Descartes And Letters Exchanged Between Elizabeth of Bohemia On the Essay

Descartes And Letters Exchanged Between Elizabeth of Bohemia On the Body-Mind Problem - Essay Example In this letter, she appears to suggest that the reason for her departure is the murder of Francois d’Espinay (who had courted not only mother but also her younger sister) by Phillipe (her brother) in broad daylight (Atherton 25). Ironically this act seems to have been carried out with Elizabeth’s knowledge. She tells Descartes that she will carry a draft of The Passions of the Soul treatise that he had given to her, but remarks that previously his presence had had provided the remedy to her passions, since both his reasoning and maxims had failed to do so. Letter II: Descartes to Elizabeth, September 1646. The response to Elizabeth commences with a reference to a correspondence they exchanged recently about Machiavelli’s The Prince; Elizabeth had asked him to read it. Descartes remarks that he has discovered in the Prince a lot of precepts which have been very good to him, but his major criticism is that Machiavelli has failed to provide a clear contrast between princes who have acquired power through illegitimate methods and those who have done so through just means. He says that the former are bereft of solid foundations, and the states they create will inevitably slip into tyranny (Descartes & Griffith 22). Descartes also criticizes Machiavelli’s arguments concerning the prince’s relations to enemies, the common people, allies and prominent personalities. He rebukes Machiavelli’s suggestions that people should feign friendship if that is what they have to do in order to satisfy the desires, stating that â€Å"friendship is something too sacred to abuse in this way†. Descartes also take issue with Machiavelli’s recommendation that the prince should sometimes feel free to dishonor promises (Descartes says this would ruin the prince’s reputation), and insists that the prince should steer clear of the people’s contempt and hatred. In an important passage for the interpretation by Regnault, Des cartes examines Machiavelli’s suggestion, in chapter 15, that because the world is corrupt, it is inevitable that one will self-destruct if he always wants to be a good man, and that when the occasion calls for it a prince must always prepare to be wicked so as to maintain and sustain oneself (Atherton 32). Descartes does not agree with this maxim, unless by a good man Machiavelli means a simple and superstitious man who does not wage war on the Sabbath, and whose conscience can remain clear only when if he changes his people’s religion. However, if by a good man we mean he who relies on his true reasoning for everything he does, then it is obvious that the best thing is to always try to be good. In response to Princess Elizabeth’s own dilemmas, Descartes simply recommends that she adopt and put into action those maxims which show that everybody’s felicity depends only on him/herself, and that it is very important to conduct oneself outside the rules and boundaries of fortune so that, while one fails to miss the opportunities to grab the advantages it offers, one does not make him/herself unhappy when it refuses to grant them. Considering that in all earthly affairs there are always reasons for and against, one should mainly focus on those that convince one to approve and sanction what happens (Peursen 28). Letter III: Elizabeth to Descartes, 10 October 1646. Now settled in Berlin, Elizabeth starts her letter by stating that the

What contribution can 'Lean Thinking' make to the contemporary Essay

What contribution can 'Lean Thinking' make to the contemporary challenges of public service delivery - Essay Example However, sometimes you find that once businesses hits the quality mark at the onset stages of production, they tend to relax and things slow down, making the delivery slip back into the low quality conditions. This is an undesirable phenomenon especially in the competitive business world of the century we live in. As a result of businesses losing their clients because of slackness in the quality level of their products and services, most have resorted to affecting the total quality management concept. The concept presents a number of underlying advantages to the businesses and organizations that run it. The concept of total quality management (TQM) an al the underlying sub-concepts of this process will be analyzed in full in the next discourse. Here, the definition of TQM and the philosophy underling the TQM will be carried out. Also, the elements of TQM, benefits, effectiveness as well as the TQM frame work will be looked into. Lastly, the paper will close by discussing the quality standards and offering the universally acceptable quality of standards. Definition and philosophy of TQM Hawkes and Adams define the TQM as the practice of integrating the various components of the various inputs that are used in the production of high quality products or services that are designed to meet or even surpass the expectations of the clients (32). According to Tari, being in agreement of this definition, TQM also encompasses the issue of involvement of all the various components that make this delivery of quality products or services to be enabled (182). For the delivery of quality products, the management team of the company, the employees, the different levels of contact between the management and the employees such as the suppliers as well as the customer are all involved. Each person or level of involvement plays a very keen role in ensuring that the quality of the product or services, measured using certain pre-ordained measurements is not compromised. To keep the n otation of TQM constant, the concept operates under a certain philosophy. This is the philosophy that guides the level of involvement of the various components that translates to the delivery of quality products and services. The philosophy of TQM states that if quality is maintained and upheld in all areas of the production process at all times, there is no doubt that this builds up an organizational culture that is largely responsible for meeting the various needs of the customer. In other words, the philosophy of TQM employs the use of effective management to develop a constant habit that allows for constant and consistent production of various products and services of a company (Petersen, 468). Elements of a quality management system For the TQM process to be successful, a number of elements have to be employed in such a combination that allows for easy and effective application. These processes offer a guideline onto how the TQM will be appraised once a certain organization dec ides to operate under this concept. The recognized elements under TQM will be analysed in the following discussion. There are eight elements of TQM as shall be noted herein. The first element of TQM is the element of ethics. Ethics, by definition, is the a code of ethics prescribed in an organization that largely governs the way employees in a certain organization behave or relate with each other inside their organization as well as with other people outside the organization (Zink, 394). Different organizations have different rules and regulations that govern their employees. As a result, the behavior of employees in one organization could be quite

US Stock Market and GDP Analysis

US Stock Market and GDP Analysis Stock Prices Definition Stock (or share) which is sometimes known as equity is a claim to partial ownership or holdings of a firm. Initially, the original owners of a firm sell their shares or stock to gain additional funds to finance the firm expansion which can be said as the owners sell part of the ownership of the firm to the stockholders. This is known as the Initial Public Offering (IPO). After the IPO, the stocks can be sold and resold by the stockholders in the stock market with the aim of gaining profitable returns through the price differences of the stock. Stock prices are determined through trading on a stock exchange such as NASDAQ, SP 500 and DJIA. Generally, stock prices reflect investor expectations for future corporate earnings and thus reflect for future economic growth. The Origin of the Stock Market The stock market originated in Europe prior the industrial revolution in the 1700s. Many traders in the market wished to make investment in huge businesses but this could not be affordable with a single trader. Thus, they gathered their funds together to invest in a new business as partners (Grazian, 2008). This is similar to the practice of shares nowadays and has inspired the origin of the stock market. In the beginning, the stock market trading started on an informal note. The traders met at coffeehouse which was used as a market place in the 1700s. The first exchange was created in Philadelphia during 1800 and in New York during 1817 and finally the trading rules were formed (Grazian, 2008). In the United States, the first stock exchange took place in Philadelphia over 220 years ago which was known as the â€Å"Board of Brokers† and the Board met at the coffeehouse. The Board of Brokers was later changed into the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1875 and it is now included in NASDAQ as NASDAQ OMX PHLX. The market became more structured without manipulative auctions and a fair commission structure was formed. The group of stock brokers was reorganized and known as the â€Å"New York Stock and Exchange Board† in 1817 (Terrell, 2006). In 1896, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (or the Dow) created by Charles Dow and one of his business associate, Edward Jones was first calculated. Along with other stock market index, such as NASDAQ and SP 500, the Dow is one of the most closely indicator to track the stock market activity. Besides the Dow, SP Dow Jones Indices also determined the SP 500 in 1957 (Standard and Poor’s, 2009). The SP 500 is more preferable than other stock market indices as it is determined through a more diverse constituency and weighting methodology with 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry grouping. It is recognized as the best representation of the U.S. stock market and also classified as a leading indicator for the U.S. economy. Thus, the stock indices from the SP 500 were used as the data in this study. c. Stock Prices As an Economic Indicator Economic indicators give us a better idea of where the economy is headed. There are two types of economic indicators, which are the leading indicators and the lagging indicators. Leading indicators often change before the economic adjustment and thus can be used to predict the future economy whereas the lagging indicators reflect the economy’s past performance and only identifiable after the economic adjustment. Stock market is a leading indicator. Most people will first look at the stock market performance first when talk about the economic trends although it is not the most important indicator. This is because stock prices mainly depends on the expected earnings of the domestic firms, thus it can indicate the economy trend if the estimated earnings are accurate. A strong market usually followed with economy expansion while a down market always leads to economic downturn. However, it is undeniable that here are inherent flaws for stock prices to act as a leading indicator for the future economy performance. Firstly, the estimated earnings can be inaccurate. Secondly, the vulnerability of stock market which is probably adjusted or manipulated. For example, the government can manipulate the market to keep it high via various strategies to avoid public from panicking of economic crisis and the traders and corporations can manipulate the market via high-volume trades or other strategies. Thus, the true underlying strength or value of stock prices may become unobvious due to its vulnerability to be manipulated. Thirdly, the stock market is also susceptible to the creation of bubbles (Binswanger, 2004), which may convey false information about the economy’s direction. Economic Activity Definition The goal of economic activity is to produce goods and services in order to fulfill the needs and wants as well as to improve the social welfare. Economic activities are related to production, distribution, exchange and consumption of goods and services at all level in the society. Furthermore, economic activities can be defined as human activities which are performed in exchange for money or money’s worth, in other words, economics activities are those efforts performed by human to earn income, money, wealth and to maximize their satisfaction of wants with scarce means. The primary aim of the economic activity is to produce goods and services with an objective to make them available to the consumers. Thus, gross domestic product (or GDP) is one of the common ways to assess the economic activity. In this study, the economic activity is also represented by the indicator of GDP. The Origin and History of GDP The idea of gross domestic product (GDP) arose during the period post-carnage of the Great Depression and World War II in 1930s. GDP which was described as the ultimate measure of a country’s overall welfare, a window into an economy’s soul and the statistic to end all statistics was used widely and globally and become the defining economic indicator in the last century (Dickinson, 2011). Simon Kuznets, an economist at the National Bureau of Economic Research introduced a formula to determine GDP to the U.S. Congress in 1937.The original formulation of GDP was essential as it included all economic production in a nation. However, Kuznets’ formula was not being widespread utilized until the Bretton Woods conference created World Bank in 1944. After that, GDP was used widely as a tool to determine the nation’s economic condition. Although there are few economists questioned on the accuracy of GDP in measuring overall economic welfare, the GDP is still widely used now (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2008). GDP is also described as one of the great invention in the 20th century because without this invention, economists, researcher and policymakers could not have played their role effectively with the unorganized data. GDP As an Economic Indicator Unlike the stock prices which serve as leading indicator, GDP serves as lagging indicator which changes after the economy adjustment. Although lagging indicators do not show the direction of economic trend, they reflect how the changes in economy over time. GDP is a tool that typically recognized by economists to measure the economic welfare. Increase in GDP indicates that the economy is strong while decrease in GDP indicates that the economy is weak. As stated previously, GDP is not a flawless indicator, many economists questioned on its accuracy especially in the financial market as some strategies such as quantitative easing and excessive government spending could have been carried out by the government to boost up the GDP of a nation. Despite of the flaw, as a lagging indicator, GDP is still a good determinant to measure the economic condition of a nation. Theories on Predictive Power of the Stock Price for the Future Economic Activity There are two theories in the theoretical literature on the forecasting ability of the stock prices for the future economic activities. The first theory explains the forward looking behavior of the stock market while the second theory discusses the causal effects of the stock prices on the economic activity (Croux Reusens, 2013). Forward Looking Behavior of the Stock Market Based on the idea that the stock price is the present value of future dividends (Fama, 1990), the theory of forward looking behavior of the stock market arose. The purpose for the stockholders to own stock is to earn from the interest difference when the stock is resold or to earn the dividends from the corporation. The increasing stock prices reflect the higher expectation of stockholders to earn more dividends. As the dividend is a payment made by a corporation to its stockholders out of its profit, the increase in expectation of stockholders towards future dividends gained indicates that there will be a rise in the corporation’s profit. Furthermore, the corporation’s profit is known to be positively correlated with the GDP of a nation, thus the rise in corporation will bring increment to the nation’s GDP. Therefore, a rise in the current expectation towards the nation’s future economic activity will definitely result in increase in the stock price. However, several researchers have argued that the vulnerable property of stock market to be manipulated may affect its predictive power towards the future economic activity. Stock prices may deviate from their fundamental value due to the speculative bubbles (Binswanger, 2004). Speculative bubbles is a situation in which the securities’ pieces such as stock prices rise far above their actual value as a result of irrational exuberance rather than the basic underlying fundamentals of the market. This can attract investors or stock traders to invest in order to take advantage of the profits. After some time, the bubbles will eventually burst and causes the stock prices will drop below their market value before they reach the equilibrium again. Thus, from this phenomenon, stock prices may deviate from the fundamental value sometime and hence its predictive power will be reduced. Apart from that, the globalization of the investment market also may reduce the predictive power of sto ck prices towards the nation’s GDP (Mao Wu, 2007). This means that is foreign investment in the domestic activity which brings about increase in stock price, however, since it is the foreign investment, it may not bring direct impact on the nation’s GDP. Causal Effects of the Stock Prices on the Economic Activity The causal effects of stock prices on the economic activity can be seen through the activity of consumption and investment. The connection between the stock prices and consumption can be explained by the wealth effect (Modigliani, 1971). The wealth effect refers to the increase in spending which due to the increase in perceived wealth. The rise in stock prices will bring about an increase in the income and wealth of the stockholders, they may increase their consumption as a result from having higher purchasing power. Since consumption is positively correlated with the GDP, the increase in consumption as a result from the rise in stock prices will affect the nation’s GDP. However, Pearce (1983) argued that the wealth effect depends on the distribution of stock holders in the nation. For example, most of the stockholders in the United States are comprised of small groups of rich people who have lower propensity to spend out of wealth. Besides, the causal effect of stock prices on the economic activity can also be seen through the activity of investment which its impact is on the cost of capital. The cost of capital is the fund for a firm to finance its business. The sources for capital can be varied from company to company such as equity financing and debt financing. Generally, the cost of capital is the weighted sum of the cost of equity and the cost of debt. With the increase in the stock price, the effective cost of equity will be reduced as a result from overvaluation of the stock price (Fischer Merton, 1984). Besides, cost of debt also will be lowered due to high stock prices as it could give some positive signals towards the lenders and thus raise the creditworthiness of the firms which would result in better loan condition (Morck et al., 1990). The Economy of the United States There is lots of news recently about the rapid growth rate of China absolutely furious pace for over the last decade and may overtake the United States to be the largest economy in the world. Nevertheless, the United States still keep the place of the largest economy in the world by far in the year of 2013. The United States has been keeping the place of the world’s largest economy for at least a century. With one third of the world’s millionaires and 40% of the world’s billionaires stay in the nation, the United States become the wealthiest nation in the world. The diversify economy and open market in the United States helps the economy to stay strong. The United States is also considered the largest manufacturer and the most influential financial markets in the world. Stock Prices in the United States The United States is considered to have the most influential and largest financial markets in the world. Almost every large company in the US is traded on a Stock Exchange. This study employed SP 500 as the stock market indices to be analyzed as it is the best representation of the U.S. stock market with 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry grouping through a more diverse constituency and weighting. Figure 1.1 Time plot for quarterly average of daily SP 500 stock price index in the United States (Source: Economic Research, 2013) Figure 1.1 shows the moving trend of stock prices in the period from first quarter of 1974 to third quarter of 2013. From the figure, the stock prices in the United States generally showed a fluctuating rising trend with a record of expansion from 1974 to 2000 with gradual increasing rate at the beginning and higher pace increasing rate later from 1993 to 2000. There were significant market downturns in 2002 and 2008. The stock prices reached the peak in the second quarter of 2000 and started to drop afterwards until the minimum point in the first quarter of 2003. This market downturn has been known as the market crash of 2000. The causes for this crash are believed to be the corporation corruption, overvalued stocks and the emergence of day-traders or momentum investors. Several strategies has been listed out by the government to overcome the crash, for example accounting reforms to have better disclosure of corporate balance sheet form and new rules are set for the day-traders to apply more restriction. Besides the market downturn of 2000, there was a market downturn in 2008 as well. From the figure, the stock price index continued to rise after the market crash in 2000 and reached at maximum point in the second quarter of 2007 but falls gradually afterward till the minimum point in the first quarter of 2009. This period was ranked among the most horrified financial market history in the United States. This market crash is believed to be caused by the corporate corruption and the mortgage crisis. The stock price indices continue to climb after the market crash of 2008. GDP of the United States The United States has been the largest economy in the world in term of GDP level for at least a century. Figure 1.2 Time plot for quarterly GDP in the United States (Source: OECD. StatExtracts, 2013) The figure 1.2 shows the time plot of GDP of the United States from first quarter of 1974 to third quarter of 2013. Generally, the GDP level in the United States showed a gradual increasing trend across the period. From the figure, there are slight decreases in the GDP level are shown in 1982 and 1991 as a result of economic crisis. In addition, a more significant fall of GDP level was shown in the third quarter of 2008 after a gradual increasing trend. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) declared that there was an economic recession since 2007. This economic fall is believed to be the result of mortgage crisis during that period. Relationship between Stock Prices and GDP of the United States The United States is famous to be the largest economy and the most influential financial market in the world. The tradition connection of stock prices and GDP of the United States has always be the topic of interest to be study among the researchers. Figure 1.3 Time plot for quarterly GDP and quarterly average of daily Stock Price in the United States (Source: Economic Research, 2013 and OECD. StatExtracts, 2013) Figure 1.3 shows the relationship between stock prices and GDP in the time plot from first quarter of 1974 to third quarter of 2013. In the tradition connection of the stock price and GDP, stock price is believed to contain the predictive power towards the GDP. From Figure 1.3, the stock prices generally moving in the same direction with GDP. However, the market crash in 2000 brought about economic expansion instead of the economic recession. This phenomenon goes against with the tradition relationship between stock price and GDP. However, the market crash of 2008 has successfully predicted the economic recession in 2008. Therefore, the contradict phenomena have again caught the attention of several parties to further study in the predictive power of stock price towards the GDP. Objective Although the theories and the tradition relationship state that the stock prices contain the predictive power towards the future economic activity, there are several theoretical and empirical researchers have contradicted opinions. Moreover, the historical data of stock prices and GDP of the United States also show a general similar moving direction of the stock prices and GDP but the market crashes in 1987 and 2000 resulted in economic expansion instead of economic recession. This issue has again prompted the further research in the tradition relationship of the stock prices and the economic activity. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine the predictive power of stock price on the future economic activity, i.e. future GDP in the United States. Scope of Study This study focuses on the United States which the quarterly data is obtained with the sampling period from first quarter of 1974 to third quarter of 2013. The national stock price index of the United States, SP 500 is chosen. The quarterly average of the daily index is calculated because it is believed to be more representative for the entire quarter than the value at the end of quarter. Besides, quarterly nominal GDP is chosen as the representative for the economic activity. Both data is expressed in the domestic currency with CPI base year of 1982.

Essay on The Holy Bible - Comparing Identity in the Tower of Babel and

Identity in the Tower of Babel and Creation Stories God recognizes that human beings are not specifically good the moment He creates them; for unlike His other creations, He does not pronounce them as such. But also unlike His other creations, they are the only ones created like something else, like God, in His image. If they are truly to exist and be good, they must become separate from God, as the other creations are separate and categorized. It takes some human action to get them out of the Garden of Eden--specifically, the woman and the man eating the fruit. Unfortunately, they can't do everything on their own. They need some interference from God, namely the flood, to distance themselves further from Him and to separate them individually, from each other. Though the people in the Babel story do not exercise it very well, the ability to name, to define, to separate, and to classify seems like a prodigious power, and even a privilege. To become fully human men must distinguish themselves from God. When God sends the flood. He separates Himself from them by putting the world into their hands, as if to say, "There you go, you're grown up now, you take care of it." The gift of the Earth should be God's last active attempt at separation; from then on the humans should try to separate themselves from Him on their own. But like birds kicked out of the nest who try to climb back up the tree, they try to build the tower to heaven; and once again, God must intervene by creating even greater difference. This time He confuses their languages so they are not only different from God but also different from each other. Both God and mortals understand the tremendous power of language and of naming. For example, at one point ". .... ...er He changes their languages first, and they scatter themselves once they realize they can't understand one another. The former interpretation is probably more accurate, but both show how distance, both physical and figurative, creates difference. And in this case it is a difference that makes teamwork, and the tower which would bridge the gap between earth and heaven, as well as the gap between man and God, impossible. Therefore, by being different from each other, the scattered people of Babel grow even more different from God. Despite the problems that arise from difference (namely conflict), it is necessary for humans to be distinct from one another because they need to obtain identity, both as a race of beings and as individuals, separate and different not only from God, but from one another. Work Cited 1 The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version.

Effective Business Communication Essay

â€Å"I like writers who shoot straight. When they are happy, you know it. When they are angry, they let you know.† Success of any business lies in effective communication. The more effective the communication is, the better the results are. Communication is effective when it produces desired action in the reader or audience. You should be straight forward and sincere while communicating in a business environment. If you are not honest and direct when communicating to others there is a greater chance that you may lose the trust of the person you are speaking with. Without trust there is no bonding between two parties which can lead to direct business loss and low morale in the workplace. In a business environment, the more you know about the person you are communicating to can make it easier to concentrate on their needs which in turn will make it easier for them to hear your message, understand it and respond to it positively. I like for people to speak to me direct and straight forward, no matter what the subject matter is about. If I did something incorrect, I want you to tell me what I did wrong, explain to me how to fix it, and then we move on. Working in Human Resources, I have learned everyone does not want to be spoken to in a straightforward manner. In the past I had to find ways to tell employees they messed up on a project, but I had to hold their hand (not literally) throughout the conversation so their feelings would not be hurt.

Cohesion policy good and bad practices

Introduction: Lithuania (along with the other Baltics) is the success story of EIJ structural fund absorption. Bulgaria (along with Romania) is the worst performer. Lithuania has contracted projects for 87% (‚Â ¬6_4 billion) of available funds as of November 2012 and paid out 54% (‚Â ¬4 billion) to beneficiaries. Bulgaria absorbed only ‚Â ¬2 billion of an available ‚Â ¬9. 5 billion between 2007 and 2011. Key factors affecting absorption capacity of structural funds: I _ Use of pre-accesslon funds 2 Political will 3. wealth/polltlcal legitimacy of regions . Human resources 5. Knowledge of available funds 6. corruption and transparency 7. r Is It Just a question of TIME (and size)? Bulgaria: Joined EU in 2007 having spent very little ot its pre-accession aid. Multiple corruption and transparency scandals: tunds are withheld and projects are delayed. Change ot government in July 2009 with creation ot new administrative units to handle structural funds. The qu ality of human resources is low in regional/municipal administrations: 4% speak English, the same people used for planning as for valuation, 201 1 sees improvements: 27 municipal information centres set up, number of prosecutions over misappropriation of funds increasing (but the absorption rate slightly lower than 2010).Lithuania: ELI member since May 2004. Population 3. 2 million compared to Bulgaria's 7. 5 million. Flexible economy: experienced rapid growth before the 2009 crisis (with help of pre-accesslon fundsL and rebounded relatively quickly after huge contraction. In 2004-06 priority was accorded to spending EIJ money according to all rules and procedures. Start of 007-2013 programming period absorption rate was similar to EUIO average (approx. 45%)