Research Proposal Global Financial Crisis Essay Example

Research Proposal: Global Financial Crisis Essay Definition and Types of Crises There are four general types of financial crisis (listed below) and many crisis situations may have elements of all of these types or only of one of them. Currency crisis. A currency crisis occurs when there is a speculative attack on the exchange rate, that devaluates domestic currency or significantly depreciates a floating currency. A currency crisis occurred in Europe in 1992 when United Kingdom and Italy were forced to leave the ERM. Banking crisis. A banking crisis happens when investors lose confidence in banks and withdraw their deposits that, causing a run on the banks. Banking crisis can also happen when banks make many bad loans and investments, that they become insolvent. In both cases banks are forced to close or ask government for help. The most famous banking crisis occurred in the United States in the beginning of 1930s, when more than 10,000 banks collapsed. We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal: Global Financial Crisis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal: Global Financial Crisis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Research Proposal: Global Financial Crisis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Systematic financial crisis. Systematic financial crisis is a devastating disruption in financial marketing affecting the whole economy. Systematic financial crisis may involve banking and currency crises, as well as breakdown of equity and bond markets and money market institutions. Systematic financial crises happen not so often as other types of crises and usually involve a major political collapse. A systematic financial crisis happened in Serbia in 1993 and was accompanied by hyperinflation. Foreign debt crisis. Foreign debt crisis occurs when a country is unable to keep up the interest payments on the foreign debt. This situation may trigger currency and banking crises. In such cases, countries usually ask IMF for help. This type of crisis happened very often in the modern history. A big crisis occurred in 1982 and affected many Latin American countries, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. The survival of many US and UK banks that have invested in these countries has been threatened. Origins of Crises All crises usually have common causes, which include creation of unsustainable economic imbalances in asset prices and exchange rates. Many crises have been causes by a sudden loss of confidence in a banking system. A big financial crisis has occurred in Asia in 1997. A currency crisis has evolved into banking crisis and affected Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. These countries have experienced several years of constant growth and were known as the success story of the world economy. The banks have made many loans, since profits were rising, as well as equity and property prices. Very few loans defaulted and bankers got too confident in the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. Many young bankers have seen only financial growth and did not expect any other conditions. Asset prices were driven up by speculators who borrowed money to buy assets, which in turn was also driving assets prices up. When an asset bubble burst, it created a chain of bankruptcies. In addition to that, good times have covered up that many banks were poorly run and that a system of banking regulations was inadequate. The financial crisis caused bankruptcies and financial problems for millions of people. Asian crisis was very similar to the current crisis and it is surprising that the Asian crisis in 1997-1998 did not teach the rest of the world a lesson. Asian crisis did raise several questions in the rest of the world, namely whether government should control asset prices. Assets here are referred to such assets as houses and factories, as well as partially to prices of securities, including company shares. Before the crises, the main approach was that government should keep under control retail prices. It was believed that if retail prices are stable they will eventually stabilize asset prices. However, this approach did not take into account asset price bubbles. Such bubbles can cause significant damage to the economy, however, they can be prevented if necessary policies and regulations are in place. Causes of the Current Financial Crisis Just like before the Asian crises of the 90s, financiers, bankers and lawmakers during the last several years, became too confident in the market growth and stability. There were no financial regulations to prevent risk concentration. Macroeconomic policies did not prevent acceleration of systemic risks in the financial system and in housing market. For seven years in a raw interest rates were low and economy growth was high. Compensation is financial companies was based on short-term profit, which stimulated risk-taking. Financial institutions were not properly controlled and supervised. Everyone apparently relied on the market discipline and due diligence, which, as it turns out, has failed. The regulators did not have enough information about the risk activities of the banks. The US Government has temporally banned short selling in more than 900 financial institutions. The ban was lifted in October. Current Credit Crisis Credit crisis is dragging the U.S. and together with them the rest of the world into very deep recession. In the last decades the economic slow-downs were quite mild mainly because the consumer spending was more or less stable, which in turn was possible due to the numerous ways to borrow money. Since 1985, consumer personal savings were steadily declining and debt was tremendously increasing. People were spending and borrowing more and more. No one would be surprised now to see that a person has 15 credit cards. Now the period of great spending seems to be over. Stock markets and house values have dropped and consumers spending decrease. These negative financial factors are driving out of business many companies all over the world. The firms that go out of business lay off workers, who, after losing their job, might not be able to pay their bills and file for bankruptcy. Banks all over the world are not issuing enough credits. Many corporations are not able to obtain working capital which prevents their development. Foreign investors are especially reluctant to invest in developing countries since their economic systems are more vulnerable. Almost no securities are issued and equity prices have significantly declined. Subprime mortgage crises The subprime mortgage crisis is one of the main triggers of the financial crises in the United States. It started in late 2006 and caused a chain effect crisis in the financial markets worldwide throughout 2007, 2008 and 2009. The crisis began with the bursting of the US housing bubble and the big number of defaulted borrowers of â€Å"subprime† credits and other adjustable rate mortgages made to people with less income or poor credit history. The mortgage crisis expressed itself in liquidity problems in the banking system and high number of foreclosures. The loan incentives and the trend of stable price rising in the housing sector pushed the borrower to assume mortgages, thinking that later on they will be able to refinance their loans at more favorable conditions. But when the prices of the real estate started going down in 2006 – 2007, refinancing became less feasible due to the rising adjustable interest rates. Borrowers had to pay more than their property was wort h. During 2007, the default rate rose with 79% compared to 2006 and around 1,3 Million properties in the United States were subject to foreclosure. The first ones to be affected were the mortgage lenders who retained the credit risk – borrowers were unable or unwilling to make the payments. Among such lenders is New Century Financial Corporation, which used to be the second lender in the country. Major banks and financial institutions suffered huge losses. â€Å"The failure of these companies has caused prices in the $6.5 trillion mortgage backed securities market to collapse, threatening broader impacts on the U.S. housing market and economy as a whole.† Subprime lending has become a common practice in the United States during the last decades. Unfortunately, land owners very often lend their lands to people with poor credit ability. Poor credit characteristics put under doubt financial responsibility of some subprime borrowers. In these cases lenders take on risks cooperating with such borrowers. Lenders use different methods to compensate this risk. They use higher interest rate, higher over limit fees, higher yearly fees, or higher late fees as a compensation for poor credit ability. â€Å"These late fees are then charged to the account, which may drive the customer over their credit limit, resulting in over limit fees.† The subprime mortgage crisis is the most severe real estate recession, it is far from over and it is growing drastically spreading in nearly every major US city. The prices of home decline and the number of filing for foreclosure rises with a pace unseen before. According to the SP/Case-Shiller composite index for 20 cities the house prices tumbled 12.7% in February compared with 2007’s rate. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research this drop left around nine million people who have to pay to the lenders more that their properties are worth. This amount is 10% of the mortgage borrowers, another 6% are behind their schedule for payment. Loan providers are foreclosing on many houses amounting to more than a million. The pessimistic opinions is that the amount of defaults will rise more and more and it will exercise pressure on home prices pushing them further down. It is very likely to happen in short term whereas in long term there is light in the tunnel. The falli ng prices have made homes a bit more affordable, the government is also putting efforts into the ongoing real estate issue. Even though measures were taken by the Federal government and the Federal Reserve, the forecast for declining house prices remains until the excess inventory has been gradually removed. But the problem the world economy faces is not only the mortgage market shrinking but the three-fold effect that the price deflation brings along. The first one logically is the tougher credit conditions banks require for loans which, some experts believe, should have been done long time ago. The second effect is worsening of the labor market with rising unemployment and slowing salaries. The wages in 2008 in the private sector have risen with 3.6%. This is the worst result since mid-2003. On the other hand the inflation hit a record of almost 4% for the same period which make the real pay falling. The third effect of the subprime market crisis is pushing the commodity prices high up. The strongest impact the crisis had, was on the financial markets. A chain effect was created around the world. As already mentioned above many banks like Bank of America, Citibank, Merrill Lynch, UBS and others have written off billions of dollars. Bear Sterns Bank was bailed out by JP Morgan Chase with the support of the government. These events made the policy makers in many developed countries to undertake more aggressive actions in order to soften the disastrous impact. The first step was to provide liquidity and undertake saving operations for some troubled bank (above ex.: Bear Sterns Bank). The second step was to cut interest rates. In order the boost the economy and to stimulate investment the Currently the home prices are still going down and the sales are decreasing. The experts do not see the situation otherwise until the credit markets loosen and nobody expect encouraging financial figures from the construction companies. The recessions are healthy for any economy and happen once in a while, however the coming recession is promising to deeper and longer than many before. My biggest fear is that the Great Depression of the 1929 soon will be known as the first Great Depression. As I said already, theoretically there is nothing wrong with recession, it is not a sign of â€Å"sick† economy, however, the unethical behavior of financial institutions that brought about this depression is really disturbing. Several big financial institutions were gambling with their investors’ money and as a result the whole world might be facing were problematic economic conditions soon. It seems like the whole financial system is falling in a domino effect. Some experts blame American government for subsidizing house buying and making houses seem artificially more attractive. Government spent millions of money to encourage home ownership, because it thinks that people who own homes are more stable and obedient. Government thought that home owners will save more than they would do otherwise, however, home-equity loans increased spending. Government subsidies are not the main cause of the inflation, but it certainly helped it to intensify. Government involvement The current financial crises has caused the most severe recession since World War II. The economy is expected to decrease by 1.3% in 2009 and to start slow recovery a year after. The improvement is possible mainly due to the governments’ involvement. IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard believes that by the end of 2009 the unemployment will start decreasing and growth can become positive again. According to IMF, financial sector restructuring is now the main priority for the governments. Obviously governments all over the world have to interfere to save their financial systems. Governments take various measures including interest rate cuts, capital injections, and lending guarantees to restore liquidity, revive the ailing banking system and rebuild investors’ confidence. This financial crisis has shown how interdependent many financial organizations are. If government will not support one collapsing bank, it can lead to collapse of several others. As a results, financi al organizations that have taken excessive risks and have incurred incredible loses are being saved by the governments and tax-payers money. It can convey a wrong message to other organizations that will also decide to take excessive risk hoping that the government will bail them out if necessary. So far government institutions did not come up with the way how to track interdependency and interconnection of the companies in order to notice when they are too connected. In the years after the recession, policy-makers might need to concentrate on the way to decrease domino effect from financial institution’s collapse. Financial analysts are proposing rules to regulate short selling. Many countries have already introduced some restrictions on this practice after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Short seller benefits when the prices are decreasing. Some experts say that short selling has caused collapse of several companies and that the policies should be restricted or modified, however, there is no unanimous opinion on this matter among the regulators. U.S central bank has cut interest rates to 1.5%. Loans are becoming more accessible with the lowering of rates, and it creates a hope that more people and businesses put money into the economy. Stock exchanges around the world reacted to the decline in rates, but not very strongly. Virtually all of the world’s governments are now developing and take crisis measures, including collaboration with other countries to mitigate the possible effects of the economic downturn. Perhaps, it is due to the current crisis will occur soul-searching that bring together the positions of many politicians and economists. In the face of modernity such global economic crisis requires global action and concerted action by various countries. However, not everyone understands this fact continuing to swing the â€Å"boat† and risking themselves to â€Å"fall into the water†. Crisis in Europe Germany had a very careful housing market policy, however, it did not escape the crisis. The government now is trying to avoid using taxpayers money without punishing shareholders, but this move might be inevitable. Germany is also very reluctant to nationalize banks. Government of Spain increased deposit guarantees, banned naked short selling, and approved measures that allow government to buy bank shares. The United Kingdom cut interest rates in October 2008, increased level of saving guaranteed. French government provided ˆ320 billion to guarantee bank lending and temporarily banned short selling. Austria provided unlimited guarantee on bank deposits, injected ˆ15 billions to boost bank capital, and limited amount of short selling. Crisis in Middle East Financial institutions in Middle East and Africa have not been as vulnerable to the financial crises as the Western world, because they are not completely integrated in the global financial system. Nevertheless, according to the World Bank, the region experiences decline in growth rates and growth in 2009 is expected to be lower than in 2008 in all countries except from Qatar and Yemen. The growth of Qatar and Yemen will be supported by increasing available natural gas resources. According to IMF, Middle Eastern economy will grow 2.5% in 2009, which is a significant decline compared to 5.9% in 2008 (See Table 1). Middle East and Africa are expected to slow down in their growth, but will not be as affected by the crisis as other developing regions, such as Eastern Europe, Central Asia, East Asia and Pacific, In Egypt, economic growth slowed by 3.6% and unemployment rose to 8.8%. Several big construction projects sponsored by foreign investors stopped in Dubai, which resulted in significant job loss. Countries of Middles East and Africa can be divided into four groups depending on their reaction to financial crisis: First group consists of oil exporters, countries that are financially strong and have small population – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. This group is least vulnerable to the financial crisis. Despite the fact that their stock markets were in trouble during 2008, the governments managed to relax monetary policy – they provided capital and guaranteed deposits to the investors. Decline in oil prices will slow down the growth of these countries, with the exception of Qatar, whose GDP is expected to grow 29%. The growth of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE the growth is supposed to be around zero. These countries have large financial reserves, which are expected to help get the countries over the crisis. The governments of these countries got involved on the early stages of the crisis to protect their banking systems and stock markets. They relaxed monetary policy, secured deposits and provided new capital where it was needed. Government of Saudi Arabia introduced a significant investment spending plan and gave capital to Saudi Credit bank to secure credits to people with low income. Second group of countries are also oil exporters, but with relatively large populations – Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria. These countries have entered the crisis with less financial reserves. Iran’s government is using fiscal contraction measures and Algeria is drawing down the reserves. Third group consists of countries that do not export oil – Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen and Djibouti. Lebanon and Jordan depend on tourism and foreign financial aid, both of which have declined. Migrant workers are returning to the countries, which will increase unemployment rate and government will face some difficulties. Jordan announced fiscal stimulus package and guaranteed deposits in the domestic banks. Despite forecasts, Lebanon did surprisingly good in 2008 – its GDP grew 9%. The number of tourists in the first three months of 2009 has increased 50% compared with the previous year. The property prices remain steady. The economic growth and stability is surprising taking into account country’s turbulent political situation. Four years ago, head of the Lebanese central bank prohibited dealing in mortgage-linked securities. Iran and some other reach Gulf countries have provided significant financial aid to Lebanon after its war with Israel in 2006. Lebanon still h as huge national debt which is equal to 162% of its GDP, so country still has a long way to go in order to improve its financial situation. Forth group consists of countries that heavily rely on tourism from Europe – Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. These countries have already experienced decline of numbers of tourists and worsening of economic conditions. Egypt created a fiscal stimulus package directed to create new jobs and improve infrastructure. Tunisian government is taking measures to increase employment rate.Auguste Kouame, Acting Chief Economist for the MENA Region suggests that countries in Middle East should change their social security policies and create social support programs for the parts of population that have suffered the most from the crisis. Social benefit programs will help economy to recover faster. It is important to support employment and develop infrastructure. Eastern Europe and Central Asia Unlike Middle East, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were hit really hard by the crisis. After several years of growth, financial crisis brought millions people in this region back to poverty. According to the World Bank, by the end of 2010, 35 million people will live in poverty or slightly above it. Albania, Moldova and Tajikistan have been hit especially hard by the crisis. It is obviously imperative for the governments of the Region to meet the urgent and immediate needs of their citizens,† said Shigeo Katsu, World Bank Vice President for the Europe and Central Asia Region. â€Å"Safety net programs – school feeding programs, nutrition, conditional cash transfer projects, cash for work – are important not only in times of crisis, but in the long-run they help to protect the poor and allow governments to avoid other more costly or inefficient policies. And if programs are well targeted, you do not need exorbitant amounts to protect the poor. Their cost – at less than one percent of GDP – can go a long way and is a small price to pay.† Among Eastern European countries, Poland is relatively better of than its neighbors. It has received a $20.5 billion credit from the IMF. But for Poland it was not a bail-out like for Ukraine, Hungary and Latvia. It was a precautionary measure and money were offered only to top borrowers. Polish central bank has ct interest rates from 6% to 3.75%. Polish consumers have relatively fast wage growth and low level of debt, which makes them spending more. Nevertheless, the country faces serious problems: migrant workers are returning from Western Europe which drove unemployment to 11.2%. Polish government is more stable than many others in Eastern Europe. An asset-price bubble has already occurred in Poland several years ago and government has taken necessary measures to prevent it from happening again. Bank regulations have restrained borrowing in foreign currency. Compared to the neighbors in the region, Polish politic and economy looks relatively stable and plans to introduce euro in 2 012-2015. Legal Responses Experts are predicting growing number of civil and criminal lawsuits as a result of the financial crisis. For example, recently there was a billion-dollar lawsuit filed against KPMG, one of the four biggest auditing companies. The claim of the lawsuit is that KPMG’s negligent audits helped cause the collapse of the largest subprime mortgage provider in the United States. New Century Financial Corporation has filed for bankruptcy two years ago and triggered collapse of other firms and banks, which suffered losses from mortgage-linked securities. Debtors of New Century Financial Corporation accuse KMPG in covering up problems of the company, its accounting and financial errors. In 2008, there was a lawsuit against Merrill Lynch because the terms of its acquisition of Bank of America were unfair. AIG was sued for losses of pension. However, it is not going to be easy to satisfy all the claims, since many companies are filing for bankruptcy, like, for example, Lehman Brothers. All the lawsuits against this company are frozen and funds to pay the claims will be limited. Getting money out of nationalized companies, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG will be also not easy. Lawyers are also planning to press charges against rating agencies that approved many questionable operations. Accusations of executive excess, accounting fraud and lack of disclosure are very popular now. Significant amount of information is becoming public very fast and it becomes easier to find someone to blame. Shareholders and debtors can pursue even companies that incurred significant losses because of their liability insurance. Shareholders have files lawsuits not only against the corporations, but against directors and officers. Rating agencies are blamed for not spotting the subprime crisis. City of Baltimore pressed charges against Wells Fargo bank N.A. for targeting mainly African-American customers in their subprime lending activities. Many experts argue that the crisis was foreseeable and this notion promises much new litigations. There appeared a new area of law – financial crisis law. Law firms are creating financial crisis to help the customers manage their financial difficulties. Some financial observers argue that corporations are using their power and influence to prevent government from passing new regulations and necessary reforms. Many questions remain unanswered still, for example, should there be new laws to prevent institutions to become too big to fail? Should existing large corporations be split up? I my opinion, given the current global financial environment, there should be big corporations. However, the regulations how to monitor such big corporations should change. European Parliament is working now on the new legislature that is supposed to improve risk management and help avoiding financial crisis in the future. Bibliography

Free Essays on Discuss And Activity, Interest, Experience Or Achievement In Your Life That Has Meaning.

I walked through the open glass doors like the lonely kid, just like many times before. High school, it’s where my mother said I will meet my true life long friends the ones that will throw me surprise birthday parties and ease my broken heart when the then â€Å"Mr. Right† broke up with me. I never had that, those girls you call to go to the mall with or giggle with about guys until I walked through those glass doors, the ones that looked wide open waiting for me to come to change my life in endless ways and to bring sunshine just one more hour longer took a big gasping breathe and had my first night at youth group. Walking through those doors I have meet three people who have changed my life in unthinkable ways, the ways of giggling on the phone till endless hours, baking cookies, and most importantly our favorite calzones. I grew up with these three girls and we just lost touch but seeing them in that room with a gigantic smile on their face gave me that comfortable feeling, the feeling of warmth and knowing that this is where I belong. This is when my mother was right for once, I have meet those people, the ones who know my every wish, dream, and better yet understand who I am and love me for me. My friends are Jewish, and so am I not too long ago I was afraid of telling people who I am and my beliefs but now I’m proud to let them know. I thank my friends for showing me there is nothing to be afraid of and for showing me what true friends are, for having someone to giggle with and most importantly for being there.... Free Essays on Discuss And Activity, Interest, Experience Or Achievement In Your Life That Has Meaning. Free Essays on Discuss And Activity, Interest, Experience Or Achievement In Your Life That Has Meaning. The most beautiful smiles are the ones that have struggled though most tears. The perfect family for me was far from reach as I grew up I was without a father for two years, I’ve always known that people make mistakes but being forgiven for them was a different story. I’m not sure how it started but my dad decided to walk out when I was 9, I remember looking at the door as he left thinking another long day at work. I’ve always wanted to be â€Å"daddy’s girl† the one who he took shopping and held on his shoulders at county fairs no matter how close we weren’t I still thought my dad was amazing. He came back into my life when my oldest brother turned 13 somehow he knew it was his Bar Mitzvah and showed up I looked at him much like he had become a stranger to me, to my life. We welcomed him back into our family and now he is trying to become the man he wished he could have been. He missed my dance recitals, my first cheerleading competition, an d those first days of school where he and my mother had video taped me walking out the door onto another chapter in my life. He is trying so hard to be all he wasn’t and I idolize him for that he made a mistake, he learned, now he has a lot to catch up on. He took me shopping the other day and we went to the fair together for the past four years in a row and each time we go into a small photo booth to take a picture and he tells me, â€Å"Smile Ashley, you’re beautiful.†... Free Essays on Discuss And Activity, Interest, Experience Or Achievement In Your Life That Has Meaning. I walked through the open glass doors like the lonely kid, just like many times before. High school, it’s where my mother said I will meet my true life long friends the ones that will throw me surprise birthday parties and ease my broken heart when the then â€Å"Mr. Right† broke up with me. I never had that, those girls you call to go to the mall with or giggle with about guys until I walked through those glass doors, the ones that looked wide open waiting for me to come to change my life in endless ways and to bring sunshine just one more hour longer took a big gasping breathe and had my first night at youth group. Walking through those doors I have meet three people who have changed my life in unthinkable ways, the ways of giggling on the phone till endless hours, baking cookies, and most importantly our favorite calzones. I grew up with these three girls and we just lost touch but seeing them in that room with a gigantic smile on their face gave me that comfortable feeling, the feeling of warmth and knowing that this is where I belong. This is when my mother was right for once, I have meet those people, the ones who know my every wish, dream, and better yet understand who I am and love me for me. My friends are Jewish, and so am I not too long ago I was afraid of telling people who I am and my beliefs but now I’m proud to let them know. I thank my friends for showing me there is nothing to be afraid of and for showing me what true friends are, for having someone to giggle with and most importantly for being there....

The Phlight of Armenians History Research Paper

The Phlight of Armenians History - Research Paper Example In the midst of this, however, dandyism, epitomized by George â€Å"Beau† Brummell, flourished as a kind of revolt against the aristocracy and the landed classes of the day. According to Rhonda K. Garelick (1998), dandyism during this period influenced modern concepts of celebrity, well into the late twentieth century. She views dandies as â€Å"sexually ambiguous† (3) and as â€Å"double-sex beings† (5), implying that dandyism of the eighteenth century had very little to do with gender roles and sexuality. It has been traditionally understood that dandyism was an idealization of women performed by men, but if Garelick is correct in her estimation of dandies and of dandyism, then that may not be the case. S.R. Cole (2006), however, would disagree with Garelick and takes dandyism in a different direction. He sees dandyism as a class-related phenomenon intertwined with homo-eroticism between men. For Cole, dandyism is â€Å"driven by†¦the desire for aristocra tic status†Ã¢â‚¬â€one that involves an admiring â€Å"male gaze† (138). This perspective does not perceive dandyism as inevitably hostile to women. To the modern person, dandyism appears â€Å"unmasculine† and even â€Å"effeminate,† but its connection to gender and sexual practices is not as strong as its connection to status and the aristocracy. A discussion about dandyism requires discussing the dandies themselves, especially George â€Å"Beau† Brummell, who although he was unattached, was definitely not gay in the modern sense. He was, however, the arbiter of fashion of the time. One of the most famous quotes regarding Brummell was stated by another dandy, Brummell’s friend Lord Byron: â€Å"There are three great men of our age, myself, Napoleon and Brummell, but of we three, the greatest of all is Brummell† (Moers, 24). Not only was Brummell one of the earliest dandies; he was the model for the entire movement. One of the earlies t books written about dandies, The Wits and Beaux of Society, by Grace Wharton and Philip Wharton in 1860, labels dandies as â€Å"beaux,† after Brummell, which the book describes as â€Å"never likely to be quite forgotten† (xvi). For the Whartons, beaux (or dandies) are all men, even though they previously published a book that focused on well-known women of the time. They describe a dandy as â€Å"a cheat†¦who imposes on his public by his clothes or appearance† (80). Indeed, Brummell’s most recent biographer, Ian Kelly (2006), describes Brummell as â€Å"the first celebrity† (1)—the first person to be famous for being famous. Like many celebrities today, Brummell did not have any particular talent other than a penchant for attaching himself to royalty and to the royal court. Nonetheless, he had a profound influence on British society, and established the modern view of celebrity in the West, even what has become the stereotyped †Å"celebrity pattern of a fall from grace† (Kelly, 1). Brummell was certainly the right man for his time, in the years following the French Revolution, when the British aristocracy felt compelled to justify its existence. The dandy, as expressed through Brummell, was a study in contradictions, and to understand those contradictions, Brummell should be considered in any discussion of the dandy. As Moers (1960) points out, Camus defined the dandy as â€Å"an archetype of the human being in revolt against society† (17), one that had little to do with gender roles and

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Customer Service Concepts - Assignment Example A bank needs to ensure that it has an efficient and effective complaint management system in which customer complaints are dealt with least possible delays and the solution is satisfactory for the customer (Junarso, 2006). In order to create an effective and efficient complaint management system, banks should have online complaint registration systems so the customers can instantly launch their complaints. Once the complaint is received, the complaint manager should forward it to the relevant department and the relevant department should correct the issue as soon as complaint is received. The banks need to hold a history of all the complaints and solutions for those complaints so in future if similar complaints arise, they are sorted out immediately. HEAT (Hear, Empathize, Apologize and Take Ownership)Â  Customer satisfaction can be attained if the concept of HEAT is applied by organizations such as banks. Hear them out is the first step in which the employee listens to the issues o f the customer and does not retaliate even if the customer looses his/her temper. While receiving complaints, banking staff should ensure that they quietly listen to all the issues experienced by the customer before responding (Zemke, 1999, p.291). Once the employee has clearly heard the issues experienced by the customer, the employee needs to respond to the customer in an empathetic manner and inform them that the problem experienced by the customer is well understood.... fective complaint management system in which customer complaints are dealt with least possible delays and the solution is satisfactory for the customer (Junarso, 2006). In order to create an effective and efficient complaint management system, banks should have online complaint registration systems so the customers can instantly launch their complaints. Once the complaint is received, the complaint manager should forward it to the relevant department and the relevant department should correct the issue as soon as complaint is received. The banks need to hold a history of all the complaints and solutions for those complaints so in future if similar complaints arise, they are sorted out immediately. HEAT (Hear, Empathize, Apologize and Take Ownership) Customer satisfaction can be attained if the concept of HEAT is applied by organizations such as banks. Hear them out is the first step in which the employee listens to the issues of the customer and does not retaliate even if the custome r looses his/her temper. While receiving complaints, banking staff should ensure that they quietly listen to all the issues experienced by the customer before responding (Zemke, 1999, p.291). Once the employee has clearly heard the issues experienced by the customer, the employee needs to respond to the customer in an empathetic manner and inform them that the problem experienced by the customer is well understood. A banking employee needs to be aware of how a customer feels when he/she experiences an issue. Next the banking customer needs to respond in a very apologetic manner and apologize from the customer for all the issues caused. A simple apology can change the entire attitude of the customer. Once the problem has been well heard by a banking employee, he needs to make the customer

The Language And Linguistic Competence English Language Essay

The Language And Linguistic Competence English Language Essay Linguistic competence, besides being a part communicative competence, deals with language as such in oral communication which encompasses many spheres namely phonology that deals with pronunciation and perception of speech sounds, prosody that is needed when using intonation to convey syntactic information and the ability to interpret the information conveyed through intonation, lexis or diction which is the ability to choose the proper lexis in communication and make sense of the subtle meaning of a particular word or expression, and grammar that helps sentence formation and interpretation of sentence meaning. Then one needs to clarify the nature of a language. Language  is a set of rules for generating speech  [1]  , or system of conventional spoken or written symbols used by people in a shared culture to communicate with each other  [2]  . This shared culture is created by people. Hence, language cannot exist without its users. If its user quits using a language, then it ceases to exist. The vivid example is Latin language (here, the usage of Latin in medicine or other sciences is omitted). For a language to exist there should be society, because it is the society that uses and modifies language as time goes by. How many languages are there in the world? Entologue research counted 6909 languages in the world  [3]  . And according to Encarta Encyclopedia there are ten mostly used languages in the world: Mandarin Chinese, Hindi or Urdu, Spanish, English, Arabic, Bengali, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese, and German  [4]  ,  [5]  . These are used in intercultural communication most of all. Nonetheless, any language can serve as a channel for information flow. Yet, one language can have many speech communities that are big and small. Lobanov  [6]  implemented this term to describe variations of one language that exist, since one language can have many versions like, for example, English (British English, American English) or variances of one language in one country i.e. dialect. Language by its nature can serve not only as means of communication, but also as self identification or identification of others. Likewise, one can use a language to exclude people from communication. For instance, in Russian prisons inmates use prison jargon in communication so that staff of prison would not understand what they are talking about. Communication can occur if participants of oral communication know and use a common language. It is much easier if they are native speakers of the common language and share a lot of common ground knowledge. However, if they speak a completely different language, they wont have good interaction, except primitive exchange of basic information by hand gestures that can be misleading or they would need to hire an interpreter. This section of the dissertation presents the situation when people do speak a common language, however that means of communication is not their native language and they dont have common grounding. In such case, people would have different styles of communication that reside in their culture and differ from others that naturally cause miscommunication between them. There are 6 types of oral miscommunication which are caused by lack of knowledge of various language spheres such as phonology, lexis, grammar, and cultural competence  [7]  . Table.2 Model for the categorization of nonnative-native speakers oral miscommunication and its causes. Mispronunciation when encoding in speaking Misuse and misunderstanding of spoken due to lack of adequate competence in prosody and phonology Misperception when decoding when hearing Misspeaking when encoding in speaking Misuse and misunderstanding of spoken due to lack of adequate grammar and lexis competence /Misinterpretation of spoken because of lack adequate intercultural competence or socio-cultural differences Misunderstanding or non-understanding when decoding Misformulating spoken discourse misuse and misinterpretation of spoken due to lack of adequate pragmatic competence/ Misinterpretation of spoken because of lack adequate intercultural competence or socio-cultural differences Misunderstanding or non-understanding of spoken discourse. Zhenxian Wang, Verbal Miscommunication Between English Native Speakers And Chinese Learners of English, Beijing Institute of Education, 2009, p. 5-11. Mispronunciation which is the first point of the above table deals with encoding in speaking. Here Encoding is meant to be at the productive phonological level, which has three broad types: segmental, combinational, and supersegmental. Segmental mispronunciation occurs in individual consonants or vowels; combination mispronunciation refers to the omission of one consonant in a consonant cluster, poor pronunciation of linking sounds and weak forms; suprasegmental mispronunciation comprises the phenomena of stress (word stress and sentence stress) rhythm, and intonation  [8]  . For instance, one who speaks English that is not good enough could pronounce heat instead of hit, think like sink and many other words incorrectly. Misperception when decoding when hearing. It occurs when one wrongly perceive or fail to recognize the pronunciation of words. For instance, one can see the difference between hut and hot, sink and think, Seek and sick and other words as he or she might apply the competence on phonology of his or her native language which might differ tremendously. Misspeaking when encoding in speaking. Misuse of lexis, which often results from their lack of knowledge of the connotation of the lexis. For instance, one could say In lame mans terms: instead of In laymans terms meaning someone who lacks specialized knowledge on a topic. It wouldnt be correct, or nice, to label someone a lame man. Misunderstanding or non-understanding when decoding. Ignorance of a words connotation can lead to misspeaking, so it can also bring about misunderstanding. For instance, there is an expression break your leg that is used as a wish of good luck for the actors or entertainers before their performance. It is sometimes used even in the casual everyday life. Without knowing it, the foreigner might be offended that someone is suggesting breaking ones leg. Misformulating spoken discourse. For instance, in China, when the host offers anything to drink or eat, the guest, whether he or she wants to take it or not, will usually reply with a ritual No when asked for the first time. Then the host insists that the guest would accept the offer, replying with something like ok. Whereas, in certain other cultures of such continents as North America or Europe, the host does not serve drink or food against the spoken wishes of the guest. For that reason, in the western world, a Chinese person ends up without food or drink because of his or her ritual answer. Non-native speakers tend to employ the conversation strategies from their cultures, when they are not appropriate in cultures of native speakers or people from other cultures. Non-understanding of discourse force is often a result of failure to distinguish discourse markers. For example, the discourse force of the sentence Nice meeting you is to finish the conversation; however, a nonnative speaker may not understand it. As a result, s/he continues talking to the native speaker who finally has to finish the conversation by saying Sorry, we have to go.  [9]  This situation took place between a Chinese high school female teacher of English and a female visitor from America when they met at the Tiananmen Square for the first time  [10]  . 3.1 Vocabulary or Lexis Words are the basic units of any language in the world that are used in sentences supported by grammar. They are loaded with meanings that can be good, neutral or bad. Problems arise when, for instance, some of the words and phrases whose meanings are unknown to the hearer, which hinder the hearer from comprehension of the conversation. Likewise there are the words known to the hearer but are undesired to be use due to their degree of rudeness. Here I will present and discuss certain categories of words and expressions that require special attention as they might cause miscommunication. 3.2 Slang The first aspect of lexis in intercultural communication that needs reviewing is slang. The reason behind it is that slang and its misunderstanding can cause Behavioral and Mindset Anxiety, Discomfort Fear of the Unknown, Prejudice and Stereotyping, Perceived Cultural Superiority or Ethnocentrism, Racial, Sexual, and Educational Discrimination  [11]  . One needs to understand that Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or trend or fashion in society at large  [12]  . The usage of slang in verbal intercultural communication might raise a barrier or misunderstanding as slang is attached to a certain social group, culture or subculture, rather not to language as such. Hence, a person who employs slang in his or her speech with foreigners that is used in communication among the representatives of his or her social group might be misunderstood or not understood at all. There are certain criteria for words to be considered as slang  [13]  : Its presence will markedly lower, at least for the moment, the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing. Its use implies the users special familiarity either with the referent or with that of less status or less responsible class of people who have such familiarity and use the term. It is a tabooed term in ordinary disclosure with persons of higher social status or greater responsibility. It is used in place of the well-known conventional synonyms, especially in order (a) to protect the user from the discomfort caused by the conventional item or (b) to protect the user from the discomfort or annoyance of further elaboration. The most important is to realize that communication requires common ground knowledge for both parties of communication  [14]  . Slang cannot be considered a common ground for intercultural conversation as different nations do not share the knowledge of the same slang across the globe. Not to mention that slang should be avoided in certain settings of official meetings at any cost. The best option is to exclude the use of this type of vocabulary for speech in intercultural communication.

Americans and Agriculture :: Agricultural Education Farming Essays Papers

Americans and Agriculture Works Cited Missing Agriculture is not all work and no play. Many advances can be made in the understanding of agriculture by making available a variety of methods to provide children with a hands-on experience and also educating all individuals about the importance of the practice. The ignorance of urban communities can be overcome with the help of organizations and people within the community. School visits, hands-on experiences, volunteers and organizations are just a few examples of the steps that can be taken to educate Americans about agriculture and close the gap between rural and urban populations. Agriculture is the science and practice of producing crops and livestock. The primary aim of agriculture is to use the land to produce more abundantly to feed and clothe the world at the same time protecting it from deterioration or misuse. Humans had to improve agriculture as they became more dependent on food, creating a solitary evolutionary connection between plants and animals (Campbell and Reece, 2001). In this day and age, so many people have forgotten the authentic premises of survival. It is easy for some to believe that the grocery stores produce food and clothing is produced by shopping centers. These inaccurate presumptions are being made due to the lack of knowledge of how agriculture truly works. There are also significant differences in the levels of understanding between rural and urban communities. As doubts of economic possibilities of farming and ranching continue to decline, the true farmer still respects their land and practices. The general stereotype of farmers and ranchers is poor stewardship. Historically, hunters and farmers were more interested environmentalists than compared with the liberal, urban vegetarians of today. However both share the same conditions for living and breathing. This creates confusion between needing and wanting within a typical household (Kingsolver, 2003). An easy answer to the problem is to provide proper education. Educating the young is the best way to get a point across and ensure that the America of tomorrow is less ignorant than the America of today. Children are eager to learn new things and are the best tool to promote agriculture (Robinson, 2005). There are many methods that can be made available to people of all ages, especially children, to increase their knowledge about agriculture.