Making a Central Bank Independent

Making a Central Bank Independent Why has the idea of enhancing the independence of a central bank gained such popularity in recent years around the globe? Do accompanying accountability arrangements matter? The desirability of Central Bank Independence (CBI) has snowballed since (Alesina, A 1988) stated that his paper argues tentatively that independent Central Banks have been associated with a lower average inflation rate and may have been responsible for reducing politically induced volatility of monetary policy and inflation. As a result, we may be lured into the assumption that CBI was the brainchild of Alesina or Rogoff (who produced literature with similar results around the same time) and that it is a brand-new, groundbreaking concept. However, the issue of CBI is as old as central banking itself with David Ricardo arguing its benefits (or certainly the drawbacks of non-independence) in a paper written in 1824. Keynes articulated his thoughts on central bank independence while testifying to the 1913 Royal Commission into an Indian central bank. He stressed that the ideal central bank would combine ultimate government responsibility with a high degree of day to-day independence fo r the authorities of the bank. Clearly, as it is government legislation that created and gave powers to the central banks, there has always been a relationship between the two and they cannot be entirely distinct. Debate surrounding CBI considers the appropriate level of distinction (if any) and the potential benefits to the economy at large that such a separation would provoke. So if the theory behind the benefits of independence is almost two centuries old, then why has its popularity only soared in the last few decades? (Goodhart, C.A.E 1994) utilises Friedmans analysis of the Phillips Curve (1950s) to suggest that stagflation in the 1970s is a primary factor behind the surge towards CBI. The Phillips Curve displays the apparent inverse relationship (when the pressure of demand in an economy is low) between inflation and unemployment. Thus, Phillips suggested that the authorities were able to choose an optimal combination, or find a sufficient trade-off between the two, which is exactly what Governments attempted to do in the 50s and 60s. However, this theory was shot to pieces in the 1970s when the rate of inflation consistent with a given level of unemployment kept rising: stagflation. Friedman explained this by stating that the inverse relationship only ran true in the short-run. In the medium and long-run, he argued that the Phillips Curve would in fact be vertical and that there was no trade-off between inflation and unemployment. The implication of this was that those in charge could now use m onetary policy as an instrument to control inflation in the medium and long term without compromising growth or employment within the same time horizon; thus enabling fiscal policy and supply side measures to be utilised in stabilising shocks in the short term. Governments soon adopted medium-term financial strategies for bringing down inflation and began to use supply-side measures for promoting growth. Herein lay the problem, in that now a conflict of interest arose for those in charge. In the short-run, with expectations given, expansionary monetary and fiscal policies would raise employment and allow excess growth above the long-term level. However, Ministers were aware that although it may take some time to show up, higher inflation will be the inevitable result in the long-run. (Goodhart, C.A.E 1994) holds a very cynical view of politicians and suggests that they may forgo their medium-term economic responsibilities and lower taxes or raise expenditures before elections to ind uce a feel-good factor that would get them re-elected. The resulting inflation would only rear its ugly head after the election when they could tackle it by raising interest rates and thus maintain the boom/bust cycle. If they did not get re-elected it would be the next Governments problem and hence political short-mindedness and lack of credibility is laid bare for all to see. (Fraser, B.W 1994) is a lot less sceptical of politicians and argues that it is uncertainty rather than exploitation of the short-term inflation/unemployment trade-off that can inject inflationary bias into the policy making process. He argues that because no-one knows with any confidence what the long-term growth capacity limits are or what the natural rate of unemployment is, it is very difficult for politicians to heed warnings about operating above these limits whilst under pressure from the electorate to maintain or stimulate growth. Similarly, they do not know the length of the lags between policy chang es and their impact on growth and inflation, thus Fraser implies that it is only natural for politicians to believe that they can push the economy a little bit further. Or, as William McChesney-Martin, the Governor of the US Fed from 1951 to 1970, said They may be reluctant to take away the punchbowl just when the party gets going. Irrelevant of your personal degree of cynicism towards politicians, it is clear that an independent authority with a long-term vision of price stability and no inclination towards inflation is the only remedy to rescue the electorate from a spiral of inflationary doom inflicted by governments. Pre 1971 a large degree of price stability was autonomous in the developed world with first the Gold Standard, then the Bretton-Woods system anchoring prices to a fixed level. (Fraser, B.W 1994) proposed that the earlier arrangements had imposed an international discipline on countries but when those arrangements passed into history, the responsibility for maintaining price stability reverted to national authorities. This perhaps adds more credibility to Frasers lack of scepticism as for example, (excluding war times) the UK government had not had this burden since 1717, a completely incomparable financial era. Coupling this 250 year knowledge gap, with the temptation of short-term benefits at long-term costs, it is of no surprise that Government-managed monetary policy was doomed to collapse. After this was realised, the move towards an Independent Central Bank evolved naturally as it solved both the politicians and publics concerns. Following over a decade of failure, politicians wanted rid of the price stability burden and someone else to blame for its failure (Kane, E 1980) and the public wanted monetary policy to be controlled by an institution with credibility (Rogoff, K 1985) so that their expectations were met. Despite conveniently tying together, these two arguments are not exhaustive in explaining the rise in popularity of CBI in recent times. Under the Maastricht Treaty, all states wishing to enter the European Union must have an independent national central bank so as to complement the ECB and the European System of Central Banks, whose job it is to ensure that the Euro area benefits from price stability. The EU has adopted such a hard-line stance on the basis that the success of the German economy of maintaining low inflation has arisen from the independent nature of the Bundesbank. Therefore, the installation of an independent central bank (the scope of independence is not legislated) has been forced upon all twenty-seven member states regardless of whether they had previously suffered inflationary problems. However, it must be noted that by applying to join the EU, each member state is already willing to concede its control over monetary policy in the long-term to the ECB, so an inte rmediate step to a national independent central bank would not present a significant hurdle. Many commentators have looked at who in the economy benefits most from CBI and have drawn conclusions on the reason for the growth of central bank independence from there. Those emphasising the interests of the financial sector as key are perhaps the most logical. (Posen, A 1993) and (Bowles, P White, G 1994) suggested that independence has been encouraged by financial interests and global institutions taking advantage of a crisis of governance in the 1980s and 1990s. The benefits for such institutions are obvious; a credible monetary policy allows for accurate expectations within a business plan and low inflation maintains real wages and ensures low interest rates for accessing credit. Therefore we can accredit some popularity of central bank independence to the shift in political power towards large corporations, with the most notable example being the USA. Linked to this, (Maxfield, S 1997) proposed that Governments in some fast-growing economies hold the perception that foreign investment from such large corporations will therefore be more forthcoming if they have an independent central bank. Other commentators have looked elsewhere in society with (Piga, G 2000), suggesting that the aging of some populations has promoted creditor interests. However, this is not supported by the speed of reform as although populations are aging, they do not do so suddenly whereas the popularity of central bank independence took off very rapidly. So it can be seen that there may be many different reasons behind the surge in popularity of CBI and as a result it seems natural to conclude that different levels or types of independence would be more suitable for these different variations. Similarly, the different nature of governance and democracy in countries dictates the need for a reasonable amount of flexibility and varying accountability within central bank independence. The norm within the literature is to follow Fischers (1994) dichotomy between goal and instrument independence, although many different measures of independence have been investigated and published; most notably (Cukierman, Webb, and Neyapti, 1992) and (Grilli, Masciandaro, and Tabellini, 1991). Goal independence refers to the central banks capacity to choose policy goals without being under the direct influence of the fiscal authority (usually the Government). The Bank of England lacks goal independence because the inflation target, which is very specific measure, is set by the government. In the USA, the Humphrey-Hawkins Act requires the Federal Reserve to conduct monetary policy to promote the goals of maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. These goals are described in vague terms providing the Fed some leverage to translate these into operational goals and thus allowing it a high level of goal independence. Instrument independence alludes to the central banks ability to freely adjust its policy tools in pursuit of the goals of monetary policy (Walsh, C 2005). Despite lacking goal independence, the Bank of England has instrument independence: it is provided its inflation mandate by the government and then it is able to choose its instruments without any further direction. However, the Federal Reserve has complete instrument independence in addition to having a large degree of goal independence. How can a nation that prides itself for being democratic justify handing over complete control of monetary policy to a group of un-elected officials? In addition, such a system would surely not resolve the issue of uncertainty regarding inflation policy as the public, who clearly distrusted them before, now have to rely on politicians to choose suitable people to control monetary policy. The simple solution is accountability; if central banks make their decisions transparently and/or are held acco untable for their actions, the public can feel a lot more confident in making expectations. The reputation of a central bank plays a key role in how much accountability is required; the longer the CB has delivered its promises/targets, the more trustworthy it is deemed to be and the less accountability is required. The empirical evidence seems to support this assertion. The German Bundesbank, often compared to Rogoffs Conservative Cental Banker (Rogoff, K 1985), has a very high level of independence but almost no accountability and this is sustainable only because of its reputation. Since the hyperinflation of the 1920s the Bundesbank has been careful to reflect, or even cultivate a public acceptance of the need for price stability (Bank of England 1996). This means that the inflation-averse German people are happy to trust the Bundesbank to deliver low inflation because of its impeccable track record over the last 50 years. This suggestion is strengthened by the following graph, where low inflation is related positively to low accountability: At the other end of the spectrum, the Bank of England and even more so the Reserve Bank of New Zealand are held accountable for their results, despite their comparative lack of independence. This may be explained by their relative infancy within the realms of CBI (The BoE became independent in 1997 and the RBNZ in 1989) and so in either case there has not been enough time to build a reputation. With regards to the UK, the terrible collapse of the Medium-Term Financial Planning system under Thatcher may remain a coal stoking the fire of the publics political cynicism, adding further need for a high level of accountability. There are three main channels by which the BoE demonstrates its transparency and accountability to both the Government and the public at large. Primarily, the inflation target itself is the cornerstone of the authorities medium-term price stability objectives and provides an indisputable measure of failure or success that is simple to understand. This is in stark contrast to the MTFS where numerous measures (e.g. Â £M3, M1, PSL2), which were not immediately recognisable to the man on the street, were used and muddied the water if targets were missed. In addition the minutes of the meetings between the Chancellor and Governor, where monetary policy decisions are made and discussed, are published each month along with the Inflation Report, detailing the Banks own scrutiny of inflationary patterns. In comparison to The New Zealand Approach, where the Governor can be sacked for missing an inflation target, having the Governor of the BoE write a letter for the same crime seems particular ly soft. However, if we compare the relative successes of the two banks since they adopted independence, we see that until 2007 the BoE never missed a target and that in 1990 New Zealand had 8% (RBNZ Website) inflation when its target was 0-2%. This evidence seems to add credence to the suggestion that more accountability is required with a lesser reputation. The 1990s saw both developed and developing countries move in their droves towards increased central bank independence. This trend was sturdily influenced by empirical analysis of the relationship between macroeconomic performance and independence [see Alesina and Summers (1993), Jonsson (1995), andEijffingeret al. (1998)], which among the developed countries suggested a negative relationship between independence and inflation. For this reason alone it is of no surprise that CBI popularity grew, but coupled with the earlier stated reasons it seems to have become a necessity to successfully run a modern Government and economy. By adopting independence, a restriction on government interference in monetary policy is imposed; while making the central bank transparent and accountable imposes a restraint on how it utilises this independence. Both of these constraints are desirable as they allow those more knowledgeable to influence policy and provide those responsible for making policy someone else to blame if it fails. However, transparency by itself is not necessarily adequate for a monetary institution; after all, what good is the CB missing its objectives but just being very honest about it after? Instead, transparency can help the institution combat inflation bias and promote confidence in expectations, either by itself or in conjunction with central bank independence or even a formal central bank contract (Bank of England 1996), as in New Zealand. Finally, the empirical evidence linking independence, accountability and low inflation is conclusive. From the graphs above we note the inverse relationship between accountability and independence, which suggests that they are substitutes rather than compliments (Bank of England 1996). Hence, we can conclude that in terms of inflation targeting, accountability is equally as important as central bank independence, as one or the other (not necessarily both) is required for success. In addition the positive relationship between accountability and inflation history suggests that, at least for a short time period, accountability can be used as a substitute for a reputation of low inflation. Thus providing an instantaneous removal of the problems associated with the rational expectations model and allowing low inflation to be enjoyed by all. References: Alesina, Alberto. Macroeconomics and Politics. In NBER Macroeconomics Annual, pp. 17-52. Cambridge, 1988. Alesina A, Summers L.Centralbankindependenceand macroeconomic performance: some comparativeevidence. In Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 25: pp 151-62(1993) Bank of England. Central Bank Independence Accountability: Theory and Evidence. In Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, February 1996, pp-63-68 Bowles, P and White, G. Central bank independence: A political economy approach.In The Journal of Development Studies31(2) (1994), pp. 235-264 Cukierman, A., S. B. Webb, and B. Neyapti. Measuring the Independence of Central Banks and its Effects on Policy Outcomes. In The World Bank Economic Review, 6, pp. 353-398. 1992 Fischer, S. Modern central banking. In The future of Central Banking (1994), Eijffinger SCW, Schaling E, Hoeberichts M.Centralbankindependence: a sensitivity analysis. In European Journal of Political Economy 14: pp.73-88 (1998) Fraser, B.W. Central Bank Independence: What does it mean? In Reserve Bank of Australia Bulletin, 1994. Grilli, V, D. Masciandaro, and G. Tabellini. Political and Monetary Institutions and Public Financial Policies in the Industrial Countries. In Economic Policy 6, pp 341-392. 1991 Goodhart, C.A.E. Central Bank Independence. In Journal of International and Comaparative Economics, 3. 1994. Jonsson G. Institutions and macroeconomic outcomes theempiricalevidence. In Swedish Economic Policy Review 2: pp.181-212. (1995) Kane, E. Politics and Fed Policymaking: The More ThingsChange, the More They Remain the Same,In Journal of Monetary Economics,6,2(April 1980), pp. 199-211 Maxfield, S. Gatekeepers of Growth: The International Political Economy of Central Banking in Developing Countries 1997 Piga, G. Dependent and Accountable: Evidence from the Modern Theory of Central Banking,In Journal of Economic Surveys vol. 14(5), December 2000, pp 563-95 Posen, A. Why Central Bank Independence Does Not Cause Low Inflation: There is No Institutional Fix for Politics. In R. OBrien (ed.), Finance and the International Economy. 1993, pp 40-65. Rogoff, K. The optimal degree of commitment to an intermediate monetary target.In Quarterly Journal of Economics100(1985), pp. 1169-1189 Walsh, C. Central Bank Independence Prepared for The New Palgrave Dictionary December 2005 RBNZ Website: http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/keygraphs/Fig1.html

The Tragic Event Of The Holocaust History Essay

The Tragic Event Of The Holocaust History Essay The Holocaust remains the worlds greatest and most tragic event that targeted a specific group of the human race. The absolute inhumanity of the Holocaust still confounds people, even today. People were systematically killed, tortured, and murdered. It was one of the twentieth centurys most unfortunate events that had occurred by prevalent anti-Semitism and outright fear. The Germans blamed the Jews for Germanys defeat in World War I, some even claiming that German Jews had betrayed the nation during the war. The Jews had previously been subject to all kinds of earlier religious prejudices. From the 1870s onwards a new, racial anti-Semitism was added to this. Thus began the widespread demonization of the Jews. There were many conspiracy theories about the Jews being the reason for Communism. The Nazis were claiming that the Jews were enemies of Germany. But most German Jews were actually pro-German and had fought for Germany in World War I. Many Jews were hesitant to leave Germany even if they were able to. The fear of Communism was a powerful force which worried many people, in parts of Central Europe and Southern Europe. This was brutally exploited by politicians. Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader, attacked the well established roles the Jews in German society. Hitler referred to the Jews as a plague and a cancer. He accused Jewish population for the state Germany was left in at the end of World War I. It was then terms such as extermination and extinction began being used in relation to the Jews. Hitler claimed that the Jews had gained economic. He claimed that the Jews had achieved economic supremacy and the ability to manipulate and command the media to their own advantage. He talked about the need to destroy their powerful economic positions and if necessary by physical means. Hitler also wanted to purify Germany; he wanted to populate Germany with the Aryan race, this goal couldnt be reached unless all Jews were gone which also included Hispanics, Blacks, gypsies, Socialists, German Communists, Social Democrats, Jehovahs Witnesses, as well as homosexuals. The Germans concentrated the regional Jewish population and forced them to live under miserable conditions in city districts called Ghettos. The Ghettos isolated Jews. They were separated from Jewish communities and from the non-Jewish population. The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos in German, Poland and the Soviet Union alone. The Germans believed that the establishment of ghettos was a temporary measure to segregate and have power over the Jews. They reckoned that the Jews would only stay there while the Nazi leadership in Berlin debated options and ways to reach the goal of removing the Jewish population. On November 9, 1938, the Nazis unleashed programs against Germany Jews. Jews were attacked and Jewish property was vandalized and almost every synagogue in Germany was either damaged or destroyed. The treatment of Jews, was questioned when the Nazis invaded Poland, where about two million Jews resided. This was the first time; Jews were arrested in large amounts and transported to Nazi concentration camps. They were only released if they promised to move out of the area soon, or transferred their property and valuables goods to the Nazis. Approximately 20,000 concentration camps were established by the Nazis between the years of 1933 and 1945. The Jews in the concentration camps were led to believe that they would stay for a while, but these camps were primarily used as extermination camps for mass murder. The cHYPERLINK http://the-world-wars.helium.com/topic/7687-concentration-campsoncentration camps were used as forced labor camps, prisoners suffered from starvation, exhaustion, and exposure. Most prisoners died under cruel and painful labor conditions. Children were especially vulnerable in the Holocaust. The Nazis Germans killed as many as 1.5 million Jewish children. They killed Jewish children with disabilities living in institutions, the physically and mentally ill. Polish Jew children were also killed as well as children living in the Soviet Union. Jewish adolescents had a greater chance at survival because they could be sent to work at a labor camp. Forced labor camps were where prisoners underwent exhausting labor conditions, famine, starvation and exposure to very low or extremely high temperatures. Horrible medical experiments were conducted in forced-labor camps, primarily aimed to reinforce the German military personnel, but also to develop and test vaccines for the prevention and treatment of contagious diseases and to promote the racial and ideals of the Nazi theory. All experiments conducted in the concentration camps were done without the prisoners consent, and typically resulting in loss of life. The Nazi doctors performed outrageous and shocking surgical procedures. Prisoners were tested on while they were being held in concentration camps. Most of these experiments had to do with the improvement of the German military. Some experiments that were conducted for the Nazi high command are: Hypothermia experiment- Dr. Sigmund Rascher at Birkenau, Dachau and Auschwitz were going to attempt freezing some of the victims. To establish how long it would take to lower the body temperature to death and second how to best resuscitate the frozen victim. The person was put in an icy vat of water or to put outside naked in sub-zero temperatures. Sun lamp- victims were placed under sun lamps which would burn the skin. Genetic experiments- females were being impregnated by genetically modified specimen. Transplants- victims body parts were removed and attached to other parts or grown elsewhere.

Free College Admissions Essays: Physics and Philosophy :: College Admissions Essays

Physics and Philosophy    Physics has always been the science that interests me most. It seems to me that physics tackles fundamental questions about the universe and it feels more relevant than other sciences. I enjoy experimental work in physics but do sometimes feel limited by the resources available at my college. I would like the chance to use more sophisticated equipment to investigate more advanced level physics. Actually doing some of the important experiments of the last century, such as Rutherford's proof for the existence of the proton would add a new level of realism to particle physics. My interest in Philosophy developed through my study of Law at AS-level. I started to take an interest in jurisprudence and read a number of texts on the subject. I found that these contained many terms that I had never really encountered before. This has left me wanting to find out more about philosophy and different ways of thinking.    I have chosen these subjects because I enjoy them and would like to look into them in more depth than I have done in the past. I have chosen Physics and Philosophy because the combination of subjects requires both mathematical and scientific ability but also aptitude in written communication and logic. I would like to leave my options open in terms of possible career and I feel that by developing a number of different skills this will give me the best possible knowledge base.    I would like to use the opportunity of higher education to strengthen my mathematical and science related abilities such as investigation and problem solving. However parallel to this I would also like to further improve skills in areas such as discussion and structured argument. I would also like to develop my written communication skills and I feel that this courses especially the Philosophy aspect would let me advance my writing style.    One of my main interests outside school is computers and the Internet. I have been using the Internet regularly for a number of years for many different purposes including research and communication. I have also developed my own web page and looked at things such as HTML and CGI scripts. My other interests are general socialising and also keeping fit. I am a member of my local gym and also regularly go swimming. I have gained my NPLQ lifeguard qualification and also have recently passed my two star canoe test and hope to progress onto my three star certification.

Darkness Imagery In Macbeth Essay -- essays research papers

Darkness Imagery in William Shakespeare's Macbeth Ambition and evil are the basic elements in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Macbeth is a tragedy which was written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan Era. There was much use of Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland as it was necessary for creating the environments and situations in the play. Macbeth takes place mainly in Scotland and is a play about an ambitious thane, named Macbeth, and his wife whose flaws lead to their demise. Since Macbeth is a tragedy, probably nothing else would be as suitable for the play than darkness imagery. Imagery is a very important aspect of literature. Many different types of imagery exist and there is at least one dramatic purpose for each image. By analyzing William Shakespeare's Macbeth, it is evident that darkness imagery is used for three dramatic purposes. Those three purposes are to create atmosphere, to arouse the emotions of the audience and to contribute to the major theme of the play. The darkness imagery in Macbeth contributes to its ominous atmosphere. In the very beginning of the play the three witches are talking and the first witch says, "When shall we three meet again? In thunder, lightning, or in rain?" This is a good example of darkness imagery because when thinking about the crashing thunder, lightning, and rain, thoughts of ominous things are broug...

Cause and Effect Essay: Unemployment :: Cause and Effect Essays

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s hard to live a normal healthy life without a job and money. There are a variety of reasons why people are unemployed. Being unemployed can cause one to experience financial, emotional, and personal problems.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   The most common causes of unemployment are getting fired and layed off for specific reasons. People might get layed off if a company is going out of business or maybe if there are positions in the company that are no longer needed. It’s difficult to find a job right away after being fired. Companies don’t want to hire someone who has just been fired for reasons such as failure to do a sufficient job, not showing up to work, stealing, etc. It’s also hard to find a job instantly after being layed off. In some cases the economy is down and it is hard to find any work in general.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people can’t get hired because they don’t have an education and they are not qualified to do the work required. Most companies call a person’s references and if they don’t have a good work record they are not likely to get hired. Employees will always hire the most qualified person based on their resume, or brief account of one’s education and professional experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other people can’t find jobs because of disabilities or health problems. If someone gets into a car accident and gets physically injured long-term or becomes disabled, it becomes difficult to do many types of jobs. In another case a person may become ill and not be able to work for a long period of time or at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most life changing effects of unemployment is the loss of income. Especially if they are a single parent of if they have a large family to support. Having no money means eventually having no food, no clothes, no shelter, and no car. It also prevents one from doing many things and activities, even though their amount of leisure time has increased. One might not have money to go to the movies, play on sports’ teams, or do any other recreational things. Being unemployed for a long enough time leads to a lot of debt. Any money that has been saved ends up getting spent rather quickly with all of today’s living expenses. Twenty thousand dollars may seem like a lot of money to some people, but with no income that money gets spent before you know it. Cause and Effect Essay: Unemployment :: Cause and Effect Essays   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It’s hard to live a normal healthy life without a job and money. There are a variety of reasons why people are unemployed. Being unemployed can cause one to experience financial, emotional, and personal problems.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   The most common causes of unemployment are getting fired and layed off for specific reasons. People might get layed off if a company is going out of business or maybe if there are positions in the company that are no longer needed. It’s difficult to find a job right away after being fired. Companies don’t want to hire someone who has just been fired for reasons such as failure to do a sufficient job, not showing up to work, stealing, etc. It’s also hard to find a job instantly after being layed off. In some cases the economy is down and it is hard to find any work in general.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people can’t get hired because they don’t have an education and they are not qualified to do the work required. Most companies call a person’s references and if they don’t have a good work record they are not likely to get hired. Employees will always hire the most qualified person based on their resume, or brief account of one’s education and professional experience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other people can’t find jobs because of disabilities or health problems. If someone gets into a car accident and gets physically injured long-term or becomes disabled, it becomes difficult to do many types of jobs. In another case a person may become ill and not be able to work for a long period of time or at all.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the most life changing effects of unemployment is the loss of income. Especially if they are a single parent of if they have a large family to support. Having no money means eventually having no food, no clothes, no shelter, and no car. It also prevents one from doing many things and activities, even though their amount of leisure time has increased. One might not have money to go to the movies, play on sports’ teams, or do any other recreational things. Being unemployed for a long enough time leads to a lot of debt. Any money that has been saved ends up getting spent rather quickly with all of today’s living expenses. Twenty thousand dollars may seem like a lot of money to some people, but with no income that money gets spent before you know it.

Group Dynamics Essay

Work is being restructured around groups of all kinds and in all sizes of organizations. Managers need an understanding of group behavior and the concept of teams in order to appreciate what groups can and cannot do within organizations and how groups function. Any one member in group can influence the behavior of the individuals in the group and teamwork. We will examine some basic characteristics of groups including the types of work groups, the development of informal groups, and the manner in which groups operate. UNDERSTANDING GROUP BEHAVIOR Groups exhibit different behavior—more than just the sum total of each group member’s individual behavior. In this section, we’re going to look at various aspects of group behavior. What is a Group? A group is defined as two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who come together to achieve particular objectives. 1. Groups differ from mere aggregates of individual because the latter have no interdependence, interaction, or common goal. 2. Groups differ from organizations because the latter involve systematic efforts and are engaged in the production of goods and services. 3. Teamwork occurs when groups are able to work efficiently and effectively together to achieve organizational goals. There are a number of types of work groups 1. A formal group is a group officially planned and created by an organization for a specific purpose. a. A command or functional group is a formal group consisting of a manager and all the subordinates who report to that manager. ) Each identifiable work group consisting of manager and subordinates is a command group. 2) A linking is an individual who provides a means of coordination between command groups at two different levels by fulfilling a supervisory role in the lower-level group and a subordinate role in the higher-level group. 2. Informal groups are natural social formations that appear in the work environment. An informal group is a group that is established by employees, rather than by the organization, in order to serve group members’ interests or social needs. Informal groups are unplanned groups. a. An interest group is an informal group created to facilitate employee pursuits of common concern. b. A friendship group is an informal group that evolves primarily to meet employee social needs. Overview of Group Dynamics Formal and informal work groups are becoming increasingly important competitive factors in organizations. Teamwork is the result of groups working together to effectively and efficiently achieving organizational goals. Formal groups include command and task groups. Informal groups include interest and friendship groups. A useful way to analyze groups is to view them as systems that use inputs, engage in various processes or transformations, and produce outcomes. Managers can help bring about higher performance from formal work groups by weighing the characteristics of members they assign to particular groups. Group members should have task-relevant expertise and appropriate interpersonal skills. Also, it has been found, that a degree of diversity among group members usually adds to performance. Group training, particularly for diverse groups, has been found to be useful. Members may be attracted to a group for a number of reasons including being attracted to or liking other members of the group, liking the activities of the group, the goals or purposes of the group, because the group satisfies an individual’s need for affiliation, and/or because the group can help an individual achieve a goal outside the group. The absence of attraction can prevent the group from achieving high performance. Member roles in groups include group task roles, group maintenance roles, and self performance. Member roles in groups include group task roles, group maintenance roles, and self oriented roles. The size of the group has also been found to have significant bearing on the group’s performance. Mid-sized groups, from five to seven members, seem to be an optimum size according to recent research. Smaller groups can often exacerbate individual differences. Large groups tend to be when working in groups than when working alone. Free riding is particularly likely when members exhibit individualism rather than collectivism. Managers can combat social loafing by several methods. Assign just enough people to do the work is one key method. Other methods include making each individual’s work visible, providing for individual feedback, have people work with those the respect, have standards to actually measure group performance, and making rewards contingent on a combination of individual and group performance. The work group processes usually result in greater or lesser performance than would occur if the individuals worked alone rather than as members of the group. This process is called synergy. Managers strive to have a positive synergy from the group rather than negative. Three key characteristics of the group help determine the synergy levels. These are group norms, group cohesiveness, and group development. Norms are the behaviors of group members that are acceptable to the group. Norms stem from explicit statements by supervisors and coworkers, critical events in a group’s history, primacy, and carryover behaviors. Group cohesiveness has important consequences for group communication, satisfaction, performance, hostility and aggression toward other groups, and a group’s willingness to innovate and change. Factors influencing the amount of cohesiveness in a group include whether or not members of the group share attitudes and values, the amount and severity of external threats to the group, whether or not the group experiences recognizable successes, the degree of difficulty encountered in joining the group, and the size of the group. One view of group development shows groups passing through five distinct stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. A group’s performance varies depending on the stage it is in. A special kind of group behavior is found in group meetings. Because of the considerable amount of time spent in meetings, it is important for managers to know how to maximize group meeting effectiveness. This chapter includes an excellent short guide for how managers can lead more effective group meetings. Groups can also help facilitate creativity and innovation in the organization. Some of the major mechanisms that organizations use to encourage the creative and innovative capacity of groups include the use of task forces, or ad hoc committees, and teams, particularly entrepreneurial and self-managing teams.

Memories of childhood in “Looking For Dad” Essay

Memories from our childhoods are often remembered for the rest of our lives. They can range from small things like playing in the park or a birthday party to important milestones such as a first kiss or the first day of school. Now matter how small or insignificant these events seemed at the time, they will be treasured for ever and looked back on as some of the best times of your life. The memories are normally reminders of good times and the joys of childhood. But for some people, their childhoods are looked back on in sadness and remorse. In the poems â€Å"Looking For Dad†, â€Å"My Grandmother† and â€Å"The Sick Equation†, the narrators explore the darker sides of childhood. Each poem tells a different story, but are all about tragic memories from shattered childhoods that will scar forever. â€Å"Looking For Dad† is about a boy who’s father leaves home. I think the author chose the title because not only does it explain the main theme of the poem, but the phrase â€Å"looking for† maybe refers to the soul searching the boy has to do while â€Å"looking for† what is missing in his life. When reading the poem, you notice that it is written in quite an upbeat tone even though it is obviously a sad poem. I think the narrator has done this because the poem is from a child’s perspective. The main themes of this poem are dis-functionality and grief. Lines such as â€Å"I had not tidied up my room, because I was too full of gloom† and â€Å"hope he will come back soon† clearly show the despair that is put across by the narrator. Another theme of the poem is self-denial. The narrator doesn’t want to face up to the fact that his dad has gone. â€Å"Dad was hidden beneath the things I’d been given† and â€Å"flying about my underwear but could not find him anywhere† are two quotes that show that the character still believes his dad is still apart of his life even thought it is obvious he is not. The fact that he dreamt about his dad not being with him anymore shows that sub-consciously he knows his dad has gone forever and isn’t going to return. The character believes that his dad â€Å"simply vanished† because he didn’t tidy his room. At the end of the poem it says â€Å"hope he will come back soon and admire my very tidy room†. This shows the self-blame the character has put upon his conscience and how he now regrets taking his father for granted. The structure of the poem is strange. It has a nursery rhyme feel to it and this feel good rhythm doesn’t really fit in with the other wise sombre mood of the poem. This could however represent the fact that the poem is seen through a child’s eyes and he maybe does not fully understand what is going on around him. The quick feel to the poem is mainly down to the fact that it has a loose rhyming scheme and short lines. â€Å"The Sick Equation† is also written by Brian Patten. It is about a â€Å"broken home† and tells us how the narrator has been scarred for life due to his home situation. The title of the poem can be looked at in many different ways. I feel the author chose this title because people often think an â€Å"equation† will be confusing and complex. This is exactly what the narrator’s life is like. He may also have chosen to use the word â€Å"equation† because it can represent that when all these different factors are added together there can only be one outcome. Unlike â€Å"Looking For Dad†, the rhythm of this poem is slow and the lines are a lot longer with no real flow. One of the themes represented in this poem is isolation. With his parents fighting all the time, the narrator was convinced that it is better to â€Å"stay one†. The narrator decided to grow up alone and if anyone tried to get close to him he would make sure they quic kly disappeared. The phrase â€Å"I came to believe how it was best, that one remained one† not only backs up my point, but also shows that he is maybe scared of love. Another theme which is shows quite a lot in this poem is regret. As the poem goes along, you can slowly notice how the narrator changes his attitude towards love. In the first paragraph, lines such as â€Å"For by becoming two, one at least would suffer so† shows that he is strongly against being loved or loving anyone at all. In the final stanza the line â€Å"I am better off for knowing now, that given love, by taking love all can in time refute† proves that the narrator’s mood towards love has changed dramatically as he has now learnt that not all love is painful. The second stanza really shows regret and anger. â€Å"Believing this I threw away so many gifts- I never let love stay long enough to take roots but by thinking myself of too little worth, I crushed all its messengers†. It shows that the narrator feels he has missed out on so much and is angry that he didn’t learn his lesson sooner. â€Å"I was wrong of course, just as  those who br ought me up were wrong† is another quote that shows anger and resentment towards his childhood, in particularly the way his parents brought him up. â€Å"I grew – or did not grow† is a phrase that shows that the narrator feels that while he was un-loved, he could not grow as a person. It could also mean he thinks he has missed out on his childhood and started off with the harsh feelings only and adult could understand and no child should have to feel. And as you cannot grow past being an adult, in that sense he has not grown. The narrator also tells of how even a new couple cannot possibly, in his mind, escape the â€Å"shadow of divorce†. When conveying this view, he makes reference to an albatross. This could also have different meanings. The most obvious meaning that springs to mind is because the albatross has the biggest wing span, it would create a huge shadow over any marriage. But a more in depth analysis could link the albatross back to the poem â€Å"Rhyme of the ancient mariner†. The tone of the poem is a lot more depressing than the first poem. The structure is also cleverly devised by the author. The first stanza has a disorganised and erratic rhyme scheme which represents the confusion and disorder in the narrator’s life. But as the poem progresses, a more organised rhyme pattern starts to appear and the emergence of rhyming couplets maybe shows the narrators life is calming down and becoming more organised. The narrator also uses irony when he says â€Å"home, sweet home†. The final poem I studied was â€Å"My Grandmother†. This poem is about the narrator’s grandmother. The title was chosen mainly because it explains what the poem is about. The word â€Å"my† may seem small and unimportant, but when people are proud of something they often emphasise and make it known they are linked with the person or object by using this technique. For example, when people use the phrase â€Å"That’s my boy† it is a way of saying, he’s with me and I want everyone to know. The title could therefore mean the narrator is proud of his Grandmother and wants everyone to know this. Once again the main theme of this poem is regret. â€Å"I remember how I once refused, to go out with her, since I was afraid† and â€Å"Though she never said, that she was hurt, I could still feel the guilt† are phrases that back up this point. Another theme of the poem is isolation and loneliness. â€Å"She kept an antique shop –  or it kept her† and â€Å"She watched her own reflection is the brass† are quotes that show the Grandmother was lonely and obviously didn’t have any close friends or family. I think the use of an â€Å"antique shop† is meant to represent old age. When reading the poem, you notice it is quite fast and up beat. This is because of the rhyme scheme – A, B, A, B, C, C, which is used in each stanza. The poem also uses iambic pentameter. This gives it a quick tempo and makes it free flowing. The speed of the poem is again in contrast with the themes of the poem. This is maybe due to the fact that the narrator admits â€Å"when she died, I felt no grief at all†. This means that the narrator has nothing to be sad about and therefore keeps the poem quite up beat. Each stanza tells a different part of the story and the first and third stanzas are explaining events, where as the second and fourth and primarily about the feelings of the narrator. Each of these poems outlines different experiences of childhood. â€Å"Looking For Dad† talks about divorce and separation, â€Å"The Sick Equation† discusses the affects of domestic arguments and â€Å"My Grandmother† is about the death of a loved one. But the themes that are constantly mentioned in all the poems are regret and isolation. This shows that maybe bad memories are more memorable than the good ones and the scars left by these experiences will always remain fresh in the minds of the characters