Economic Analysis of Anthem and Kaiser Permanente Free Essays

Economic Analysis of Anthem and Kaiser Permanente Abstract This paper is an economic analysis of healthcare providers Anthem and Kaiser Permanente. Included will be information on competition, pricing and the effects of elasticity of demand has on both companies. Introduction One of the major concerns facing Americans today is the discussion of healthcare and how employers can afford to purchase healthcare for their employees. We will write a custom essay sample on Economic Analysis of Anthem and Kaiser Permanente or any similar topic only for you Order Now With the recent approval of President Barack Obama’s Healthcare Reform Bill, it has placed added pressure on both small and large business owners to provide insurance for their employees or be faced with tax penalties. The healthcare industry is an oligopoly meaning that there are few firms involved in the marketplace and they hold a substantial portion of the marketplace. They understand that their industry is interdependent and every decision or action made will have rippling affects on the other firms. They too will choose to make changes to keep their standing in the marketplace. In the healthcare industry, the two major companies are Anthem and Kaiser Permanente (Thomas Maurice, 2011). Pricing Competition When looking at companies that do business in oligopoly, there are many traits that they resemble. Their prices will remain relatively the same as their competitors, and lower then those companies that deal in a monopoly (www. yourdictionary. com). Both Anthem and Kaiser Permanente are highly competitive in their standings in the marketplace. Everything from their marketing efforts to their pricing is geared toward gaining a bigger share of the marketplace. Prices are one of the major differences between both companies. Prices for both companies are generated through underwriting and governed by community ratings. These ratings are surveys are conducted in the community where the companies serve to help determine the general health of their customers and potential risks. Premiums will be adjusted yearly based on the number of claims filed and funds needed to continue the coverage of their customers (www. alliedquotes. com 2008). Although prices for treatments are generally the same, savings can be found through Kaiser Permanente because most of their services are done in one of their medical facilities. Game Theory Elasticity of Demand The new mandate passed through congress requires employers and American citizens to have healthcare, the demand of elasticity has little play. Everyone has to have healthcare and therefore the demand will remain constant. The prices for specific plans may vary slightly causing customers to select Kaiser over Anthem so with healthcare it will show inelasticity because it is considered a necessity. In order for both firms to gain an edge in the marketplace and in their prices they will use game theory. Game theory is a tool used in decision making in which both firms or â€Å"players† try to win the biggest payoff, in this case more customers. Game theory used by Kaiser is ensuring they have more doctors in one location that can perform more services for their customers. By allowing their customers to save money from going to outside firms to perform additional test and to receive treatment, Kaiser offers all of its services in one location at a lower rate (Thomas Maurice, 2011). For Anthem, they have many different locations and a customer will have to go to different doctors, make appointments, and wait to get scheduled before they are seen. This major difference is what makes Kaiser popular, the ease in which a customer can receive treatment. Profit The original concern from the public as it comes to healthcare is the cost of obtaining and sustaining healthcare. Many found that when faced with a major illness, they were either under-insured or simply could not afford the treatment. With the current healthcare changes, the prices will be lowered and more affordable. This makes the profits generated from selling healthcare plans less about maximizing profits for the industry and more towards suboptimal equilibrium with everyone generally making the same profit except for larger firms who can afford to spend more to generate interest in their firm. With suboptimal equilibrium all firms in the healthcare industry will generally choose to stay on a similar path as far as prices and profits. Firms will differ in profits, however, based off other factors like size of the firm and marketing efforts (Thomas Maurice, 2011). Competition and the Consumer With every business, there will always be competition. Competition is great for customers because they will be the benefactors of the competing firms. Firms in the industry compete over coverage instead of price. Competition between firms will take place in advertisements on television and in the print media. Doctors will refer certain providers to their customers or they will choose to opt in to certain HMOs or choose to stay outside the network. Also firms that offer plans that cover more of the customers’ needs at the lowest rates will generally gain and retain more customers. Yet with a large firm like Anthem, their firm is widely known and they have larger budgets to continue their company’s growth in customers. Conclusion Americans are just now starting to understand the new implications of the Healthcare Reform. Addressing the needs of the American people and reducing the costs of healthcare and making sure all pay their share so the burden does not fall on the government is intended to help reduce the strain on the economy and make being healthy more affordable for the citizens of the United States. References: Oligopoly Examples. (n. d. ). In YourDictionary. com. Retrieved August 5, 2012, from http://examples. yourdictionary. com/oligopoly-examples. html Thomas, C. R. , Maurice, S. C. (2011). Managerial economics (10th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Calculating Group Health Insurance. (2008, October). In Allied Quotes. com. Retrieved August 4, 2012, from http://www. alliedquotes. com/Resources/Group-Health- Insurance-Rates. html How to cite Economic Analysis of Anthem and Kaiser Permanente, Essay examples

Do We Need a World Environment Organization free essay sample

We do need a world environmental organization, and there are lots of reasons that prove this to be the right choice. | Albert Asllani International Relations, sect. # 10 Prof. Bill Wechsler Essay Assignment October 28, 2010 Do We Need a World Environmental Organization? The environmental issues and especially the global environmental problems, in the last years are being aroused at an increasing rate. Considering the facts that the earth’s environment is heavily interdependent, no matter where the problems may emerge sooner or later these problems will become global problems. The earth’s atmosphere, hydrosphere and in general the biosphere itself are related with one another; so the balance of the environment will be broken if the standards are not kept, globally speaking. Natural resources from the land, ocean and air are continuously regionally and/or globally shared. Hence, if there would be negative effects they would be shared regionally and/or globally. Our planet has a balance of life and a balance of how things go on, but with the development of humans this balance is being lost, at least until nowadays. Furthermore, we the humans are the primary destroyers of the earth’s environment. We do need to use the natural resource on our planet, because of our needs. But, nevertheless this does not justify the damage we are causing to our own home the planet earth. Our potential of doing huge things has proved to be mean and evil as well. Millions of square meters of forests are destroyed, burned, massive CO2 amounts and of other harmful gasses are released every day from our equipments and facilities. All these are globally affecting the environment we are living in. As for worse, the development of the technology is not being used just for progressive and right causes; it is being used as well as for the creation of massive destruction weapon systems. Well, these are among the causes that damage the environment at a lower rate, but compared to nuclear weapon systems these are really not that bad. Even though, the negative effects that the emission of gases and of other factors are not to be not- taken into consideration, the negative effects of a nuclear weapon launch in the earth’s environment, are million times more negative and harmful for the earth’s environment. As an example, there were no cars and CO2 gas emissions years and years ago, but with the human population increasing and the need for transportation means the possibility of gas emission has been increased as well. So, some hundred years ago, the earth did not have all these equipments and vehicles that use as fuel liquid materials such as fossil oils are. Meantime, it did not have all this harmful gasses quantities released every day. Other examples are the cases of Hiroshima and Chernobyl, where nuclear materials have been exposed. The people of these places and the whole world are witnesses of the damages caused by the nuclear blasts; people still witness the nightmare in the environment. Besides the short- run damages they cause, there are long- term damages to and these are the worst. Besides the facts mentioned above, there are others that do affect the environment in one or another way. Hence, all these factors are continuously compounding their damage and affecting the global environment. The overall emission of CO2 in the world step by step is affecting the ozone layer to be reduced, and the creating of holes in this layer. All these causes are being associated with one another affecting the overall state of the world’s environment. â€Å"With climate change manifesting itself in the melting of Arctic glaciers and the drowning of small Pacific islands, in widespread species extinction, forest loss, desertification, and impending water shortages, the scope of environmental problems has changed. †(Goffman, par. 1) Therefore, because this scope has changed us humans as leaders of this planet have to change to, our view towards resolving these problems must be changed. The worst scenario which unfortunately is very much possible may be that the changes on the earth are heading us towards a state of impossible or difficult regress. The human activity, its impact on the change of the earth’s environment is also being an influence in other natural processes. Furthermore, â€Å"[r] recently, Hurricane Katrina provided a dreadful example of how human alterations multiply natural impacts. †(Goffman, par 1) ‘[T]he only question is whether the worlds environmental problems will become resolved in pleasant ways of our own choice, or in unpleasant ways uch as warfare, genocide, starvation, disease epidemics, and collapses of societies. ’(qtd. in Goffman, par. 2) Well considering the ongoing events on the global perspective the worst option is the most possible to happen. On the other hand, for these environmental problems to be solved, states must have good international relationships. It is the international system that must take decisions on where to act or not, towards changing the future of the global environment towards a better one. Because the environment itself is globalized throughout the world, the damage caused in the environment is spread out. Hence, the environmental problems must be globalized in terms of facing, thinking, and contributing in solving the problems; they must be understood and seen by everyone. â€Å"International environmental responsibilities and activities are spread across multiple organizations, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), numerous other UN agencies, the international financing institutions, and the World Trade Organization. (Ivanova and Roy, p. 1) Whereas, we do agree on having local organizations, but as well having global organizations that will do their best in finding a global common best solution for the global environmental problems. According to Esty and Ivanova, until now we have dealt with poor performance when taking action towards responding to global environmental problems, such as the case of global scale pollution and natural resource management challenge. (p. ) Hence, this has given incentive for re- considering the global instruments for controlling global environmental issues. â€Å"Both former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and French President Jacques Chirac have urged the establishment of a Global Environmental Organization. †(Esty and Ivanova, p. 1) This approval between President Chirac and Gorbachev is a proof of the fact that the international system is facing new changes, such as this urge of creating new institutions in the international system that would control the global environmental issues. Even though, world has had numerous organizations, treaties, conventions and other instruments the nowadays environmental management system has failed in addressing and solving the problems e. g. transboundary pollution overflows and shared resources. (Esty and Ivanova, 4) As an example of such organizations is the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Program). â€Å"The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), whose mandate is to coordinate the United Nations (UN) environmental activities, is closest to being the leading global environmental authority. Furthermore, â€Å"[w]ithin this complex international system for environmental governance there is no single organization that possesses the authority or political strength to effectively coordinate all international environmental efforts (Inomata, 2008). † According to Vijge the top reasons why many believe that UNEP lacks the potentials to fulfill the role as being the supreme authority in global environmental issues are the insufficient budget, and weak legal status. (p. 1) Therefore, in my opinion, I strongly agree that we do need a world environmental organization for several reasons. Firstly, the importance of the existence of this organization is very high because of the growing mutuality between states, flows of coercive actions at a global scale, coordination and rules applied to all states. The international system is built upon interdependence, so the organization of environmental issues would positively increase the interdependence between states in the system. Furthermore, because these environmental problems we are having are also so- called global problems, there should be a global organization that would take the lead on behalf of all the states. Based on the fact that the problems are being created by us the – states, the people, the participants in the international system, the states must be the ones who give solutions to these problems. When comparing the nowadays system of international politics and mutuality of states with the earlier ones, we do notice that the world day after day is becoming more and more globalized. The technology, economy, education, security and other fields are the main linking chains of this growing interdependence. States are becoming strongly related with one another, and thus the need of having international structures of politics and strategies is becoming inevitable. Also, the environmental problems we are facing and probably we will face in the future, are caused as a result of all states contributing on their creation e. g. the CO2 emission, deforestation, the greenhouse effect, and the worse the nuclear blasts. Thus, it is a mutual interest for all the states to have a global mean of controlling the causes of such environmental problems. On the other hand, we need a global environmental organization because of its ability to direct the flow of action to make changes. Until now there have been measures taken to reduce the harmful effects done in the environment, but all of these have ended being partly successful or unsuccessful at all. Thereof, we need a structure that will make decisions at a global scale. â€Å"For the past several centuries, humanity has been increasingly polluting air and water, altering Earth’s climate, eroding the soil, fragmenting and eliminating the habitat of plants and animals, and depleting the natural bank account of non-renewable resources. (Harte p. 1) And all these have lead to the fast destruction of the balance of life on planet earth, this way destroying the environment globally. And for the measures to have a positive impact, we need to have this global environmental organization. Without the mechanism that has its leaks on the international system, thus making changes on its policies and regulations, states will not actively act at the same time in the improve of the current state of the global environment. We are in need of a mechanism that acts coercively at a global scale. E. g. the fact the world every day is causing the ozone layer to be destroyed because harmful gasses emission; lets to understand that if a policy of universal ban on basis how much a country can emit these types of gasses would exist, and if there would be measures on keeping that balance we would not face this problem at this particular rate right now. The world needs firm actions to be taken to help prevent further destruction of the environment, and these actions must involve the whole world. Thus, stronger national, state/regional and local environmental performance is necessary, but cannot substitute for appropriate action at the global scale. †(Esty and Ivanova, p. 5) Whereas, the coordination and regulations applied to all, are further reasons why we need to have a global environmental organization. The world has limited resources that are to be shared with unlimited wants. With resources meaning in terms of all the resources the world has. And these resources must be efficiently allocated and guarded not to be destroyed. If there are not any policies or measures in guarding these resources, they will be unequally treated and sooner or later there will be unbalance. As an example, the fundamental resources such as air, land, forests are increasingly being impacted by the human population on earth the pollution of air is increasing, and as well the deforestation process. Forests and in general the flora, are a mean of regenerating the oxygen we breathe; but, by polluting the air and deforestation we are disabling this process of regeneration. And, this has a global impact, because ruins the balance of oxygen. Therefore, the international society must be aware of the importance if we would act globally in keeping these balances. The coordination is a key factor, and it is available only if we act globally. As such, we need a world environmental organization to provide coordination in policy making and action taking globally. â€Å"Global problems require international strategies and coordination, particularly for such goals as maintaining biodiversity, keeping the oceans clean, and lowering carbon emissions. †(Goffman, par. ) States must be connected at an international level so the problems can be evaluated from all the state members, and then rules and regulations will be applied by finding a common ground that is satisfactory for the whole international society. â€Å"Apart from regime-building and norm-setting, a WEO could also improve the overall implementation of international environmental policy, for example by a common comprehensive reporting system on the state of the environment and on the state of implementation in different countries, as well as by stronger efforts in raising public awareness. (Biermann p. 7) A difference will be made only if we reach the state of having the attention of all stakeholders in the international society, because as long as we try to make changes locally we will not achieve to protect the environment completely. Almost every society on earth has negatively contributed in the harm of the environment, and as such we all should participate in higher international structures that will take care of these problems. In addition, by creating world environmental organization we ease the chances of having a positive impact on saving the environment. Furthermore, all decisions and policies would be applied at the same time and to all states. â€Å"Global problems require international strategies and coordination, particularly for such goals as maintaining biodiversity, keeping the oceans clean, and lowering carbon emissions. †(Goffman, par. 3) Thus, this creates coordination between states and probably it is easier to stop the destruction of the environment. Also, a key to success is when developing policies and strategies, states/nations to be decisive and determined to apply the rules on all states. With a global environmental organization it is easier to control those who do not obey the rules. â€Å"Strengthening and/or reforming International Environmental Governance requires strong political will from nation-states, which ultimately decide about the future of the IEG system? †(Vijge p. 13) Secondly, a newly powered and authoritative policy making organization should be created to handle the variety of complex issues raised, and provide assistance in upgrading environmental capacities in non- developed states. Despite the current existing organizations, whether local or global the environment is not being spared of the damages and harms that are impacting it every day. The earlier legislative organizations that have dealt with global environmental issues have done a decent job, but still not enough compared to the job that must be done. The heaviness of problems has grown, along with the development of technology and science. Earlier, we had to take care of relatively small problems regarding the harm in the environment. But nowadays the science and technology have changed the way we live, and in the meantime the gravity of problems has grown up. Scientists have discovered new means of easing our lives, but also what is the most useful and the most dangerous new massive destruction weapon systems. And all of these have a huge impact on how things go-on on our environment, so for all of these issues to be managed there is need for some higher instance on the level of International Society to have a cohesive control upon all states. A newly powered global environmental organization that has all the privileges, legal power, financial support and a qualified crew is the most needed to help on managing global issues on environment. â€Å"In addition, a WEO could host the Clean Development Mechanism and the clearinghouse for the future emissions trading scheme under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which would reduce bureaucratic overlap, increase efficiency, and assist in preventing conflicts with other, non-climate related environmental problems. †(Biermann p. ) A strong justification for the need of the GEO/WEO (global/world environmental organization) is that the power of control will be handed to a single organization that would ease the means of communicating and coherent developing. On the other hand, the authoritative position of this organization among other structures in the international systems is another advantage on creating this GEO/WEO. â€Å"The world community would benefit from the presence of an authoritative environmental voice in the international arena and a recognized forum for national officials and other stakeholders to work cooperatively to address global issues†. Esty and Ivanova, p. 4) Because of the gravity of the issues, the international society needs to have a global voice appealing for a common cause, the cause of protecting the environment. Meantime, in this way the authority has an easier job on creating policies and addressing them to higher instances on the hierarchical system of the international society. With the policies developed and approved by higher international authorities on the environmental issues, the process of controlling the states what they can do and what they can’t is a lot easier. Rules and Laws would be the same for all the nations/ states and they would have standards e. g. how much gas can be emitted, if they can test nuclear weapons, policies on saving the oceans and fresh water etc. It is totally different if a particular policy e. g. on CO2 emitting would apply only on some states, and on all states. There is no huge positive impact on guarding the environment unless acting strongly and on the same level from all. It is not a success if we reach on minimizing the problems only in some areas, while doubling them on others; success is when we all are aware and understand the lessons. The world needs changes done globally and the environmental issue must be seen as important from all. â€Å"A GEO would be able to provide the framework for addressing collective action problems by (1) creating a policy space for continuous interaction among actors, (2) ensuring that multi-dimensional issues are addressed directly and with full participation, and (3) revealing the common interests of the parties through a continuous flow of information. †(Esty and Ivanova, p. 16) A GEO/WEO would have the ability of making decision based upon the events and the problems on the global environment. Thus, it is true that we do need this GEO/WEO instead of having states/nations making decisions locally with a global impact, it is better to make decisions globally with a global impact. This way we have a directed flow of actions. Moreover, the implementation and monitoring of these policies would be more efficient in the case of a GEO, because all the reports go to one place, they have the same address and as such the response would be the best for all, not the best for some. On the other hand, the structure of a GEO/WEO promises compactness and more ability in controlling the variety of complex issues that may rise in time. This compactness and ability is provided by the heads of the GEO who are members of these nations. Thus it is easier to control the actions of a state when it has agreed to be part of the international society rather than when it acts alone. As an example, there are states that contribute more than others in polluting the environment. But, with a GEO depicting international standards and limits, states have to agree and follow the rules. In addition, the capacities of a GEO are higher than of a state’s alone. Because of the continuous and sudden changes in the international society, world needs, a coherent decision making mechanism when dealing with complex issues such as nuclear weapons, CO2 emission, oceans pollution, fresh water depleting etc. These issues all have global impact and considering that they have to be solved and tracked at a global scale. According to Esty and Ivanova, thanks to the possibility of equally sharing common but differentiated responsibilities to the center of a GEO, leads to an improved fairness in balancing rights and responsibilities regarding transboundary environmental issues. p. 17) GEO tends to be inclusive in terms of dealing with environmental problems of the global society. This proves that a GEO is needed because it will help in developing the left- behind countries on their environmental programs. Strengthening the potentials on dealing with local and global environmental problems in developing countries is a core function of a GEO. â€Å"[H]umanity is degrading environmental goods and services such as clean water, air, soil, and biodiversity, and simultaneously reducing the capacity of natural processes to replenish these contributors to the quality of life. †(Harte p. 3) Thus a GEO will assist in improving the overall state of the global environment, but as well assists the developing countries to catch the pace of the developed countries. In conclusion, world is in desperate need of a Global Environmental Organization. Besides the fact that there are current international organizations that are similar to the idea of a GEO, there are no proper organizations that would have the ability and power to deal with global environmental problems. As an example, the UNEP (The United Nations Environmental Programme) lacks the financial stability and the legislative power. Thus, we need a GEO. The main facts why I agree in having a GEO are, because of the gravity of the issues it is a mutual interest of all states to have a GEO, it enables a flow of coercive actions taken at a global scale, it easies the coordination between states/ nations, and the rules and regulations are applied to all nations. Furthermore, it would be a new and powered organization accepted by all, because its span is global, it easies the process of managing complex issues, and is a tool of helping development in developing countries. Hence, to save the environment from further destruction world needs a structure that will include all nations and apply for all nations. Finally, I agree in having a GEO because I think it is the easiest way to get a global awareness on environmental issues. Then, I believe that states must be controlled by a higher instance so they cannot do what they want, because in this way they are harming the environment and being irresponsible. And the last, having a centralized power and a structure that develops and implements policies on a global scale, I believe is with a huge impact and can really change how things are developing.

What are Savings Bonds Essay Example For Students

What are Savings Bonds? Essay The United States established savings bonds, known then as warbonds, in 1941 to help to pay for the huge expenses it incurred duringWorld War II. Today, savings bonds still help keep the government wheelsrunning smoothly. Savings bonds are a debt instrument of the U.S. Government, issued as savings certificates to individual investors in smallamounts. Savings bond certificates bear face value denominations rangingfrom $50 to $10,000. Since they are backed by the full faith and credit ofthe Federal Government, savings bonds are among the safest investmentspeople can find. The U.S. Government is unlikely to default; and even if you lose yoursavings bond certificate, the Government will often replace it, especiallyif you can provide such information as the serial number, issuance date,address and Social Security number of the owner. Another major advantageof savings bonds is that they are an accessible investment for almostanyone, since you can buy savings bonds in amounts as low as $25. Forinstance, you can buy a $50 Series EE bond for $25, and at maturity you canredeem it for $50. As a result, savings bonds still make good gifts forchildren planning to attend a college or technical school. That is not all. We will write a custom essay on What are Savings Bonds? specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Savings bonds have at least two more advantages. They can provide a taxshelter; for instance, you would not pay income tax on the earnings ofSeries EE bonds until you redeemed the bonds. In addition, savings bondsare easy to acquire from a variety of resources. Besides being extremelyeasy to acquire, a savings bond offers another attractive purchasingfeature: no sellers fees. Unlike stock purchases, there are no fees orcommissions that add to the purchase price. Where do you buy Savings bonds? Savings bonds are sometimes availablethrough a payroll deduction plan at work. Also you could purchase them at avariety of government offices and financial institutions: Banks, CreditUnions, Federal Reserve banks and branches by phone or mail only (TheFederal Reserve no longer provides a walk-in service), and the Bureau ofPublic Debt. Anyone who bought or received a savings bond before 1980, they owned aSeries E or Series H savings bond. That year, Series EE and Series HH bondsreplaced the original series. The two current series offer a differentmaturity and interest rate. In 1998, the U.S. Government introducedinflation-indexed Series I bonds. The U.S. Government issues Series EEbonds at one-half their face value, which ranges from $50 to $10,000. Atmaturity, you can redeem the bonds at their face value. You may buy up to aface value maximum of $30,000 in Series EE bonds annually. Series EE bondsearn interest for 30 years. Series HH bonds earn interest for 20 years. You can acquire Series HH bonds only through an exchange of your Series Eor Series EE bonds. A minimum acquisition is $500. Other denominationsissued are $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000. Unlike Series EE bonds, youpurchase Series HH bonds at their full face value and thereafter receiveregular interest payments. Series I bonds also are sold at their full facevalue, beginning with a minimum denomination of $50. Other denominationsare $75, $100, $200, $500, $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000. Like Series EEbonds, you receive the interest earned when you cash the bond. I bonds earninterest for 30 years. The current rate on Series EE bonds is 2.61 percent interest, throughApril 2004. New interest rates are announced twice a year and take effectMay 1 and November 1. If held for five years, Series EE bonds pay 90percent of the six-month average yield on five-year Treasury securities. .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .postImageUrl , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:hover , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:visited , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:active { border:0!important; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:active , .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015 .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ud426471c29406fc0d60859ebbb46e015:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Business Management EssayEarnings vary for Series EE bonds issued from 1980 to 1997. Many Series Ebonds have stopped paying interest. You receive the interest earned alongwith your principal when you cash in the bond. Series HH bonds pay a fixedrate of interest from the date you purchase the bonds. In August 2004 itwill be the last issue month for HH/H bonds. After August 31, 2004, no onewill be able to reinvest on HH/H or exchange their EE/E bonds for HH bonds. Series I bonds bought from May 1, 2003 through October 30, 2003 will earn4.66 percent interest for the first six months. The rate is a combinationof a fixed rate of 1.1 percent (fixed for the life of the bond) plus anadjustable rate (adjusted six months) based on inflation. You receive theinterest earned along with your principal when you cash in the bond. Thefederal government developed Series I bonds to assure investors a rate ofreturn above inflation. Historically, some savings bonds have, in reality,lost purchasing power during periods of high inflation. While savings bonds are intended to be long-term investments,eventually the time will come when we want to redeem them. Maybe we needthe money to return to school, for a long-awaited retirement cruise, or fora hundred and one other reasons. Generally, the easiest way to redeemsavings bonds is through a local bank, credit union, or other financialinstitution, although you also can contact the U.S. Bureau of Public Debtor the nearest Federal Reserve Bank. Redeeming savings bonds at a localfinancial institution is a simple and straightforward process. If you arenot the owner of the bonds, you will also have to establish that you areentitled to cash them. For example, you may be listed as a beneficiary onthe bonds of someone who has died and in addition can provide a deathcertificate of the former bond owner. In addition, you can redeem yourbonds for their full value, unless you have held them for less than fiveyears. In that case, there is a penalty equaling three months interest. For example, if you redeemed a Series EE bond that you had held for twoyears, you would receive interest for 21 months-not 24 months. In the other hand, before cashing your Series EE bonds, you have theopportunity to exchange them for Series HH bonds instead, especially ifthey are near maturity. Series HH bonds will pay twice-yearly interestpayments. In addition, exchanging Series E or EE bonds for HH bonds willcontinue to provide a tax shelter for the funds invested (Series I bondsmay not be exchanged for HH bonds.) In order to exchange Series E or EEbonds, they must be at least six months old (12 months old if purchasedFebruary 2003 and after). They also must be currently worth at least $500and must be exchanged within one year of maturity. Since Series HH bondsare available only in multiples of $500, you can elect to either receivesome of your Series E or EE investment in cash or pay additional funds inorder to acquire the HH bonds. For instance, if you want to exchange SeriesEE bonds worth $1,200 for Series HH bonds, you can receive either $1,000 inHH bonds and $200 cash or $1,500 in HH bonds with an additional payment of$300. There is no limit to the number of HH bonds own. The easiest way toexchange Series E or EE bonds for Series HH bonds is through a localfinancial institution, which can help with the paperwork and transmit yourapplication to a Federal Reserve Bank. Or, you can get an application andfile it yourself with the nearest Federal Reserve branch. .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .postImageUrl , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:hover , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:visited , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:active { border:0!important; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:active , .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u65a9bf3e51f75cb9f2dc64e260938b3f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: rosa parks EssayWhile savings bonds do not earn high interest, the low interest rateis sometimes compensated by favorable tax terms. What specifically are thetax advantages? For starters, you do not pay any state or local taxes onthe earnings of any savings bonds you own. While you must pay federal taxeson the earnings of Series HH bonds in the year that you receive thatinterest, you can defer earnings and taxes on Series E, EE and I bonds forlong periods. Also, you can hold Series EE and I bonds for 30 years. Afterthat period, you can exchange Series EE bonds for HH Series bonds and thenhold them for another 20 years. After 20 years, you must redeem the HHbonds and finall y pay any taxes owed on the earnings from the old EE bonds. If you buy Series EE or Series I bonds in the name of your child and redeemthe bonds while the child is still your dependent, you will pay taxes onthe earnings at the childs rate. The childs rate may be 0 percent if thechilds total unearned income is $700 or less; in any case, it is almostcertainly less than your tax rate. In 1990, the Treasury Department established the Education Bond Program,which exempts savings bond earnings from federal tax if the bonds areredeemed to pay for qualified education expenses. To qualify for thisprogram, an adult age 24 or older must buy the bonds. He or she then mustredeem them and document tuition and certain other education-relatedexpenses. (Room, board, and books are not qualified.) If the value of thebonds redeemed is greater than the qualified expenses, only the proportionused for qualified expenses is tax-free. The full exclusion is also onlyavailable to single taxpayers with annual income below $53,100 and marriedpersons filing jointly with income below $78,350. Single taxpayers withincome of $67,250 or more and married persons filing jointly with income of$108,350 or more are ineligible for this program. As you can see, there can be many advantages to practice of givingsavings bonds each year or buying savings bonds. Besides offering severaltax advantages, savings bonds can provide a reasonable, inflation-indexedreturn and a steady investment vehicle for the long term and not to mentionthe safety and backing of a U.S. Government-issued security.

An book report about les miserable in a political fashion.

An book report about les miserable in a political fashion. Les MiserablesVictor Hugo was correct. Books like Les Miserables that reveal the corruption and evils of society will never be useless to us.The poverty of man still surrounds us today, over 100 years after Les Miserables was written. Poverty still pollutes the cities of America. One of Victor Hugo's main reasons for writing Les Miserables was to help people recognize that not everyone is as well off as they could be. Hugo showed the world that one man could make a difference. Jean Valjean, the main character in Les Miserables had huge impacts on everyone he came in contact with. Thankfully, there are actual people like Jean Valjean that help the homeless and the poor. Characters like Jean Valjean and people like Victor Hugo truly do inspire others to be better and to help the unfortunate. ("Household Economic Studies": 1-10) People in Africa, 3rd world countries, and even in America die each day due to malnutrition and starvation.Jean Paul Valjean.Fortunately, Les Miserables and boo ks like it can help people understand how important it is to help the less fortunate. Organizations such as the IRRI help feed the starving children and adults of these unfortunate countries.Cosette's childhood was dwarfed or shortened because of her life with the Thenardier's. Fortunately there are Child Protective Services who investigate abusive parents and if they are in fact abusive the children are taken away and put into a better home. Organizations such as the Child Protective Services prove that there are people like Jean Valjean who want to help children in need of better homes and better families. As you can see there are real life people like the character Jean Valjean who help the less fortunate lead better lives. Les Miserables shows us the evils of society. After we identify the...

Bilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide

Bilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide Bilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide. Unwittingly, however, monolingualism has been used as a standard to characterize and define bilingualism and multilingualism in linguistic research. Such a conception led to a â€Å"fractional† â€Å"irregular† and â€Å"distorted† view of bilingualism, which is becoming rapidly outmoded in the light of multipronged, rapidly growing interdisciplinary research. Other central concepts such as individuals† bilingual language attitudes, language choices, and consequences are addressed, which set bilinguals apart from monolinguals. Language acquisition is as much an innate, biological, as social phenomenon. Political bilingualism refers to the language policies of a country. Unlike individual bilingualism, categories such as monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual nations do not reflect the actual linguistic situation in a particular country (Edwards, 2004/2006; Romaine, 1989/1995). Hong Kong, for instance, is officially recognized as a bilingual country. This means that Hong Kong promotes bilingualism as a language policy of the country as well as in its society as a whole. English and Chinese are official languages. By no means does it imply that most speakers in Hong Kong are bilinguals. In fact, monolingual countries may reflect a high degree of bilingualism. Multilingual countries such as South Africa, Switzerland, Finland and Canada often use one of the two approaches—â€Å"Personality† and â€Å"Territorial†Ã¢â‚¬â€to ensure bilingualism. The Personality principle aims to preserve individual rights (Extra Gorter, 2008) while the Territorial principle ensure s bilingualism or multilingual within a particular area to a variable degree, as in the case of Belgium. In India, where 23 languages are officially recognized, the government’s language policies are very receptive to multilingualism. The â€Å"three-language formula† is the official language policy of the country (Annamalai, 2001). In addition to learning Hindi and English, the co-national languages, school children can learn a third language spoken within or outside their state. To my personal opinion, bilinguals can move between one or more language models as required for the production, comprehension, and processing of verbal messages in a most cost-effective and efficient way. Bilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide. Unwittingly, however, monolingualism has been used as a standard to characterize and define bilingualism and multilingualism in linguistic research. Such a conception led to a â€Å"fractional† â€Å"irregular† and â€Å"distorted† view of bilingualism, which is becoming rapidly outmoded in the light of multipronged, rapidly growing interdisciplinary research. Other central concepts such as individuals† bilingual language attitudes, language choices, and consequences are addressed, which set bilinguals apart from monolinguals. Language acquisition is as much an innate, biological, as social phenomenon.

Opertaing a small rural-based business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Opertaing a small rural-based business - Essay Example (Landstorm, pp. 13-14, 2005) In particular, SMEs play a significant role in the contribution to rural economy. Since few years, sector of rural-based tourism has developed and grown progressively in the country. Certain limits related to the annual turnover or the number of employees have been defined and described in every country, in order to identify the definition the small and medium enterprises. However, every country has its economy, and thus, definition of the abovementioned term has been provided by various trade organizations according to their terms and conditions. In this regard, these enterprises have been abbreviated by SME by some of the major trade organizations, as well as, unions, such as, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the European Union. For instance, a limit of five hundred employees was put on the German companies according to their traditional definition. On the other hand, a limit of only hundred employees was the standard for becoming SME in the Belgium. (Hall, pp. 49-50, 1997) In this paper, we will try to discuss different steps that can be taken to establish and operate small rural-based business in particularly, tourism sector of the United Kingdom. Every business confronts different threats and weaknesses during various business processes; however, establishment of a business brings new opportunities and strengths that will be discussed in this paper as well. The importance of the small business sector in tourism sector of the country will be highlighted during this paper, and few implications will be provided during the study. In the United Kingdom, magnitude of the annual balance sheet, annual turnover, and number of employees are considered during the evaluation of a small business firm statistically. In detail, small business firms have been categorized according to their volume. For instance,

Enhancing Security in System Administration Assignment

Enhancing Security in System Administration - Assignment Example Contextually, it can be affirmed that an operating system is usually viewed to be one of the major fundamental aspects concerning improving the security of every computing system by a considerable level. It can be argued in this similar regard that secured programs require safe operating system and ignorance of this may lead to failure. In other words, operating systems must be capable of ensuring effective execution of various programs as well as mechanisms effectively and most vitally enabling high performance use of various computer resources. Ensuring secure performance of all operational processes largely relies on accurate implementation of different hardware resources and scheduling mechanisms (Jaeger, 2008). Specially mentioning, the security threats associated with various system administrators are recently receiving increasing attention driven by series of events resulting in significant damage due to security threats. The primary challenges related with system administrato r can be attributed by taking into concern certain significant aspects like security and manageability. In practice, operating systems require various tasks that need to be executed in order to make sure that the system operations impose extensive impact on sensitive user data and process. For instance, adding and removing various software systems and drivers may result in causing the user data to be at risk through corruption, leakages and losses (Scarfone, Janseen & Tracy, 2012).) With this concern, the primary purpose of this paper is to develop, document and assess best practices for server deployment and administration that would eventually support and enhance the security of Megacorp towards upgrading its new operating system. 1. Enhancing Security a. Before Server Deployments Deployment of servers in any organization is costly and daunting. The servers provide broad array of services to internal as well as external users and stores along with delivers different sensitive info rmation to the organizations. Moreover, servers are frequently introduced by the intruders in order to gain unauthorized access of valuable data and other services. There exist certain few common threats to servers that have been represented below: Malicious objects may use software bugs in the server or its operating system in order to gain unofficial access to the server Denial of service (DoS) might also be directed to secondary network infrastructure, deterring the valid users to execute the server services Sensitive information stored in the main server may get access by the intruders or may change in an unauthorized manner Sensitive data or information that are transferred or encrypted amid the servers and thus the client may get interrupted by unauthorized users. Correspondingly, it can be admitted that it is often more difficult to address the security of servers after the deployment or the implementation of effective operation systems. Thus, security should be prudently mea sured from the preliminary stage of planning. It is essential to make effective decisions about determining the configurations of various information systems appropriately and consistently in order to ensure effective outcome of the deployment plan. It has been ascertained that organizations often fail to address dissimilar human resource associated