What is current macroeconomic situation in the U.S Essay

What is current macroeconomic situation in the U.S - Essay Example Over the period of time, the unemployment rates in US averaged just over 5% however, during September 2011, the unemployment rate reached over 9%1 suggesting that despite measures taken by the government, unemployment level is rising. The overall growth rate of GDP has not been encouraging as the growth during the current year has further slowed down due to depressed aggregate demand as well as higher levels of inflation. The overall forecasts for the growth rates during the current year are less than 4% thus suggesting that the economy may further slow down as the growth rates fall and inflation increases. In order to deal with the problem, US government has undertaken a restricted expansionary policy under which fiscal stimulus has been provided to the economy. At the start of the crisis, Bush administration has introduced a tax cut fiscal expansion program to stimulate the economy. After that a further fiscal expansion package was introduced to save the financial system from collapse during 2009 and a further tax cut and unemployment fund extension package was introduced during 2010. (The New York Times, 2011). These attempts suggest that the US government undertook fiscal expansion in order to stimulate the economy and provide the necessary launching pad for the economy to pick up. However, despite such measures, economy has not responded and as such the overall growth rates remained depressed. The monetary policy also remained expansionary in nature wherein FED reduced it policy rate to almost zero. Reduction in discount rate critically reduced the overall interest rates within the economy thus allowing the economy to get stimulus. Low interest rates were also meant to encourage consumer spending on credit so that the overall aggregate demand could be increased. Apart from this, FED also continued with the policy of quantitative easing under which fictitious money was created to increase the

Information systeams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Information systeams - Essay Example More so, the bank offers offshore banking services for the UK expatriates and foreigners residing in the UK. On the other hand, Barclays bank traces its origin in 1690 through a gold smith banking business in London. Later in 1736, an investor named James Barclay joined the business, which expanded tremendously to become a nationwide bank under the name Barclays and Co. Currently, the bank is a British multinational banking as well as a financial service company whose headquarters are in London, UK (Jain, 2005:96). The bank serves millions of customers with its outstanding services like saving accounts, current accounts, loans, mortgages, and much more all over the globe. This paper will evaluate the process of the two named banks’ personal loan processes and compare the two bank processes, not forgetting to outline the type of information system the banks use to process the personal loans NatWest personal loan There are two types of personal loans, which are secure and unsecu red loans. Unsecured loan is that which is supported by the credit worthiness of the borrower without using collateral or property. On the other hand, the secured loan is the loan acquired after rendering property or any other collateral as security to stand in place of the loan acquired. Unsecured loan is the most common type of loan acquired by individuals of all categories. To begin with, NatWest bank offers unsecured personal loans at a rate of 8.9% APR typical and this loan is available to existing current account holders only. The other account holders like the Advantage Gold,  Advantage Private, and Black Current Account holders the APR or preferential representative rates at 6.4% for loans ranging between ?7,500 and ?14,950. In addition, the applicant must be eighteen years and above and should be UK residence. In order for a borrower to estimate or work out how much loan he would like to borrow, the rates, monthly repayments and total loan costs, the bank offers personal loan calculators online. More so, the bank offers Jargon Buster to clarify confusing terminologies that are commonly associated with loans. Prior to unsecured loans, the bank also offers secured personal loan. This is a type of loan granted by banks over security of one or more asset. These assets will belong to the bank after the customer defaults on his personal loan repayments. In most cases, this loan is offered to people who offer houses or even personal vehicles as their security or collateral, which means that customers with these assets are the only individuals entitled to the loan. Unlike the unsecured loans, secured loans are more flexible in a manner that the borrower chooses on the period of repayment and can borrow as much amount of cash as they need as long as it is of the same value with the asset offered. Nevertheless, secured and unsecured personal loans fall under the same department. NatWest secured personal loan interest rates are paid based on personal circumsta nces where loans extending to ?14,950 have a maximum term of five years, while loans ranging from ?14,950 to ?25,000 have a maximum period of seven years. More so, home improvement loans over ?15,000, the repayment period takes up to ten years. In addition, no matter how much the amount one borrows, NatWest offers a minimum term of one year, and the borrower can repay the credit earlier

Report investigating the London Olympic Stadium 2012 programme Essay

Report investigating the London Olympic Stadium 2012 programme - Essay Example The stadium provides a seating arrangement for 80,000 viewers and has been made to scale the seating arena to a smaller 25,000 seated stadium. This requires an in-built flexibility and it maximises the potential of the stadium to meet needs of the community and arrange smaller national sports events in the stadium. The designer, Rod Sheard, and his team introduced ingenious designs and used 3D computer graphics, time-lapse photography and conducted persuasive interviews with the key personnel of this programme so as, to receive advices and feedback on the work done. The roof of the stadium is one amazing piece of art and scientific architecture; it is a cable-net roof of more than half kilometre circumference, and is erected as one enormous piece of roofing. The lighting arrangement is equally amazing (Channel5, 2012, Megastructures: London's Olympic Stadium). Lighting pads are attached to each individual seat which when lighted produces a magnificent effect. Also the administration team has taken care of the environmental issues. The entire structure has been created to minimize waste generation right from the structure of the building to the transportation and food facilities, procurement of raw materials and checks on carbon emission. All these have helped the building to achieve a successful seat in modern architectural development. Program management Programme management refers to an approach that is integrated into the approach of project management and streamlines the effect of project management principles implemented for the proper delivery of different projects (Gray, 1997). Programme is a group many portfolios of separate projects (Shehua and Akintoye, 2009; Ferns, 1991; Reiss, 2003). These projects are managed in a synchronized manner which creates certain benefits that would not have been earned had the projects been administered independently. When the cost benefit analysis is made while planning a mega event, nalysts must calculate long term cost s and benefits. These affect the economy of the host destination and also influence the performance of the programme in the long run (Jago, et al., 2010). In this paper the business objective of the London Olympic Stadium built for the 2012 games would be evaluated according to the academic theory of risk management and PRINCE2 methodology. The architectural design would be studied to assess the long term performance of the programme. Risk management Mega-events as the World Cup in football or cricket or the Olympic Games are special events that require rigorous practice for risk management. Although mega-events take place for a limited time span, they cast long-term impacts on the host cities. Hosting of such mega events require the creation of large infrastructure that often entail long-term debts and necessitate long-term programming (Roche, 1994). It requires efficient analysis of the probable security risks and their proper management of security risks. It involves substantial interdependencies among the different projects within the large programme and provides a wide scale of resource commitments. Apart from the consequences on the host nation, these events are of

Discuss the influence of Christianity during the rise and fall of the Essay

Discuss the influence of Christianity during the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. OR Discuss the importance of Christianity during the Carolingian era - Essay Example His laws were based on Christianity and the dogma preached by the church would be seen as little more than Draconian today but in the Carolingian era the church saw Charlemagne as a hero for the faith (Story 15). His objectives for conquest could have been to encourage the growth of Christianity but power and repute certainly came with the conquests made by Charlemagne. These conquests were certainly beneficial to his standing in the eyes of other rulers around him who saw him as a competitor and those who saw him as a friend. It was this repute as a conqueror which led Pope Leo III to seek his assistance when the pope was removed from power and wished to regain his seat. The support of the pope meant a great deal to Charlemagne since it gave him the legitimacy as a king as well as a spiritual leader for his followers. This support was firmly established with Christian ideals when Charlemagne was made the Emperor of the Romans (Rogers 27). The coronation of Charlemagne was done by Pope Leo III and it took place a few days after Charlemagne had agreed to help the Pope regain his throne. The coronation was unannounced and is supposed to have happened when Charlemagne was leaning on the Altar to pray on Christmas day and the pope took the Iron Crown and placed it on Charlemagne’s head. The pope then announced that Charlemagne was Imperator Romanorum i.e. Emperor of the Romans. While it has been suggested that Charlemagne did not want this, West (345) and Bullough (352) imply that this was certainly wanted by Charlemagne since Christianity was an important aspect of his politics. Such a coronation gave him the blessings of the established church to do what he wanted to when the Pope was restored to power. This was called by Story as a â€Å"defining event that epitomizes the spirit of the age (Story 2)†. Of course this was not the first instance that

MicroEconomics Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

MicroEconomics Homework - Essay Example For example, a product with really high elasticity will mean that you don’t value a product very much and hence it will have a low consumer surplus and vice versa. 2) Elasticity, simply, is the responsiveness of quantity demanded to a change in price. For example, when you levy a sales tax on any product its price increases. This price increase is going to decrease the quantity demanded of this product. The magnitude of change, however, will depend upon the elasticity of demand. For example, if sales-tax is levied on a product with inelastic demand, then quantity is not going to fall by a large amount and large revenue will be collected. On the other hand, if sales-tax is levied on a product with elastic demand, the change in price is going to decrease the quantity by a greater amount and revenue collected will be less. 3) I think that the government should charge those products with high price inelasticity of supply. This is because, if it levies taxes on products with high elasticity of supply, the suppliers would pressurize the government by supplying fewer amounts in the market and hence majority of consumers will be deprived of the product. So, it should charge a product with low price elasticity of demand so that supply does not change much and consumers get the adequate amount of product. 4) Simply, the perfectly inelastic demand and supply would ensure that imposition of tax is going to reduce the quantity in the market by smaller amounts and hence, this will result in little or no welfare loss. 5) In this case, consumer will bear a bigger burden of the tax because suppliers will easily pass it on consumer by supplying less, but consumers would encourage them to keep producing the same amount of cigarettes by paying a bigger share of tax. 7) In this case when price is more inelastic for suppliers and less inelastic for consumer, then the suppliers of a product

Discuss the influence of Christianity during the rise and fall of the Essay

Discuss the influence of Christianity during the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. OR Discuss the importance of Christianity during the Carolingian era - Essay Example His laws were based on Christianity and the dogma preached by the church would be seen as little more than Draconian today but in the Carolingian era the church saw Charlemagne as a hero for the faith (Story 15). His objectives for conquest could have been to encourage the growth of Christianity but power and repute certainly came with the conquests made by Charlemagne. These conquests were certainly beneficial to his standing in the eyes of other rulers around him who saw him as a competitor and those who saw him as a friend. It was this repute as a conqueror which led Pope Leo III to seek his assistance when the pope was removed from power and wished to regain his seat. The support of the pope meant a great deal to Charlemagne since it gave him the legitimacy as a king as well as a spiritual leader for his followers. This support was firmly established with Christian ideals when Charlemagne was made the Emperor of the Romans (Rogers 27). The coronation of Charlemagne was done by Pope Leo III and it took place a few days after Charlemagne had agreed to help the Pope regain his throne. The coronation was unannounced and is supposed to have happened when Charlemagne was leaning on the Altar to pray on Christmas day and the pope took the Iron Crown and placed it on Charlemagne’s head. The pope then announced that Charlemagne was Imperator Romanorum i.e. Emperor of the Romans. While it has been suggested that Charlemagne did not want this, West (345) and Bullough (352) imply that this was certainly wanted by Charlemagne since Christianity was an important aspect of his politics. Such a coronation gave him the blessings of the established church to do what he wanted to when the Pope was restored to power. This was called by Story as a â€Å"defining event that epitomizes the spirit of the age (Story 2)†. Of course this was not the first instance that

New Code Raises Standards of Pharmaceutical Ethics and Practice in UK Essay Example for Free

New Code Raises Standards of Pharmaceutical Ethics and Practice in UK Essay 1. Introduction Pharmacists play a role in the public health system and the provision of medical care public health system as critical as that of physicians. Most of the time, pharmacists only fill the prescriptions coming from physicians, but pharmacists often need to prescribe and dispense medicines on their own, especially over-the-counter drugs that people usually use for self-medication of common ailments.   With less prudence and circumspection, pharmacists may prescribe medicines that do more harm than good.   In recognition of these potential threats to the integrity of the pharmaceutical profession, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has developed a new code of ethics and performance framework, which provide that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the whole of UK receive quality education necessary for fostering the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to provide a consistent and safe practice. In formulating the new pharmaceutical code of ethics, the Society, as the RPSGB is more popularly known in UK, noted how the profession has been smeared by controversies involving some of its members, regarding issues on assisted suicide, making a prescription error, sedating an unruly patient, dispensing high-cost drugs and recommending treatment that would allow parole7,,8.  Ã‚   This paper discusses the revised code of ethics for British pharmacists and pharmacy technicians as to the likelihood of its lifting the professional practice of pharmacy to new heights of ethical proficiency and integrity. 2. Literature Review The requirements of the revised code reflect key issues for modern pharmacy practice, such as encouraging patients to be involved in decisions about their care, respecting patient choice and working in partnership with other healthcare professionals8.   All the provisions of the code are supposed to reflect in the conduct, practice and performance of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, designed as it is to promote and support a culture of accountability and professional judgment.  Ã‚   For this reason, the code sets out seven principles of ethical practice that pharmacists or pharmacy technicians need to observe in the pursuit of their profession.   2.1. Key Principles The revised code of ethics is based on seven principles, each of which is supported by requirements that explain the types of actions and behaviors expected of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians when applying said principles in practice. The seven principles are: 1) make the care of patients the pharmacist’s first concern; 2) exercise professional judgment in the interests of patients and the public, 3) show respect for others, 4) encourage patients to participate in decisions about their care, 5) develop professional knowledge and competence, 6) be honest and trustworthy, and 7) take responsibility for your working practices. Unlike previous versions, detailed standards and guidance will be produced separately from the code. Seven professional standards and guidance documents have also been developed to support and expand on the principles of the new code of ethics in the following areas: †¢ Patient consent †¢ Patient confidentiality †¢ Sale and supply of medicines †¢ Pharmacist prescribers †¢ Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in positions of authority †¢ Advertising †¢ Internet pharmacy This means that people are forbidden to accept pharmaceutical work when they do not possess the necessary skills and competence7.   If they do have the proper knowledge and experience, the code says that the pharmacist should start work by establishing the scope of his role and responsibilities and clarifying any ambiguities or uncertainties about where his responsibilities lie.   In addition to complying with his legal and professional obligations, the pharmacist is also expected to keep up to date with and observe the laws, statutory codes and professional obligations relevant to his particular responsibilities8.   2.2. Role and Responsibilities If subject is a pharmacy owner, superintendent pharmacist or pharmacy manager in a hospital, trust, or other field of practice, the code obliges him to set the standards and policies for the provision of pharmacy services by his organization.   The idea is to make the organization – its premises, departments or facilities – properly maintained so that none of its activities would bring the pharmaceutical profession into disrepute.   For this purpose, all the medicines, pharmaceutical ingredients, devices and other stocks at the pharmacy premises or facilities are stored under conditions appropriate to the nature and stability of these products.  Ã‚   In hiring people, management of a pharmacy must conduct background check to ensure that they are qualified for the job and have no criminal records1. The code deems it important that the people employed in a pharmacy are conscientious enough to raise concerns about risks to patients or the public.   Thus, the pharmacy should emplace an appropriate and effective mechanism for staff to raise concerns about risks to patients or the public, including concerns about inadequate resources, policies and procedures, or problems with the health, behavior or the professional performance of others.   2.3. Ethical Development Ethical practice in any profession is commonly perceived to be the outcome of good education and training.   However, studies in the UK context reveal that classroom discussion and experiential clerkship training have no significant impact on the ethical decisions that pharmacists make later3.   In an interview of pharmacy students regarding parole and drug rationing, it was found that majority would recommend treatment to allow parole and restrict the use of expensive drugs6. The ethical choice here is between the benefits to the patient and the risks or costs to society. On physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, few students expressed willingness to dispense any lethal dose of medication to terminally ill patients.   In cases of unruly patients, however, more students would dispense the appropriate sedative.   These responses give rise to questions so to whether pharmacy students are trained to be patient-focused in their future practice3. The code also specifies training on such aspects of pharmaceutical practice as good consultation skills and meticulous record keeping.   To the code, it matters if pharmacists forget to ask questions in a medication review or in dispensing a repeat prescription; or misinterpret body language and miss cues from patients about emerging problems. The reason is that pharmacists may be the only healthcare professional the patient is seeing routinely so it matters if they miss something or handle a clinical situation poorly.   2.4. Advertised Drugs A recent randomized controlled trial using model patients found that patient requests for advertised drugs were a stronger determinant of prescribing decisions than whether or not the patient had the condition the drug aimed to treat2. Another study of prescribing decisions in response to patient requests found that if a patient asks for an advertised brand, he usually receives it, although the physician is more likely to be ambivalent about these prescribing decisions6. These studies suggest a need for physicians and pharmacists to receive adequate training on how to respond to patient requests. The global withdrawal of the drug Rofecoxib from the market in 2004 illustrates this point. Rofecoxib was no more effective than alternative non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in treating the symptoms of arthritis but it was widely promoted as safer and accepted by the public as such. Although there were studies that it brought the side effect of increased heart disease risks, the drug made it big in the market, with 80 million prescriptions worldwide3.   The market success of the drug is a testament to the triumph of marketing over science.   Only after the US Food and Drug Administration reported 35,000 cases of cardiac arrests and a congressional investigation was consequently held that the drug was pulled out.   The incident highlighted the need to ensure that health professionals are adequately prepared to evaluate promotional claims, and to assess and understand interactions with the pharmaceutical industry2. 3. Discussion Educators in many countries are clearly aware of the influence of pharmaceutical promotion on the health professions and wish to prepare students for this aspect of their professional lives. As a physician educator from India said, â€Å"†¦Whatever rational things we want to inculcate in them, that should be done in the student period itself. Once they taste big money then habits develop and later die hard9.†Ã‚   This is precisely the habit the code of ethics for UK pharmacists seeks to discourage. On pharmacy education, the literature agrees that there is no consistent, well-designed and deliberate approach to teaching students ethics during clerkship. Moreover, it has been observed that factors such as life experiences and normal maturation are likely to contribute to the students ethical development.   Acknowledging these limitations, the code simply seeks to determine if there were noticeable changes in the ethical decisions made by students at different points in their education. Since it was seen that classroom and clerkship experiences do not impact on the ethical decisions made by pharmacy students, the code encourages pharmacy schools to attend to this problem.   On top of the proposed agenda is a revision of the curriculum such that it can provide a deliberate and consistent ethical component to the clerkship experience5. A review of ethics literature in medicine and pharmacy found that pharmacy schools lag considerably behind medical schools in the integration of ethics into the curriculum1.   Additionally, medical schools were found to use a more patient-oriented approach to teaching ethics.   It is believed that a patient-oriented, clerkship-based approach could enhance ethics education and is worthy of further study.   The Society is thus currently making efforts to more effectively design and study alternative approaches to ethics education during clerkship, and throughout the pharmacy curriculum8. 4. Commentary The finding that pharmacy students do not learn ethical behavior from their classroom and clerkship experience in UK casts doubt on full compliance with the code of ethics for this type of healthcare professionals. The above studies conclude that students have a less defined professional ethical system, which may be due to a lack of pharmacy practice experience. They recommend that further studies be done to document the ethical growth and development of pharmacy students. Other authors have suggested that future studies longitudinally evaluate the influence of pharmaceutical education and training on the moral development and ethical behavior of students. Furthermore, it has also been suggested that ethics education should include both theoretical and practical components.   If the code of ethics has to influence the practice of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, concerned authorities must take these suggestions to heart.   Otherwise, the code will only be good on paper.