Analyses eu-ecowas historical relation

Analyses eu-ecowas historical relation 1.1 INTRODUCTION EU-ECOWAS relations did not commence until 1975 due to the fact that ECOWAS only came into existence on May 28th 1975 with the signing of Treaty of Lagos by its member states (ECOWAS, 2010). However, prior to ECOWAS formation in 1975, some of its member states, particularly the Francophone countries such as Benin, Cote dIvoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo had been foundation members of Associated African states and Madagascar (EAMA). This group of countries had been actively involved in the ‘regime of association as enshrined in the Treaty of Rome (1957) which arranged a relationship between the former French and Belgian colonies with the EC (ACP, 2010). The early relationship with these ex-colonies became a key aspect of the process of European integration and also established the basis and rationale for subsequent arrangements (Reisen, 2007; Holland, 2002). The Commonwealth countries within the ECOWAS grouping such as Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone did not participate in EC cooperation programme until the UK accession to the EC in 1973. With regards to ex-colonies activities in EC cooperation programme prior to 1973, it had been a case of domination of development agenda by France (Holland, 2002). So, the inclusion of the ECOWAS Commonwealth countries was necessitated because the UK was keen to put its special trading preferences for bananas and sugar under the EC umbrella and to extend its assistance to some former colonies beyond bilateral support (European Commission, 2010a). Since ECOWAS establishment in 1975, EU-ECOWAS relations have been framed by the trade policy understandings as well as other development cooperation arrangements as contained in the partnership agreements that the EU has entered into with developing countries in Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACPs) countries (World Bank, 2007; Oyejide and Njinken, 2002). The ACPs currently comprises 79 countries (48 African, 16 Caribbean and 15 Pacific). The EUs relations with the ACPs are today governed by the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou, Benin in June 2000 which came into force in 2003 (ACP-EEC, 2005). However, it has since been revised and the revised Agreement entered into force in July 2008. In a sense, both ECOWAS and ACPs are closely linked but the paper focuses on EU-ECOWAS relations with a view to unravelling its specificity in historical perspectives. 1.2 BACKGROUND OF ECOWAS ECOWAS is a regional group of fifteen West African countries, founded on May 28, 1975, with the signing of the Treaty of Lagos. ECOWAS is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community and its mission is to promote economic cooperation and integration. The overall objective of ECOWAS is to promote co-operation and integration in order to create an economic and monetary union for encouraging economic growth and development in West Africa (ECOWAS, 2010a). The grouping contains a very wide diversity of economies in terms of size, development and resources (EBID, 2005). There were 16 nations in the group until very recently when Mauritania voluntarily withdrew its membership from ECOWAS. The countries include the 7 UEMOA countries of Benin, Burkina-Faso, Chad, Cote dIvoire, Mali, Niger, and Senegal. Other non-UEMOA member countries are Cape-Verde, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. The UEMOA is the French acronym of West African Economic and Monetary Union. It is an organization of eight states of West Africa established in 1994 to promote economic integration among countries that share a common currency, the CFA franc. In terms of achievements, UEMOA member countries are working toward greater regional integration with unified external tariffs than ECOWAS. It is both a customs and monetary union and has initiated regional structural and sectoral policies which ECOWAS is adopting. Within ECOWAS also, there is a West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) which comprises a group of five countries (mainly English speaking) that plan to introduce a common currency, the Eco by the year 2015. The WAMZ was formed in 2000 to try and establish a strong stable currency to rival the CFA franc. Though, the desired goal is for the CFA franc and Eco to merge, with a view to giving all of West Africa countries a single stable currency (ECOWAS, 2010b). 1.3 OVERVIEW OF EU-ECOWAS RELATIONS ECOWAS shares a resemblance with the EU in its objective and modes of cooperation for regional integration among member states. Though, their history of establishment differs. Unlike the ECOWAS model, in which all countries came together at once (except Cape Verde which joined in 1976) to form an economic arrangement, only six countries initiated the current EU arrangement, while other European countries joined at different points through its enlargement and accession strategy (Alaba, 2006). It has often been argued that integration in the West African sub-region has largely been informed by the integration processes in Western Europe, primarily because of EUs ‘commitment to regional integration (Smith, 2008; Ogbeidi, 2010). A point of departure between the two groupings however, lies in their performances over the years. While their performances could be a reflection of the level of development of the member states that constitutes the membership of the sub-regional unions, the most important single factor is their level of commitment towards achieving their goals. Unlike the EU arrangement, commitment to various protocol meant to facilitate the achievement of the vision of ECOWAS has been very low and implementation targets have never been met. For example trade liberalisation within the ECOWAS region has been generally low and ineffective (UNCTAD, 2009). The same compliance failure applies to an ECOWAS protocol on free movements of persons, the right of residence and establishment which was agreed as far as back 1979 (World Bank, 2007). 1.4 TRADE AND ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF ECOWAS WITH EU For virtually all ECOWAS countries, the EU is the main trading partner (Eurostat, 2008). This high dependence of the countries on the EU market is largely due to their historical links and the nature of their trade patterns which has often made them trade dependent (Fontagne, 2008; Greenidge, 1998). The economic structure of the West African sub-region is largely dominated by agriculture which is closely followed by mining. Agriculture contributed about 25.17%, to sub-regional GDP as at 2006, up from 24.19% in 1995, while mining accounted for 22.13% slightly higher than 21.45 in 1995. Trade contributed about 14.64% of the Groups GDP, down from 15.39% in 1995 (Ecostat, 2010). Most of the ECOWAS countries tend to be highly specialised in a few key products such as petroleum and a few unprocessed agricultural commodities such as coffee and cotton. ECOWAS is the largest trading partner of all the EUs sub regional groupings/cooperation. It accounts for about 40% of total trade with the EU by regions (Eurostat, 2008). Out of the fifteen ECOWAS countries, thirteen of these countries are ranked as Least Developed Countries (LDCs) while three are non-LDC (HDR, 2009). The non-LDC countries in the region are Nigeria, Ghana and Cote dIvoire. These 3 non-LDC countries and Senegal to some extent account for the bulk of trade relations with the EU. In 2008 EUs rankings of African countries in terms of value of goods traded, Nigeria and Cote dIvoire ranked the 4th and 10th for all EU imports while Nigeria, Senegal and Ghana were ranked 5th, 9th and 10th respectively for all EUs exports (Eurostat, 2009). West Africas main exports are oil from Nigeria (50% of West African exports) and agricultural tropical products (cocoa, bananas, pineapples, wood) mostly from Cà ´te dIvoire and Ghana (European Commission, 2009) while Senegal is noted for groundnut (Bergtold et al, 2005). For nearly all the countries the leading import items are heavy equipments, chemical and chemical products and textiles, rubber and metal products. 1.5 EU-ECOWAS EPA NEGOTIATIONS As mentioned earlier, EU-ECOWAS relations are governed by the agreements between EU and ACP group of States. In order to achieve their objectives, the relations between the two bodies have historically been framed by a series of conventions. For EU-ECOWAS relations, the most operative conventions are Lomà © Conventions (1975-2000) and Cotonou Agreement (2000-2020). The Lomà © Conventions (1975-2000) consist of four regimes of conventions from Lomà © I which was first signed in February 1975 in Lomà ©, Togo to Lomà © IV which ended in 2000. The Lomà © Conventions are a trade and aid agreement between the European Community (EC) and the ACP group of states. The first Lomà © Convention was designed to provide a new framework of cooperation between the then European Community (EC) and developing ACP countries. The Lome Conventions most important attribute is its non-reciprocity, which allows ACP exports duty free access to the European market while enabling the ACP states to maintain tariff barriers against European goods. It introduced the STABEX and SYSMIN system which were designed to compensate ACP countries for the shortfall in agricultural export earnings and mining industry activities respectively due to fluctuation in the prices or supply of commodities (ACP-EEC, 1995; 1975). The Lomà © Convention was a commitment to an equal partnership between Europe and ACPs (Holland, 2002). A critical review of the trade agreement/convention however, shows a perpetuation of unequal power relations between both parties. For example, the reciprocity clause has always been geared towards meeting export interests of European firms (Orbie, 2008) and the negotiation for the Lomà © convention itself was a reflection of Third World commodity power, which the EU was keen to preserve through its privileged access to these commodities via its ex-colonial links (Gibb, 2000). Nevertheless, Lomà © conventions have been considered as the hallmark of the EUs policy with the Third world and the most institutionalised of all EUs group-to-group dialogues. It marked a distinctive progression from a regime of association to what could be called a forum of partnership and cooperation (Hurt, 2003; Holland, 2002). It has also been argued by Crawford (2007) that Lomà © Convention is the most significant agreement for Sub-Saharan Africa. The Cotonou Agreement (2000-2020) is the most recent agreement in the history of ACP-EU Development Cooperation. It is based on four main principles: partnership, participation, dialogue and mutual obligations, and differentiation as well as regionalization (ACP-EEC, 2000). One of the radical changes and fundamental elements of the Cotonou Agreement concerns trade cooperation between EU-ACP states. This is not surprising given the fact that EU has exclusive trade competencies and trade policy instrument has been a key strategy of its external policy (Lightfoot, 2010; Orbie, 2008; Bretherton and Vogler, 1999). The most striking feature of the new trade cooperation is the fact that the non-reciprocal trade preferences have been replaced with a new scheme of Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The EPAs are schemes aimed at creating a Free Trade Area (FTA) between the EU and ACP countries (ACP-EEC, 2000). The EPAs are a response to continuing criticism that the non-reciprocal and discriminating preferential trade agreements offered by the EU are incompatible with WTO rules. Apart from the issue of WTO compatibility, it was also argued that generous trade preferences were not enough for economic take off (European Commission, 1995). It was therefore seen as having achieved limited success in terms of promoting accelerated development in ACP countries. So, what does the EPA signify for EU-ECOWAS relations? The negotiations on an EPA between ECOWAS and the EU were launched in Brussels in 2002 (ECA, 2007). However, the negotiations have so far been inconclusive due to some concerns that the EPAs will lead to large trade imbalances in West African economies, as well as substitution of local and regional production by European imports (Perez and Karingi, 2007). The decline in import duties due to the preferential tariff elimination has also been a major concern for West African countries (Busse and Grobmann, 2004). In particular, the reciprocity condition implicit in the agreement, implied that at some time before 2020, the ECOWAS countries must have to open up their economies to imports from the EU countries. This may invariably lead to trade diversion, trade creation, loss of trade revenues and deindustrialisation (World Bank, 2007; Adenikinju and Alaba, 2005). In a study on the impacts of the EU-ECOWAS EPAs, Lang (2006) found that Ghana and especially Guinea-Bissau could lose up to 20% of their Government budget revenues in case of a full liberalisation of EU imports. Although tariff revenue falls were considered highest in Nigeria in absolute dollar terms, those two countries will be the most affected. In a similar study on the impacts of the EU-ACP EPAs in six ACP regions, Fontagne et al (2008:6-7), ACP exports to the EU are forecast to be 10 percent higher with the EPAs than under the GSP/EBA option. On average ACP countries are forecast to lose 70 percent of tariff revenues on EU imports in the long run. The most affected region is ECOWAS. The implication of a loss of tariff income would translate into public budget constraints and could therefore pose great developmental challenges for ECOWAS countries. Nevertheless, both Cote dIvoire and Ghana agreed and endorsed interim EPAs with the EU in December 2007 (European Commission, 2009). These agreements were principally put in place because full regional EPAs could not be agreed upon. Of these three largest trading partners with the EU, Nigeria opted out of an interim EPA. For now, the country can only benefit from the regular EU Generalised System of Preferences (GSP). This is far less advantageous than the nonreciprocal Lomà © preferences because the GSP covers fewer products and has stricter rules of origin (Hurt, 2003). Though the Nigerian Government has twice applied to be placed on the GSP+ status, the EU has rejected the applications purely for political reasons (Nwoke, 2009). The rest of the West African region is largely made up of Least Developed Countries (European Commission, 2009). They have an option not to negotiate since they have duty free access to the EU under the ‘Everything But Arms (EBA) scheme (Orbie, 2008; Bilal, 2007). The EBA is the differentiation component of Cotonuo Agreement made in the treatment of least developed countries (LDCs) and non-LDCs. For these thirteen countries, the EPA may not carry additional benefits over the EBA except for the technical and financial support that the former may carry (Adenikinju and Alaba, 2005). So, their level of commitment to signing full EPA is marginal. It needs pointing out that the small gains which might result from the EBA initiative are expected to fade away as a consequence of the EU negotiations on EPAs (Kohnert, 2008). Besides, the contentious nature of EBA scheme due to its unilateral introduction makes it less attractive (Bilal, 2002). As Flint (2008:60) argues the EU has highlig hted further problems facing policymakers by the split into separate blocs of LDC and non-LDC. This is very illustrative of EU-ECOWAS relations. From the foregoing, it is discernible that in effect, the EPA will play a significant role in terminating the ECOWAS group as the main development partner of the EU. Prior to the EPA negotiations, ECOWAS countries have not had great success at significantly enlarging trade amongst member states. Intraregional trade as a proportion of total trade remains much lower in African regional integration (UNCTAD, 2009). And, with the new EPAs strategy that seeks for unilateral negotiation in practice, trade improvement amongst member states is further undermined (Borrmann et al, 2005). Concisely, the EPA is detrimental to the cause of regional integration. For EU-ECOWAS, the two principles of reciprocity and deeper regional integration are likely to pull in different directions (Lang, 2006). 1.6 AID FOR TRADE AND DEMOCRACY PROMOTION IN EU-ECOWAS RELATIONS The Aid for Trade initiative emerged within the Doha Round out of the need to help all countries to benefit from trade i.e. to maximise the gains from trade. Yet, demand for, and capacity to absorb, aid for trade still exceeds available resources (World Bank, 2005). The EU Aid for Trade strategy adopted in October 2007 confirms the European commitment to provide EUR2 billion per year in Trade Related Assistance by 2010 and to increase spending for the wider Aid for Trade agenda (ECDPM, 2009). A review of Aid for Trade however shows that donors have achieved their pledges simply by applying the modified WTO-OECD monitoring rules, without initiating any new projects (Brà ¼ntrup and Voionmaa, 2010). So, for ECOWAS countries whose capacity building and supply-side constraints have been a major factor in the lack of competitiveness and the relatively poor trade and growth performance (AU, 2006), Aid for Trade can only be meaningful if it is translated into genuine fresh aid for utilisati on. Also, the issue of democracy promotion in EU-ECOWAS relations is more of rhetoric than accomplishment. Crawford (2005) argument that the EUs interests in Africa focus less on democracy promotion and more on the perceived burdens and security threats to Europe arising from political instability and conflict seems more instructive and matter of fact. 1.7 CONCLUSION The EPA negotiations to establish a Free Trade Zone between EU and ECOWAS in line with Cotonuo agreement for a period of 12 years have significant implications on the economies of ECOWAS countries. Given the structure and trade patterns of ECOWAS countries in which manufactures account for about 75% of the EUs export to ECOWAS, full liberalisation of their economies will result in loss of revenue, deindustrialisation and will make the countries to be more vulnerable in the global economy. It is less to be seen if the IEPAs/EPAs negotiations would engender trade that will result in development and poverty reduction for the West Africa sub region. The trade cooperation upon which EPAs is founded symbolises regional integration in principles but its strategy of interim EPAs among individual countries of the region and EBA for least developed countries encourages unilateralism in practice. 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Mice and Men Essay

John Ernst Steinbeck was born on 27 February 1902, in Salinas, California, USA. The Salinas River is mentioned in the first line of Of Mice and Men. The whole novel is centred on the landscape around Salinas. Steinbeck was the third of four children, of mixed German and Irish descent. His parents owned a considerable amount of land, and his mother was a schoolteacher who encouraged him to read widely. His background was neither rich nor poor, and his parents wanted him to follow a ‘respectable’ career. John Steinbeck wrote the novel called Of Mice and Men. It was published in the depression years of the 1930’s. Steinbeck raises questions in the mind of the reader that the novel would be based on loneliness. The first line read â€Å"A few miles south of Soledad†. This is a clever idea by Steinbeck as â€Å"Soledad† means loneliness in Spanish. John Steinbeck’s family was wealthy, but was interested in the lives of farm labourers. It gave him a inspiration to write books about migrant workers. He could of been a doctor or a teacher but he chose to become an author. John Steinbeck must of met a lot of people like Lennie and George, so he has ideas to write a good book. The historical context of the novel is that its all about the depression years in the 1930’s. It was illegal to be unemployed. People living in the 30’s didn’t have a choice but to go to work. The main characters in this story are George and Lennie. They travel around together, share their minds together, and what ever trouble Lennie gets into, George had to get him out of it. George didn’t like Lennie that much because of all the trouble that he gets into. He didn’t want to stay with Lennie, but his mother told George to look after him. Lennie was always trying to find a good opportunity to go off alone in the hills. George didn’t want that, he liked Lennie as a friend, but Lennie gets into too much trouble. But they always say; ‘You got me, and I got you’. This novel called ‘Of Mice and Men’ was set in a town called ‘Soledad’. It meant ‘Lonely’ in Spanish. The ranch is located in the middle of no where. It’s 4 miles to the town. The characters in this novel are ranch workers who are described as lonely. Ranch work is not long term. All of the workers except for Candy and Crooks are only passing through. When George and Lennie get jobs, the boss is suspicious of them because they look like they’ve known each other from somewhere and are close friends. The other ranch workers see that George is always answering for Lennie. But they cannot understand why they are always together. George says that â€Å"ranch workers are the loneliest people in the world and don’t belong nowhere†. In this paragraph, I’m going to write about Crooks. Crooks is a black guy. He’s not allowed to stay in the bunkhouse with the other ranch hands because he is black. He doesn’t have the same status as the other white workers. Crooks was also excluded because he suffered an injury and so is not as capable as the other ranch hands. His possessions show that he is lonely. Everyone can see that because he loves to read his books but was excluded. Crooks doesn’t like when Lennie tries to talk to him. Crooks get angry every time he tells Lennie to go away from him. But after that, he admits that he is lonely. Lennie will also get lonely and even sick when no one is with him. He needs someone beside him all the time so that he feels supported. For this, he always wants George. In this paragraph, I have looked at the way Crooks treat other people and what his appearance looks like to everyone else. I will now write about Candy. He’s an old man who wants to join up with George and Lennie and get a place where they can live. Candy provides a parallel to George and Lennie in that he relies on his dog – ‘I’m so used to ‘im’ (p.46) – just as George and Lennie are an elevated version of a master/dog relationship. Candy clings to his dog, despite all that logic and common sense dictate. He loves to be with his dog because he had him since he was a puppy. It was the best sheepdog he had ever had. The other workers didn’t realise the relationship between Candy and the dog. It meant nothing to everyone except for Candy. They’ve been together for all of Candy’s life. But now Lennie’s life has ended. Candy cleans out the farm buildings, and shows George and Lennie the bunkhouse. Candy lost his hand whilst working on the farm, and was allowed to stay on in this lowly position as cleaner. Candy soon asks George and Lennie if he can come in with them. George said ‘We weren’t thinking of a third person. Cause we was gonna do it on our own’. George knew that it was owned by old people who might be willing to sell it for $600 or so. Candy confesses he has $350 saved up and asks if he can come in with them. George really begins to believe that his dream might become a reality. He needs to work for another month or two and not spend anything so that they will have the stake to buy the farm. This will be good for Candy because then he can live a happy life and avoid the loneliness in the life of a ranch worker. He’s worked here for so long and wants to change his miserable life and make it peaceful. Candy was moaning that he just let a stranger shoot his dog. By the look of him, he could see that Carlson didn’t like the smell of Candy’s old dog. Carlson asks Slim to give Candy one of the other pups so that the old dog can be shot. Once the dog has been shot, he feels strong pressure because he had him since he was a pup. When George and Lennie were talking about their dream, Candy steps in and instead of being sad, George and Lennie gives pride and gives Candy more confidence. In this paragraph I have explained Candy’s life and the way he lives. I am now going to write about Curley’s wife. She doesn’t like Curley very much and wants to go elsewhere but cannot because of Curley. The other ranch workers avoid Curley’s wife as they know that if they befriend her, they will get into trouble. She also said that she could hang Curley at anytime if she felt like it (Showing that she can be dangerous as well as Lennie). She also visits the bunkhouse a lot, she wanted company, but had to ask where Curley was. On Saturday nights she is left at the ranch alone. When she is left alone at the ranch, she tells everyone about her life and story. It’s very miserable for Curley’s wife. She tells everyone the truth†¦ that she doesn’t really like Curley. Everyone else has names except for her. She has to be called Curley’s wife. That is why she doesn’t appear much in the story. She’s being treated like an object. Slim’s dog name is ‘Loulou’. We have looked at the character of Curley’s wife and how she got on. George and Lennie are different to the other ranch hands. The way they respond to each other shows very close friendship. Lennie always get into trouble and George is there to get him out of it. They share a dream together of working and then getting a lot of money so that they can live comfortably in the place that there going to get. Every time George says ‘We’re gonna get the place’. Lennie gets very excited and says ‘I get to tend the rabbits’. But when George is about to shoot Lennie, he keeps saying this so that Lennie puts his mind fully onto the house in his head and imagining him tend the rabbits, George wanted this because when he looked the other way, there was a time to shoot him. George wanted him to see it as he is talking. It was related to the shooting of Candy’s dog too which gave George more confidence in shooting Lennie. But at the end, it is George who will feel guilty. George often insults Lennie and ‘gives him hell’, but he doesn’t really mean it. Although he often talks about how well off he could be without Lennie he secretly doesn’t want Lennie to leave, and when Lennie offers to do so in the first chapter, George virtually pleads with him to stay. This is because George also depends on Lennie to a certain extent for his unconditional friendship. I didn’t think that Steinbeck would make George shoot Lennie. At first, those two was good friends, I thought they would actually get that bunkhouse. But it ended in a bad way. It made the readers / watchers feel shocked and feel that his life has ended with just one shot. George always gets annoyed of Lennie and Lennie says that he will go up to the hills. George knows that he’s the only one who has to get him out of trouble. But then decides if Lennie’s gone, then he can have total freedom and do anything he wants. At the end, it might of been a mistake to shoot Lennie. The first paragraph tells us about the introduction of John Steinbeck. It tells the readers what is going to happen. The second paragraph describes the setting and ranch workers. It’s the setting of the story and the ranch workers. The third paragraph let’s the readers understand Crooks. It also describes his ethnic group and his rights. The fourth paragraph tells us about Candy. It tells the readers about his loving dog and his dreams towards the ranch. The fifth paragraph also describes Curley’s Wife. The way she acts in the story, and how lonely she is. Finally, the last paragraph tells the readers about the friendship of George and Lennie. It tells us how George and Lennie travel together, live together and the trouble that they get into. It also summarises George and Lennie’s dream. John Steinbeck is trying to say that life in the 1930s in California was lonely. He doesn’t just write it down, because that will just give the point away. He wants the readers to imagine it for themselves.

Control charts

Control Charts Control Charts are use to distinguishes between specializes or common-cause of variation that Is present In a process. There are two basic types of control charts:- Variables Quantitative data (Measured) Attributes Qualitative data (Counted) Variable Control Charts Use actual measurements for charting Types:- Average & Range charts Median & Range charts Average & Standard deviation charts Individual & Moving Range charts Run Charts Attribute Control Charts use pass/fall or go/no-go Judgment Type improvement.To determine the process capability. For decisions In regard to product specifications. For current decisions in regard to recently produced items. Average & Range charts (0 and R) Guidelines for subgroup sizes (n):- As n increases the CLC become closer to central line. 2. As n increases the inspection cost per subgroup increases. 3. Distributions for averages of subgroups are nearly normal for n = 4 4. If n = 10 use the s -chart instead of R-chart . N = 5 commonly being used in industry 6.The percentage of product that falls within any pair of values may be predicted with the highest degree of assurance. It permits the consumer to use the producer's data The operator is performing satisfactorily from a quality viewpoint. PROCESS IN CONTROL (Natural pattern of variation) About 34% of the plotted points in an imaginary band between one standard deviation on both sides of the central line About 13. 5% of the plotted points in an imaginary band About 2. 5% of the plotted points in an imaginary band

Essay on The Pros and Cons of Marxism - 1907 Words

The ideology of Marxism, established by German philosopher Karl Marx, is a collectively known set of assumptions of a political ideology, which focuses especially on analysis of materialist interpretation of historical development, or on class struggle within the society. The primarily approach of Marxism, nonetheless, was the critique of capitalism. The strength of his inquiry lies in belief of inevitable shift from capitalism and he aims to advocate the new form of ideology and economy, the socialism. The title of this essay is provocative as in today ´s world, there exist many proponents who claim, the core of Marx conception of ideology is still relevant in the 21st globalised world. However, Marxism is relevant to the extent to which†¦show more content†¦Manifesto deals with Bourgeois and Proletarians, where he is asserting that bourgeois is constantly trying to maximize its profit by exploiting proletarians and their manual labour. Marx and Engels claim â€Å"The hi story of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggle†. At this point it is almost certain, why IR influenced Marx as much as he came up with idea of socialism and yet, of communism. Secondarily, the (FR) in France from 1789 to 1799 was another radical and political event in the worldwide history. Marx and Engels based their analysis of the FR, as a series of class struggle. Both concluded, that in society of material inequality it is impossible to reach an actual freedom, considering the slogans of IR â€Å"Liberty, Equality and Fraternality†, if the society is divided into exploiters and exploited, meaning Bourgeoisie and Proletariat. This observation was vital to Marx ´s concept. The next section draws attention on the central feature of Marxist approach, the historical materialism. The â€Å"Materialist Conception of history† was to the Critique of Political Economy; the fundamental argument here, is that economics is the motor for the history as a whole; in other words, Marxists argue that the procedure of historical changes is in analyse,Show MoreRelatedThe Pros and Cons of Functionalism and Marxism2300 Words   |  10 Pagescrime are Functionalism and Marxism. I have done so, as I believe both theories are important/ significant to the study of crime and differentiate from each other. I will do this by writing a critique the advantages and disadvantages of both of the theories and thus, resulting in my own personal opinion in the conclusion. Marxism derived from German philosophers Karl Marx (also a political economist/ sociologist) and Friedrich Engels in the middle of the 1800s. ‘Marxism is based on the idea thatRead MoreCapitalism, Liberalism And Marxism Leninism1486 Words   |  6 Pagesconcept of wealth; how do I get more? In the world of economics there are several theories and approaches but the three main powerhouses that have either stood the test of time or paved the way for economic revolutions are Mercantilism, Liberalism and Marxism-Leninism. Each of these economic theories have great strengths in their own rights but are of course not without great limitations. While there is no such thing as an inherently perfect economic and political system it is quite obvious that some comeRead MoreSelf-Control Theory1854 Words   |  8 Pagesresolution involves a range of essential skills and techniques, which are of value in organizing and building social movements and parties. Social control resolution means regulation of the application of a particular set of laws or rules (Encyclopedia of Marxism, 2008). Positive and negative effects in conflict theory According to the examples and experiences of others the word conflict deems negativity. 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Socialism is the idea that the working class, the class that produces everything should run the country collectively for the benefit of the majority. Socialism is the base or stepping stone to other ideologies such as Communism and Marxism. Communism is similar to socialism except instead of public ownership the government owns everything and it is their job to distribute the wealth equally. In theory socialism and other variants would be very strong choices when it comes to econ omic

Whats Actually Happening with Tsi Essay Sample Topics

What's Actually Happening with Tsi Essay Sample Topics All About Tsi Essay Sample Topics The outline will supply the simple structure for your paper and act as a guide for your writing. Below you can locate a sample essay outline structure to have a better idea about how to organize your own outline. An essay template is a guide which ensures your approach is correct and that you don't deviate from the home function. It is possible to also refer to our Essay Outline Templates to supply you with an idea on the best way to start. A detailed, one-page outline is likely to make your paper way simpler to write. An essay is going to be asked to fulfill the writing part of the test. You may also find a great deal of successful sample essays online. You may continue to keep your argumentative essays for your upcoming job portfolio in case they're highly graded. The Bad Side of Tsi Essay Sample Topics High school isn't free in Kenya. Others believe that it improves creativity an d productivity at work. Health has ever been among the significant concerns of humanity. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about an approaching deadline. In case the source is written by multiple authors, then you ought to state last names of them all, at least in the very first reference within the essay. Before you even begin writing the content of your college essay, there are a number of essay writing basic guide that you must always remember. Sample persuasive essays can also offer inspiration on topics to write on in addition to serve as examples about how to compose your essay. Just comply with the guidelines stated above, and you're going to be well on your way to writing a fantastic persuasive essay. You also ought to go through the essay template to learn more on the subject of essay structure ones your outline is completed. An essay template makes it possible to define the aim of your essay and keep it up. The text will surely bleed into the total mood of your essay writing. Essay format doesn't have anything to do with the true content of the essay, it is the way you organize and present it. It's absolutely free to use and you're strongly encouraged to examine the subject areas in which you're required test. If you don't know the answer, you need to make an educated guess. The TSI test isn't timed. As you take a growing number of sample tests you start to obtain a feel for those topics that you understand well and the areas that you're weak on. When it is argumentative or informative essays, you have to develop a topic that may grab the interest of the reader right away and this isn't such an easy job. Try to remember that you're NOT writing your opinion on the subject. Clearly, you ought not purposely choose a topic that will bore your audience. A great cause essay topic won't have an easy answer that you are able to research and locate a definitive topic. The value of research in persuasive writing may not be overstated. In such a scenario, a student is needed to select an acceptable topic to write about. In order to excel in an extended essay, he must strategize in order to comprehensively write a topic. You see, the conventions of English essays are somewhat more formulaic than you may think and, in various ways, it can be as easy as counting to five. Quite simply, the politician who would like a vote, or the fake news websites that just need a click. Mechanical Conventions The degree to which you express ideas employing Standard Written English. As you're normally requested to write about something you want or enjoy, opinions are predicted to be generally positive. New Questions About Tsi Essay Sample Topics Should you wish, highlight the important words and phrases in the stimulus to have the ability to look at it from time to time to make sure you adhere to the topic. You still must make an outstanding bit of writing. I t can help you strengthen your essay by providing you a focus for strong substance and suitable presentation. Even with the ample number of substantial research materials and intelligent ideas, the essay may wind up flawed in the event the student doesn't have effective writing skills. The Good, the Bad and Tsi Essay Sample Topics Students will get their voucher at the High School upon completion of the necessary measures. They will be unable to take the TSIA without first completing the entire Pre-Assessment Activity and obtaining their certificate of completion. Furthermore, many students will have to compose an essay for the writing part of the test. Upcoming college students might also be requested to compose a college essay for a component of their first requirements.

Norway A Country That Occupies The North Region Of Europe

Norway, also referred to as Norge, is a country that occupies the north region of Europe. Norway occupies most of the western half of the scandinavian peninsula and is mostly made up of mountains. About half or more of Norway’s population live in the southern region. Norway is made up of an indented cost and around fifty thousand islands located off shore; these islands were carved by deep glacial fjords. The population of Norway is around five million, one hundred and thirty nine thousand (Joys). Norway is most known, or famous, for the Fjords, which are long, narrow, deep inlets of the sea between high cliffs, as in Norway and Iceland, typically formed by the submergence of a glaciated valley (dictionary). I choose this country because†¦show more content†¦Although supply is expected to grow, the demand has dropped from nine percent to about one percent and is expected to grow again to roughly three and a half percent for the entire globe. One country that also hel ps the supply growth for Norway is Chile; however, Norway expects a decline from the Chilean Atlantic salmon market in 2015. This is especially hard for Norway because the demand for Atlantic salmon is increasing in Europe. Just last year in 2014, European Fish markets purchased more than twelve percent from Norway than they did in the previous year, 2013. Economic freedom measures how the economy is in a country. High economic freedom means that there is lower poverty levels and lower unemployment rates, along with higher income and a better and cleaner quality of life (Econfreedom). Norway, a constitutional monarchy, has a 71.8 economic freedom score, which makes Norway the twenty-seventh freest country in the whole world. In a recent survey, Norway was rated fifth in Anti-Global watchdog Transparency International. The Norway government was rated as very clean meaning that there is little to no government corruption in the survey and a statement was made, We are a little behind the other Scandinavian countries, by Tor Dà ¸lvik, special advisor to Transparency International in Norway. Dà ¸lvik went on to say, We have had some

Debt Sustainability and Fiscal Councils

Questions: 1. Examine the factors that determine the dynamics of the debt-toGDP ratio.2. Define the deficit bias and provide three reasons for its existence. Answers: 1. The factors that determine the dynamics of the debt-toGDP ratio : Debt to GDP ratio is defined as the ratio of the countries national debt to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Debt is what a country owes and GDP is the total production of the country. By comparing both the ratio indicates the countrys ability to pay back its debt. Often expressed as a percentage, the ratio can be interpreted as the number of years needed to pay back debt if GDP is dedicated entirely on debt repayment. There has been no ideal level of debt-to-GDP ratio determined for a country, whereas there has been a focus on the certain debt levels. A country is referred to be stable if its debt payments are done without refinancing or harming the economic growth. A high Debt-to-GDP ratio may make more difficulty in paying its debts. If a county fails to pay its debt, it would default and would also create a panic in the national and international market. The higher the debt-to-GDP ratio, the higher the risk of fulfilling the payment and thus the higher default risk. (Julio, 2010 ) The factors which contribute to the determining of the dynamics of the government Debt-to-GDP ratio are Primary budget balance as a percentage of the countrys GDP, GDP growth and the difference between the real interest rate. The debt path is determined by the overall fiscal balances; interest bills and primary balances. Debt in terms of equations can be explained as : Bt = (1+r) Bt-1 + Gt - Tt [E1] This equation explains the debt which is, debt at the end of the year t is equal to (1+r) times debt at the end of the year t-1, plus the Primary deficit which is the difference between total deficits and interest payments. The factors that determine the dynamics are primary deficits (or surpluses) and the real rate of interests. The change in any would change the percentage of debt to GDP. Thus there can be two cases realized: 1. The normal case: when the growth rate of GDP is smaller than the real interest rates. Here, E1 is a straight line with slope greater than 1. If the initial debt is positive then the government needs primary surplus to stabilize the debt ratio. The real rate of interest is the rate at which the government accumulates debt because of the debt inherited from the past in terms of interest. If new debt is recalled to pay such interests rather than by primary surpluses, the debt to GDP ratio will continue to grow at a rate equal to rate of interest. Real GDP, however, grows at a rate g- less than r- therefore the debt ratio increases over time. This happens even when the government maintains a primary budget balance or runs primary deficits. 2. The exotic case: when the growth rate exceeds the real interest. E1 is then described by a straight line with lower slope than 1 (1+ r g 1). The debt to equity ratio with time converges to steady rate value indicated as b-. The debt ratio converges to zero as the primary budget is balanced and the debt ratio exceeds. The dynamics of debt to GDP ratio can be explained through these two graphical diagrams: 1. If g r, and if country has past deficits or runs primary deficits (Gt - Tt 0), then the debt ratio increases going further away from equilibrium. 2. If g r and the government runs primary surpluses (Gt - Tt 0), then the debt ratio always converges to its equilibrium level. Causes of Debt accumulation: There has been a increase in debt of the government of many countries past few decades. The major causes of debt accumulation can be seen as the governments cut in taxation. But debt also has its determinants from the GDP growth rate and the inflation levels of the country. Countries reach debt tolerance limits as sharp increase in price levels and interest rates devalue the growth and in turn the money supply in the market. As for inflation levels, an obvious connection comes from the fact that high inflation can reduce the real cost of servicing the debt. Also, understanding how the debt builds up is also important. Natural disasters, wars and peace time also help in the debt accumulation for the path to recovery to happen. For developed economies the relation of inflation and growth does not much matter to the debt amount while for emerging economies they have a direct relation and affects the debt accumulation. Also emerging economies depend upon developed economies for borrowing s which ads up to the debt amount. The aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007-2009 also showed that debt accumulation in the countries was majorly because of the dependant on short term borrowings to fund the past growing debts.(Reihart, 2010) Danger of very high public debt and the options open to a government to stabilize a high and growing debt ratio. It is experienced that higher the public debt, higher the primary surplus to keep the debt levels from growing any further. But with the primary surpluses comes the taxes which if increased can create havoc in the economy. The degree to which high public debt can be danger to the economy can be explained with the help of the E1, the debt-GDP ratio: Lets say, a country having a high debt ratio of 100%. Suppose real rate of interest is 3% and GDP growth rate is 2%. Then first term on the right hand side is (3%-2%) X 100% = 1% of GDP. Now this can fluctuate as per the situation of the country. For example, Government generates a primary surplus of 1% then the right hand side will be equal to 1% + (-1%) = 0 , or because of any scandal or disinvestment in the country the central banker raises the interest rates from 3% to 7% then again the right side changes. To maintain this primary surpluses needs to be raised and to increase them will increase the tax rate. Alternatively the government may not be able to increase the primary surpluses then again the debt will rise and financial markets may fall which will bring in negative sentiments to the investors and further no investments would be attracted. The end lesson to this will be that the countries facing high debt should reduce it as soon as they can. 2) Policy: the rapid increase in government debt in most OECD economies in the 1990s lead economists to argue that fiscal policy was subject to a deficit bias and that discretionary policy had to be abandoned in favour of fiscal rules. However, the recent explosion in government debt suggests that the rules approach was not sufficient for stable public finances and the need to search for new ways of ensuring fiscal discipline. An idea that has received widespread attention is the establishment of independent fiscal institutions. What is Deficit bias? The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Nations was founded in 1961 for the development of world trade and push towards the economic growth of the member nations. It is a forum of countries coming together for democracy and market economy and sharing policies, problems and coordinating for a better world economy. Since the 1990s there has been a rapid increase in government debts in most of its members and to overcome the same fiscal policies were subjected to the deficit bias and all the rules were made in favor of the same. Fiscal policy is a government tool for planning its expenditure on taxes and revenues through borrowings. The deficit bias comes in this planning stage itself. It can be defined as a situation when the structure of a governments budget is such that its promised disbursements exceed the structures of its receipts. The reasons for deficit bias can be explained as below: Insufficient collection of taxes- this is a very common problem for many countries. Due to the dynamic income distribution and generation of income in the economy, the tax slabs vary and collection is also distributed. The collection of taxes is also dynamic making only few people of the population to pay the taxes. Also countries have very high marginal rates of taxes. People either work less and pay more or they work where tax evasions are possible. Obligations towards the welfare and upliftment of the society and equality in distribution of the wealth. The people expect social and security benefits from the government which in return are expensive and obliging them requires a huge sum of money to be invested which can be either through government reserves or majorly through borrowings thus creating deficits further. Discuss how fiscal councils can contribute to fiscal discipline by reducing the problem of deficit bias. Fiscal policy is a mainstream tool used by the government officials for the planning and estimating the expenditure and revenues of the government. These policies are used by all the countries to stabilise the government action and forecasting future requirements. Fiscal councils can be said to be independent bodies set up by a government to evaluate fiscal policy (Wren-Lewis, 2011). Fiscal discipline can be defined as the governments capacity to keep the smooth flow of financial operations and long term fiscal development. After the financial crisis of 2008 many countries formed its fiscal councils one such being the Swedish forum for crisis preparedness. There has been a rapid increase in the deficit bias in countries and major reasons cited were as these countries did not follow the fiscal discipline and after a while there were no contingencies in the improve the situations. These fiscal problems have led to the establishment of fiscal institutions. These have also been approved by world development institutions like the IMF, World Bank, OECD etc. The recent interest in these establishments was widely supported by academic proposals. The common objective of these councils is to adapt the systemised working of the central banking to the fiscal sphere. The working of these fiscal councils are to be determined as whether they should do forecasting or evaluating the governments forecasts or they should give normative recommendations. Since a long time fiscal rules have been violated by the governments and thus the councils have come up with fiscal disciplines. There are several ways in which the fiscal councils can deal with the deficit bias by contributing to fiscal disciplines, few are: Informational problems- there have been many instances when there has been wrong inflow of information among the people in the country resulting into a fall in the severe indicators of economic growth. For example, over optimism among the people either by any leader or any people can create deficit bias because revenues can be below expectations over expectations may lead to regrets in future. To make such information flows correct and clear, councils need to step in and play a better role for the profitability of such information. Impatience- this can also create deficit bias among the people. An example would be when a government is discounting at a higher rate than the electorate it is giving a deficit bias as this would lead to the loss of individual politicians in elections. Here the election commission may not be able to cater to the flaw effectively as the magnitude of the election may be very large, thus fiscal councils could provide an alternative political pressure and manage the situation. Common-pool theory- a governments duty is to provide welfare to the people and thus they come up with ideas to benefit them. But sometimes there stays a flaw in this process. Ministers may formulate overflowing budgets and thus fail to provide optimum results out of it. This theory provides a relationship between the departments of government and the deficit bias created. Here the recommendations of the fiscal councils may empower the financial ministers and help in the optimum utilisation of the money of the people. Time inconsistency and inflation bias- the deficit bias is also related to the inflation bias. The fiscal policies are used to stabilise the economy by raising the output and inflation in the short run. Sometimes this leads to deficit bias with the inflation bias. The changes in the institutions that reduce the inflation bias through the monetary policy might encourage the inflation through fiscal policies with an associated deficit bias. Thus the fiscal councils can act as a guard for changes in such rules and advise on the long term benefits of the economy. Exploiting future generations- there has been experiences when the government has failed to succeed in the security and development of the future generations of the country. The exploitation of the next generations can be directly by cutting taxes immediately and be paid by the future generation later or indirectly by adding government debts and capital. Here the fiscal councils may be represented by the future generations themselves. But again, these young councils should also have the fiscal powers and decision making strengths.(Wren-Lewis, 2011) Discuss why there exists the potential for the UK government to exert some indirect influence on the OBRs forecasts and to undermine its independence. Office for budget responsibility is a fiscal forum established for the fiscal cooperation and management of the UK government. As discussed it is difficult for a government to establish a fiscal council as it would provide hindrances in its activities. Thus it has been noted that governments exert influences on the councils in there country. The UK government too tries to influence the forecasts of OBRs. This is because of the issue that independence simply moves time inconsistency problem to another level. The councils advises may bring in hindrances and problems in the government activities. Sometimes fiscal councils are created by opposition parties for the critique to the government. Conflicts between the government and the fiscal councils are not inevitable. The fiscal council has the power to validate optimal departure from simple rules. Thus the UK government has been creating unduly interferences in its fiscal council. (McCullum, 1994) Independence of the fiscal councils have always been undermined. Though there is a consensus of academic professionals on the need for the independence of these councils. This independence can be achieved through the following ways- Budgetary independence. Recruitment process to be completely professional and no political preferences accepted. Restriction on the electorals freedom to fire then members of the councils. Reduction in the periods of undertaking the charge in the office. Strict prohibitions on the interference of the government advise on the functioning of the body. Bibliography calmfors. (2003). Fiscal policy to stabilize the domestic economy in EMU. In calmfors, Fiscal policy to stabilize the domestic economy in EMU (p. 49). CESifo Economic Studies. Julio, E. (2010). A Practical Guide to Public Debt Dynamics. Retrieved january 24, 2015, from https://www.esaag.co.za/images/publications-notes/other/imf-guide-to-public-debt- McCullum. (1994). Two fallacies concerning central banks independence. American Economic review. Reihart, M. (2010). Growth in the time of debt. In M. Reihart. American Economic Review. Wren-Lewis, L. C. (2011). What should fiscal councils do. In L. C. Wren-Lewis, What should fiscal councils do (pp. 649-695).