued, but government and business appeared to ignore the signs. 2. Canadian revenues that came in from export sales were dependentlargely upon the United States who had the money for growth; thecommodities were grain, pulp and paper and metals. Then when the New Yorkcrashed on October 1929, stock prices fell dramatically. When the stockmarket crashed, the Canadian economy suffered after the United Statesinvoked high tariffs to shut out Canadian goods. In the Prairie provincesof Canada, in addition to ...

International Human Resource Management - cultural management and Essay

International Human Resource Management - cultural management and diversity - Essay Example Research Topic The research topic that has been proposed by the author is "the importance of culture in the practice of international human resources management in the hospitality industry." This research will be carried out in the following manner. The author will first gain an in-depth understanding of the culture and the role it plays in any organisation. Next the author will study the practice of international human resources management in the hospitality industry. Finally the author will then study the impact of culture in international human resources management in the hospitality industry. Resources In this section the author will give a detailed description of all the different resources that she believes she would need to carry out the stated research study. In order to carry out this research the author will need access to an online library or for the secondary data that would be necessary for the literature review. Access to many different organisations in the hospitality industry. Since the author would like to be very specific in this study, the author will study four different international hotel chains such as The Sheraton hotels, The Hilton hotels, The Westin hotels and The Royal York Hotels. Ability to interview and survey mid level managers in the local and international locations of the named hotel chains. Ability to interview and survey human resources personnel in the local and international locations of the named hotel chains. Access to sufficient numbers of employees at human resources and mid level management in the hotels to the extent that the sample group will be demographically representative of the wider population. Resources such as stationary, availability to long distance phone services, email. Adequate time to carry...Research objectives are important because they will help keep the research on track and the author can use the set objectives and their achievement as a yardstick to measure the success of the research study To understand the best possible methods that can be employed by the management and the human resources personnel in an organisation and to make recommendations, suggestions and a framework of best practices that can be used in the organisation. Access to many different organisations in the hospitality industry. Since the author would like to be very specific in this study, the author will study four different international hotel chains such as The Sheraton hotels, The Hilton hotels, The Westin hotels and The Royal York Hotels. According to Porter's cultural determinants model, international organisations will be well off if they understand the social structure, religion, language, political philosophy, economic philosophy and education levels of the employees that they manage. The type of social structure that is seen consistently in a county or a region is very important to a business organization. This is because some social structures give priority to individualism, while others give priority to groups.

International Trade & Banking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International Trade & Banking - Essay Example According to Mishkin, globalization is essentially about economic integration, which implies the opening up of national economies to the external inflow of goods, services. Contrary to earlier beliefs, globalization is hardly a new phenomenon, dating back to the end of the 19th century and the age of industrialization. â€Å"The globalization system, unlike the Cold War system, is not static, but a dynamic ongoing process: globalization involves integration of markets, nation-states and technologies to a degree never witnessed before — in a way that is enabling individuals, corporations and nation-states to reach around the world farther, faster, deeper and cheaper than ever before, and in a way that is also producing a powerful backlash from those brutalized or left behind by this new system†. Yet, even today it is too early to say that globalization has achieved its peak. Central banks are still in their way but far from achieving real financial globalization. The lat ter presupposes having a single global currency and a single global financial authority. According to Way, â€Å"independent central banks produce sharply lower inflation rates where Left cabinets are prevalent but at a cost of increasing unemployment†. In the absence of financial stability and global financial homogeneity, central banks acquire a new role of adjusting their decisions and exchange rates policies to the needs of the international financial community, including the issues of currency convertibility.