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Holidays of Different Religions

Introduction

Religion is an important aspect of the society because of the fundamental roles that it plays. Recent religious research ascertains that currently, the world comprises of twelve major religions. Before 1800, there were only three world religions that included the Christians, Pagans and Jews. Then, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism emerged in the 1800s. Since then, various other types have emerged although it is widely contended that they derive their fundamental faiths from these original five. Traditions and practices amongst these differ considerably and are influenced by the ethnic background and nationality of the same. Notably, religious holidays play a significant role in these religions. They give respective adherents a chance to reinforce their common beliefs collectively as well as mark specific times that are important to their faith.

These are usually celebrated annually and they comprise of different activities. While some imply a joyous period that is characterized by laughter and celebration, some are more somber and imply a period of reflection and/or mourning. These events characterized the holidays that constitute various day(s) during which the activities and traditions are observed. It is certain that some holidays are specifically meant for particular religions. However, some are common and therefore shared amongst various groups. It is against this background that this paper provides an intrinsic analysis of the holidays of different religions. It is posited that this would enable the reader to understand and appreciate the inherent differences as well similarities between the same.

In his analysis, Roy ascertains that the Muslims have two main religious holidays that comprise of Eid al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha (44). To begin with, Eid al-Fitr is usually celebrated at the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Usually, this month is characterized by fasting and praying. Eid is an Arabic word that denotes festivity while Fitr implies to break the fast.

Thus literary, this holiday is an indication that the Muslims have officially broken their fasting period. The holiday lasts for three days and usually, the adherents are expected to wake up on the first day and have breakfast that symbolizes that they are no longer fasting. Usually, this is accompanied by a date fruit, after which they are expected to attend a special prayer that is held either in mosques or in open places. This is also characterized by asking for forgiveness from persons they have wronged and helping the needy as an indication of mercy. Usually, they are encouraged to dress on their best clothes and they visit the graveyards, friends, relatives and acquaintances after this special prayer.

Eid Al-Adha on the other hand is also referred to as the greater Eid is a holiday that is cerebrated in remembrance of the willingness that was exhibited by Abraham when he accepted to sacrifice Isaac, his son although God provided him with a ram instead. This was an important symbol of faith as well as obedience to God and Muslims especially in Agrarian communities often sacrifice different animals as an act of observance. Usually, this lasts for a period of three days. However, Rosenberg indicates that in most instances, the period of celebration it is determined by the specific country (39). It is celebrated on an annual basis and specific celebrations begin after the Mecca pilgrimage.

With regard to the holidays of the Hindu religion, it is indicated that this religion has the highest number of the same. In his review, Roy posits that the religion tends to have a religious holiday daily (45). This is due to the fact that currently, more than one thousand holidays have been listed as festivals. Traditionally, it is indicated that the Hindu holidays were entirely influenced by the natural cycle. As such, holidays were celebrated to mark different changes in seasons, to encourage land fertility and to celebrate various harvests. Then, other holidays are associated with certain deities like Ganesh or Shiva. In addition, other holidays were celebrated in remembrance of various events that took place in the lives of the Krishna or Rama. Further, Spicer notes that apart from the national holidays and festivals that the Hindus celebrate collectively, there are numerous more regional celebrations that are upheld to honor different deities (67).

Generally, it is contended that the holidays are geared towards purifying the adherents, averting malicious influences, renewing the society, strengthening the society to overcome challenges and face critical moments with ease, renewing the society and stimulating the vital productive powers of the natural environment. Usually, they are comprised of numerous rituals that range from eating, drinking, love making, feeding the poor, music to processions, prayer, magical actions and worship. Of these numerous holidays, studies cite ten specific ones that are considered to be more important than the rest. These include Diwali, Holi, Rama Navami, Shiva Ratri, Dassera, Navaratri, Kumbh Mela, Ganesha Utsava, Taksabandhana and Krishna Jayanti (Anonymous 1).

The Jewish religion also has a significant number of religious holidays that are celebrated for various purposes. Spicer notes that in some cases, these tend to coincide with the national holidays (67). Traditionally, these holidays were entirely base on the various seasons of the year that are defined by the Agricultural cycle. In this respect, it is contended that there are two cycles of the Jewish religious holidays. These begin with Rosh Hashanah that constitutes the New Year. This is then followed by the day of the atonement and finally the holiday of the booths. They usually take place for several days and in some instances, the government offices remain closed and adherents are allowed to go on vocation.

The following holiday period occurs in spring and is characterized by the Passover and the day of the independence. This usually coincides with the months of April, May and June. During this time, Roy indicates that most of the businesses tend to remain closed and the individuals are allowed to go on vocations (49). The most important holidays in Jewish religion according to studies include Day of Atonement that is characterized by consistent repentance and the festival of lights that is a representation of religious freedom. This usually lasts for a period of eight months and traditionally, participants wear disguises. Further, the Sabbath is also considered very vital and it on Friday afternoon and ends on Saturday evening. Spicer posits that it is usually considered very holy and as such perceived a national holiday too (72).

The Buddhists have also been cited to have numerous religious holidays and relative festivals. In his review, Roy indicates that these are celebrated throughout the year and mainly seem to remember vital events that occurred in the life of various Bodhissattvas or Buddha (57). These holidays are mainly joyful occasions that entail various events. Essentially, on such holidays, adherents begin their day by visiting the temples in which they distribute vital items including food to the monks. In addition, they listen to the Dharma talk. In the afternoon, they usually give food and other important item to the poor within their society, circumambulate as a sign of honoring the Three Jewels, and engage in meditation and chanting.

The first important holiday is called the New Year whose time of celebration varies from country to country but it takes a period of three days. Vessak, which implies Buddha’s birthday, is also an important holiday in Buddhism that is celebrated in May. Further, the Dhamma day implies the day that Buddha made the very first sermon that was delivered at Sarnath Deer Park. The Uposatha that is also referred to as the observance day constitutes four historical days within every month that are mainly observed by Theravada Countries. Then, Rosenberg cites that Kathina ceremony that is marked by the laity offering new robes and numerous other necessities to various monks and nuns (88). This usually happens at the end of a rains retreat season that lasts for a period of three months. Other important holidays and festivals include the floating Bows festival, the elephant festival, the ancestor day that is also called Ulambana and the tooth festival.

Finally, the Christians also have a host of holidays and relative festivals that play a vital role in their worship. Numerous studies of whom Spicer is represented contend that these are characterized by various feasts that commemorate different events in the life of Jesus Christ (78). Thus while some celebrate joyous events like the birth of Christ, others celebrate somber events the entail the death and resurrection of the same. Usually, these provide the Christians with a chance to lay particular focus of their personal discipline, self reflection as well as repentance. At his juncture, Rosenberg appreciates the fact that holidays have often played a critical role in Christianity since historical times (81). The oldest holiday according to this is Easter.

The Christian calendar begins with advent that is celebrated towards Christmas and entails the preparation of the birth of Christ. Christmas festival that is celebrated across the globe and coincides with the end of the year celebrations marks the birth of Jesus Christ who is a central figure in Christian faith. This is then followed by the period of lent whose beginning is marked by Ash Wednesday. According to Roy, Ash Wednesday is characterized by placing of ashes on the foreheads of the adherents (62). The lent period is leads to Easter and entails intensive praying as well as fasting. Before eater, there are other festivals that are celebrated. These include the Mardi Gras that gives the Christians and opportunity to enjoy a feast prior to lent. In addition, there is the Palm Sunday that comes on the last Sunday of the lent season. This is marked in commemoration of the triumphant entry of Jesus in Jerusalem. The lent period takes a total of forty days.

Easter is considered the oldest holiday in Christianity and basically, Christians celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ. It begins on Thursday and goes on till Monday evening. It is considered the most important event in Christian faith because it defines the purpose of their faith. As such, it is posited that this is held in very high regard. After these, there are numerous other feasts and festivals that are celebrated by the church. These include the epiphany that constitutes the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles, the Pentecost that entails the descending of the Holy Spirit to Christ’s apostles, the ascension of Christ in heaven and various other feasts of saints.

At this juncture, it is worth noting that there are numerous factions of Christianity that have different practices. Although the above feasts, festivals and holidays constitute the most fundamental ones, most of the feasts and festivals are not upheld by the various factions. Notably, the catholic church that it also the oldest of all other factions is the only one that upholds all these (Roy 69). Nevertheless, the major holidays such as Christmas and Easter are celebrated by al factions of the same.

Conclusion

At this point, it can be ascertained that religious holidays across various religions are wide and varied. According to this study, these are central in worship and are upheld by the adherents of different religions. It is also certain that different religions celebrate different festivals that are in line with their religious practices. Furthermore, these practices are also considered unique to the particular religion. Thus while there are number of similarities amongst a few religions, most of them differ considerably. It is in this regard therefore, that this paper concludes by appreciating that there are differences in the existing religions that largely define the nature of worship assumed by the specific religions.

Works Cited

Anonymous. Religious Facts. Retrieved, 3rd March, 2010, from: http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm

Christian, Roy. Religious Festivals: An Encyclopedia. USA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.

Dorothy, Spicer. Understanding Religion. USA: Omnigraphics, 2000.

Neil, Rosenberg. Blue Grass: A history. Illinois: University Press, 2005.

Holm’s test Hypothesis Testing

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Holm’s test Hypothesis Testing

Holm’s test is a stepwise method, also called a sequential rejection method, because it examines each hypothesis in an ordered sequence, and the decision to accept or reject the null depends on the results of the previous hypothesis tests. The Holm’s test is less conservative than the Bonferroni correction, and is therefore more powerful. The Holm’s test uses a stepwise procedure to examine the ordered set of null hypotheses, beginning with the smallest P value, and continuing until it fails to reject a null hypothesis.

Holm’s test.

Suppose we have k = 3 t-tests.

Assume target alpha(T)= 0.05.

Unadjusted p-values are

p1 = 0.001

p2 = 0.013

p3 = 0.074

For the jth test, calculate alpha(j) = alpha(T)/(k – j +1)

For test j = 1,

alpha(j) = alpha(T)/(k – j +1)

= 0.05/(3 – 1 + 1)

= 0.05 / 3

= 0.0167

For test j=1, the observed p1 = 0.001 is less than alpha(j) = 0.0167, so we reject the null hypothesis.

For test j = 2,

alpha(j) = alpha(T)/(k – j +1)

= 0.05/(3 – 2 + 1)

= 0.05 / 2

= 0.025

For test j=2, the observed p2 = 0.013 is less than alpha(j) = 0.025, so we reject the null hypothesis.

For test j = 3,

alpha(j) = alpha(T)/(k – j +1)

= 0.05/(3 – 3 + 1)

= 0.05 / 1

= 0.05

For test j=3, the observed p2 = 0.074 is greater than alpha(j) = 0.05, so we do not reject the null hypothesis.

Recall that the Family-wise error rate (FWER) is the probability that we will get at least one false positive result, P(at least one false positive result).

This shows the null hypothesis was accepted and that career path taking in marketing as an IT professional is the best way to the success of business. The H1 hypothesis was rejected in this case.

Holocaust Annotated Bibliography

Introduction

This work is an annotated bibliography, which will help me write my final paper on holocaust. This bibliography provides credible sources that provide relevant information and evidence of Nazi army and Jewish genocide in the 20th century. The bibliography will critically look into the topic of study to give a clear insight of what genocide was like in the 20th century Nazi Germans against Jews. Each source will be critically evaluated so that a strong argument can be formulated about genocidal conflict.

Bauer, Yehuda A History of the Holocaust. New York: Franklin Watts. 398 pp. 1982.

This resource presents a through history of the Holocaust and other related events. It provides pertinent statistical tables on Holocaust which reflect the true episode of 20th century genocidal conflict especially during the period of holocaust. The source also touches on other genocides. The author goes as far as listing the breakdown of country Holocaust, which totals to 5,820,960 murdered Jews (p.335). This work provides real data on genocide cases during the period of holocaust which I will predominantly use in compiling statistics of genocide cases in my final work. Also, I will use this work to compare some other types of genocide highlighted in this source so that I can critically address the topic of study.

Reitlinger, Gerald The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe 1939-1945. London: Valentine, Mitchell, and Co. 668 pp. 1968.

This work has detailed information and provides an excellent treatment to Holocausts. it provides a very good understanding to a non-holocaust scholar and the usefulness of their calculations of the total genocide. In the appendix I, the author provides a country by country statistical summary and an analysis of the genocide. This source postulates that 4,204,400 to 4,575,400 Jews were murdered (p.545). This is the lowest count of the genocide cases by any reputable study. This resource will help me compare the statistics with other statistical data from other sources about the genocide so that concise and precise information can be arrived at. Gerald work will also help me generate a good understanding of holocaust to be able to provide deeper understanding of Nazi army and Jews murders.

Fein, Helen, Accounting for Genocide: National Responses and Jewish Victimization During the Holocaust. New York: The Free Press. 468 p. 1979.

Work done by Fein 1979 is a unique social science and statistical attempt to elucidate the holocaust. This work includes multiple regressions to analyze genocide cases. This resource provides valuable information in form of tables highlighting holocaust. Fein work provides that 4,610000 Jews were murdered during the genocide (p.21) without counting the USSR deaths (P.21). This work compares a variety of genocide estimates of the holocaust and provides rationale for the differences. This work concludes that all sources postulate that there is likelihood that true estimates lies between five and six million (p. 23).This work will help me generate true conception of genocide estimates of the holocaust.

Gilbert, Martin The Macmillan Atlas of the Holocaust. New York: Macmillan, 256 pp. 1982.

Gilbert provides an excellent collection of maps showing a variety of aspects concerning the genocide. it includes where the anti-Jewish pogroms and persecutions have occurred, major Jewish communities in Poland, the destruction of Jewish of Croatia Revolts and deportation, death camps, and Bessarabia Jews. Majority of the maps provides statistics of the genocide for instance, one map gives a toll buy each country of slightly over 5,750,000 (pp.244-245). This work will help me identify different places and countries wherever the genocide occurred and where it was intensive. It will also help me develop an understanding of Jewish communities’ populations in Europe countries in the 20th century.

Hilberg, Raul, The Destruction of the European Jews. New York: Holmes & Meier. 1273 p. 1985.

This is perhaps the mostly quoted work of the genocide historically and statistically. it provides detailed information about the genocide, the killings, and statistical analysis of the killings during holocaust. in the appendix III this work provides statistical data systematically in tables capturing the killing operations by county. This work like others provides that an estimate of about 5,100,000 jaws were murdered. This work will help me develop a literature review of holocaust and use systematic statistical data to compare with other resources so that a more concise estimate of the genocide will be calculated and recorded.

Dawidowicz, Lucy S. The War against the Jews 1933-1945. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. 460 pp. 1975.

The source gives general analysis and history of the genocide. It provides a brief account for each country of what happened to the Jews and their toll. According to Dawidowicz, about 5, 9333,900 Jews died /murdered during holocaust period. This source is credible in that it provides in-depth information about the genocide, analysis and statistical evidence of the killings. This will be helpful to my paper for it will enable me to critically evaluate the killings by comparing the data

Berenbaum, Michael (Ed.) Mosaic of Victims: Non-Jews Persecuted and Murdered by the Nazis. New York: New York University Press. 244 pp. 1990.

This work is a collection of articles that provide significant information about the genocide that is not recorded in other books. This work provides other unique topics such as Nazi policies in Ukraine, Poland, Belgium, France and U.S.S.R proper. Further it provides the history of the Slavs, the Nazi euthanasia program, forced labor, pacifists and Croatia. This resource is useful to me because it compares several articles implying that the information contains in it is updated and more reliable. It will help me write the literature review of my final paper. Most importantly it will help me understand the genocide better.

Totten, Simpsons, Parsons, White lane., & Charny, I. (Eds.). Century of genocide: Eyewitness accounts and critical views. New York: Garland, 2004.

This work combines historical facts, scholarly analysis and true accounts written by the survivors and witnesses of the genocide. The elements of personal testimonies in this source enable the readers to transcend the shocking effect emanating from the enormity of every genocide. This source is excellent in that it is among the few texts that include information concerning known genocides of lesser such as Indonesian massacre, Iraqi Kurdistan genocide, the soviet created famine in Ukraine, or the genocides of the Herero’s. This work will help me provide credible information about the genocide based on testimonies of the real victims of the genocide. it will also help me highlight types of genocides like lesser and others.

Amery, Johnston. At the mind’s limits: Contemplations by a survivor on Auschwitz and its realities. New York: 1980. Schocken Books

Thus is an excellent resource that is written by the survivor of the Holocaust. The source has topics and sections that provide the reader with intimate glimpse of the effects of torture and sustained trauma on the Jews community. This resource will help me use it in conjunction with other research based source to provide rationale for trauma and effects on health of the victims of the genocide.

Berenbaum, Michael. & Peck, Anderson. (Eds.). The Holocaust and history: The known, the unknown, the disputed, and the reexamined. Indianapolis, IN: Indiana University Press in association with United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 1998.

This resource is credible and excellent since it provides a collection of 54 essays written by eminent scholars of the Holocaust. It includes topics written by psychologists and sociologists which details sections on the rescue, Nazi ideology, anti-Semitism, “ordinary men” the genocide camps, the international community, resistance, and survivors. This work provides realism of holocaust and arranges the events in a sequential manner so that the reader is kept on track or is driven to stepwise understanding of the genocide. it will help me with more relevant information about the topic more so, the comparisons from the 54sourses.

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Home Alone 1 Impression

‘Home Alone’ is a magnificent movie title since it suggests all kinds of scary wistfulness. The idea of being left at home when one is a child means being afraid, hearing noises and being afraid to look in the basement of the basement of the house. However, this also means one can do all the things that adult people tell you not to do if they were around. Nonetheless, this paper aims at exploring expression in the movie home alone 1. The movie is a beloved and highly successful; family movie about an 8-year-old young boy called Kevin. In the movie, Kevin is accidentally left at home by his family when they take off for a vacation over the holiday season.

The movie opens in the Chicago suburbs with a houseful of people on the eve of a huge family Christmas vacation in France, Paris. There are relatives and children all over the place, and when the family sleeps late and needs to race to the air terminal, Kevin is by one means or another ignored in the mix. When he gets up later that morning, the house is empty. So he makes the best of it. The main 50% of “Home Alone 1” is as level and obvious as its adorable little introduce recommends (Nytimes.com). Left all alone, with the telephone out of request and the neighbors away, Kevin consumes garbage foods and inadvertently sets his sibling’s pet bug detached – unsurprising comic touches. It does not pay to consider how he requests pizza without a telephone. Also there are long, tangled scenes demonstrating how adoring folks (John Heard is Dad and Catherine O’Hara is Mom) lose their child amid a frenzied race to the air terminal.

However, in the second half of the movie, the plot gets to be more extraordinary. Kevin is a clever thrill seeker and the comic drama more out of control. Kevin’s home is targeted by two decided however boneheaded robbers, so he attacks the passageways, with mindless droll results. Once in a while we see his guardians frantically attempting to organize a return flight. On the last leg back, Mom hitches a ride with a polka band headed by John Candy, a beyond any doubt indication of maternal dedication bordering on affliction. Anyhow Kevin is dealing with himself like a human ninja turtle, enjoying each tyke’s dream of assuming control over the house and turning into the saint of his undertaking (Nytimes.com).

A real child would presumably be more terrified than this film character, and would likely cry. He may additionally take a stab at calling somebody, or approaching a neighbor for help. Anyhow in the invented universe of this motion picture, the main neighbor is an old coot who is reputed to be the Snow Shovel Murderer, and the telephone doesn’t work. At the point when Kevin’s guardians find they’ve overlooked him, they think that it difficult to get anybody to finish on their panicked calls – if anybody did. Thus, the movie would be over. It’s not difficult to perceive how this charming high-idea parody, from the rich pen of John Hughes who adds children to his cross area of gentle working class American tribulation, turned into a minor wonder. It’s very basic set-up misconstrued sprog is overlooked in the family scrum to leave for a get-away, abandoning him altogether to his own particular gadgets hits a gold crease of youth dream, the great gathering of what-ifs of a world stripped of parental observing.

That it is situated at Christmas includes a motivated whisp of Dickensian hardship. Furthermore that youthful Kevin, played with flash and comic timing by the inconceivably adorable Macaulay Culkin, must go head to head against two futile housebreakers allows the opportunity for a progression of Chuck Jones propelled howdy jinkery, giving the film a silly vitality let it sink excessively profound into supposition. Bringing forth three continuations and various shams, you could order Home Alone 1 as an issue minute, however for all its underhanded lunacy and wish satisfaction you can feel the harsh apparatus changes of handled scriptwriting hard-wired for impact (Nytimes.com). How we are intended to smile with juvenile happiness at Kevin’s unsupervised indulgences in grown-up features, dessert sundaes and inner part sled-rides. Furthermore how we must laugh and raise a cheer over his successfully clever booby traps, spread over his boundless wood-paneled house, that leave tolerant Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern for all time on their posteriors.

In conclusion, the plot is implausible to the point that it makes it hard for us to truly think about the situation of the child. What lives up to expectations in the other heading, then again, and just about conveys the day, is the talented execution by Kevin. Then again, it is an ineffectual toon manifestation of viciousness where nothing, particularly not criminal cover up, is positively hurt. This lands the film with a troubling at the same time, maybe, inescapable pride that it has one infant foot in this present reality and one in purest dream. Kevin’s hazard never truly hits home, he simply exists in a movie pitch. Something else, God knows the help he’ll require in grown-up life.

Work cited

Nytimes.com,. ‘Movie Review – Home Alone – REVIEW/FILM;Holiday Black Comedy ForModern Children – Nytimes.Com’. N.p., 2014. Web. 3 Dec. 2014.

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Home Cooking: Marketing Meth

Notably, sociology entails the study of human behavior and conduct in social context, as well as predicting the possible behavior of human beings in different circumstances. Sociological terminologies and concepts attempt to integrate the realities of social life and real life circumstances that individuals encounter, in life. Further, sociology is keenly interested in studying the social structures and organizations, which facilitate and sustain peaceful and mutual coexistence of human beings; as they work together to improve their living standards. This brief write up will examine the applicability of interpersonal relationship and social trust sociological concepts in the article, as well the ways in which the terms explains the events that are evident in the article (Home Cooking: Marketing Meth).

#1 Interpersonal Relationship

An interpersonal relationship describes a connection between individuals and this connection can vary from transitory to abiding relationships. The basis of interpersonal relations may be grounded on love, business transactions that are regular, inference and solidarity among other social commitments (Cook 38). The most suitable contexts for the development of interpersonal relationships are the cultural and social situations, which demand association with other people; as human beings depend on other people to survive. Further, the contexts that facilitate and promote interpersonal relationships can range from family relations, marriage, friendships clubs, work, worship places and associate relations among others (Eisenstadt and Roniger 47). It is essential to note that interpersonal relationships are regulated and controlled by mutual agreement, customs and law. Interpersonal relationships are fundamental in the society; as they form the basis of social groups and the entire society, which supports life and maintains social harmony and peace.

Essentially, the production, distribution and sale of meth is a complex process, which cannot be handled by an individual. Therefore, the process requires a strong network of connections between people to ensure that business is run, without problems. Further, the production, sale, possession, use of meth is illegal, and people who are involved require the connections of other people who can conduct business with them (Eisenstadt and Roniger 49). Evidently, production of meth is an expensive process, and many people form groups and pool their resources to set up lab facilities, which can produce enough meth for members to consume and sell the surplus to other users (Cook 45). The nature of this business demands operating with close ties and family members sot that cooks can manage to hide their illegal activities from the authorities. In most cases, family members divide the production labor and work together to bring success to the business of meth production. The involvement of family members into an illegal business is a serious case of deviant behaviors, which demonstrate the intensity of moral decadence, in the society; as family members facilitate their counterparts to break the law.

From a broad net, there are cases of importation of meth from other countries and these transactions are achieved through a network of individuals who are connected to ensure successful distribution and sale to the local people. The entire activities and transaction are only possible through healthy interpersonal relationships, which develop mutual interactions that benefit all parties that are involved in the business of cooking and distributing meth.

#2 Social Trusts

Social trust describes a situation of a person choosing to rely on the actions and deeds of another person; the two persons focus on the future benefits of the trust (Eisenstadt and Roniger 58). Notably, the person who trusts another person surrenders the control of a situation to another person. The implication of trusting another person and surrendering control of a situation is that there are uncertainties, which can yield to risks of harm or failure in the trusting situation (Eisenstadt and Roniger 63). Essentially, trust is attributed to associations between people and human beings has the disposition to develop trust towards another person, as well as judge the possibility of trustworthiness on another party using the gut feelings (Cook 56). Further, trust can be traced in groups, in a society; as people can only live in harmony if they trust one another. Therefore, trust is an essential component of social relationships and social interactions because people relate with individuals that they can trust.

Meth production, use, sale and possession are illegal business, and such businesses cannot be conducted in the open. These businesses can only be between people who know trust one another. Notably, the business is conducted between friends, family members and acquaintances; as these are the people who have spent time together and they can trust that one individual will not betray them to the authorities. Further, the sale of imported meth is done, by people who are trusted, by the owners to handle the vast amounts of cash, which is obtained from the sale of meth. Meth attracts a lot of profit and a lot of efforts are involved in the production chain of this drug (Cook 72). Therefore, trusted people purchase the law materials and take the materials to designated points for subsequent manufacture of the drug.

In conclusion, sociological concepts can be directly applied into real life circumstances to explain the behavior and reasons, which people have for maintain certain social interactions. Social trust and interpersonal relationships are vital in maintaining mutually beneficial interactions, which benefit the entire parties that are involved in any social arrangement (Eisenstadt and Roniger 72). Drug business and production processes require rich interpersonal relationships and deep social trust, which ensure that the dealers survive the nets of law enforcers.

Works Cited

Cook, Karen. Trust in Society. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2003. Print.

Eisenstadt, Richard and Roniger, Luis. Patrons, Clients and Friends: Interpersonal Relations and the Structure of Trust in Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1984. Print.

Free Movement Of Goods Article 34 And 36

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u HYPERLINK l “_Toc377996404” Question 1: Advise Free Pork Ltd If It Has Any Grounds Under EU Law For Challenging The Two Spanish Laws PAGEREF _Toc377996404 h 1

HYPERLINK l “_Toc377996405” Question 2. Advise Free Pork Ltd if it has any grounds under EU law for challenging the Spanish advertising requirement. PAGEREF _Toc377996405 h 4

Question 1: Advise Free Pork Ltd If It Has Any Grounds Under EU Law For Challenging The Two Spanish LawsBoth articles (Article 34 and 36) prohibit measures, which have particular restrictive effects. In majority of the cases, the term ‘measures’ equates to the laws passed directly by the Member State government. However, the ECJ (European Court of Justice), has stated that a measure can be an item wider and less well-described. It is worth noting that the course of Conduct for a State intended to induce discriminatory practice among consumers and private individuals can constitute a measure (regardless it having or lacking a binding influence) and be in violation of the Article 34. The aspect of measures can also include the inaction of a State to stop private individuals’ acts, which prevent the free movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p200).

The ECJ described the expression of quantitative restriction as measures that amount to partial or total restraint of, based on the circumstances, exports, imports or goods in transit. There are two laws that apply in this category but in this case, the most applicable law is the outright ban enforced by a Member State (Spain) on imports from another Member State (The College of Law 2012, p201). Free Pork Ltd plans to begin selling its products in Spain have been hampered by the law that requires the sale of sausages produced from humanely reared pigs to be checked by Spanish Sausage Checkers (SSC). If the sausages are not checked by SSC, the law prohibits its sales in Spain. However, the process of verifying whether the sausages have those conditions is usually lengthy. Therefore, Free Pork can challenge this Spanish law. There is also a law that requires the name of the company not to use words that imply health or fitness. Free Pork can also challenge this law because it restricts the importation of goods and can affect the brand image of the company.

The SSC is a form of a licencing system, which according to the articles, subjects the import of merchandises to the condition of getting an import licence. Even in situations where the application for an import licence is regarded a mere formality; it is a Quantitative Restriction. This is because is simply a mechanism in which imports can be restricted. In practice, it is very rare for the Member States laws to result to quantitative restrictions. The ban on exports or imports between Member States is only found in unusual circumstances (The College of Law 2012, p201). Therefore, failure by Free Pork Ltd to meet the conditions set by the Spanish laws is an outright ban on exporting sausages to this Member State. As stated earlier, the ban only happens in unusual circumstances, and thus, Free Pork can challenge the law because an unusual circumstance lacks, which prohibits it from exporting the goods to Spain.

The directive was important in developing a brief wording of the Article 34 TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) and it continues to offer guidance on the measures that can constitute a breach of Article 34 TFEU prohibitions. Article 2(1) of the directive describes a class of measures (for instance, national laws) that treat imported goods and domestic goods differently. They are commonly referred to as distinctly applicable measures. Article 3 of the directive describes a class of national laws that apply equally to imported and domestic products. These laws have a restrictive impact and they are commonly referred to as indistinctly applicable (The College of Law 2012, p202).

Therefore, the directive classifies both indistinctly and distinctly applicable measures as measures that have an impact equivalent to restrictions on imports. From the statement, it can be stated that a national law can become MEQR (Measures having Equivalent effect to a Quantitative Restriction) regardless of whether it “discriminates against imported products or appears to treat them in the same way as domestic products but is in practice restrictive in effect” (The College of Law 2012, p202). It is important to note that a Member State is capable of justifying more easily an indistinctly applicable law. Although Free Pork can challenge the law on imports restriction, Spain can justify its law because it is indistinctly applicable.

There are three categories of national laws capable of being MEQRs. The first category is laws aimed at enforcing standards (generally minimum standards) concerning matters like weight, description, labelling, size, content or price of goods. The second category is laws concerning tests designed to make sure that goods conform or obey standards indicated in the first category of laws. The third category is laws able to influence the behaviour of consumers and traders. Therefore, the emphasis is on the rules that are capable of having an impact, rather than on the rules essentially having an impact (The College of Law 2012, p204). The requirement to change the name of the company to a name that does not imply fitness or health can be challenged because that law has satisfied the requirement of being MEQRs. Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge the law by proving that it is MEQRs.

The Cassis de Djion principles are applicable in the case of Free Pork Ltd and the Spanish laws. The first principle of Cassis de Djion states that where a national law is applicable to imported and domestic products alike, and where Community-wide standards concerning the products in question lacks, it may be mandatory to accept obstacles to trade caused by the reality that the national law differs from other Member States laws. However, the obstacles can only be acknowledged if the national law leading to the obstacle is essential to satisfy a mandatory necessity, and the law does not go further than it is necessary to accomplish its aim (The College of Law 2012, p204). Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge the law if it is capable of justifying that the law is indistinctly applicable.

The second principle seems to conflict with the first principle but the two can be reconciled if there is a presumption that the goods lawfully produced in one Member State are marketable in another. However, if there is a law that obstructs this, the Member State can invalidate the presumption through Cassis or through Article 36 TFEU (The College of Law 2012, p207). Therefore, Free Pork Ltd can challenge this law. Based on Article 36, Free Pork Ltd can prove to Spain that the sausages it supplies do not pose health risk to people. The article states that a Member State willing to use this derogation has to prove the existence of an actual health risk (The College of Law 2012, p217). Therefore, under this article, Free Pork can challenges the laws by proving that its products do not pose health risk to the people of Spain.

Question 2. Advise Free Pork Ltd if it has any grounds under EU law for challenging the Spanish advertising requirement.The Spanish laws regarding the broadcast of adverts targeted at consumers below the age of 12 years adopt a protective approach pushing the timing of the broadcast to not earlier than 9 pm. Under such circumstances, Free Pork’s entry into the Spanish market faces the limitation of adverts set by the Spanish national laws. Two important issues emerge in the deliberations of the legal position in which the Free Pork venture finds itself. On one hand, the right of the Spanish consumer protection policies as well as the right of the company under its commercial rights as discussed below.

In view of the Spanish national agencies position to enforce consumer protection against a backdrop of foreign policies having a negative position on a particular contestable matter, the position of the reprieve is offered to Member States in terms of the protection offered by the European Union. In Konsumentombudsmannen (KO) v De Agostini (Svenska) Förlag AB (C-34/95) and TV-Shop i Sverige AB (C-35/95 and C-36/95), it was held that the right of a Member State to apply advertisement prohibition to a foreign advertiser from a jurisdiction permitting such advertisements should not be contested. The case had particular consumer protection obligations from the Member State and the original intention of the law cannot be overruled.

It therefore implies that the bottom line of the contested interaction between the Free Pork venture into the market through the advertisement is expected to some extent, however debatable it is. However, the application of the law to a foreign market entrant where such a prohibition is not applicable provides a different concept for consideration by Free Pork where the reasons target a particular age group. The Spanish authorities for instance will find it important to invoke the provisions of Article 34 as demonstrated in the Keck formulae adopted in Keck and Mithouard (cases C-267 and C-268/91) [1993] ECR I-6097. Such invocation will involve the enumeration of the specific environment offered to domestic sausage marketers, which would be argued to be fairly reasonable if foreign entrants are subjected to similar treatment.

In Cassis de Dijon, the ECJ made the observation that a Member State has an opportunity to forward conflicting justifications on policies and laws impacting on prohibition of free movement of goods in the EU. According to the deliberations of the court, a nation implementing a trade policy likely to conflict the free movement of goods regime can forward certain arguments to sustain an argument for prohibition of movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p217). Generally referred to as derogating opportunity from the provisions of the Treaty, it is possible for a Member State to launch a campaign from a legal position of national laws to attempt to control or restrict free movement as negated for all the Member States. As an illustration, it may be expected that the Spanish authorities will invoke the various derogation provisions under Article 36 to deny Free Pork to freely advertise and penetrate the sausage market. Derogation under Article 36 a) cites public interest, which is not clearly outlined and the Spanish authorities may twist the uncertainty to fit into the protection of public interest through barring adverts of sausages to children below 12 years of age.

Derogation c) also sounds like a possible excuse for reliance to invoke prohibitory opportunity for advertising to children below 12 years of age. The complexity of the burden of proof for the protection of health of the Spanish children may however proof to be an opportunity for Free Pork. In Commission v. UK: Re UHT Milk (case 124/81) [1983] ECR 203, it was held that the Member State must avail substantial detail on the nature and magnitude of the risks posed by the said products (The College of Law 2012, p217). By scrutinizing possible discrimination element in the particular Spanish law prohibiting free advertisement, it is possible to compel the authorities to avoid the prohibition. Section 5.2 of Article 36 dispels any arbitrary implementation of discriminatory laws. As observed in Commission v. UK (Re Imports of Poultry Meat) (case 40/82) [1982] ECR 2793, failure to demonstrate the extent to which a law is not restrictive to free movement of goods leads to infringement on EU laws (The College of Law 2012, p218).

In Konsumentombudsmannen (KO) v De Agostini (Svenska) Förlag AB (C-34/95) and TV-Shop i Sverige AB (C-35/95 and C-36/95), it also emerged that the Member State cannot prohibit advertisements from a different Member State on grounds of consumer protection to persons under 12 years of age (The College of Law 2012, p213). On this legal concept adopted by the court in the case, the EU offers relief to Member States to enjoy the regime on free movement of goods and their penetration into the market. It would certainly be restrictive to involved business if consumer protection laws selectively designed to a particular age group closes the channel available to free movement of goods to the ultimate market. The available options to Free Pork must therefore include seeking legal intervention against the restrictive Spanish laws targeting unfair advertisement prohibition on the grounds of protection of persons under the age of 12 years. As noted above, however, the Spanish authorities are expected to offer objection to contesting opinion regarding implemented policies targeted towards consumer protection such as freedoms of advertisement.

The spirit of Article 34 TFEU is particularly to offer definition to various selling arrangements that must prevent hindrances to free movement of goods. Under the finer implementation details, the spirit of the Article captures the need to provide non-discriminatory business regimes for free goods movement among Member States. In view of the provisions of the article, it is apparent that the jurisdiction of the EC in determination of the restriction concepts experienced at the hands of national policies of a Member State are reasonable o other Member States. Substantial restrictions experienced by Member States in accessing the channels of distribution and free movement of goods must be countered by the EC framework as enumerated under Article 34 TFEU. The level of intervention by the EC as spelt out in Article 34 TFEU extends to the negative impact experienced by the Member States in the implementation of a regime withholding free movement of goods (The College of Law 2012, p213). The protection of inter-state trade perhaps has a far-reaching impact if implemented without discrimination and the EC demonstrates the importance of such consideration across several rulings through the ECJ. Whereas Member States have the general space of access of inter-state markets within the EU, the existence of principles of subsidiarity in the market and the natural limitations guarded by spirit of international community contradicts the principle of free movement of goods.

ReferencesThe College of Law (2012) Unit 21: Free movement of goods, The College of Law.

Home schooling is the legal alternative to compulsory education in public or private institutions which is offered at home and in the community. It is mainly offered by parents that wish to provide their children with a customize type of education or an even more complete education which they feel cannot be attained in public or private schools. Several options are seen as playing part in decisions linking parents with this kind of education option (Taylor 2006 p.1). The family education, according to many of its proponents, is integrated with community organizations, reading, vacations, religious activities and other family functions. The education also proceeds flexibly all year round at the pace of the student. This even accounts for the time used in travelling. Ethics, character and religious topics that are usually omitted in public school curriculums are taught. Money management and business studies may be integrated into the family business. With all these attractive curriculum options, parents deem it fit to have their children undergo homeschooling rather than take them to public schools (Taylor 2006 p.2). The other advantage is that the parents can monitor the progress of their children from the first day instead of leaving that to the teachers who may be biased at times. Spending more time at home with their children increases the family ties which is important for the child’s psychological being. It provides a natural environment from which the child can learn to develop confidence and independent thinking. The diversification of learning environment enhances communication between all age groups hence providing an avenue for the child to do away with shyness.

Better attention is accorded to these children as the tutor has only one child to concentrate on rather than twenty kids in one class. This implies that the individual attention can be utilized to enhance skills, identify talent and maximize potential which could have gone wasted in a class with more extrovert type of children (Byfield 2001 p.43). Gifted children will realize their dreams as they will have the attention required plus the chance to reach the maximum potential they can. If it was in a public school, they would lose interest along the way since they would have to wait for the rest of the class to catch up with them while they already have the content. In home schooling education, they may even pursue their own academic studies since there will be minimal pressure at home. Through out the primary school period, most children change their teachers annually. This could break a bond that was beginning to flourish (Taylor 2006 p.3). As a matter of fact, these children feel left out after the teacher they so much adored is taken to another class or is left in the previous class when they have graduated to the next. The next teacher may not get enough time to know all the students individually making it difficult to help the children adequately. However, at home, the tutor is the same throughout the years. This creates a good rapport between the teacher and the student. The student is privileged because they do not have to adapt to anew teaching style very so often. The teacher on the other hand gets acquainted with the child’s learning style and will be ready to provide a consistent environment for the child to learn in.

The above benefits notwithstanding, several criticisms have emerged over homeschooling. Students undergoing this type of education have been said to be academically and socially challenged by those in the public institutions. However, several researches have emerged to dispute these allegations. Researchers found out that home-schooled youngsters scored slightly higher in all subjects and in all grades. They were seen to average at the 80th percentile in reading, 79th percentile in math and 76th percentile in languages compared to 50th percentile where the public and private schooled children clustered (Byfield 2001 p.43). This goes further to prove that that they are better equipped to handle exams than their counterparts which put the homeschooling institutions on top (Byfield 2001 p.43). These facts have been studied over and over to ensure correct conclusions are arrived at. Even if social activists do not want homeschooling to be the mandatory education system, the people who have undergone through it surely know the benefits they get academically.

There is the ability to obtain immediate feedback from the students allowing tutors to quickly assess whether the concept has been grasped or not. This gives the teacher the needed information on whether to alter teaching methods or review the course contents to reinforce the topic. This also gives the parent a chance to offer immediate positive feedback for a job well done which is motivational to the student especially coming form one’s parents (Holt 2004 p.48). The home environment eliminates many academic distractions that could cause interruptions in learning. This is especially witnessed in classrooms where students have different characters and may not have the same agenda while in class. The teacher’s attention will thus be divided and time may be wasted trying to bring them back to attention. More so, the parents do not have other administrative duties that they have to deal with during school hours (Nyberg 2008 p.95). Thus, a great deal of content can be accomplished within a particular period of time.

Colleges prefer homeschooled children to public or private schooled children because of a number of things. First, homeschooled children have learnt how to learn. This means that they are not spoon-fed but are taught how to decipher the meaning of things on their own. They are granted the challenge of being their own inventors and innovators of the provided knowledge. Secondly, homeschooled education is tailored to their own abilities and not the ability of few students in a class of more than 25 children (Nyberg 2008 p.97). Each child is given the chance to become what they are best at rather than a generalized probability of what they could become if they tried out something else. Students that find it difficult to grasp concepts are not left alone to sit and wonder but are tutored on that topic until they are able to decode the concepts on their own. Thirdly, they are not shy when it comes to asking questions. This can be traced form when they were young as they always asked their tutors question when they were presented with unfamiliar grounds. This implies that they yearn to understand rather than get on with the class at the expense of their understanding. Remedial students in public schools have been found to keep up with the homeschooled children and also exceed their public school counterparts due to the individualized attention accorded to them (Nyberg 2008 p.98).

Employers have also relaxed their policies on recruitment drives. This is done to encompass those that have undergone homeschooling education. These students have been found to be great assets to any company that hires them this is because they work well under minimum supervision, and often than not do their work within the required deadline. These students have also been found to increase their production since they have learnt to perform duties on their own rather than depend on others for success (Holt 2004 p.49). They end up in companies that they have the skills for rather than hop from one company to the next trying to fit in.

Socially, benefits accrued are immense. Medlin (2000) separates socialization into different meanings to account for every suggestion (p.107). There are social activities like giving a chance to the children to play with their friends and participate in traditional extracurricular activities like sports. Then there is the social influence meaning which entails teaching children to conform to societal norms. There is the social exposure perspective which involves introduction of culture and values of different groups of people. However, Medline comes up with a standard definition that suite this review. He terms socialization as the process of acquiring rules of behaviors and systems of attitudes and beliefs that equip an individual to function effectively as a member of a particular society (p.108). If we look at the homeschooling environment, then the students are given adequate time to socialize since it takes place by participation in the daily routines that directly deal with community values. Thus, children grow up learning to conserve every minute and honor all schedules and deadlines which are required for successful functionality in the future

Students join a great deal of institutions that enable them to socialize with others. For instance, they enroll for PE, piano lessons; debates and youth groups that help them grow and sharpen their skills on socialization. They help in maintaining individuality and creativity instead of eradicating them which happens when students enroll in public schools. Students in public schools end up imitating other people rather than maintaining their identity and being proud of who they are (Nyberg 2008 p.100). Students are also given a chance to interact with productive adults instead of forming pickets that do not assist them at all. They have also been found to participate statistically at higher rates in sports, youth organizations and church organizations. This implies that they are shaped all-round due to their exposure ability in different areas.

They are also shielded from such erratic behaviors like drug abuse, early sexuality, criminality, materialism, criminality and eating disorders due to the values instilled at home. They have a higher ability to develop a positive self esteem due to protection form peer pressure (Holt 2004 p.50; Martine 2008 p. 79). They are considerably safe from taunting and ridicule from their peers and this instills more confidence in them rather than create individuals who are introverted. Character is molded from an early age by teaching traditional values like tolerance, honesty and patience. Ideologies are passed on from one generation to the next and this maintains close links between the child and the family lineage.

As a family, the benefits are many. The ability to spend more time as a family brings everyone closer. The family, being the basic core unit of a society, ensures the society grows as a whole rather than a different unit. With the children understanding the benefits of their beliefs and traditions, then the society will maintain its values through all the succeeding generations. Parents get to impact the need for commitment by spending time endlessly on their academic ventures (Martine 2008 p. 80). These values are rarely instilled in public schools since they have a great deal of work to concentrate on one particular thing. The children have been found to engage in conversations better than those in public schools due to their exposure with adults and older siblings. They further interacted well in organized sports and were well mannered even after losing (Medlin 2000 p.115). Studies have also revealed that they perform best in areas of leadership and are considered to be better team leaders in companies (Medlin 2000 p.118). This is an important quality that each employer looks for.

From the above, the most important aspect that is sort after is an all-round person. The world is very dynamic in terms of values and traditions. If we cannot maintain the few that are already in existence, then the society will wallow in miasma of confusion. Public schools spread knowledge that should be learnt and what the policy makers deem as being fit for the children (Martine 2008 p. 83). Homeschooling provides a chance to learn what they ought to but that which is prohibited in public schools. They are taught how to adapt to different situations and how to solve day to day problems without depending on others. This shows a higher level of maturity brought about by academic and social excellence instilled at home by their tutors. Thus, the home schools are more beneficial to the children than the public and private schools are.

Works cited;

Byfield, Joanne. ‘Home is where the smarts are’, The Report [Colorado], December 3, 2001, p.43

Holt, James.Teach your own. New York: Delacorte, 2004, p.47-58

Martine, Millman. A family’s journey: Homeschooling. Alabama: Penguin, 2008, p.78-90

Medline, Richard, ‘Home Schooling and the Question of Socialization’, Peabody journal of education, 75(1&2), 2000. P.107–123

Nyberg, Egan. Socialization and the schools. New York: Teachers College Press, 2008, p.92-100

Taylor, Jane. ‘Self-concept in home-schooling children’, Home School Researcher, 2(2), 2006, p.1–3.

How Free Trade Disadvantages The Poor Nations

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How Free Trade Disadvantages the Poor Nations

Free trade is the process of liberalizing the market from any government intervention. Under the policy of free trade, all economic resources from all the countries involved are subjected to price; reflecting the forces of demand and supply. This makes price the only determinant for the allocation of resources (Fawzy, 2002; pp.12). Free trade involves characteristics such as tax free and non-barrier kind of trade, free labor movement between the involved countries, free capital movement within the countries involved, free capital movement between the involved countries, and free market accessibility. According to Bernanke (2013; pp.32), free trade seeks to ensure similar playing rules for competition, although it does not automatically ensure fair competition for the involved parties. This means that as much as free trade may create equal or similar business environment, the poor countries will still be disadvantaged because their private sectors, which are relatively weaker are left to compete with stronger and bigger companies (Hall, 2012; pp.39). The countries may be put under equal or the same regulations but the capabilities of the players are certainly not the same or equal. It is like a football match where two teams play in a level playing field but one team has better capabilities that can not be matched by those of the other team.

Free Trade is blamed for the idea of Western Capitalist Nations surging ahead and leaving behind the poor third world nations. This is because the poor countries do not have the infrastructure, technology, and the ability to complete with countries that have free enterprise and a tradition of deregulated markets. As a result, free trade becomes harmful to poor countries because the rich nations will not accept to trade with the poor nations, but rather with other rich countries. The poor countries are consequently condemned to complete poverty. This means the free trade is only beneficial to the economically powerful nations. The situation is worsened by the fact that the governments of the rich nations refuse to promote trade with the poor nations, thereby making the citizens in the poor nations worse off (Weinstein, 2005; pp.57-8). On the other hand, governments of the poor nations also refuse to promote trade with the poor nations, thereby making the citizens in both nations worse off. This scenario implies that the controlling force, which is the intervening state actor, disrupts the mutually beneficial action brought about by voluntary trade. A view presented by Schiff and Winters (2002; pp.82) asserts that free trade is not harmful to the poor countries, but it is the lack of proper trade caused by governments of both the rich and poor nations that makes the poor countries remain in their wretched poverty.

It has been observed that rich countries like the United States impose tariffs and subsidies aimed at discouraging its citizens from importing better and cheaper products from the poorer countries. Rich countries may open up its markets for free trade but decide to place massive subsidies, thereby disadvantaging the goods from the poor countries. The poor countries also open up their markets for free trade but they become very vulnerable to the highly subsidized export goods from the rich countries (Weinstein, 2005; pp.67-8). This has an implication that as much as the poor countries strive to trade with other countries, they get sidelined by the rich nations, making them remain in their original state of poverty. Since 1945, international trade has shown that unfettered global market tends to fail the poor and full trade liberalization also brings huge risks and not provides the desired outcome. Allen (2011; pp.78) asserts that it has often been observed in the past that developing countries whose economies have successfully expanded are those that have strived to put in place policies aimed at protecting its industries while they get the strength and provide the communities with time and opportunities to expand into new areas of operation.

While most economists agree that, in the long run, free trade perform better in aggregates than the closed economies, many observers on the other hand fear that free trade harms poor countries. For example, African countries have experienced great improvements in trade and market liberalization in the past decades. But Africa is still the world’s poorest continent. It is most likely that the expected large gains from involvement in international economic activities have been greatly limited in Africa, particularly for the poor (Schiff & Winters, 2002; pp.88). Several research works have been conducted to determine if trade really reduce poverty and the connection between trade liberalization and poverty. The findings shows that trade reduce poverty but only under specific conditions. It can only benefit countries that have deep financial sectors, high education levels, and strong governance. The three dimensions (education, finance, and governance) reflect an economy’s ability to properly reallocate resources; to move the resources away from sectors that are less productive to those that are more productive. This consequently gives countries the ability to take advantage of any opportunity offered by free trade (Allen, 2011; pp.125).

Many developed countries however meet the conditions stated above and are for that matter positioned to exploit the available opportunities offered by free trade (Jin, 2011; pp.95). On average in the developing countries, while the financial system is deep enough and education level is high enough, the institutions in those countries are generally very weak and can not benefit from free trade. Some countries, worse still, do not meet the three conditions sated above. According to Grinblatt and Titman (2011; pp.143) the developing countries need to formulate strategic policies designed to promote trade power for economic development. Inadequate institutions and policies, limited financial development, and weak human capital are not only unhealthy for a country’s welfare but they also make the poor become held up, thereby denying the low income individuals of the developing countries the benefits that come as a result of free trade. Other researchers also argue that the benefits of free trade are never automatic; they rather depend on well formulated policies. The policies should however be aimed at financing new investments, effective conflict resolution, and the ability to learn and adjust to new skills (Steger, 2013; pp.54-5). The policies should also enable the reallocation of resources away from sectors that are less productive to sectors that are more promising. Trade liberalization should for this matter not be viewed in isolation.

As much as open trade agreements between developed and developing countries may be highly beneficial, especially in situations where barriers to trade exist, the question remains how the poor countries can increase higher literacy levels, a functioning credit market, and government policies that can enforce contracts. This is the only way that can make them benefit from free trade. In most cases, the trade agreements only open up the weak states to highly predatory trade policies that only hurt the poor but benefit the existing power structures (Grinblatt & Titman, 2011; pp.81). For the poor countries, free trade often has the meaning that the benefits from trade are not usually distributed to the country’s infrastructure, education, or to any other activity that promotes redistribution of resources to raise the country’s poverty level. It rather tends to fund the individuals in power (either a business community or the government leaders). In addition, corruption is likely to diminish investor confidence, thereby decreasing the benefits of free trade since the revenue does not get distributed throughout the country.

If a state is weak, the individuals in power can easily negotiate and manipulate trade contracts to only benefit themselves, rather than benefiting the whole country. Steger (2013; pp.61) says that most developing countries have very weak governing structures and poor political ideologies that promote the existence of corruption and embezzlement of funds, thereby making the developing countries remain in the state of poverty. It is important to note that trade only occurs when countries exchange resources (Jin, 2011; pp.101). Most developing countries lack structural or human resources (literacy, contract reliability, credit system) to enter into any trade agreement with other nations that are well endowed. This drives the rich countries to initiate trade with other rich countries, thereby leaving the poor countries in the cold. According to Grinblatt and Titman (2011; pp.71), all trade agreements are not that good. Most trade agreements can not be said to be “free trade” because they are associated with limitations and restrictions. In addition, if the governments involved in the trade agreements have poor domestic economic policies, trade can not help in any way, it only opens up the country to potential economic fluctuations, thereby harming it from outside. This implies that for trade to be effective, certain conditions must be put in place. According to Reinhart and Rogoff (2009; pp.54), one of the greatest dampers to the poor countries is the western agricultural subsidies that tend to prevent the farmers in the developing countries from producing. The import tariffs in the developing countries are likely to force the domestic resources to move towards inefficient industries. If the whole world had free trade in agricultural sector, the poor nations would be better off. For example, studies show that if the US and Europe removed their import quotas and farm substitutes, total financial flows coming into Africa in just a year would be much greater than all the foreign aid, public and private, that has ever come into the continent.

In conclusion, it is without doubt that international trade plays a very significant role in tackling the problem of poverty. In terms of income and revenues, trade has the ability to be more important than the debt or aid for the developing countries. The only problem is the inability of the countries to set up strategic policies that would help the developing countries benefit from the trade. The World Bank has stated that if the rules set up by the rich countries for international trade could be reformed, over 300 million people would be moved out of poverty. This is because the international trade rules are often rigged against the poor countries. As much as the rich nations would be willing to open up markets, they would still put in place huge subsidies, which often work against the poor nations. Poor countries normally suffer when they involve in free trade due to the “expensive” and “unfairness” nature of the free trade agreements.

References

Allen, R. C., 2011, Global economic history: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bernanke, B., 2013, The Federal Reserve and the financial crisis. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Clift, J., Diehl, E., & International Monetary Fund. , 2007. Financial globalization: A compilation of articles from Finance & development. Washington, D.C: International Monetary Fund.

Fawzy, S., 2002, Globalization and firm competitiveness in the Middle East and North Africa region. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Grinblatt, M., & Titman, S., 2011, Financial markets and corporate strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Hall, K., 2012, Regional integration: Key to Caribbean survival and prosperity. S.l.: Trafford On Demand Pub.

Jin, D. Y., 2011, Hands on/hands off: The Korean state and the market liberalization of the communication industry. New York: Hampton Press.

Reinhart, C. M., & Rogoff, K. S., 2009, This time is different: Eight centuries of financial folly. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Schiff, M. W., & Winters, L. A., 2002, Regional integration and development. Washington, DC: World Bank.

Steger, M. B., 2013, Globalization: A very short introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Steger, M. B., & Roy, R. K., 2010, Neoliberalism: A very short introduction. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Weinstein, M. M., 2005, Globalization: What’s new?. New York: Columbia Univ. Press

Home Style And Washington Career

Introduction

The pursuit of political careers has been a dream of many people. This is especially in the case of individuals that feel that they have the capacity to make fundamental changes in the lives of other people through making laws and ensuring that they are properly and effectively implemented in their areas of jurisdiction. However, it is well noted that individuals that successfully obtain political power undergo fundamental changes in their way of dealing with issues. This is essentially the key point in the article “Home Style and Washington Career” by Richard F Fenno.

In this article, Fenno underlines the fact that congressmen in the United States are always struggling to find a balance between the Washington career and constituency career. The constituency career revolves around efforts to enhance their chances of being reelected whereas the Washington career revolves around coming up with good public policy and becoming influential in the house. Underlining the changes that congressmen undergo is the fact that in the initial years in the House, they are always attending to their constituents’ needs. This is because they have limited chances of gaining inside policy and power influence, in which case they can allocate their resources to their constituency career without any sense of conflict. Nevertheless, the beginning of a Washington career necessitates a change in the congressman’s personal goals, as well as the established home style. Fenno notes that the dilemma that faces congressmen emanates from the requirement that the United States Congress serves as a legislative and a representative institution.

However, Fenno presents one formula that would be effective in solving the dilemma especially in instances where the congressmen are attaining more influence in their Washington careers and in policymaking. The congressmen could ask their constituents to adopt a new set of expectations, especially considering that the policies that their congressman is pursuing would be for their own good. Indeed, their seniority, effectiveness and influence in Washington would eventually benefit their constituents, in which case the congressmen’s supporters should intensify their support so as to ward off any challengers. However, this can often be problematic as in pursuit of power and influence that comes with a Washington career, a legislator would essentially lose touch with the supportive constituents at his backyard, thereby spelling doom to his reelection bid.

Alternatively, a congressman could manage the balance through winning support on areas that he had not won such support. He could use his influence to make policies that would appeal to new supporters even as he or she loses the old supporters. The influence in particular policy area or as an effective legislator may generate such feedback effects. Unfortunately, the individuals are faced by the dilemma even upon living the congress. They must decide whether to stay in Washington or go back to their home constituencies.

While the article is comprehensive and well-thought out, it creates the impression that the dilemma is a liability to the congressmen. This may be slightly wrong especially considering that the legislators are elected in the hope that they will seek to serve their needs. Congressmen, essentially, are intended to offer their services to the entire constituency, in which case the maintenance of a Washington career and home style forces them to act to the best interests of their constituents and truly serve them. The deficiency of fear of failure to recapture their seats may give them an incentive to tend for their needs only.

Topic: Global Economics on International Trade

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Date: Free trade theory and the protectionist theory

Back in the 1840s, Britain having innovated the industrial revolution and acquired absolute cost advantages, decided that policies of free, not protection, would better serve national interests. This is because Britain enjoyed broad industrial supremacy, and hence there was no longer the need to protect the economy from foreign manufacturing, but to rather open more global markets for expanding British industrial production. This was much of the beginnings of the practice of free trade where Adam Smith was widely credited with pioneering economic trade in support of the free trade, as well as his documentation of free trade policies (Lovett, Brinkman, & Eckes, 2004).

Adam Smith’s was for the idea that free trade should prevail as well as the notions that were backing nation building policies in the support of national defence being more important than opulence. The act of navigation and the wisest of commercial regulations also made concessions to the mercantalistic policy of regulation of foreign trade. In the 1770s, Smith wrote the wealth of nations in the wide spread of mercantilism and his advocacy of free trade was supported by the comparative cost theory and the cloth/wine arguments served as the foundation for what later came to be called the pure theory of trade. This theory has then made a turn to support the free trade theory and both Britain and the Unites States embarked upon policies allowing the extreme of one way or unilateral free trade.

According to Dunkey (2003), free trade economists often describe the goal of globalization as deep integration or the convergence of nations’ fundamental economic structures and policy systems, extending far beyond trade or strictly economic criteria. At the start of the twenty-first century, Americans deviated from living in a national market that was depending on its own resources. The American economy was isolated from the rest of the world by border restrictions and natural barriers, such as time, distance and lack of information. Decades of trade liberalization along with innovations in telecommunication and transportation, had integrated global markets – and exposed workers in high income countries to the pressures of global competition.

The superiority of an international trading system characterized by greater multilateralism and international specialization over a trading system based on protectionism, bilateralism and a division of the world into major trading blocs is by no means as clear cut today as it was a decade ago. This can be attributed to the many of the new non-tariff barriers considered as part of the arsenal of policies that a nation believes to be necessary in order to achieve some important domestic objectives. The other explanation could be that in recent years, the very theoretical foundation of the modern theory of international trade, which for nearly two centuries has been consistent based on the alleged superiority of free trade over systems based on trade restrictions, is being questioned.

The protectionism theory proposes that an economy formulates necessary protection policies that are intended to help the domestic industry maintain or increase its market share while foreign producers are expected to lose market share and sales revenues. Oddly enough, the record indicates that foreign producers sometimes benefit from certain protectionist policies as in the case of quotas, due to increases in their prices, which may offset the loss in quantity supplied. For a look at the costs of protectionism in the USA, Tarr and Morkre (1984) estimated the annual cost to the US economy to be $12.7 billion from protections on autos, textiles, steel, and sugar. Hickok’s (1985) analysis targeted the effects on consumers at different income brackets and discovered that protections punish low-income consumers much more than upper income consumers where there are trade restraints on clothing, sugar, and autos. These restrictions were found to be equivalent to 23 per cent income tax surcharge for households with low income and 3 per cent for households with high income which brings up the inequality ratios as really high.

The data point to an interesting finding with regard to the relationship between protectionism and employment where in every single case, the society paid a hefty price for each saved job per worker, and in the majority of cases, and the cost was in excess of $100,000 per job. These findings should raise serious doubt about the utility of the argument that protectionism is beneficial for employment as the benefits derived by domestic producers and government, and occasionally, foreign producers as well, constitute the efficiency losses to society when considering the costs they have to endure. These efficiency losses are a result of the interventions imposed by the government. Hence they result of production distortions, reduced consumption, and the many side effects on consumers’ purchasing power, industrial customers, and the added bureaucratic and government expenditures to monitor and enforce the policies which call for more policy formulations.

A similar finding was derived when the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conducted studies to evaluate the effects of protectionist policies in manufacturing industries in the OECD member countries (OECD, 1985). The key findings of the OECD’s study point to the effects of protectionism as rise in domestic price stifled economic growth and depressed investment, drop in imports is accompanied by drop in exports, jobs saved are offset by job losses in export-oriented industries, overall employment does not increase and the jobs saved are publicized and the jobs lost are not; hence, the public is left with the impression than protectionist policies benefit employment.

Protectionism in developed countries impact developing countries and as realized from the OECD study concludes that reduced imports by developed countries reduce exports by developing countries and their earnings of foreign exchange, which they need in order to finance their external public debt. The multinational financial situation also gets hurt by trade protectionism and the impact of protectionism on developing countries was recently re-affirmed by US Government officials most intimately involved in international trade when six former US trade representatives affirmed that developing countries have benefited significantly with the reductions in protectionism by developed countries.

Further, other studies carried out by scholars clearly show that the costs of trade protectionism exceed the benefits and while domestic producers and possibly their workers may gain for a while, consumers and society lose. Inefficiencies inflict the entire economy and hamper growth, investment, employment, and ultimately even government revenues.

Influence of Global economics at Micro and Macro levels in Decision Making

Despite improved global financial conditions and reduced short-term risks, the world economy continues to expand at a subdued pace. There has been a marked downturn over the past two years and a review of the same has shown inflation has had a significant influence in the developing nations. On the other hand, global economic activity has been expected to slowly start rising towards the end of 2013 and 2014 which can be attained based on the back of accommodative and sound monetary policies in developed and developing economies globally. Most world regions that were highly affected by the economic crash are likely to see a slow upward growth in activity where growth will continue to be below potential and employment gains, especially in developed economies, which will remain weak at best.

There are short-term risks associated with the situation in the euro area as well as the changes in the dollar rates in buying and selling among the international firms where this gives the impression of a call for fiscal adjustments in the United States and the economic slowdown in large developing countries to restore the necessary balance. At the same time, new medium-term risks have emerged, including possible adverse effects of unconventional monetary measures in developed economies on global financial stability and hence bringing about high inflation and unemployment rates. These risks have the potential to once again derail the feeble recovery of the world economy and hence the main priority for policy makers worldwide should therefore be to support a robust and balanced global recovery, with a focus on promoting job creation.

The enhancement of International policy coordination needs to be enhanced to mitigate negative policy spill-overs, curb protectionism, promote cooperation in reforming the international financial system, and ensure sufficient resource flows to developing economies, and in particular the least developed countries of Asia and Africa.

Theory of two level games in decision making

The politics of many international negotiations can usefully be conceived as a two-level game where at the national level, domestic groups pursue their interests by pressuring the government to adopt favorable policies, and politicians seek power by constructing coalitions among those groups. Though economies are operating at the international level, national governments have the priority of maximizing their own ability to satisfy domestic pressures, while minimizing the adverse consequences of foreign developments at the cost of their economies. Neither of the two games can be ignored by central decision-makers, so long as their countries remain interdependent, while at the same time trying to maintain their sovereignty

The theory proposes that there be a platform for each of the political leaders with their diplomats and international advisors negotiating against a number of foreign counterparts. Around the domestic table behind him sit party and parliamentary figures, spokespersons for domestic agencies, representatives of key interest groups, and the leader’s own political advisors to give the necessary support and enable wise decision making consultatively.

There are powerful incentives for steadiness between the two games where economic players will tolerate some differences in rhetoric between the two games, but in the end either energy prices rise or they don’t. On occasion, however, clever players will spot a move on one board that will trigger realignments on other boards, enabling them to achieve otherwise unattainable objectives that are beneficial to their own team and hence their home economy

Benefits of Adjusting International trade Restrictions

The 2008 index of Economic Freedom published by the Heritage Foundation ranks the USA as the fifth freest economy in the world; a dimension in the index showing the extent to which international trade is free of government interference. USA can be regarded as a world leader when it comes to facilitating free trade but it is still not top ranking. For the purposes of the promotion of political cooperation and stability within its states, USA made free trade part of its foreign policies after WWII.

However, the commitment to international trade by the US government has seen a pattern of repeated forms of protectionism in free trade that has had negative effects both domestically as well as with the international community. Protectionist sentiments in the USA seem to be propagated again and this is manifested by the many bills before the Congress that are viewed in a way to reduce laissez faire. The Congress is looking to curtail free trade in different industries and with different countries and the stalling debate and ratification of free trade agreements (FTAs) that the administration had laboriously negotiated with key trade partners in Latin America and Asia is a sign.

Furthermore, Congress is putting the final touches on a $300 billion farm bill that is proving to be the “costliest in history” and that WTO trade partners consider the main obstacle to completing the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations. All this while the rest of the world is moving forward and negotiating FTAs with or without the USA. There are currently 380 FTAs worldwide and the USA is a member of only about ten and this is reason for concern considering that about half world trade takes place within FTAs (Trading Without America, 2007). Nations of the world have been trading in goods and services with each other since the dawn of history; in modern times, and especially since the establishment of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), multilateral trade has flourished and produced economic prosperity and political stability among trading partners.

The end result of the trade has seen the interest of many countries wanting to be a part of the trading nations as they are beneficial to only involved economies. They thus intend to petition for membership in international trading blocs having the considered the benefits against the level of control that they are subjecting themselves to the rules developed by foreign nations governing the operations of international trade. There are some considerations where trade has not been deprived of indescribable outcomes, inadequate cooperation with regard to certain protected industries, and painful socio-economic dislocations within domestic economies, yet, in spite of these shortcomings, trade has advanced steadily. At times the trade has advanced at a higher pace than expected and hence created an awesome outcome where the growth of world trade outpaced the growth of world economy.

Growth in trade and economic output proliferated to developing countries whose economies actually grew faster than the developed countries strengthening investor confidence, elevating stock market values to historic levels, and lowering the spread in interest margins between emerging market bonds and those of developed countries. Foreign direct investment capital flows reached $1.23 trillion in 2006, the second highest ever, and global liquidity increased foreign exchange reserves and enabled governments to expedite public debt re-payments. Recent data show that the situation in the USA is equally attractive where in 2007, US exports reached a record $1.6 trillion. This is up 12.6 per cent from 2006 and the 2008 numbers are equally impressive with a third of agriculture output and 20 per cent of manufactures exported internationally due to the economy’s competitive advantage.

References

Dunkley, G. (2003). Free trade: Myth, reality, and alternatives. London: Zed Books

Hickok, S. (1985). The consumer cost of US trade restraints. Quarterly Review, Federal

Reserve Bank of New York. New York, NY, pp. 1-12.

Lovett, W. A., Brinkman, R. L., & Eckes, A. E. (2004). U.S. trade policy: History, theory,

and the WTO. Armonk, NY

OECD (1985). Costs and Benefits of Protection, Organization for Economic Cooperation and

Development. Paris.

Tarr, D.G. and Morkre, M.E. (1984). Aggregate costs to the United States of tariffs and

quotas on imports: General tariff cuts and removal of quotas on automobiles, steel,

sugar, and textiles. Bureau of Economics Staff Report to the Federal Trade

Commission. FederalTrade Commission, Washington DC.

Trading Without America (2007). Review and outlook. Wall Street Journal. August 7, p. A10