Enact Law of Mandatory Labeling Essay

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)/Genetically Engineered (GE) foods are the result of laboratory processes which artificially insert genes into the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of food crops or animals. There are many arguments both in favor of and against mandatory labeling of GMO/GE foods. Whether or not to require labeling of GMOs or GE foods also involves the debate over the risks and benefits of food crops produced using biotechnology. However, the overarching argument is consumers have a right to know what is in their food, especially concerning products that can cause allergic reactions. According to the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America, Genetically Modified (GM) foods are linked to toxic and allergic reactions, sick, sterile, and dead livestock, and damage to virtually every organ studied in lab animals (http://www.responsibletechnology.org). Because there is no scientific evidence that GMO/GE foods do or do not cause health issues in humans (because there have been no long-term studies), consumers may or may not be being harmed by GMOs. However, the safety of GMOs has been questioned by other countries. In fact, they are banned by food manufacturers in Europe and other countries, but, present in the majority of meats, produce, diary and processed foods in the United States (US). Many consumers in the US have no knowledge that they are consuming GMOs. If they did, it is now known if, similar to Europe, many would prefer to not consume GMO/GE foods. However, without proper labeling, the big issue of concern is, they do not know how to avoid them if they wanted to. The current labeling policy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to label items with the nutritional and caloric value of foods and to include any allergens such as peanuts in a soybean product. However, GMO/GE foods or ingredients are not required to be labeled. According to the FDA website, mandatory labeling of GMO/GE foods in the US has been proposed, but, not enacted, at federal, state, and local levels. One reason is that consumers have been consuming GMO/GE foods without their knowledge for years and have not suffered any significant adverse reactions. However, with GMOs not being labeled and without any long-term scientific studies of those consuming GMOs, it is not known if any health issues that consumers have had are related to consuming GMOs. However, as it stands, it appears the FDA does not feel it is necessary to require mandatory labeling o f GMO/GE foods and their ingredients. The most commonly known GE crop in the US is corn. Because many processed food products including animal feed contain corn ingredients, the majority of processed foods in grocery stores directly or indirectly include GE ingredients that are not labeled. Consumers have the right to know what is in their food. Furthermore, for religious or ethical reasons, many Americans want to avoid eating certain types of animal DNA products. By labeling GMOs and GE foods, including animal DNA, consumers will be able to choose. Opponents may argue that consumers who want to avoid GM or GE foods may choose only organic food items. However, this solution is not completely effective. Although a food item may be labeled organic, there is a possibility that it is not completely GM or GE free. This is because the food item may have been processed in the same facility as a GM or GE food item or may include traces of GE ingredients. The possible costs or drawbacks of mandatory labeling of GMOs and GE foods/ingredients are it would impose a cost to all consumers. For example, the food system infrastructure would need to be renovated to be able to segregate GE and non-GE products. This expense would most likely be passed on to the consumer. Opponents of mandatory labeling include the following, food manufacturers who would need to implement the mandatory labeling laws, seed companies and also the biotechnology companies such as Monsanto who are in the GMO and GE manufacturing business. Others who would be against the mandatory labeling laws would be the grocery stores because consumers may not purchase many of the GMOs that they would normally purchase, possibly reducing their revenue. |1. Are there at least 5 complete paragraphs that address all 5 questions? |2 Yes. | |(2) | | |2. Thoughtfulness of Content. (Are answers obvious, or do they go beyond |1 Very thoughtful. | |the obvious?) (1) | | |3. Clarity of writing. (Specific, precise wording vs. vague, general |1 Very clear and specific. | |wording) (1) | | |4. Grammar and mechanics. (Proper use of Standard, academic English prose?|1 Strong mechanics and grammar. | |Only one topic per paragraph?) (1) | | |Total Points (5) |5 A This looks like it’ll be a very strong topic because it is | | |arguable and fairly specific. | References The Campaign for Healthier Eating in America (2009). Retrieved January 9, 2010 from http://www.responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/CampaignforHealthierEatinginAmerica/index.cfm[pic][pic][pic]

Beer Wars Strategic Marketing Management Essay

Introduction The market dynamics of the Australian beer market is given in the case study. The beer market in Australia is extensive due to high consumption by Australians. In the early 1800’s, there existed numerous independent breweries. Due to excise laws and better transport systems large breweries started acquiring smaller ones, and through widespread inorganic growth, by 1985 the industry became dominated by two corporate conglomerates, Elders IXL(CUB) and Bond Corporation. Both used aggressive marketing strategies for increasing market share. Top highlighted reasons for beer consumption were mixing with others, relaxing, allowing social drinking and enhancing appetite and the concept of beer being equal to ‘liquid food’. Women in general did not like the beer taste and contributed to only about 12% of the total sales volume, whereas 37% of the 54% adult drinking population admitted to be regular drinkers. Only 10% were ‘ocker boozers’ who contributed to 60% of the volume. Hotels/pubs and retail outlet routes formed the bulk of the sales. Standard beer was the most consumed at 70% followed by light beer at 24%. Males across all age groups equally represented beer consumption with little higher consumption in the 31-40 age group. The marketers strongly believed in the ‘beer image’ having a strong influence on beer brand preference. So the marketers started projecting the alcohol content by way of which they used to segment variants in different ways each brand being targeted at a specific segment. Several different brand imageries have been created. Lastly the several brands and variants that had been created with the hope of creating market share seemed to have fallen flat. A failed attempt in the same direction in the form of Swan Gold trying to entice consumption by women also failed. Problem: Due to increased competition, there was a flux of introducing new products continuously, which put in peril the older products of cannibalisation. The major objectives that the beer companies had were †¢Increase market share by acquiring customers †¢Maintenance of existing customers by ensuring no cannibalisation †¢product positioning and launch strategies for the newer brands and phasing out older brands Solution: Increase the beer market, instead of just market share The consumption of beer has been steadily increasing over the years (from around 5% in 1900 to 12% in 2000). But also around the same time, the consumption of Coffee and other milk based drinks had been exponentially increasing (from around negligible % in 1900 to around 20% in 2000). Therefore instead of eating into each others’ market share, the industry should try to increase consumption of Beer among the non-Beer drinkers and hence increase the whole pie. Encourage successful brands and terminate lagging brands Instead of keeping a huge number of brands which is leading to cannibalisation, the brands which are doing well must be encouraged and marketed well, on the other hand those that are not bringing in much profits should be discontinued. This would simplify marketing and would make it focused. Phase in brands tailored for women The exhibits show that women prefer non beer alcohol, in part due to the image of beer as a male bonding drink. Thus certain brands of beer that can be positioned as less bitter, and more female oriented can be launched. The marketing and advertising of these brands should be done in such a way that the women are targeted. Increase light beer Brands offering light beers and beers with less alcohol would serve two purposes. They would attract customers who do not drink, and also are better served in restaurants according to the exhibits given. Launching beer brands over considerable spans of time 2 versions of Power’s were launched in the same month (February 1991) while Forex Gold and Forex Light Bitter from Lion Nathan were launched with only a month separating them. Because of this no single brand is properly marketed and does not get the time to build itself in the minds of consumers. This also leads to cannibalisation.

Strategy in the World Package Delivery Business Essay

Strategy in the World Package Delivery Business - Essay Example The essay "Strategy in the World Package Delivery Business" discusses the relationship between the planning and strategy in the world package delivery business. There is a direct relationship between planning and strategy since plans are made to identify goals (organizational or functional) and strategies are designed to achieve these identified goals. In this case scenario (Jones & George, 2007), FedEx planned to address competition from UPS by identifying an opportunity in the overnight delivery niche even by charging a premium price. As emphasized in Operations Strategy and Competitiveness, â€Å"the business strategy of FedEx, the world’s largest provider of expedited delivery services, is to compete on time and dependability of deliveries. The operations strategy of FedEx developed a plan for resources to support its business strategy. To provide the speed of delivery, FedEx acquired its own fleet of airplanes. To provide dependability of deliveries, FedEx invested in a sophisticated bar code technology to track all packages†. To compete with FedEx and DHL, UPS must review and evaluate the strategies of both organizations to gauge their strengths and weaknesses. Using this information as inputs, UPS must then identify opportunities and threats in the world package delivery business to enable them to tap the opportunities and address the threats or risks, as required. Using their core competencies in using their tracking and information system; as well as in logistics, specifically in meeting delivery schedules faster.

Crimes Against Property Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Crimes Against Property - Assignment Example Women carried purses of various sizes, wore outfits with long voluminous skirts, and were decked out in shawls, gloves and muffs. The social class of these offenders in the period immediately following the Civil War was mostly lower. Perpetrators were usually part of the lower class who engaged in much petty criminal behavior, of which shoplifting was just one facet. Although there is no economic theory of shoplifting, the decision to commit this crime is one that is taken rationally, weighing up the implications and advantages of this choice now and in the future. In order to alleviate the prevalence of shoplifting, goods are often not on open display. In order for a customer to see that good which has caught their eye, the customer has to ask the attendant who will retrieve it from behind a counter or barrier of some kind. Also, most businesses have designed their retail stores to funnel all customers to and through the main exits. These changes have dramatically altered the preval ence, practice, and perception of shoplifting (Bamfield, 2012). Furthermore, in order to reduce the prevalence of shoplifting, private security officers possess authority which is a mixture of their powers as civilians and certain special requirements which were added by a special law or ordinance. Majority of the private security officers possess only citizen powers, hence they often function as agents of their employers. These security officers are trained to protect self and property from harm (Button, 2007). As a result, a private security officer working for that business or owner has the same authority, no more-no less. The private security officers have special skills that would enable them to detect the presence of a shoplifter within the premises. In other cases, these security officers have been granted special police powers by a local, state or federal government authority. However, even though the security officer has been granted this type of power, it is limited to the grounds and buildings of the employer. Nearly all the private security officers who work for retail stores have arrest powers for shoplifting incidents. These powers exist because the security officer is working for a shopkeeper. As part of their training, the private security officers have the right to detain a person when there are levelheaded grounds to believe that the person has shoplifted (Arrington, 2006). Home invasion robbery differs from similar crimes, such as burglary or breaking and entering, in how the crime is defined. According to the Illinois Criminal Code, home invasion is an unlawful entering of a dwelling by a person who knows someone was present therein, and armed with a dangerous weapon either uses or threatens use of force or injures someone inside the home. In some states, this difference means that a defendant can be convicted of both home invasion and another crime, such as armed violence during residential burglary based on one unlawful entry. On the othe r hand, other states hold that conviction of home invasion bars conviction of related crimes such as residential burglary based on one unlawful entry. Home invasion is often classified as a separate offense because of the brutal intent to commit various crimes such as robbery, rape, assault or murder against people in the home. Nonetheless, home invasion is not a legally defined crime federally and is only such

Research part 2 Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Part 2 - Research Paper Example On the other hand, wireless communication involves conversion of data into electromagnetic waves for transmission and it is converted back to its original form as it gets to the receiver. There has been a debate on the most superior communication medium between fiber optic cable and wireless communication. Various technological gadgets such as Blackberries and Smart phones are designed to connect to wireless mode of data transfer. This mode has also enabled stores, business enterprises and other organizations to provide free access to the internet without hooking wire to every computer or laptop. However, as Wright and Reynders, (42) explains, some wireless services do not work in some cities. This leads to the preference for the fiber optic cables which are also believed to higher maximum speeds especially when networks become congested. In most parts of the world, communication systems are increasingly adopting the use of both wireless and fiber optic cable transmissions. This rese arch paper will examine the similarities and differences between these modes of data transmission in order to determine how well or not each suits specific situations. In wireless communications, a radio channel may be used; however, it is susceptible to noise interference (Varaiya 315). These interferences include blockage and multi paths which change over time due to user movements. This affects the range, data rate and reliability of wireless links. Hence, the biggest challenge with wireless communication is that an environment is a factor in transmission. For instance, an indoor user may experience higher data rates which is reliable than an outside user who is exposed to certain environmental conditions like water vapor and oxygen. Tall building and other atmospheric absorption between the transmitting and receiving antennas may also affect wireless transmission. Wireless systems use atmosphere as their transmission medium which is enabled through radio signals. The received si gnal may also experience interference from other users in the same frequency band. Other components like path loss determine how the average received signal power decreases with distance between transmitter and receiver. Wireless medium is also prone to signal attenuation resulting from obstruction from trees and other tall objects. Wide area wireless data services provide low to high data rate services. This depends on the coverage of a few base stations mounted on towers, rooftops which are transmitting at high power to enable signal transmission and delivery from the sender to the intended receiver (Subramanian, Timothy and Rani 81). This is enabled by a link that carries data between two physical systems. Wireless transmission purely relies on transmitters, receivers, base stations or any medium depending on the technology that relays the IP data across the network. Currently, wireless networks can handle limited speed due to various factors involved in during transmission. Radi o signals running on frequencies up to 2 GHz other wireless networks can support 70 Mbps data speed. In addition, in wireless networks, transmission is via three or more routes, one of it being a line of sight transmission. Transmission is impaired by free space loss where wireless communication signal disperses with distance. Wireless networks utilize code division multiple access where several

Biology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Biology - Research Paper Example The genetic component occurs because of the combined effect of mutated genes. The environmental factor is the lack of vitamins particularly folate during early pregnancy. Checkpoints in a cell cycle are meant for the regulation for the proliferation of the cells. These checkpoints are basically present in the G1 and S phase of the cell cycle. The role of these checkpoints is to check for any DNA damage or other problem in the cell before proceeding in to the cell cycle. The reason behind this is to either correct the DNA damage or if it cannot be repaired to move the cell towards apoptosis. The tumor suppressor genes code for proteins which are involved in the repair of the damaged DNA in the cell cycle and initiation of apoptosis if the damaged DNA cannot be repaired to prevent the formation of abnormal cells. The proto-oncogenes act by stimulating the cell cycle by the formation of transcriptions factors which are responsible for the function of genes and by forming signal transducers which are responsible for the stimulus responsible for the initiation of the cell cycle. Signal transduction is involved in the passing of signals to the nucleus of the cell for essential processes which include replication and transcription. Signal transduction occurs by the binding of a molecule to a receptor which may be located on the cell membrane or within the cell. This molecule carries signals and activates the receptor and brings about changes in the cell by sending signals which may lead to transcription. Increased signal transduction can result from mutations in genes that code for systems involved in carrying out signal transduction. This can lead to cancer because if signal transduction increases, the cells replicate and transcribe at a higher rate and are not under the normal regulatory control. Children suffering from Down syndrome have very high chances of developing leukemia. Also patients who have leukemia along with Down syndrome have a

Army Experience Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Army Experience - Essay Example I worked harder and lived my dream from the core of my heart. I got out of the Army in Dec 2013. It was a change and for a break to think about what more I desired in life and what I could be according to my love for the country. I wanted to think of some other ways through which I could be able to work for the betterment of the country and play my role in the society. For instance, I worked as a cryptologist linguist (Korean) and also as a finance management clerk. It was a change and soon I realized that I could do part my part better being in the Army. The love that had rooted in my heart since my childhood was true and pure. In a while, I was deployed to Iraq. While I spent time there I analyzed what I wanted is to complete my degree and then I will head towards the U.S Army ROTC program. I was stationed in South Korea, and Fort Lewis WA sometime after that and now I am keen to follow my heart complete my education and get associated with the Army again (Asher). It is a fact that army in Iraq has had terrible nights to spend and I am glad I have been through that time as well to gain experience (Asher). I think I can contribute positively keeping my dream and passion, with my education completed, and I want to continue to serve my country with all dedication. I think I am the perfect fit for your educational program as I am dedicated to the studies, and I want to present myself for the betterment of our society and nation. I positively look forward to this opportunity.

Evaluation of Agency's Human Resources Management Research Paper

Evaluation of Agency's Human Resources Management - Research Paper Example Ray Consortium is an agency located in the US. I did a research that revealed that this agency has processes and systems that intersect between information technology and human resource management. One of the agency’s major components of human resource processes for hiring and retaining is the enterprise-resource-planning package (Department of Administration, 2004). In this package, the agency merges human resource management as a doctrine with its basic human resource processes and activities, within the field of information technology in particular (Lawler, 2004). With the emergency of enterprise resource planning software, this agency added its crucial components of planning to incorporate data processing systems programs that standardize routines and integrate information from and within various applications towards a single universal database. According to the human resource manager of Ray Consortium, integration of enterprise resource planning as a major component of th e agency’s human resource system facilitated faster and easier linkage of the agency’s human resource modules and financial modules.This procedure aims at motivating, mobilizing, and fostering their zeal towards their respective jobs.In identifying predecessors of different sections of the agency, this agency uses modules of human resource that link performance of an employee through a single database that provides the most important distinction among the proprietary and individually developed predecessors.... This procedure aims at motivating, mobilizing, and fostering their zeal towards their respective jobs (Lawler, 2004). In identifying predecessors of different sections of the agency, this agency uses modules of human resource that link performance of an employee through a single database that provides the most important distinction among the proprietary and individually developed predecessors. This procedure makes the enterprise resource planning and development application both flexible and rigid. In order to acquire and retain the best employees with excellent skills and knowledge, this agency devised a recruitment system called the Talent Management systems that typically encompasses things like identification of potential applicants, recruitment via company facing listings, and recruiting by the use of online means which market to both the applicant and recruiters (Berman, 2012). According to analysts, this process has the best means of acquiring the best employees, since it make s the overall acquiring and retaining process competitive. Implications of the Human Resource Workforce After analyzing the existing processes, systems, and components of the agency’s human resource, this paper established that there have been identical cases of success due to planned methodologies of facilitating work. For instance, presence of learning management systems within this agency contributes to concurrent increase in productivity, delivery, invention, and incorporation of diverse measures of ensuring competitive workforce (Lawler, 2004). Additionally, due to its well-trained and equipped workforce, the agency was able to establish a board that maintains a

RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS - Essay Example Restrictive covenants in land law prohibit use of land in a particular manner. They are agreements between landowners in which one party agrees to refrain from use of land as prescribed by the agreement. This paper seeks to discuss concepts of restrictive covenants with the aim of advising parties to a land case. The paper will explore the nature and extent of liability as imposed by restrictive covenants. Facts of the case The case involves a landowner, Connor, who sells part of his land in order to meet his financial obligations. In January, Connor sold off a portion of his property to Jane. Part of the terms of the covenant was that the sold piece was supposed to be strictly meant for residential purposes and by only one family. A month later, Connor sold another part of his land to Bullhorn Company subject to a number of terms. Under the agreement, the immediate and any subsequent purchaser of the property was supposed to develop and maintain a fence around the subject property. The terms also provided that the property would only be used for at most twelve residential units and that the developed houses could only be used for residential purposes. Upon development of twelve independent houses by Bullhorn, the property was sold to separate buyers on terms that the new owners would use the property solely for residential purposes and that fees shall be paid by the owners for maintenance of roadway. Alex, one of the buyers from Bullhorn, has however been using his house as a bail hostel. The other new owners have been aggrieved and as a result refused to repair the boundaries and to pay the maintenance fees. Jane has also sold her property to Oscar who has used it for commercial purpose. Legal issues Covenants A covenant creates legal obligations on the parties to which it imputes liability. Defined as a legal promise, it exposes the promisor to liability as described by the covenant’s terms. Though covenants are considerably similar to contractual agr eements, they do not have to be necessarily supported by consideration. As a result, covenants are regulated by common law and doctrines of equity from different perspectives. In cases where consideration supports the promisors’ intentions, covenants are enforceable under both common law and equity.1 However, law lacks authority over covenants made without consideration. The general principle of covenants is to restrict the use of a piece of land in a given way and once a covenant is made, a landowner looses rights over the land as prescribed by the covenant. Similarly, covenants that have been made over a piece of land bind subsequent owners of the land even though they were not part of the covenant. This general rule can however be exempted by express provisions of individual covenants.2 In determining liability of parties to covenants, the courts applies either or both common law and the doctrines of equity as discussed bellow Covenants under equity Benefits Running covena nts under equity is based on the principles of benefits and burden on rights over pieces of land. Benefits with respect to restrictive covenants can be derived from either, annexation, assignment of the benefits or through building scheme approach. Under the doctrine of annexation, that either can be expressed by the original parties to a covenant or can be implied by statutes, the terms of the restrictive covenants are deemed to bind successive owners of land. This means that a landowner at a particular time is liable for breach of terms of a covenant over the land irrespective of the fact that the timely owner was not part of the covenant. Express annexation was observed in the case of Newton Abbot Co-operative Society v Williamson & Treadgold [1952] Ch 2863

Purchasing Power Parity; Does It Exist Essay Example for Free

Purchasing Power Parity; Does It Exist Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Purchasing Power Parity doctrine is perhaps one of the most controversial financial theories. Over the years, it has had its ebbs and flows, with proponents expositing several mathematical and statistical formula to strengthen the theory, while critics have severally condemned the utility of the theory; however, according to Belassa1 the doctrine has managed to survive nevertheless. Belassa argues that, though in somewhat ambiguous terms, the doctrine has been invoked as early as during the Napoleonic wars, the christening and explanation of the doctrine came from Prof. Gustav Cassel during the First World War and was popularized after the Second World War. The author further posits that interests in the theory tend to be invoked when existing exchanges rates were thought to be unrealistic and there was, therefore, a search for what is considered equilibrium rates2.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perhaps one of the controversies that have built up around the Purchasing Power Parity starts with the issue of definition. Different authors tend to come up with their own definition (version) of the theory, and as a result, the theory has come to mean different things to different authors3. Before looking at some of the conceptualizations of the theory that has generated over time, it is pertinent, to first examine the theory as was professed by its author Prof. Gustav Cassel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bunting4   presents the first exposition of the theory in Cassels’s Money and Foreign Exchange after 1914, which he said was one of the earliest and best explanation of the theory by the author.   Bunting explains that the concept of purchasing power parity was borne out of the need to establish what determined exchange rates in Europe after the era of gold standard was gone, that is, when national currencies were on inconvertible basis. On this basis, Cassel explains that considering the fact that the primary reason a country’s currency is in demand in a foreign country is the need to purchase goods produced in that country. Thus, when normal, unrestricted trade between [two] countries have been established over time, the exchange rates become fixed relative to the purchasing power of each currency domestically, and as long as this domestic purchasing power of the currencies do not change, nothing will happen to the exch ange rates5. Further, the theory states that when the currencies of these countries undergo inflation, the â€Å"the normal rate of exchange will be equal to the old rate multiplied by the quotient of the degree of inflation in the one country and in the other†6. While this explanation describes the basic skeleton of the theory, there have been several adjustments and modifications of the meanings and concept of the theory as several authors tend to strengthen or criticize it. Some of these adjustments to the meaning of the theory will suffice to buttress this point.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Everett and his colleagues7   attempting to measure currency strengths and weakness with the purchasing power parity concept, posited that as long as there is unrestricted trades, exchange rates of currencies tend to obey the purchasing power of the currencies. In this regard, they succinctly conceive the theory to mean thus regardless of how currencies are denominated, when adjusted for units; all currencies tend to command the same basket of goods8. This definition is similar to that adopted by Klein et al.9, who likened the purchasing power parity doctrine to the law of One Price with the explanation that an identical good (or service) would command the same price, measured in a given numeraire system, all over the trading world10.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Belassa, however, gave a more elaborate explanation of the purchasing power doctrine, differentiating between the relative and absolute interpretations of the theory. According to him, the absolute version of purchasing power parity theory argues that when purchasing power parities are calculated as a ratio of consumer goods prices for any pair of countries, the result reflects the equilibrium rates of exchange. On the other hand, the relative version of the theory asserts that, when compared to a period when equilibrium rates prevailed, changes in the relative prices of goods would indicate the necessary adjustments in exchange rates11. In a sense, one can infer from these definitions that the absolute version of the theory seeks to establish ‘equilibrium’ exchanges rates between any pair of countries based on purchasing power of their currencies, while the relative version intends to measure the over and undervaluation of currencies at any period in time12.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Despite the controversies surrounding the validity and utility of this theory, recently, authors have sought to clothe the doctrine in â€Å"the garments of respectability† and in this regard, several statistical materials have been presented that more accurately reflects the relationship between power of currencies and exchange rates, as conceived in the theory 13. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to examine some of the literatures regarding the theory and perhaps to infer from these, the implications and future research possibilities of the theory. Literature Review   Balassa, Bela (1964). The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Belassa14 apparently belongs to the group of authors that intend to strengthen the validity and utility of the purchasing power parity doctrine. He begins by first differentiating between absolute and relative versions of the theory, as explained above. He, however, asserted that the doctrine as postulated by Cassel tends towards the absolute version when he states that the rate of exchange between two countries will be determined by the quotient between the general levels of prices in the two countries15. Further, he explains that theory as invoked by another author indicates that the German mark was undervalued against the dollar, while the mark too was overvalued, and the Austrian shilling, Danish crown and Dutch guilder all undervalued, by extending the theory to the currencies of less developed countries, their currencies appears to be undervalued against the dollar. The author contends that the deviation from the calculated exchanges were too much to be caused by errors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the bid to correct the perceived weakness in the theory, Belassa created a new model for the theory by introducing non-traded goods (services) into the traditional two-country, two-commodity model of the theory. This model of the theory is strengthened by the following assumptions; that there is only one limiting factor – labor, and constant input coefficient. Also, under the assumption of constant marginal rates of transformation, countries with relative higher productivity levels will experience higher relative price of non-traded commodity compared to another. From these propositions, the author posit that income levels play a significant level in the calculation of purchase powers and that purchasing power parities will be more closely related to exchange rates when prices are expressed in terms of wage units.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this equation, the author posit that if we were to assume production of traded goods relative to non-traded goods constitutes the major difference in international productivity, currencies of country with higher productivity will appear to be overvalued using purchasing power parity calculations. However, if per capita income was to be used as a representative of levels of productivity, the ratio of purchasing power parity to exchange rate will be an increasing reflection of income levels   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In providing empirical confirmation the proposed relationship between purchasing power parity, exchange rates and income levels, the author argues thus: â€Å"if differences in tastes do not counterbalance differences in productive endowments, there will be a tendency in each country to consume commodities with lower relative prices in larger quantities†16 . The result is that the purchasing power of country II’s currency will be undervalued if country I’s consumption pattern is used as weights and overestimated if country II’s consumption is used. This is shown in the tables below.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The second table above shows the comparison of the cost of household services in the United States and Italy for 1950. The author argue that after conversion at exchange rates, domestic services in Italy seem to cost about one-fifth of their United states’ price, barber and beauty shops cost one-fourth, laundry and dry cleaning the same cost. In the same vein, purchasing power equivalents for household services was 391 lira at US weights and 165lira at Italian weights. These figures confirm, the author argues, that services (non-traded goods) cost more, relatively, in countries with higher income levels. Thus, it buttresses the relationship between purchasing power parity, exchange rates and income levels. Bunting, H.   Frederick (1939). The Purchasing Power Parity Theory Reexamined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bunting18, while conceding that the purchase power parity doctrine has been severally criticized, further adds his criticism by, according to him, submitting the theory to an improved statistical test. The basis of the argument set forth in this paper is that though the author of the doctrine of purchasing power parity discussed some likely exceptions to the theory, which could account for the differences observed between actual exchanges rates and parity calculated rates, several other exceptions that render the theory impracticable exists.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author proffered an elaborate definition (explanation) of the theory, as conceived by Cassel and the proposed relationship between purchasing power of currencies and their exchange rates. Further, he went on to summarize the major exceptions to the general rule into seven main points, as discussed by Cassel in his book; Money and Foreign Exchange After 1914. Accordingly, he explained that exchange rates are expected to deviate from the calculated rates if, domestic prices fluctuate in relation to one another, due to any series of factors; tariffs and/or shipping costs change in relation to those prevalent in the base year used for the calculation; obstructions to trade other tariffs and shipping costs becomes operational during the year under consideration; sudden devaluation of currency occurs during the transition period; the activities of speculators affect exchange rates; governments are in need of foreign exchange, for example to pay international debts; and the base year or general price index is not properly selected, as defects in the price index used or the base year could cause predictive error in calculated rates. In sum, Bunting posits that though these exceptions are many and powerful, they do not fully subsume factors/reasons responsible for differences in actual rates and calculated rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this regard, the author asserts that the critique of the theory can be simplified by considering problems of price levels and direction of change. On the issue of price level, he argues that, problems with choice of base year and the commodities that should make up the price indices to be used in the calculation shows ambiguity in the theory. First, with base year determination, the author argues that Cassel’s contention that it is only if we know the exchange rate which represents a certain equilibrium that we can calculate the rate which represents the same equilibrium at an altered value of the monetary units of the two countries19 i.e. we can only calculate the equilibrium rate now if we know the rate at a particular ‘base’ year; is faulty because there is no such thing in international trades. He argues that the fact that international economic conditions do not persist for long means that a given base year can only be reasonably used to measure relative price changes for only a short period of time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the commodity prices to be included in the price index, Bunting also faults Cassel’s insistence that ‘general’ price index should be used, arguing that not all goods are traded internationally. Thus changes in commodities not traded internationally can, therefore, have no effect on foreign country’s evaluation of a country’s currency. Further, on the direction of change, the author argues that Cassel’s contention that â€Å"when currencies are not on a convertible specie standard it is parities which determine exchange rates†20   tend to overlook the possibility that the direction of change could be the reverse i.e. price levels may be caused by changes in exchange rates. Thus, while Cassel concedes that the actions of speculators could cause changes in exchange rates without necessary price changes; there are several other factors that are capable of inducing change in exchange rates. Bunting mentions the following factors; Government monetary policies – alterations of central bank rates, stabilization funds, international government loans; Private international loans and special considerations such as large corporations transferring their capital holdings from one country to the other to protect their profits, or tourist expenditures and immigration remittances, which both involve the purchase of foreign currencies with no regard for the purchasing power of the currencies involved.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Subjecting the purchasing power parity theory to statistical tests, the author presents his result in the graphical form shown below. In the charts below, Franco-American exchange rates were compared for 1920s and 1930s. The solid line represents calculated rates while the broken line labeled no lag represents actual rates. The differences exhibited between the actual and calculated rates for the statistical test constitute discrepancy in the theory. The 1month, 2months and 3months lag periods were allowed in the assumption that time should be allowed for changes in purchasing power parities to effect a change in exchange rate, thus the 1-3months lag should show more correlation with the actual rates, however, this was not the case. The author concludes that proponents of the theory should simply recognize the fact that the theory as it stand is defective and needs to be refined. The authors of this paper proffered answers to criticisms of the validity and utility of the purchasing power parity theory, and especially to the claims that though the theory worked relatively in the 1920s, it failed in the 1970s by some other authors. Davutyan and John21 contend that possible reasons for the apparent failure of the purchasing power theory to predict exchange rates accurately when figures from the 1970s are used could include the fact that relatively to 1920; monetary policies were more coordinated in the 1970s. They therefore, assert that it is the coordination of monetary policies, not the failure of the purchasing power parity theory that causes conventional statistical tests to reject the validity of purchasing power parity for the 1970s. Providing evidence to support their claims, the authors posit that if we are to assume that there are no obstructions to trade, i.e. all goods are tradable and effective arbitrage refers to the relative version of the purchasing power theory, as explained by Bellassa22 above. In consolidating their argument, the authors contend that purchasing power parity tend to fail under two instances: when arbitragers fail to respond to profitable opportunities or when transaction costs and other impediments inhibit trades. However, they contend that the first factor might not be feasible, so the latter appears to be more important. Elucidating on the second factor, Davutyan and John   posit that under the assumption of zero transaction costs all goods are tradable, when this assumption is listed, goods could be divided into two categories, tradables with zero transaction costs and non-tradables with high transaction costs. Thus, in the absence of transaction costs, arbitrage keeps relative prices of tradable goods across countries equal, but this is not the case between non-tradables as well as between tradables and non-tradables. Therefore, when there are economic shocks, the equation above holds tradables but not for non-tradables. Furthermore, the authors contend that even with tradables, while the zero transaction costs is convenient in theory, it is not always so in reality. The fact is that relative transaction cost differs between countries and this too, tends to introduce errors into the purchasing power parity calculation, as with the non-tradables.   Another source of error in purchasing power calculation, according to the authors, is unequal weights used for calculation. They argue that in the second equation above, the weights in the price index are the same for both countries; however, using CPI or wholesale price index or GNP deflators would violate the requirement for similar weights and could introduce error into the measurement. To support their claims, the authors present the data in the table below, where R2 and estimate of the regression coefficient supports the argument that purchasing power parity works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Everett24 and his colleagues presented a practical and working model of the purchasing power parity theory and argued that by using this model of the theory to calculate exchange rates, currency strengths and weakness can be measured. Defining purchasing power parity, the authors contend that the primary concept of the theory is that when the forces of price mechanism are unrestricted, exchange rates tend to conform to the purchasing power of currencies. Thus, instead of price levels adjusting to exchange rates, the reverse is the case. In this regard, the authors assert that while this general idea of the theory applies to a world of floating exchange rates, their model of the purchasing power theory can be adapted to a variety of exchange rate regimes, such as managed floats, crawling pegs and fixed exchange rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In explaining this model of the purchasing power parity, the authors refer to what they called the parity chart. As shown below, the chart is derived thus: the horizontal axis measures time from a chosen time of origin – the base year; while the vertical axis measures two things, one, the difference in the percentage of the purchasing power of currencies and two, the percentage change in the actual exchange rate from the base year. While the dotted line represents the actual/observed exchange rates, the parity (solid) line represents parity (calculated) exchange rates over time.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Using the two country model to explain the ‘parity chart’, the authors explain that if we assume that there are no restrictions to trade, and the perfect base time, under this scenario, if the change in the purchasing power of country A’s currency differs from that of country B, the parity line in the chart above will have a positive or negative slope, depending on the sign of the difference between the purchasing power of the currencies under consideration. Further, if actual exchange rates were to be plotted on the same chart, the slope should conform closely to that of the parity line. What can be inferred from this explanation is that the parity line in the chart closely reflects the expected change in exchange rates that should follow changes in the purchasing power of country currencies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To support their claims that the parity chart can be used to measure changes in exchange rates under any type of exchange rate regime, the authors presented empirical results of several currencies with different exchange rate regimes, these included the German mark-a more or less freely floating exchange rate; Spanish peseta-a strictly managed exchange rate; Colombian peso-a crawling peg currency; and South African rand-a fixed exchange rate25. The result for the German mark is presented below:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The authors explain that the vertical axis measures the percentage deviation from the calculated rate. While the line representing the inflation factor shows a fairly steady rise, in line with the well known fact of relatively lower rates of increases in the West German price level compared with most other countries, the line representing the exchange rate, on the other hand, shows no apparent trend, reflecting the fact that the exchange rates of West Germanys trading partners vis-à  -vis the dollar on a trade-weighted basis may have moved in opposite directions. These two factors when compounded, yields the parity line.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After presenting empirical results for all the four representative countries listed above, the authors concluded that an indepth examination of the parity chart and line indicates that the parity line provides an effective and informed judgment about future currency movements. Further, that if â€Å"the parity rate diverges from the actual rate, this indicates that the currency is presently either over- or undervalued, and will therefore have to adjust, the longer the persistence of such a divergence, the more likely that an adjustment will occur soon†26.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is another study that attempted to strengthen the validity and utility of the purchasing power parity doctrine. These authors, in this study, posited that purchasing power parity could be used to derive a more effective simulation or projection of world economy. Admitting that the theory has come to mean different thing to different writers, the authors adopted the law of ‘one price’ definition of the theory, which explains that an â€Å"identical good or service would command the same price, measured in a given numeraire system, all over the trading world†27.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The authors further state that though there are several controversial issues about the theory, such as what category of goods should be included in the calculation or what time should be used as origin/base in the calculation, they assert that any detailed exchange rate modeling system should obey the purchasing power parity rule, in the long run. Statistically estimating the movement of exchange rates in relation to the purchasing power parity principle for the 1970s, the authors presented the following formula:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the authors, this formula states that the â€Å"U.S. dollar terms, should have a common rate of change across all countries, namely, the U.S. rate of change of export prices†28. Thus, if the exchange rates during this time, had moved in accordance with the principle of purchasing power parity, then the estimates of: would be consistent with the hypothesis of purchasing power parity. Where a =O; b = -1.0; c = +1.0; eit =additive random error. Scatter diagrams of the data points of the two equations above are shown below. Conclusively, the authors assert that judging by these statistics, all the regression estimates in the charts above passed significance tests. Thus, it could be deduced that the relationship between purchasing power of currencies and the actual exchange rates was tightest for members of the EMS, but slightly less tight when the UK is included. Based on this evidence, the authors believe that their contention that, on average, purchasing power parity movements approximately reflects actual exchange rates in the 1970s has been adequately justified, and as a result, it could be generalized that calculations of purchasing power parity could be used in predicting movements of exchange rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John29 proffered answers to criticisms concerning the predictive errors observed with exchange rates calculated from purchasing power parity. They observed that studies carried out by several authors indicate that for several countries, the predictive error of purchasing power parity during the 1970s followed what they referred to as ‘random walk’ i.e. whatever the deviation between the parity rate and actual rates observed this month, next month it is likely to increase as decrease.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this regard, the author argued that the basic idea behind the purchasing power parity doctrine is that in the long run, the differences between the parity rates and the actual exchange rates tend to disappear and the tow rates are equated. They argue that, though economic shocks, in whatever guise, could, in the short term, drive the actual rate from the parity rates, but in the absence of new shocks, the price mechanism tend to equate the tow rates, in the long run. Based on this argument, the author contend that predictive errors for purchasing power parity should not perform a random walk, instead there should be a gradual decline or increase towards the actual rate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Supporting their claims that predictive errors in purchasing power parity does not perform random walk in the long run; the authors presented the results of empirical studies of several countries using data for over seventy years.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Following the same path with paper reviewed above, Yeager30 also sought to strengthen the validity and utility of the purchasing power parity theory. He started off his argument with the basic assumption that people primarily value currencies for what could be bought with it, based on this assumption, he argues, it is safe to presume that in an unrestricted market, people will tend to exchange such currencies for their relative purchasing powers. The author admits that the theory, in its basic form, as stated above, is loose and ambiguous, he posits, however, that the theory performs tow main functions. First, the theory gives an expression of what the equilibrium exchange rates should be for currencies, however crude this rate appears. And two, the theory act like a stabilizing force for exchange rates. Explaining this second function, he assert that when for any reason, actual exchange rates deviate from the equilibrium rates, the theory describes pressures at work tending to check and reverse this random departures from the range of equilibrium rates.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The author provides this example to buttress the point made above about the stabilizing powers of the parity theory:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Let us suppose, for example, that prevailing exchange rates unmistakably   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   undervalue the British pound in relation to the purchasing powers of the pound   Ã‚  Ã‚   and of foreign currencies.   Foreigners -say Americans- will offer dollars for   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   pounds to buy British goods at bargain prices. Britons will offer relatively few pounds for dollars to buy, American goods at their apparently high prices.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unmatched attempts to sell dollars and buy pounds will bid the exchange rate toward the equilibrium level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the same light, the author evaluates some of the numerous objections raised about the theory and posits that in most of these objections, the stabilizing pressures aspect of the theory has been mostly ignored. In sum, the author concludes that most of the discrepancies observed in purchasing power parity rates are due to â€Å"inappropriate base periods; disequilibrium exchange rates (including base-period rates), often imposed by official pegging; tariffs, quotas, and other interferences with trade, payments, and exchange rates.31†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Wyman32   extends the utility of the purchasing power parity further, by applying the concept of the doctrine to calculating gains or losses incurred by holding foreign items, such as foreign currencies or goods. Relating purchasing power parity to currency changes, the author explain that purchasing power is related to the exchange rates of currencies, in that, differential rates of inflation between, say the United States and a foreign country, influences the exchange rates between the monetary units if each country. Putting this definition into an equation, he states that the calculation of the purchasing power parity can be illustrated thus: If the exchange rate between the United States and a foreign country is 20FC = $1 where FC denotes a unit of ‘foreign currency’, if during the year, the US price level index changed from 100 to 110 and that of the foreign country changed from 100 to 120, the purchasing power parity rate can be calculated by determining an adjustment factor that would be applied to the exchange rate. The adjustment factor is calculated as:   ÃË†t à · Øt = the adjustment factor for period t or (120,100t 110,100) = 1.0909 where ψt =   the price-level ratio in the United States defined as the general price-level index at   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the end of period t divided by the general price-level index at the beginning of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   period t Øt = the price-level ratio in the foreign country defined as the general price-level index at   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   the end of period t divided by the general price-level index at the beginning of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   period t   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Explaining this formula, the author assert that when the adjustment factor is applied to the exchange rate, for the example above, result is FC 20x 1.0909 = FC 21.8182=$1. So, if the actual exchange rate at the end of the time t is at the calculated rate of FC 21.8182 to $1, investors in either country will maintain their purchasing power relative to each other, however, if for example, the exchange rate was to be at FC 22 to $1, FC would have depreciated more than is necessary to maintain the purchasing power parity, and so US investors in need of the foreign currency would have exchanged the currency at a loss. The author went on to establish a multiequation system that can be employed in analyzing potential gains and losses in foreign exchange, based on the purchasing power parity concept. Ruble, L. William (1961). A Comparison of the Parity Ratio with Agricultural Net Income Measures: 1910-1958. Journal of Farm Economics, 43(1):101-112. And Stine O. C. (1946). Parity Prices. Journal of Farm Economics, 28(1):301-305.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These two works covered a slight different aspect of purchasing power parity. They were focused on the purchasing power of farmers, comparing prices changes in farm and non-farm products, and thus, what farmers are paid for their farm products and what they have to pay to buy non-farm products.   Stine33   explains that in the years after the first World War, when the purchasing power parity concept was birthed and first applied as measurement in of changes in purchasing power, marked changes in general price levels was observed, as expected, however, it was also observed that farm products declined more rapidly and farther compared to non farm products. As a result, what farmers had to pay for products they buy was considerably different from what they earn from the sells of farm products.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Ruble34   supporting this line of argument, argues that since the prices received by farmers and prices paid by farmers affect the livelihood and wellbeing of the farming family, the parity ratio provides a good indicator of the standard of living of farmers. Further, contends that the level of the parity ratio is expected to give   good indication of the following methods of estimating the standard of living of farmers: Net money income per capita, per farm, or per worker. Net real income per capita, per farm, or per worker. Income of farmers compared to income of non-farmers on a per   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   capita or per worker basis (the parity income concept)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, data and result of empirical studies was presented to measure the relation between the parity ratio and the well being of farmers suggests that the parity ratio might not indeed properly reflects the general well being of farmers, if the well-being of farmers in general is expressed by the per capita, per farm, or per worker net income, real or money. In arriving at the figures in the table, the parity ratio was correlated separately with the per capita net agricultural income of the farm population, the net income of farm operators from farming per farm, and the net income of farm workers from farming per worker, income from all sources, and deflated by the index of prices paid by farmers for family-living items (1917-19 = 100) Summary   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is no denying the fact that the Purchasing Power Parity doctrine is an important theory in the financial world. It is true that a lot of controversies have been generated about its validity and utility, but it is also true that several authors have been able to categorically prove its validity, and more importantly, utility, in an array of fields. Just as the theory has come to mean different thing to different authors, it has also carved for itself, different functions, depending on the perspective one adopts. It is not surprising, therefore, that authors have been able to apply the doctrine to a number of endeavors, as seen in the reviews above.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In its most basic form, the concept argues that people primarily need currencies of other countries for the purpose of buying goods/commodities of that country. Therefore, people will only be prepared to exchange currencies for its relative worth. Here lies the relationship between purchasing power parity and the exchange rates of currencies i.e. when it is suspected that a currency is under or over valued, market forces will tend to force the rate back to the equilibrium level. Equilibrium here describes the rate achieved after trades have occurred between two countries, uninterrupted, for a certain period of time and a common exchange rate has been established, as a result.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From this very basic understanding of the theory, as proposed by the author Prof. Gustav Cassel, several modifications, adjustments, and extension of the theory have been proposed and proved. For example, Bellasa fine tuned the predictive value of the theory by modifying the basic two-country, two-commodity model, to include considerations for non-traded goods (services) and the per capita income of each country, which, he argues, play crucial role in the purchasing power of currencies. Klein and his colleagues   modified the theory and employed it in simulating/projecting changes in world economy; Everett and others , also modified the theory and proved it to be useful in appraising strengths and weaknesses of countries’ currencies; while John   showed that the predictive errors in rates calculated with the purchasing power parity concept could be as a result of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   faults inherent in the calculation methods and data.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   From the foregoing, one can only infer that purchasing power parity is still an important financial concept. Although, further academic and research efforts should be geared towards resolving some of the objections raised against the theory. It is obvious that criticism of the theory will further help to strengthen it, in the future, as we have seen it done in the past. Most of the objections raised have been somehow addressed, even if not completely resolved. One can, thus conveniently conclude that with time, the theory might be better fine tuned and become more effective at explaining and predicting exchange rates of currencies. Endnotes Balassa, Bela (1964). The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal. Ibid p.584 Klein, R. Lawrence, Shahrokh Fardoust and Victor Filatov (1981). Purchasing Power Parity in Medium Term Simulation of the World Economy; Balassa, Bela (1964) Bunting, H. Frederick (1939). The Purchasing Power Parity Theory Reexamined Bunting (1939) provided almost a word-for-word definition and explanation of the theory as postulated by Cassell. The author gives a better idea of the original theory Ibid p.283 Everett, M. Robert, Abraham M. George and Aryeh Blumberg (1980). Appraising Currency Strengths and Weaknesses: An Operational Model for Calculating Parity Exchange Rates. Ibid p.80 Klein et al., 1981 Ibid   p.486 Belassa, 1964 p.584-585 This is personal opinion based on the definition of the absolute and relative PPP proffered by Bellasa, 1964 Ibid Ibid Belassa, 1964 p.585 quoting Cassel in his book Money and Foreign Exchange After 1914. Ibid   Ibid p.587 Bunting,   H. Frederick (1939). The Purchasing Power Parity Theory Reexamined. Bunting, 1939 p.285 quoting Cassel in his book Money and Foreign Exchange After 1914. Bunting, 1939 p.288 Davutyan, Nurhan and John Pippenger (1985). Purchasing Power Parity Did Not Collapse During the 1970s Balassa, 1964 Davutyan and John, 1985 p.1151 Everett, M. Robert, Abraham M. George and Aryeh Blumberg (1980). Appraising Currency Strengths and Weaknesses: An Operational Model for Calculating Parity Exchange Rates. Ibid p.84 Ibid p.90 Klein, R. Lawrence, Shahrokh Fardoust and Victor Filatov (1981). Purchasing Power Parity in Medium Term Simulation of the World Economy. p.486 Ibid p.487 John, Pippenger (1982). Purchasing Power Parity: An Analysis of Predictive Error Yeager, B. Leland   (1958). A Rehabilitation of Purchasing-Power Parity Ibid p.529 Wyman E. Harold (1976). Analysis of Gains or Losses from Foreign Monetary Items: An Application of Purchasing Power Parity Concepts. Stine O. C. (1946). Parity Prices Ruble, L. William (1961). A Comparison of the Parity Ratio with Agricultural Net Income Measures Bibliography Balassa, Bela (1964). The Purchasing-Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal. The Journal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   of Political Economy, Vol. 72:6 pp. 584-596. Bunting,   H. Frederick (1939). The Purchasing Power Parity Theory Reexamined.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 5:3. pp. 282-301. Davutyan, Nurhan and John Pippenger (1985). Purchasing Power Parity Did Not   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Collapse During the 1970s. The American Economic Review, Vol. 75:5.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   pp.1151-1158. Everett, M. Robert, Abraham M. George and Aryeh Blumberg (1980). Appraising   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Currency Strengths and Weaknesses: An Operational Model for Calculating   Ã‚  Ã‚   Parity Exchange Rates. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 11:2. pp.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   80-91. John, Pippenger (1982). Purchasing Power Parity: An Analysis of Predictive Error. The Canadian Journal of Economics, Vol. 15:2, pp. 335-346. Klein, R. Lawrence, Shahrokh Fardoust and Victor Filatov (1981). Purchasing Power   Ã‚  Ã‚   Parity in Medium Term Simulation of the World Economy. The Scandinavian   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Journal of Economics, Vol. 83: 4 pp. 479-496. Ruble, L. William (1961). A Comparison of the Parity Ratio with Agricultural Net   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Income Measures: 1910-1958. Journal of Farm Economics, Vol. 43:1. pp. 101-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   112. Stine O. C. (1946). Parity Prices. Journal of Farm Economics, Vol.28:1. pp.301-305. Wyman E. Harold (1976). Analysis of Gains or Losses from Foreign Monetary Items: An   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Application of Purchasing Power Parity Concepts. The Accounting Review, Vol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   51: 3. pp. 545-558. Yeager, B. Leland   (1958). A Rehabilitation of Purchasing-Power Parity. The Journal of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Political Economy, Vol. 66:6, pp. 516-530.

The Development of a Moral Character

The Development of a Moral Character A Virtuous Moral Character The development of a moral character is an intellectual topic that has been argued for many years. Many philosophers have argued the point of their existence with the perplexity of this subject. This has allowed the philosophers to approach this topic in various ways. These philosophers are Aristotle (in the Nicomachean Ethics), Confucius (in Analects) and Plato (in Apology, Phaedo). To analyze these philosophers critically, it is important to evaluate their perspective arguments and what they are trying to say. After initializing compare and contrast of these philosophers, we will be in the position of establishing up to what they agree or disagree regarding the development of a moral character. A moral character is defined as an idea in which one is unique and can be distinguished from others. Perhaps it can assemble qualities and traits that are different from various individuals. It implies to how individuals act, or how they express themselves. In another words, it is â€Å"human excellence,† or unique thoughts of a character. When the concept of virtue is spoken, this would emphasize the distinctiveness or specialty, but it all involves the combination of qualities that make an individual the way he or she is. Based on this definition, the insight of a moral character can be viewed differently. Although these philosophers diverge with their arguments, they in some sense have similarities. These similarities will show how the matter of a character is important and crucial to the human nature. Nicomachean Ethnics is a remarkable work written in 350 B.C by Aristotle. His work was focused on the importance of development and behavior among virtuous characters. Aristotle clarified the importance of ethnical behavior, and how actions play a role in which an individual performs. â€Å"Eudaimonia,† is relative to the how a moral character develops. It is an end in itself. Aristotle argued that it was known as a goal of a healthy life. Aristotle is among the philosophers whom gave a great insight of a virtuous character. He states, â€Å"Excellence [of character], then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which the man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices, which depends on excess and that which depend on defect.† A character is a state, whereas, the actions determine the way the person acts. A virtuous character is not a feeling or mere tendency to behave in a certain way. Aristotle makes an argument about different virtues. Virtues relate to the feelings and actions from each individual. For example, the virtue of a relaxed person may be clarified with bad temper. Furthermore, Aristotle argued that people get angry at certain things and redundantly stepping up to what he or she thinks is right. On the other hand, as Aristotle states, the deficient of this character is harsh and unacceptable. Regardless of any situation, it is inappropriate to become angry when it is not worth it. If doing so, the again indicates a deficient non-virtuous moral character. Aristotle also refers to any non-virtuous person by inner doubt and predicaments. Even though the person may be single-minded or thoughtless, he or she must be able to look out for companions to forgive their actions. Aristotle argues that these vicious people are not able to believe in themselves. On the other hand, virtuous individuals, gain pleasure in their actions. â€Å"For in speaking about a man’s character we do not say that he is wise or has understanding but that he is good-tempered or temperate yet we praise the wise man also with respect to his fate of mind; and of states of mind we call those which merit praise virtues.† (Nicomachean Ethics 13). Aristotle’s positions seems to conflict with Plato’s philosophy. Plato will later argued that incontinence occurs when a person’s desires move him to progress or act in the way that he or she wants to perform. However, we will discuss this later on. Confucius is another prominent figure that has been relative to the modern development of a moral character. Confucius spends many years thinking about the concepts of human kindness and the development of a character. His teachings were basically full of ethnics on human behaviors. He spoke more on the kindness of human rather than spiritual concepts. While concentrating on his ethics, Confucius was famous for insisting things with a name. In another words, Confucius argued that things must be clear to one’s mind in order to function properly in an environment. The Analects written by Confucius notes the notions of virtue and the righteous of human kindness and the way to successful humanity. In XV.8 of the Analects, Confucius states, â€Å"The determined scholar and the man of virtue will not seek to live at the expense of humanity. They will even sacrifice their lives to preserve their humanity. â€Å"Confucius argues that the life of an indiviudal is to protect oneâ€⠄¢s virtue. The acts of that individual must be preserved to act to the good. Another saying that substantiate Confucius argument is IV.25 (Eastern), it states, â€Å"Virtue is not left to stand alone. He who practices it will have neighbors.† However, in the western philosophical view, Aristotle argues that the view of virtuous activity reveals how the person contributes to a great life. Actions are important when one live peacefully with another. For example, patriotism comes into mind when it comes to America. Over the years, soldiers have been remembered for their heroism. Therefore, the soldiers are fighting for what they believe to be their honor, yet they are putting his or her life in danger. Confucius continues to seek for knowledge. He seems to be very petty, clannish, and small-minded. Furthermore, he can be worldly, studious and humane. This can be consistent with Plato’s views. Most societies and culture strives for goodness, and leaders have his or her basic commonalities for personal behavior, which can be seen in VI. 28. This saying compares to Socrates. Confucius, too, wants to spread the wisdom to everyone. He wants everyone to be well, not just himself. Lastly, another prominent figure in the world of philosophy is Plato. Plato’s writings such as Apology demonstrate dramatic accounts of the events leading to his death, as well as illustrating matters of concerns, ethical living, and clarity of thought and expression. â€Å"Apology† means â€Å"legal defense of trial.† Plato offers to discuss about the defense of philosophy as a way of life. A soul is part of a life, whereas, the soul determines the things we do everyday. Phaedo illustrates important arguments for personal immortality. In Phaedo, Plato argued that the soul is â€Å"something†, rather than a sense of â€Å"harmony.† Unlike harmony, the soul exists, which is more active than others. Souls are more virtuous, which harmony does not pertain to. Soul pre-exists which harmony does not. On the other hand, if soul is in a group of harmony, all souls would be too, which is not possible. Therefore, soul is a sort of material, which is much enhanced than harmony. Another argument that Plato makes can be seen in the â€Å"Republic.† He argued that the soul is divided in three parts, and each part is a kind of desire. Respectively, these desires are rational, appetitive, or spirited. To be virtuous one must un derstand what is the beneficial. He or she must have the spirited desires to be educated properly, which will eventually lead to the protection from the soul. Plato illustrates the education of the soul in Books II and III. Importantly, a virtuous individual learns to live by a better environment when he is young, and moves on to create virtuous behaviors. His actions are developed while he is growing and learns why the thing he is doing is good. Once he has learned the good, then he would understand why his actions were virtuous. Looking back at Plato’s arguments, he argues that virtue simply indicates one to act in different ways. These philosophers disagree about having the correct motives. They are different in which the virtuous traits of a character differ from their desires and emotions. Philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle argued that the cognitive and affective states were important. . These philosophers agree that happiness links to virtue. They suggested everyone who is happy is one who is brave, restraint, and understanding. However, it is difficult to understand. Plato and Aristotle both agree that a positive moral character involves more than a Socrates’ understanding of the superior. Both agree that it is important to have harmony between the cognitive and the affective materials from a person. These philosophers have several comparisons. They agree that the good life of a human involves nature. Human beings look to the development of individual powers. Furthermore, they agree that human good involves corrective actions, and a person can guide his actions by the right decision, no matter of any obstacles ahead. After analyzing these philosophers and their arguments, I have concluded that Aristotle has the more compelling description for developing a moral character. Aristotle develops a greater in-depth argument for his points. He substantiates his points with passion and beauty. However, it requires strong concentration and a deeper understanding of what he is trying to say. In my opinion, I find Aristotle to be clearer, and more challenging. I also find that the more modern teachings of Aristotle to be more understanding than those of the Eastern teachings. Perhaps, these involve various concepts when Western teachings are involved. Aristotle contribute greatly to the many topics of philosophy, hence, his arguments are reliable which can be related to our daily lives. In summary, these philosophers provided intellectual arguments against the various ways of developing a virtuous character. Aristotle took his stand to argue that the actions contribute greatly to the way a character is. Prior to that, he clarifies how individuals act the way they speak or behave. Confucius in Analects exemplified the concept of how the environment acts upon the way the person interacts. Lastly, Plato illustrated the soul as a lead to the characters desires and wants. As part of examining our lives within these philosophies, I have come to the conclusion that Aristotle developed a greater and more apprehensive prescription of developing a virtuous moral character.

Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences Essay example -- Philo

Cosmic Teleology and the Crisis of the Sciences ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes recent work from within the physical sciences which argue for the emergence of a new paradigm capable of unifying the sciences and demonstrating the ultimate meaningfulness of the universe. I argue that while there is powerful evidence for cosmic teleology, the works in question do not represent a new paradigm and neither unify science nor adequately accommodate the evidence in question, but rather attempt to "put new wine in old skins." As Aristotle demonstrated, only teleological argumentation offers a complete scientific explanation, and authentic teleology is effectively ruled out by the hegemonic scientific paradigm which gives first place to mathematical formalism-something which makes possible rigorous description but not authentic explanation. This does not mean returning to Aristotelian science, but rather exploring the "road not taken" when Aristotelian science entered a crisis at the end of the medieval period: generalizing the concept of tele ology so that it can accommodate both the physical (especially astronomical) evidence which created problems for Aristotelian science long before Galileo and Kepler, and account teleologically for such phenomena as chaos and disintegration. The work of scientists like Gal-Or, Bohm, and Prigogine provides important resources for moving in this direction, but a more explicit option for teleology is necessary if the evidence is to be accommodated and the internal contradictions of the existing paradigm to be resolved. There has been considerable discussion in recent years regarding the emergence of a new scientific paradigm centered on holism and self-organization. This discussion has been motivated... ...ohn and Sylla, Edith. 1978 "The Science of Motion," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pedersen, Olaf. 1978. "Astronomy," in David Lindberg, editor, Science in the Middle Ages. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pines, David (ed.). 1987. Emerging Syntheses in Science, New York: Addison Wesley. Prigogine, Ilya. 1977. Self-Organization in Non-Equilibrium Systems, with Nicolis, G. New York: Wiley. ________. 1979. From Being to Becoming: Time and Complexity in the Physical Sciences. New York: Freeman. ________. 1984. Order Out of Chaos, with Stengers, I. New York: Basic. ________. 1988. "An Alternative to Quantum Theory," with Tomio Petrosky, in Physica 147A: 461-486. Spinoza, Baruch. 1677/1955. Ethics. New York: Dover Tipler, Frank. 1994. The Physics of Immortality, New York: Doubleday

Technology in Education with DynaVox Systems :: essays papers

Technology in Education with DynaVox Systems There have always been implications in the way a teacher can teach a student. You have your perfect students who seem to know more than you, the bad student who doesn’t want to learn, and then you have your student with a disability. These students try hard to succeed, but without the proper equipment, are unable to do so. This comes into play especially with students who are unable to speak. There were many ways in the past to help people who couldn’t talk by either writing the words down all the way, to using sign language. Using these methods to convey a message to a person or group of people can take a long time. This could be, and is, very discouraging for someone who just wants to tell you the answer, or ask a question; however there isn’t an easy way to get it out. Luckily a company over in Europe developed a system that enables teaching and learning to come easier to a person with a disability. This system is called DynaVox. DynaVox was an educational computer system that came about in 1983 through Sentient Systems Technology. This system was developed to help children and adults with speech, language, learning, and physical disabilities. This tool can be used in the classroom, workplace, and community to enable people with disabilities to learn and communicate. The company and system have grown dramatically over the past few years, and have improved the lives of many children who didn’t have the means to communicate before. DynaVox System Software, or DSS, is designed to be something that is easy to use, no matter what disability you have. The DynaVox has a rubber edge with a 12 inch color touch screen. On the touch screen and as part of the system, you are able to have seventy-seven buttons that have different fonts and graphics. You press a button and it says to whomever you are talking to, what you want or need. In each system they give you a total of thirty-three hundred different symbols called the DynaSyms. These are pictures of things like humans, animals, nature, food, and everyday lingo. If there isn’t a symbol in the system that you need to use to communicate with, you can connect your DynaVox to Windows or Macintosh.

My father, my role model Essay

By Jem Finch At first, I thought Atticus was just a feeble, old man. He never took part in anything interesting; he didn’t play poker, stayed in an office, and didn’t go hunting or fishing like all the other men in town. He was never too tired to play keep-away, but when I asked if we could play tackle, he’d tell me: â€Å"I’m too old for that, son. † Whenever there was a football competition, he always told me he was too old for that too. All the other fathers went to it an’ all my father ever did was wear his glasses and read. I was embarrassed by him. Though, my whole opinion changed since the incident with the mad dog and the court hearing with Tom Robinson. I was flabbergasted! Miss Maudie said back in Atticus’ time, he was the deadest shot in town. They called him one-shot Finch and I couldn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. I saw him differently then. I was most eager to brag about it too. But it wasn’t just the way he handled the gun that impressed me, it was also ’cause of his modesty. I could tell Scout hadn’t realised it, but Atticus never said a word about his marksmanship. I liked that part of him. I also liked his defence for Mr Robinson. Everyone had been against him for defending a coloured person, but Atticus held his head high. He provided an awful good argument too. I appreciated Atticus’ efforts and grew to respect him. He had taught me that true courage wasn’t a man behind a gun, but it’s when you keep on fighting even if you know you’d lose. I wished I could be more like my father. Then I could become a lawyer too. I figured I wouldn’t care if he couldn’t do a single blessed thing. Atticus is a gentlemen, just like me! By Charles Baker Harris I am real proud of my father. He did so many things for the country I can hardly remember them all. At one time he fought in a war to keep the other countries from invading us. Every now and then he’d show me his collection of the tags he took from the soldiers he killed, and the medals he had earned for his acts of bravery. But that wasn’t all he did. He did other things too. When he had time, he would go fishing and hunting with me. Once, we caught a fish so big it didn’t fit in the boat and we had to get a ship to drag it ashore. The other day he picked me up from his aeroplane and drove me all ’round the country. I could see all the houses from there. They were about the size of an ant and were nothing compared to the house my father had bought me. He was also the president at one time. That’s why he’s always got so much money. But I didn’t like how his job took up so much of his time. He couldn’t allocate any time to play with me then. Apparently he had more important things to do and he couldn’t go hunting with me no more. I didn’t like that. That’s why I decided to run off to Maycomb County to live with aunt Rachel. I thought it’d show him that he needed to spend more time with me. I met Jem and scout down at Maycomb County. Their father was called Atticus I think. But he wasn’t anything like my father; all he ever did was read all day. He was a boring person and weren’t any fun at all. I didn’t know how Jem and Scout got on with him. Seeing Atticus only reminded me of how great my father was. Maybe, in the summer, I’ll return to Washington and see my father again.

Apple Financial Report Essay

Background Object: Apple Inc, an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. I would like to emphasize that this report supports in order to have a general look of long-term investment. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (or SWOT matrix) of Apple Inc will be mentioned below. Specifically, I will talk about issues which are relevant for investors in the long time. However they are concerned and depended on numbers with ratios in only financial report. Strengths Total assets are about $53,851 billion (Apple Inc balance sheet in Sep-2009). When we compare with some other companies, Apple Inc is really one of the leaders among technology companies. Company Microsoft Apple Inc Nokia Dell HP Assets (billion $) 86,112 53,851 51,276 30,060 4,265 Moreover, Apple’s products such as IPhone, IPod or IMac with good quality are appeared every countries and they have a large attraction with customers. For example, according to Brandonweir (from Apple’s Quarterly Earnings  Reports), 2010, 33 million IPhone have sold until the end 2009(1), â€Å"At the September 9, 2009 keynote presentation at the Apple Event, Phil Schiller announced total cumulative sales of iPods exceeded 220 million†(2) according to Downhill Battle in 2010. It figures strong abilities and important position of Apple Inc in the world. Established on April 1, 1976, with over 30 years surviving, Apple Inc have experienced an increase in their growth, profit and stocks while some large ones else such as IBM could not survive by the time. Since beginning, Apple Inc has not only survived for 30 years but also acquired many small and medium in various aspects. It proves strong ambitions to expand company more and more. In addition, from YCHARTS in 2010, R&D (Research and Development) of company is 6.58% of total assets(6), it makes company independent on potential threats. Here is 7 biggest companies of 28 which are acquired by Apple Inc(3) with total investment over 1,335 million dollars, according to Alacrastore in 2010. It is argued that the company has strategy plans for sustainable development in the long time. Time Company Value 7/2/1997 NeXT – Computer programming services $ 404,000,000 2/9/1997 Power Computing-Clone-Making–Clone computers $ 100,000,000 31/12/2001 PowerSchool – Online info systems services $ 62,000,000 1/7/ 2002 Emagic – Music production software $ 30,000,000 24/4/2008 P.A. Semi – Semiconductors $ 278,000,000 5/1/2010 Quattro Wireless – Mobile advertising $ 275,000,000 27/4/2010 Intrinsity – Semiconductors $ 121,000,000 There are nearly 899,805,500 and 888,325,973 shares issued and out standing until September 2009 (From financial report, p. 56). It is clear that a large of number shareholders do believe in company success and their capital are invested correctly. While their profit from stocks and shares are increasing, it is stated that investing Apple stocks will earn profit more and more. And the company has more capital from investors to use it for developing projects. Moreover, in fact, one positive point of Apple Inc is they do not pay out any dividends. Therefore company could re-invest the money into active capital structures. It shows a sustainable development with clear projects for long-term investment of shareholders. Weaknesses Apple Inc has 323 stores however 82% of them (265 by 323) only in US and UK(4), according to Wikipedia, 2010. It is stated that Apple Inc should expand company to get more profit of potential customer from other areas in the world. Moreover, it is a chance to create new contracts with various producers. Because with well-known trade name and quality products, it is argued that if company only wants to increase profits in some big countries, it is a big waste. Opportunities Generally, potential investors need a general view about company STOCKS and SHARES since some years ago because it would help them to be sure that basically, their money is invested in right way or not. From 2004 to 2009, company’s stocks are increasing rapidly every year although it is affected by recession in 2008 therefore their profitability is their high earnings per share. Specifically, company’s stocks rose quickly from 100$ in 2004 to 957$ in 2009. From Apple Inc financial report in 2009, p.35 Meanwhile, from table below seems to suggest that a significant rate of development of Apple Inc when we compare some other index. In 5 years, this stocks in 2009 gets nearly by ten times (957$ and 100$) in 2004 (beginning). Moreover, it shows that stocks and share of Apple Inc is higher than competitive companies about development therefore investing Apple Inc at this time for a long-term is a correct decision. September 2004 September 2005 September 2006 September 2007 September 2008 September 2009 Apple Inc. $100 $277 $397 $792 $587 $957 S&P 500 Composite Index $100 $112 $124 $145 $113 $105 S&P Computer Hardware Index $100 $115 $123 $181 $152 $180 GROSS MARGIN PERCENTAGE of Apple Inc also rose from 2007 to 2009 with about 35% each year. Profit margin measures the performance of the company in generating profits from sales therefore from this ratio, Apple Inc figures a rapid development with positive effect. This is a percentage showing the relationship between a business’s profits before overheads are taken away (gross profit), and the total amount of income from sales. It is claimed that investors could believe in the company financial situation nowadays completely. 2009 2008 2007 Net sales $36,537 $32,479 $24,006 Cost of sales 23,397 21,334 15,852 Gross margin $13,140 $11,145 $ 8,154 Gross margin percentage 36.0% 34.3% 34.0% GEARING, which is defined DEBT divide EQUITY, is important because the level of risk increases as the proportion of debt increases and equity shareholders are paid after the demands of loan capital providers have been met. According to financial report, Company’s long-term debt is zero while equity is $ 1743 therefore gearing = 0 is enough low to invest with fairly safety. Apple Inc has a very good financial standing and is not in any immediate danger of bankruptcy. When we have a brief look, gearing and debt of others competitive companies like HP, Dell or Microsoft are higher so much than Apple Inc. Therefore shareholders could believe the safety of their capital in the long time. On the other hand, ASSET TURNOVER, which is defined TOTAL SALES divide ASSETS (36537 / 53851 = 67.85%) is used to measure the performance of the company in generating sales from the assets at its disposal. Asset turnover is one of two important ratios for shareholders to return on capital employed therefore it helps investors identify the safety of their capital. With 67.85%, it shows a positive number of efficiency for long-term investment. CURRENT RATIO which is defined CURRENT ASSETS divide CURRENT LIABILITIES relates the current assets of the company to its current liabilities. It is a measure of a company’s ability to meet its short-term solvency. These assets should at least be sufficient to meet the any short-term liabilities – generally that is taken to mean a ratio of 2:1 or better because many State Securities Bureaus will require this ratio for stocks and make investors believe financial situation of company. When we compare among some large technology companies, apple is the best of them (table above). This ratio shows that Apple Inc would be considered to have good short-term financial strength. If we have a look QUICK RATIO, which is defined: (CURRENT ASSETS minus INVENTORY) divide CURRENT LIABILITIES, excludes inventory from the current assets figure because it may be difficult to convert inventory to cash quickly. This ratio assumes that inventory is not available as part of the asset base a vailable to meet the demands of immediate liabilities. 1:1 ratio or higher is considered good because it proves financial strengths of company to meet any sudden accident. Apple Inc  is better able to meet their current liability obligations by using their liquid assets when the company is compared to the industry. With 1.86, Apple Inc defeated main competitive companies to pay its short-term debt and made customer confidence for company success. Threats Apple is still a successful modern company nowadays however actually, according to Ben McClure (Investopedia), 2010 when Apple Inc spends too much money with 1.109 billion dollars (2008) on R&D (Research and Development)(5) while some other aspects such as architecture of agents around the world need more capital to invest although it is a positive point which made a good position of Apple Inc nowadays. Another view that we need to consider carefully is recession. Actually, from the stocks chart above, Apple Inc was affected by this in 2008 (decreased from $792 in 2007 to $587 in 2008). Therefore when recession has not gone out completely, shareholders should examine their investment for sustainable future. Conclusions From SWOT matrix above, with rapid grow speed of stocks & company and also developing strategies in the long-term, I want to recommend that Apple Inc is a good choice to invest in the long time. Although the company has some threats and weaknesses, Apple Inc has every confidence from investors who have invested in the long time before. When we analysed SWOT above, financial ratios and numbers show a quick increase with stable development therefore it is claimed that investing Apple Inc for a long-term is a right decision. Notes Anyway, this report only analyses some salient features and predictions above can be not sure 100% in the future. Because company’s success is affected by many different aspects such as demand of customers in the long time however some of them are not mentioned in this report. Although the ratios and the financial numbers of Apple Inc are fairly good, nothing is impossible in the  long-term. References (1) Brandonweir, 2010, how many iphone have been sold, [accessed 29 November 2010], available at http://www.mahalo.com/answers/how-many-iphones-have-been-sold. (2) Downhill Battle, 2010, Are all those iPods empty?, [accessed 29 November 2010], available at http://www.itunesperipod.com/. (3) Alacrastore, 2010, Apple Inc Mergers and Acquisitions, [accessed 29 November 2010], available at http://www.alacrastore.com/mergers-acquisitions/Apple_Inc-1001101. (4) Wikipedia, 2010, Apple store, [accessed 29 November 2010], available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Store. (5) Ben McClure (Investopedia), 2010, R&D Spending And Profitability: What’s The Link?, [accessed 29 November 2010], available at http://www.investopedia.com/articles/fundamental-analysis/10/research-development-rorc.asp (6) YCHARTS, 2010, AAPL, [accessed 3 December 2010], available at http://ycharts.com/companies/AAPL