Tones, Moods, and Irony in the Canterbury Tales

Forms of speech and intonation are extremely important to capture the attention of the audience, whether it is in writing or spoken aloud. In literature, the author uses some literary devices to entice the reader and extract some sort of reaction from him or her. Tone is a literary technique that shows the author’s attitude towards the audience or reader. The tone of a literary work can be informal, formal, serious, angry, playful, intimate, etc.Similar to tone is mood, which is the created atmosphere with the intention of coaxing a certain emotion from the audience, and is created through setting, theme, and tone. Irony, however, is a tone in which the real meaning is contradicted by the words that were used. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a suitable novel for showing various examples of tone, mood, and irony through the many different characters, their personalities, and their narrations. As far as literary tone goes, it is basically the same as the tone used wh en verbally speaking.Chaucer balanced the serious and deathly tales with the tales set for comedy. In the General Prologue, the portrayals of the Knight, the Parson, and the Plowman show a solemn tone while the Prioress, the Monk, the Merchant and many of the others have comical, ironic, and satiric tales which settle in great comedy. In The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer uses irony and straightforwardness more often than other tones. In the Wife of Bath’s Tale, there is very little emotion within the narration.For example, the story goes that for the knight’s deed, he should die because it is the law. There is no room for argument or hesitation, just follow the law. The Knight’s Tale is one of great magnitude. One can notice how Chaucer had honor towards the Knight, because of how grand he is portrayed and how epic his tale is. Everything that happens in the tale feels extravagant and larger than life. The tone of the Knight’s Tale is Chaucer’s way of convincing the audience that the Knight is worthy and important.Throughout the entire novel, Chaucer creates different atmospheres that point out that not only are the characters traveling together, but some of them also have relations with one another. Sometimes, there are quick shifts of mood from sincerity to mockery and form criticism to sarcasm. Chaucer makes it clear that there is tension and hostility between the Reeve and the Miller in the General Prologue and their tales. The Miller, drunk, tells what seems to be a parody of the Reeve and includes that the Reeve’s wife has been cheating on him. As a comeback, the Reeve tells a tale about a miller who gets tricked and cuckolded.In addition to showing issues in the relationship, Chaucer also forms a comedic atmosphere through the novel. Chaucer makes a parody out of the Church, showing how all of the religious travelers in the story are, instead of being models of holiness, they are corrupt, break their vows, and are d efinitely not models of holiness. Ironically enough, the narrator, who is called Chaucer, gives the reader the impression that he is naive, but sometimes turns out to be knowledgeable about how the travelers want to be portrayed and how they actually are.When he describes the Monk, Chaucer agrees with the Monk’s opinions of how a monk is supposed to really act, whereas when he describes the Prioress, Chaucer paints her portrait to appear like a woman of high class while in reality, the Prioress is just a Nun who is concerned with how etiquette and how she eats. The Pardoner’s Tale is one that shows the most irony, because the three men vow to die for each other, but in the end, they kill each other. Also, what the Pardoner does is ironic because he makes people happy when they unknowingly fall for his tricks.Another example of irony is in the Franklin’s Tale when the rocks that Dorigen prays for disappear, all the trouble begins. The Miller’s Tale is also ironic because since John is concerned that his wife would cheat on him, he becomes extremely jealous and possessive, which makes his wife cuckold him. The travelers all have different reasons for telling his or her own tales, whether it is to make fun of someone else in the group, to make the rest of the travelers laugh, to show off, to confess, or to give a story of moral exemplum.With each story comes both different or similar moods and outcomes, and some even include moral teachings. Chaucer as the narrator wrote by memory about the profiles and stories told by the travelers. He included whether or not he liked certain travelers and how he felt about them just by how much or how little he wrote. The Canterbury Tales is a novel full of comedy, satire, irony, and reality. It is a cornucopia of tones and moods. The Canterbury Tales is truly a masterpiece of literature.

Inflation in Bangladesh Essay

1. Introduction Inflation is a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money. â€Å"Too much money in circulation causes the money to lose value†-this is the true meaning of inflation. What is Inflation. The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, and, subsequently, purchasing power is falling. Central banks attempt to stop severe inflation, along with severe deflation, in an attempt to keep the excessive growth of prices to a minimum. (Investopedia) a. Kinds of Inflation Inflation means a sustained increase in the general price level. However, this increase in the cost of living can be caused by different factors. There are many types of inflation but the main two types of inflation are; 1. Demand pull inflation: This occurs when the economy grows quickly and starts to ‘overheat’ Aggregate demand (AD) will be increasing faster than aggregate supply (LRAS). 2. Cost push inflation: This occurs when there is a rise in the price of raw materials, higher taxes, etc. 1..Demand Pull Inflation This occurs when AD increases at a faster rate than AS. Demand pull inflation will typically occur when the economy is growing faster than the long run trend rate of growth. If demand exceeds supply, firms will respond by pushing up prices. Simple diagram showing demand-pull inflation The UK experienced demand pull inflation during the Lawson boom of the late 1980s. Fuelled by rising house prices, high consumer confidence and tax cuts, the economy was growing by 5% a year, but this caused supply bottlenecks and firms responded by increasing prices. This graph shows inflation and economic growth in the UK during the 1980s. High growth in 1987, 1988 of 4-5% caused an increase in the inflation rate. It was only when the economy went into recession in 1990 and 1991 that we saw a fall in the inflation rate. 2..Cost Push Inflation This occurs when there is an increase in the cost of production for firms causing aggregate supply to shift to the left. Cost push inflation could be caused by rising energy and commodity prices. Simple Diagram showing cost push inflation. 3. Wage Push Inflation Rising wages tend to cause inflation. In effect this is a combination of demand pull and cost push inflation. Rising wages increase cost for firms and so these are passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. Also rising wages give consumers greater disposable income and therefore cause increased consumption and AD. In the 1970s, trades unions were powerful in the UK. This helped cause rising nominal wages; this was a significant factor in causing inflation. 4. Imported Inflation. Depreciation in the exchange rate will make imports more expensive. Therefore, the prices will increase solely due to this exchange rate effect. A depreciation will also make exports more competitive so will increase demand. 5. Temporary Factors. The inflation rate can also increase due to temporary factors such as increasing indirect taxes. If you increase VAT rate from 17.5% to 20%, all goods which are VAT applicable will be 2.5% more expensive. However, this price rise will only last a year. It is not a permanent effect. 6. Core Inflation One measure of inflation is known as ‘core inflation’.This is the inflation rate that excludes temporary ‘volatile’ factors, such as energy and food prices. The graph below shows inflation in the EU. The headline inflation rate (HICP) is more volatile rising to 4% in 2008, and then falling to -0.5% in 2009. However, the core inflation (HCIP – energy, food, alcoholand tobacco) is more constant. b. People who are being affected by inflation Macro Economic Effect in Bangladesh: The inflationary situationin Bangladesh is on the rising trend, especially since August 2009, primarily owing to the soaring increase in food prices. The food price hike has accelerated the general inflation rate in the country. If the food price level rises at an existing rate of 1.31 percent per month and if adequate anti inflationary measures are not taken, the overall general inflation might touch a „double digit figure‟. Impact on women and children In Bangladesh, of total 143.91 million population, 69.81 million are women, reflecting 48.5 per cent of totalpopulation. About 86 per cent of women in Bangladesh live in rural areas. Between 2005 and 2006, total femalelabourforce accounts for 12.1 million, of them 2.8 million live in the urban area while 9.3 million in the rural area.In rural areas, they take part in economic activities and earn income through cattle rearing, gardening, poultry etc.About 80 per cent of workers in total labour force are women in the RMG sector. They work at a low rate of wagewhile 26 per cent of female workers earn less thanTk3000 only. Only 3.7 per cent of female workers earn morethanTk 5,000. With the low income and rising price of essentials, it has become very difficult for these women to provide their families with the basic requirements. 1. Increasing prices of foods reduces the real income of households thereby rationing spending on children’s schooling. This as a consequence is likely to reduce the literacy rate among girls in near future. The evidences suggest that in Bangladesh, it is the female children who are firstly taken out of schools if the family is in financial setback. 2. As education, skills and knowledge influence women’s status in the society and at home, they loose their bargaining power thereby their ability to take part in the decision making process shrink eventually. 3. There is a greater disparity in nutrition intake among men and women. Men consume more nutrients than women. The female members in households especially in rural areas take their meals after their male members and children. Studies suggest that it is one  of the main reasons of early childhood malnutrition. 4. Moreover there are many other factors that can be attributed to the maternal nutritional factors, for example, low birth weight of infants, infant mortality etc. 5. In recent years the rise in the price of baby foods has made it difficult for households to provide theirchildren with required nutrition. This is evident even among the middle income groups. According to a government report, the prices of baby food and powdered milk have risen by 30 to 38 per cent over theyear 2006 and 2007. The inability of families to provide proper nutrition for the children may result in undernourishment of children which contributes to increasing child mortality. 6. In Bangladesh, women are subject to violence in the society. Due to rise in the price of food and other essentials, as income of the family falls, tension rises within households and the women are often subject to violence by the male members of the family. 7. It is a common phenomenon that women take the role to provide food and nourishment to the members of family by arranging and preparing food. As a result, they have to bear the burden of rise in the price of food. Inflation erodes income of the poor One obvious consequence of inflation is the erosion of real income of the people resulting from the general increasein prices. The burden of income loss, however, differs across different income groups. No doubt, the householdgroups who are employed in the formal sector and whose salaries/wages are fixed in nominal terms and are re-fixedperiodically are the worst sufferers. The same is true for those employees in the informal sector who have incomefixed in nominal terms. In Bangladesh, a major concern, however, is the inflation-induced loss of real income ofthe poor. Food Inflation Raises Poverty and Inequality Food inflation has a profound nexus with poverty and inequality. Food inflation hits the poor hardest since their purchasing power decreases due to the erosion in real income. From the economics theory, when the real wage decreases demand for labor increases. Therefore, the employment should rise  since there is a tradeoffbetween inflation and unemployment. The result depends on whether the employment effect of inflation outweighs the real wage effect on poverty. But theBangladesh empirical data indicates that the real wage effect on poverty outweighs the employment effect of inflation There exists a positive relationship between food inflation and poverty. . Affect on saving & Investment: Excess inflation has its negative impact on savings and investment. Impact on savings has its direct reflection in the area of investment. Investment, both domestic and foreign, is essential for Bangladesh and it is important for growth and economic development. Affect on invertors: An unfavorable and unpredictable movement of inflation often creates lack of confidence among the investors. Many potential investments face bleak prospect and avoid the game of facing risk and uncertainty. Affect on bank& other financial intermediary: Inflation has its implications for the banking sector as well. Both for the banks and their customers inflation causes a reshuffle in the flow of activities. Rates of interest offered by the banks seem less attractive to the depositors. Bank lending has also a great role in the economy. In recent years there is an increasing trend of providing consumer credit by the banks. It will add to the demand side. But if itscontribution to the supplyside remains weak there will be alack of balance and the bankingindustry will face challenge. Other saving lending channels also face the same consequences from supply side to handle their investment demand. Affect on money supply: The challenge of central bank is to balance between growth and inflation. High inflation always put central bank under pressure to take contractionary monetary policy that might reduce growth. Mainly the people of middle class and poor are greatly affected by the higher inflation rate. A developing country like Bangladesh have higher inflation rate. It creates poor more poor and higher class of the society more higher. 2. Causes of Inflation In developing countries, in contrast, inflation is not a purely monetary phenomenon, but is often linked with fiscal imbalances and deficiencies in sound internal economic policies. Beside, factors typically related to fiscal imbalances such as higher money growth and exchange rate depreciation arising from a balance of payments crisis dominate the inflation process in developing countries. There were different schools of thought as to the causes of inflation. A. Quality theories of inflation The quality theory of inflation rests on the expectation of a seller accepting currency to be able to exchange that currency at a later time for goods that are desirable as a buyer. The quantity theory of inflation rests on the quantity equation of money that relates the money supply, its velocity, and the nominal value of exchanges. Adam Smith and David Hume proposed a quantity theory of inflation for money, and a quality theory of inflation for production After analyzing two theories of causes we have got here some physical cause to face which cover both theories depending on a number of factors. These are given below- B. Excess of money Inflation can happen when governments print an excess of money to deal with a crisis. As result, prices end up rising at an extremely high speed to keep up with the currency surplus. This is called the demand-pull, in which prices are forced upwards because of a high demand. C. Rise in production cost Another common cause of inflation is a rise in production costs, which leads to an increase in the price of the final product. For example, if raw  materials increase in price, this leads to the cost of production increasing, which in turn leads to the company increasing prices to maintain steady profits? Rising labor costs can also lead to inflation. As workers demand wage increases, companies usually chose to pass on those costs to their customers. D. International lending & national debt Inflation can also be caused by international lending and national debts. As nations borrow money, they have to deal with interests, which in the end cause prices to rise as a way of keeping up with their debts. A deep drop of the exchange rate can also result in inflation;as governments will have to deal with differences in the import/export level. E. Government taxes Finally, inflation can be caused by federal taxes put on consumer products such as cigarettes or fuel. As the taxes rise, suppliers often pass on the burden to the consumer; the catch, however, is that once prices have increased, they rarely go back, even if the taxes are later reduced. F. War Wars are often causing for inflation, as governments must both recoup the money spent and repay the funds borrowed from the central bank. War often affects everything from international trading to labor costs to product demand, so in the end it always produces a rising prices. 3. Measures of Inflation Control There are three measures to control the inflation. They are: General Policy of The Government Direct – Action Measures of The Government Other Measures 1. General Policy of the Government: Government follows three general policies to control the inflation such as – Fiscal Policy Monetary Policy Policy of Price Ceiling a. Fiscal Policy: If the government charges more tax on the goods then the particular product’s price will also be high. We will face price inflation. To Summarized issues relating to Deficit Budget: Financed by foreign assistance is dependence and uncertain, Financing by public, not inflationary, Borrowing from commercial banks not inflationary. Borrowing from Bangladesh Bank is inflationary Characteristics of Fiscal System in Bangladesh: Falling/Tax/GDP ratio, Tax base is narrow, Dominance of indirect tax, Customs + VAT (import) 50% of total tax Vulnerable to external fluctuations Growth in Non-development expenditure Heavy dependence on Foreign Aid Dependence on Deficit Financing No Far-sightedness b. Monetary Policy: Monetary policy is the main macro-economic policy formulated and implemented by the central bank. Bangladesh Bank has the authority to increase or decrease the volume of money in the economy and therefore, is responsible for formulating and implementing the monetary policy for the country. The wheel of development moves by taking forces from this policy. The aim of monetary policy is to keep inflation low and steady. Though, in a developing country like Bangladesh, the effectiveness of monetary policies is always uncertain, but effectiveness of these policies is treated as signal for policy makers. The Central Bank is the highest authority employed by the government for formulation of monetary policy to guide the economy in a certain country. Monetary policy is defined as the regulation of the money supply and interest rates by a central bank. Monetary policy also refers to how the central bank uses interest rates and the money supply to guide economic growth by controlling inflation and stabilizing currency. Like any other central bank, Bangladesh Bank is performing the role to formulate monetary policy in Bangladesh. The main objectives of monetary policy of  Bangladesh Bank are: †¢ Price stability both internal & external †¢ Sustainable growth & development †¢ High employment †¢ Economic and efficient use of resources †¢ Stability of financial & payment system Steps of the Monetary Policy: Restriction of broad money growth path Adjustment in cash reserve ratio (CRR) Statutory liquidity requirements (SLR) Restriction in the capital accounts Objectives of the Monetary Policy: The promotion of price stability GDP Growth Ensuring full or near full employment Supporting national and global economic and financial stability C. Policy of Price Ceiling: Price ceiling is a government policy whereby the government sets the maximum price of a product above which price is not allowed to rise further. Normally in a inflationary situation when prices will constantly be going high and high and tending to be going beyond the means of common people. Then government will implement price ceiling policy in order to protect the interest of the customers. Price Ceiling Control: Government must have to be ready to supply the required quantity of goods from its own production land and distribute product at its early declared price as per the requirement if any. Government will have to be ready to import the required quantity of goods under its own mechanism and distribute the product in the market accordingly. Government can ask the private entrepreneurs to import the required quantity of goods under their own management by offering them some attractive benefit packages such as decrease rate of interest, lower import cost, decrease tariff, non-stop support. Government can urge the countrymen to set up import substitute  industry with some attractive incentive schemes and can have the supply of required products for a long time basis. Government can supply the required quantity of goods from buffer stock created earlier by the government and sell the product in the market accordingly. 2. Direct Action Measure: It is an extreme measure. If the money supply increases, then to reduce inflation, Government can cease the money. 3. Other Measure: *Moral persuation: Convincing the consumer by the national leaders morally. They convince the public to consume less. *Government can urge the country man to restrict the consumerism. *Government can urge the business people to set the product at a reasonable price and restrict to sell at a high price. Limitation: In case of elastic demand such as baby food, that is not controlled by the consumer. 4. Effects of Inflation: All people will not be affected by inflation in the same way. Some will welcome it. Some people becomes upset and some acts indifferent. For the business people it will motive the entrepreneure and it is a good news for the producers. People who earn much, inflation is not a problem but who earn poor , they will be very much affected and their product consuming amount will be decreasing. General Effect An increase in the general level of prices implies a decrease in the purchasing power of the currency. That is, when the general level of prices rises, each monetary unit buys fewer goods and services. Increases in the price level (inflation) erode the real value of money (the functional currency) and other items with an underlying monetary nature (e.g. loans and bonds). For example if one takes a loan where the stated interest rate is 6% and the inflation rate is at 3%, the real interest rate that one are paying for the loan is 3%. It would also hold true that if one had a loan at a fixed interest rate of 6% and the inflation rate jumped to 20%one would have a real interest rate of -14%. Negative Effect High or unpredictable inflation rates are regarded as harmful to an overall economy. They add inefficiencies in the market, and make it difficult for companies to budget or plan long-term. Inflation can act as a drag on productivity as companies are forced to shift resources away from products and services in order to focus on profit and losses from currency inflation. Uncertainty about the future purchasing power of money discourages investment and saving and inflation can impose hidden tax increases. In case of international trade, higher inflation in one economy than another will cause the first economy’s exports to become more expensive and affect the balance of trade. Positive Effect Positive effects include ensuring central banks can adjust nominal interest rates (intended to mitigate recessions), and encouraging investment in non-monetary capital projects. It puts impact on Labor-market adjustments, Room to maneuver, Mundell-Tobin effect, Instability with Deflation etc. 5. Global Scenario of Inflation As an important worldwide phenomenon, global inflation varies largely, owing to the trend components of inflation as well as due the fluctuations arising in the frequencies of the commercial cycles. In 2013, the rate of global inflation is surprisingly low. Global economic prospects have improved, but the bumpy recovery and skewed macroeconomic policy mix in advanced economies are complicating policymaking in emerging market economies. Inflation was remarkably stable in the wake of the Great Recession and, in fact, has become less responsive to cyclical conditions. Today’s fast-growing, dynamic low-income countries are likely to maintain their momentum and avoid the reversals that afflicted many such countries in the past. Inflation expectations have remained strongly anchored to inflation targets during the Great Recession and the sluggish recovery. Long-term inflation expectations in advanced economies remain close to targets despite wide variation in actual inflation rates. Even in Japan, expectations remain close to the  1 percent target announced in February 2012 despite a prolonged period of deflation. Furthermore, coincident with greater central bank credibility, this anchoring is found to have increased over time. In the figure bellow the inflation rate of emerging, developed and BRIC countries are graphically shown: In 2013, we have seen that, South Sudan has the lowest inflation rate and Syria has the highest. In South Sudan, current inflation rate is -2.90 which was -8.80 in the previous year. The highest and the lowest inflation rates in the history of this country were 79.90 and -14.00 respectively. On the other hand, in Syria current inflation rate is 49.50 which was 49.90 in the previous year. The highest and the lowest inflation rates in the history of this country were 79.90 and -11.95 respectively. 6. Inflation in Bangladesh The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Bangladesh expanded 6.01 percent in the fiscal year 2012/2013 from the previous year. GDP Growth Rate in Bangladesh is reported by the Bangladesh Bank. From 1994 until 2013, Bangladesh GDP Growth Rate averaged 5.6 Percent reaching an all-time high of 6.7 Percent in June of 2011 and a record low of 4.1 Percent in June of 1994. Bangladesh is considered as a developing economy. Yet, almost one-third of Bangladesh’s 150m people live in extreme poverty. In the last decade, the country has recorded GDP growth rates above 5 percent due to development of microcredit and garment industry. Although three fifths of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, three quarters of exports revenues come from producing ready-made garments. The biggest obstacles to sustainable development in Bangladesh are overpopulation, poor infrastructure, corruption, political instability and a slow implementation of economic reforms. This page provides – Bangladesh GDP Growth Rate – actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. 2014-04-05 Historical Trend Analysis The government introduced policy and institutional reforms encompassing the fiscal, financial, exchange rate, trade and industry, public resource management and public enterprise sectors. But some of those measures were not strongly pursued and some of the intended structural reforms were postponed. Monetary control in the initial years had appositive impact on the control of inflation. The regarded decision are taken below- To increase investible funds with the banks, the minimum cash reserve requirement and statutory liquidity requirement were reduced gradually from 8 and 23 per cent respectively on 25 April 1991 to 5 and 20 per cent respectively. This decision has reduced the inflation rate. In 1991 the lending rate was 14.99 which was high during 1992 but then it started tobe reduced at 14.39 (1993) and 12.22 at 1995. With the flexible use of the monetary instruments, broad money growth (Money Supply) was brought down from high rates of growth (14.1 percent) in the mid-1992to 10.6 per cent in June 1993 to reduce the rate of inflation. In the year 1995 government was thinking to increase the money supply which was brought to 16 percent for that reason inflation rate increased In the year 1995 government was thinking to increase the total domestic credit which was brought to 17.6 percent from 4.9 percent (1994). For this reason the inflation rate increased. In the year 1995 government liberalized Credit to the private sectors in fiscal year1995 by reducing lending rates including those in the three selected sectors of agriculture, exports, and small and cottage Industries had to be restrained due to the rise in price levels. For this reason inflation rate has increased With a view to ensuring an adequate flow of finance to productive sectors and to boosting economic activity, Bank ratewas gradually lowered from 9.8 per cent on30 June 1990 to 5.5 per cent on 3 March 1994 to control the inflation rate. On 24 March 1994 Bangladesh accepted the Article VIII obligations of the International Monetary Fund, a commitment to declare its currency convertible for current account transactions and liberalize exchange transactions on current account. Foreign exchange controls, which had constrained transactions for a longtime, were lifted for the majority of current account transactions. An interbank foreign exchange market has been established. The exchange rate policy is being managed flexibly so as to avoid appreciation of the real exchange rate and to maintain macroeconomic stability. Moderate economic growth and modest change in the wage index contributed to the relatively low  rate of inflation (i.e., lower than 5 per cent) in 1990-1994. Higher money supply growth and lower deposit rate in FY95 contributed to the comparatively higher inflation rates in 1995. In 1996 the lending rate was 13.41 which were accelerated to 14.16 in 1999. Supply shortages in the rural areas originating from political instability in FY96 and disruption due to floods in 1998 caused serious shortfall of food and also hampered all other agricultural production, which ultimately caused higher inflation rates in1996, 1998 & 1999. A lower growth rate, because of lower production and relatively higher depreciation of the exchange rate due to food imports, also contributed to the higher inflation rate in the flood affected years. Larger depreciation of the exchange rate has accelerated the inflation rate 2.79(2002) to 4.38 (2004). Exchange rate might have played a significant role in causing inflation in 2005-2006 because of the introduction of flexible exchange rate regime since May 2003. A higher growth of money supply (13.84 at 2004 to 19.51 at 2006) added a lot to inflation in 2005-2006 In 2001 the lending rate was 13.75 which were lowered to 10.93 in 2005. In 2001-2006 high inflation in food (more than 5 percent) sector at international market was so much responsible for the fluctuation of inflation. Typically import occupies a significant place in the Bangladesh economy, accounting for as high as above 20 percent or more of GDP in FY06. At the margin, most of the essential food items (for example, sugar, rice, wheat, onion and edible oil) and, more generally, machineries, intermediate goods and raw materials used in production are imported. Cost of imports can, therefore, be expected to have substantial influence on domestic inflation (during 2001-2006) directly (through final goods) or indirectly (through intermediate goods). Unfair cartel among the suppliers might seriously hamper the course of the economy by engendering inflation via the creation of a false su pply shortage even during a period of robust growth in production. Such an undesirable event allegedly occurred in FY06 when the food inflation remained high (7.76 percent) in the same fiscal year despite the growth in food production (4.49 percent8 vis-à  -vis 2.21percent in FY05). Monopolistic control of several food items such as sugar, onion, pulses and edible oil by market syndication seems to have led this situation.9Obviously such manipulation is a type of supply side disturbance. Inflation has emerged as a global phenomenon in recent months largely reflecting the  impact of higher food (The IMF food price index was 44.4 percent at June 2008)and fuel prices and strong demand conditions especially in the emerging economies. In line with global trends, Bangladesh also experienced rising inflation with the 12-month average CPI inflation touching 9.94 percent in June 2008. In the fiscal year 2009, global oil price has shifted upward dramatically so fast. So that the price of fuel & power has driven very sharp impact on our economy by increasing the price of Industrial product and reduces the output of industry. Though our government has taken needed initiatives to minimize the inflation rate but they have failed up to the expectation. In the fiscal year 2010, global food price has shifted upward dramatically so fast. So that the price of food has driven very sharp impact on our economy. Though the inflation has decreased to a reasonable rate (5.4 percent), the price of food is beyond to the normal people. Because of the insufficiency of credit to productive sectors it is unable to invest money in productive sectors whereas the money are using in less productive sectors which causes a high rate of inflation. The inflation rate in Bangladesh was recorded at 7.44 percent in February of 2014. Inflation Rate in Bangladesh is reported by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. The general point-to-point inflation rate slightly rose to 7.48 percent in March from 7.44 percent in February 2014 compared to 7.71 percent in March 2013.Inflation Rate in Bangladesh averaged 6.63 Percent from 1994 until 2014, reaching an all-time high of 12.71 Percent in December of 1998 and a record low of -0.02 Percent in December of 1996. In Bangladesh, the inflation rate measures a broad rise or fall in prices that consumers pay for a standard basket of goods. This page provides – Bangladesh Inflation Rate – actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. According to Asian Development Bank growth moderated last year, inflation declined, and the current account returned a larger surplus. This year, growth will slip again, reflecting slower expansion in exports, falling worker remittances, and political unrest before parliamentary elections. Higher inflation and a modest current account deficit are expected. The garment industry faces challenges in adopting tough compliance and safety standards. Growth should improve in the following year, but a major boost will come only with ramped up investment in infrastructure. Economic performance As officially estimated, gross domestic product (GDP) in Fiscal Year 2013 (ended 30 June 2013) grew by 6.0%, less than the 6.2% recorded in FY2012. Agriculture growth slipped to 2.2% from 3.1% in FY2012 as crop output was held down by higher input costs, lower output prices, and unfavorable weather. Services growth slowed to 5.7% from the previous year’s 6.0% owing to stagnant imports and frequent hartals (political demonstrations) that disrupted supply chains and affected retail and wholesale trade. Industry growth rose slightly to 9.0% from 8.9% in FY2012, with contributions from construction and small-scale manufacturing. Economic prospects The forecasts for FY2014 and FY2015 rest on several assumptions: Political stability will be restored following the January 2014 national elections, improving consumer and investor confidence. The central bank will be watchful, in line with the January 2014 monetary policy statement, to keep inflation in check while helping direct steady credit flows to the private sector. Electricity and fuel prices will be raised to lower subsidy costs. It will be possible to mobilize more foreign financing, thus limiting government bank borrowing. Food grain and oil prices will remain stable on the international market. And the weather is normal. GDP growth is expected to slow to 5.6% in FY2014, owing to a decline in remittances (which have been equivalent to about 15% of private consumption spending) and as export growth tapers off in the coming months. Domestic demand was depressed in the first half of the year because the prolonged political unrest ahead of parliamentary elections in January 2014 dented consumer and investor confidence. This is reflected in lower private credit growth, a decline in imports of consumer goods and capital machinery, and modest growth in imports of raw materials. Growth is expected to rebound to 6.2% in FY2015, aided by higher remittance and export growth, as well as by prospects for continued economic recovery in the US and the euro area. A likely rise in consumer and investor confidence as the political situation stabilizes is also expected to stimulate demand and strengthen growth momentum. Source: ADB. 2014. Asian Development Outlook 2014. Manila. Effects of Inflation in Bangladeshi Economy Inflation, which some economists have dubbed as the â€Å"cruelest tax of all†, is eroding purchasing power of consumers, especially the fixed and low income groups of people in net commodity importing countries, around the world. Following the persistent high-inflation regimes in the late 1970s and early  1980s (largely due to two oil shocks), inflation rates have varied an average of two to three percent in the industrialized countries and fell to single-digit levels in many developing countries since the 1990s.1 It is widely viewed that globalization has had a positive impact on prices for over one and a half decade by heightening competition both on the demand and supply side. However, the specter of inflation has once again become a major concern for central bankers and policy makers around the world, as many countries have been experiencing high inflation largely owing to a notable increase in commodity prices. The prices of cereals, petroleum products, edible oil, and metals are skyrocketing in the international markets in recent years. Consequently, the commodity price indices have shown an upward trend lately A widely discussed plausible cause of high inflation in Bangladesh is the impact of global price hike. As a food and petroleum importing country, Bangladesh has to bear the brunt of global price hike of these items. Since the beginning of the current decade and up to 2008 global prices of fuel and food followed an increasing trend which got transmitted into the country’s domestic economy. There has been some respite from high inflationary pressure towards the end of 2008 and 2009 due to the global meltdown and the resultant price fall of major commodities in the global market. With the turn round of the global Economy from the recession towards the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, inflation started to shoot up. This trend was also observed in Bangladesh. The major source of high inflation in Bangladesh is high food inflation. The reason behind this assumption is that food carries a large weight in the CPI of Bangladesh. The weight of food items in the CPI commodity basket of Bangladesh is as high as 58.8 per cent of which the share of rice is 20.1 per cent. Hence the rise in food inflation affects the overall inflation significantly. Based on BBS data, it has been estimated that the contribution of rice inflation to the overall inflation was 23.41 per cent in FY 2011-12. Inflation appears to have emerged as a permanent phenomenon in the economic landscape of Bangladesh over the recent past. It has started to increase since the second quarter of FY2009-10 and continued to rise throughout FY2009-10 and FY2010-11. During the first three months of FY2011-12 there has not been any change in the direction of  inflationary movements. The 12-month point to point consumer price index (CPI) inflation has reached as high as 11.97 percent in September 2011 compared to 7.61 per cent in September 2010. This is the hi ghest inflation in last one decade. As in most years, food inflation was higher than general inflation. Food inflation reached to 13.75 per cent in September 2011 as opposed to 9.72 per cent in September 2010. High food inflation had a knock on effect on non-food inflation as well, pushing it upward to settle at 8.77 percent in September 2011 from as low as 3.69 per cent in September 2010. In Bangladesh the average inflation (general) in FY 2000 was 1.94% while it is found 9.76% in FY 2011. But during these years changes in inflation did not follow any monotonic pattern. Bangladesh faces a tougher challenge in bringing down burgeoning inflation. The latest Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data shows that inflation had increased to 11.97 % (on point-to-point or monthly count) in September, the highest in 10 years. Food inflation, which was 12.7 per cent in August, had increased to 13.90 % in September while food inflation in urban areas had increased to 14.69 % in the same month from 12.94 % in August. The data on inflation reveal that inflation in Bangladesh is influenced by food and fuel prices. Higher food and fuel prices obviously affect inflation rate. The recent declining trend in food and non-food inflation may be explained by the decline in global commodity prices like petroleum, rice, pulses, onion, edible oil and other food items and higher domestic production of food due to favorable weather condition and some effective measures taken by the Government which included conducting open market operation, exemption of duties on essential commodities, sufficient import of food grains, strengthening of internal procurement and its supply, expansion of subsidies on fuel and fertilizer and widening of social safety net program etc. Another feature of recent inflation in Bangladesh is that rural food inflation has been closer to urban food inflation which was not the case in Bangladesh till August 2010. The likely causes for high rural inflation could be increasing demand due to higher purchasing power of the rural population through rising agricultural production, higher labor wages, expanded social safety net program and inflow of remittances. If compared with other South Asian countries Bangladesh stands second, next to Pakistan, in terms of the record of inflation rate in the region. Despite higher food price in the international  market, India has been able to keep its food price index down through higher production of major crops and by ensuring adequate supply in the domestic market. Pakistan epitomizes the case of a conflict economy with a high inflation rate and a very low growth rate. Higher food prices exert an upward pressure on inflation particularly in South Asian countries where such prices account for a major proportion of the inflation basket. High inflation is a major challenge in South Asia, where inflation has been in double digits in recent years and was 10.9 per cent in 2010. Some deceleration in inflation to 8.4 per cent is estimated in 2011. As inflation affects the poor disproportionately, it is a major cause of concern. High budget deficits in general are causing inflation. A few factors are believed to have contributed to the ongoing inflationary pressures in Bangladesh. The price hike of fuel and non-fuel commodities in the international markets is widely blamed for the current inflation. The depreciation in the country’s currency unit, the BDT against its major trading partners, the expansion of M3 and credit have also played a part in raising prices. Bangladesh faced two major natural disasters (summer floods and cyclone Sidr) in 2007 which damaged standing crops, among others, and escalated food prices. The current caretaker governments’ drives against corruption have exacerbated the problem. Last but not least, Bangladesh is not self-sufficient in terms of food production and the country has had a long history of food problems, if not crises. Moreover, in recent years, growth in the agriculture sector has been sluggish. Current indications show that commodity prices in the international market are likely to rise during the coming months of FY12. With greater global economic integration, inflation in Bangladesh is more open now than before to external pressures coming from outside the country. The reasons lie in many factors including high import dependence, increased global pressure of excess demand, weak productivity growth in the domestic economy, and persistence of significant structural and institutional rigidities. The last inflation episode that Bangladesh faced was not policy induced, but was fueled more by domestic supply shocks and global price hikes. But the current buildup of inflationary pressure can partly be attributed to the liquidity expansion  that took place in the first half of FY12. With rapid buildup of net foreign assets (NFA) and in the absence of sterilization, liquidity expansion has created some pressure particularly in asset markets (stock and real estate markets) and in non-food prices. These issues need more explicit consideration in Bangladesh Bank’s monetary policy response along with clear signals for the future. Conclusion 2013 is over but the pains and consequences of inflation are not over yet for the millions of people of Bangladesh. 2013 is a year of political disasters, with record level political violence and frequent abuses of human rights in Bangladesh. At the same time inflation has added as another disaster in the lives of millions of people. High inflation is never good for the economy, let alone the millions of working people of the country. Most of the people country are straightaway experiencing the blunts of high inflation, but these people are the majority and the vital forces of the economy of the country. References: Economic Review of Bangladesh (www.mof.gob) Paul A. Samuelson & W.D. Nordhaus â€Å"Economics† E. Mansfield â€Å" Microeconomics: Theory and Application† John Sloman â€Å"Economics† Akhtaruzzaman, Md. â€Å"Inflation in the Open Economy: An Application of the Error Correction Approach to the Recent Experience in Bangladesh,† Working Paper Series, WP 0602 (2005), Policy Analysis Unit (PAU), Research Department, Bangladesh Bank. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. National Accounts Statistics of Bangladesh (Revised Estimates, 1989-90 to 1998-99), Strengthening National Accounts and Poverty Monitoring Project (SNAPMP), National Accounting Wing (NAW), BBS, Ministry of Planning: Statistics Division (2000). Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/) Bhattacharaya, D. â€Å"Bangladesh Economy: Macroeconomic Performance,† mimeo, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Dhaka (2004). Available at www.cpd-bangladesh.org (access date: 1, December 2005). Bruno, M. and W. Easterly. â€Å"Inflation Crises and Long-Run Growth,† World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 1517 (1995). Khan, M. S. and A. S. Senhadji. â€Å"Threshold Effects in the Relationship between Inflation and Growth,† IMF Staff Papers, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2001). Tobin, J. â€Å"Money and Economic Growth,† Econometrica, 33 (1965), pp. 671-684.

How the Existence of Firms Shows That There Are Imperfections in the Market Essay

Introduction In 1776 moral philosopher and father of modern economy published his book â€Å"The Wealth of Nations† which singlehandedly changed the way we looked at political economy. The book, which was Adam Smith’s essay originally explaining why some nations are wealthier and more flourished than others, featured a few key insights. One of the most important ideas of the book was what he mentioned as the â€Å"invisible hand† of the economy, stating that market mechanism is perfect and there is no need for an outside intervention for it to function effectively. In his 1982 article â€Å"No need for morality: The Case of Competitive Market†, David Gauthier states that in a â€Å"perfect† market outside intervention will in turn adversely affect the market. However, to contradict this idea, Ronald Coase, in his influential essay â€Å"The Nature of the Firm†, suggested the idea that the existence of firm itself proves that the market mechanism is not perfect. In this paper, I am going to describe what Gauthier meant by a â€Å"perfect† market, how the existence of firm proves that there are imperfections in the market and an evaluation of both the theories. What is Gauthier’s idea of a â€Å"perfect† market? In his paper article â€Å"No need for morality: The Case of Competitive Market†, Gauthier describes the perfect market as having the following criteria: 1. Individual Endowment and Private Goods In the perfect market, the market is comprised of individual buyers and sellers, and they are all seeking to maximize their own utility. Goods are privately owned, hence ownership is fairly simple and direct. 2. Free market activity, mutual unconcern and the absence of externalities Individual buyers and sellers are free to make their own decisions and they will try to maximize their utility, regardless of the other party or parties’ concern. There are no external factors that can affect the market mechanism 3. Market is perfectly competitive and operating at an equilibrium This means that in the market after a transaction individual gain is assured, in that each can do as well as he/she can, given the other parties actions. Also, in an equilibrium, no one can be better off without someone else being worse off. (Gauthier 1982) Gauthier states that the buyers and sellers in a perfectly competitive market are rational and utility maximizing. Individuals are fully capable of maximizing gain and welfare through the market mechanism without the existence of firms or regulatory bodies. Imagine a rice market where individual sellers set up stalls for individual buyers to buy without the requirement of an outside intervention, that would be a perfectly competitive market. How does the existence of firms prove that the market is not perfect? In his paper Nature of the Firm, Ronald Coase addresses questions such as â€Å"Why do firms exist?† and â€Å"Why isn’t everything done by the market?† In his article he states how imperfections in the market lead individuals to form companies rather than trading bilaterally through short term contracts in the market. The central premise of his theory was that firms exist simply because transactions are cheaper when carried out internally (i.e. within a firm) rather than externally (Coase, 1937). He states that trading bilaterally in the market can impose a great deal of transaction costs, such as hiring workers, negotiating prices and forming short term contracts. Therefore a firm is a device or a nexus of long term contracts under a manager/entrepreneur who brings all the resources together under one roof. The main contrast between Gauthier’s market mechanism and Coase’s firms is that, individuals find is cheaper and more effective work in a hierarchical structure by forming a firm, rather than trading directly in the market. Ronald Coase quotes D.H. Robertson to provide an analogy for the existence of firms: â€Å"Islands of conscious power in this ocean of unconscious co-operation like lumps of butter coagulating in a pail of buttermilk.† Here, firms are the islands of conscious power, and the market is the ocean of unconscious co-operation, provides a good comparison for the two different mechanism. According to Gauthier’s, the utility maximizing buyers and sellers can individually profit more through operating directly through the market without the need for a hierarchical firm. In reality, the market is imperfect (i.e. utility cannot be maximized individually) and firms are the answer to these imperfections. Evaluation Gauthier’s view was not to prove that the market is perfect, but that if there was such a perfect market there would be no need for regulatory bodies or moral constraints. â€Å"Our concern is to show that morality has no place in an ideal context of interaction, not to claim that this ideal has direct practical application†, writes Gauthier. So his paper states the needlessness of morality in a perfectly competitive market, which does not exist in reality. Modern market is comprised of large corporations, which in turn disproves the idea that the market is not as perfect as Smith thought it to be. Adam Smith’s approach was to provide a simplistic answer to inefficient government intervention and bureaucracies, and to this day globalization, free market and specialization have been key to the success of our economy. Both Adam Smith’s and Ronald Coase’s literature have been put to question throughout, and their theories have been refined to meet the expectations of modern economics. However, their theories lay the fundamental groundwork for modern economic theory. The 2008 financial market crash is a great example of a situation where Smith’s â€Å"invisible hand† failed to protect the society’s welfare, where a handful of Wall Street investment firms fraudulently sold billions of dollars of worth securities to its clients, that lost its value overnight. The need for morality and external regulatory bodies, the existence of firms and modern corporate culture disproves the idea that the market is perfect. Bibliography Coase, Ronald. 1937. â€Å"The Nature of the Firm,† Economica, 4: 386-405 Gauthier, David. 1982. â€Å"No Need for Morality: The Case of the Competitive Market†. Philosophic Exchange, 3: 41-54

Investment Appraisal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Investment Appraisal - Assignment Example Investment Appraisal The growth stage is also evidenced by the existence of sufficient resources that will be enough for the organization to open up to new opportunities. Tyneside gravel organization is currently faced by three main decisions. The first decision that Tyneside organization needs to consider is the need to expand as a way of meeting the demand of more customers. Through expansion it will be possible for the organization to open up to more opportunities. The organization needs to make a stable decision on the need to expand especially because one the area they seek to move in doesn’t have enough sand and gravel which would only add to the inconveniences (McEvoy, 2012). Tyneside gravel organization also needs to make a decision about having a similar stand especially for the autocratic managing director who fears taking into new and innovative methods which are mostly useful in adding to the success of any business. Tyneside organization is also faced by a third and very important dec ision of choosing between the most viable expansion site between Cleadon Hill and Burdon Farm through a consideration of various factors such as market and cost of leasing. Market is one of the major factors that affect the success of a particular organization because it affects both internal and external efficiency thus making it necessarily for Tyneside Gravel to put it into consideration. The issue of the market should be considered relative to Claedon Hill especially based on the fact that one of the management has secured a promise with a top contractor in the region to buy from the company should they decide to take on the Claedon Hill farm. By having the Claedon Hill as a site the company is more assured of a constant income since it will be able to make 240000 tons per year for the first year which is an assured estimate due to the Mowlem agreement. The company also estimates market sales of about 200000 tons per annum for the next three years. Lease is also a factor that the Tyneside Company should consider on the basis of the actual cost of the lease and the amount the company would spend on development of the lease and the time taken for the development as this is likely to affect the viability of the company in future. On signing the Claedon Hill lease Tyneside company will have to part with 500000 dollars which will be paid immediately while the time taken to develop the site will be a year which will cost the company 95000 dollars including the installation of machinery required for use in the site. The Tyneside Company on the other hand should also be able to analysis the Baldon Farm market which has a number of customers within the site but its viability will highly depend on securing more customers on the south. Market sales figures are expected to attract a 300000 tons buying power per annum. On a more positive trend the company expects to have a build on its market by the fifth year of about 900000 tons per year which is expected to continue over the remaining part of the project. The cost of lease in the Baldon Farm too will take into account the actual cost at the time of immediate lease, cost of development and the time that will be taken to end the work. The firm has been offered a deal to pay 700000 dollars at the initial lease coupled with the cost of development which is expected to be about 400000 dollars especially because the area is remote and requires more of infrastructural development. Question 2 Operational risks Every business that seeks to expand its ground is faced by several challenges that are commonly referred to as business expansion risks. Competitive business ex pansio

A year of decision for Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A year of decision for Germany - Essay Example Savage fighting on the eastern front had nearly bled the Wehrmacht white. The Germans’ lightning advance had brought them to the gates of Moscow, where the Red Army delivered a blow that began to turn the tide. The hubris that came in the wake of Germany’s startling early successes now served to delude Hitler and the German High Command at a time when they could least afford to ignore facts. Severe losses, badly stretched supply lines and the Russian winter were proving a deadly combination. â€Å"The opposing armies were exhausted. Yet both continued to overestimate their own strength while underestimating that of their opponents. In the short run, the Soviets paid for the miscalculation; in the long run the Germans paid even more.†Ã‚ ¹ The Resurgent British In the west, after three beleaguered years in which the British were brought to the brink of disaster, 1942 saw the completion of a reorganization that finally had the British Empire’s (Name) 2 militaryforces posed to wage war effectively. The transformation had started from the top, where â€Å"under Churchill’s inspiring leadership, as both prime minister and minister of defense, a carefully articulated hierarchy of committees produced coherent and intelligent policy that translated into effective strategy.†2 The change from Chamberlain’s style of leadership to that of Churchill was remarkable, according to one observer. â€Å"The days of mere ‘coordination’ were over for good and all†¦We were going to get direction, leadership, action with a snap to it.†3 ... direction, leadership, action with a snap to it.†3 One of Churchill’s greatest contributions to the war effort was his wartime diplomacy, which facilitated a vital coordination of military planning among the three new allies: Britain, America and the Soviet Union. Though the tide was beginning to turn in 1942, a collective assessment of the situation among Churchill and his partners led to the realization that the Allies’ land forces were not quite ready to take the field on a broad scale. â€Å"In 1942, even as the skies over Britain brightened immeasurably with the accession of the United States and Russia as allies, the combined Chiefs of Staff agreed that bombing remained vital†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 4 In addition to overwhelming numbers, the alliance produced an unprecedented level of concentration and coordination of power. The Noose Begins to Tighten With the U.S. now officially committed to the war in Europe, the strategic moves (or blunders) that led to Germanyâ⠂¬â„¢s â€Å"year of decision† had come full circle – literally so, because the Third Reich was ringed round by powerful enemies. â€Å"At the beginning of the war’s third year, (Name) 3 the Germans confronted a great worldwide coalition, formidably strengthened by Hitler’s declaration of war on the United States on 11 December 1941.† 5 To make matters worse, the American military leadership decided that Germany would be their first objective, and so the Reich would be the first to bear the full brunt of the Allies’ collective power. â€Å"Despite the fact that war had formally begun for the United States with a devastating Japanese surprise attack in the Pacific, Roosevelt and his allies quickly reaffirmed their commitment to the Germany-first strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 6 This â€Å"Germany First† strategy frustrated whatever

Privacy is not the most important right Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Privacy is not the most important right - Essay Example Different nations, religions and communities have marked differences in the idea to the extent to which a person is authorized to keep his personal data and information private and what is the boundary limits for another person or body to interfere into the private life and data of the other person or body or organization. Some nations and religions believe that privacy is a fundamental right of the people and they must be free to practice privacy to any extent. It is also considered that it is the right of a person that no one other than the person concerned can interfere in the private data; in fact it is against the law and a serious crime to break into the private data of a person without his acknowledgement and permission (Starkey, 2012). But privacy is not the most important right of a person or an organization. It a fundamental right but not the most important right. Privacy is important in one’s life because without privacy it would become impossible for a person to live his own life; he would just become a puppet ruled by others. But other than right of privacy there are certain other rights that are ranked far more important and necessary for a person to live a peaceful and serene life. For a person to remain happy and spend a satisfied and contended life he must be given the freedom to speak out his voice, his ideas and views. He must be allowed to give suggestions regarding any issue; he must have the freedom to speak against or for an issue in public without the fear of getting any sort of harm. The person must be free from all sorts of fear if he speaks out the truth in front of the people or the leaders. It is the right of the people that the government assures the people that they will be listened a nd their ideas accepted if possible and they will not be provided with any sort of harm or difficulty regarding their views or opinions that have been presented by them. Without having the

20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't Get Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't Get - Assignment Example The assignment "20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't Get" analyzes the article which is a good piece fit for young graduates or those yet to complete their studies. It gives pieces of advice to young people on how to face life once they come out of school. It targets both the employed young people and those yet to secure jobs who share the objective of excelling in life. The tips are applicable in the real life and are vital in overcoming the challenges that come with employment, especially for the young generation. Young people require reminder on the necessity to protect and maintain a good reputation. Damaged reputation follows you wherever you go. On working hard, the author is not very right. Being first to arrive at work and the last to leave does not translate to being effective in the workplace. It is better to work smart and achieve the set goals than spending more hours at the workplace. Hard work does not depend on the number of hours spent working but on the quality and timely delivery of targets. The point that I will take from the article is advancing in technical skills to complement my degree. According to the article, this will boost the chances of getting employment. The author also stresses on networking as a strategy for ensuring employment. It is true that securing jobs today rely more on the people that one knows than skills possessed by the person. Expanding on the network guarantees the timely receipt of information about employment opportunities.

International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 7

International Relations - Essay Example The world community is quite skeptical of this stance taken by the regime as they see the program as a chance for the current regime to make a nuclear weapon. This situation would certainly cause a stir in the region due to the unstable relationship that Iran has with neighboring countries such as Iraq, Saudi Arabia and others (Bruno, Irans Nuclear Program, 2010). Iran’s nuclear program has caused a lot of hue and cry over the few years that it became common knowledge that Tehran was working on the program. Many resent the thought of Tehran having the potential of enriching nuclear material and using it either for energy purposes or for weapons as something unacceptable and dangerous. Even the Arab nations, though in the front portraying a show of support, are in the background somewhat skeptical of the program. In a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in November of 2005 the leaders of several Arab nations, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, made a statement inviting the world nations to prevent he program taking off. The Secretary General in a statement claimed that the program had no justification for it and it was for the better that the Middle East be a weapons free zone with regards to weapons of mass destruction (KHAITOUS, 2008). There are a number of clear cut reasons why there needs to be concern over Iran’s nuclear program over that of France and Great Britain. Those two nations have their nuclear program off the ground and have managed to secure their facilities, as best as one can in this current global situation. Iran’s nuclear facilities are still in the preliminary stages with respect to the other nuclear programs operating in the world. A major concern are the Muslim extremists in the nation who are a threat to the world security. There are serious doubts as to how safe the nuclear material will be in Iran and whether Muslim extremists can get their hands on

Oil Struggle and the Fight for Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Oil Struggle and the Fight for Power - Essay Example Possession of oil has been the cause of geopolitical and economic conflicts, most of which led to war. The endowment of oil reserve is not a guarantee of a nation’s rise to world power. Rather, their liberal supply of oil serves as a threat to their security. Over the years, Middle East remains to be the region with the bountiful amount of oil. Dietrich mentioned that Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait are three of the Middle Eastern countries that are capable of supplying billions of oil barrels. It is noteworthy that countries with large oil reserves have been in constant conflicts. The recent US occupation of Iraq in 2003 made a remarkable impact on the oil economy. Iraq has the third largest oil reserve in the world. Upon the conclusion of the war in Iraq, people have come to pay attention to the true aim of the war. The inability of US to find the alleged weapons of mass destruction contained in Iraq has led many to assume that America’s dwindling supply of oil is the main purpose of the intervention. The fear of the disruption in oil supply has been constantly thriving in the global atmosphere. As the demands for oil consumption continuously grow, the world market can expect oil to reach skyrocket prices. This threat motivates everybody, most industrialized nations, to take actions. If the increasing demand for oil does not cease, the future of oil industry in the Middle East can take one of two paths. Firstly, Middle East’s oil reserves can be expected to take a sweet spot in the global economy. If this happens, Middle East can rise as one of the world’s most powerful regions. Experts claim that this is highly unlikely due to the fact that some of the Middle Eastern countries are on an economic sanction.

Blood Brothers Essay Example for Free

Blood Brothers Essay â€Å"Blood Brothers† is a play about two twins who are separated at birth, they do not only have different parents but have a whole different lifestyle. Eddie lives in a world of luxury and has opportunities to go to university and eventually owning his own business which is more than Mickey could have ever dreamed of. On the other hand Mickey is brought up in a working class family with no qualifications whatsoever, as soon as Mickey thinks he has finally settled down with a job he then finds himself fired and starts turning to crime. Towards the end of the play the differences between Eddie and Mickey begin to show as friction is caused between them. They begin to turn against each other and Linda is stuck in the middle as she has feelings for both Eddie and Mickey, this is when the question is raised asking whether Linda and Eddie have been having an affair. This is then what sends Mickey off the rails and ends up being the cause of the Johnstone twin’s death as Mickey shot Eddie in a rage of anger over Linda. Tension is caused at the end of the play when Mrs Johnstone tells Mickey and Eddie that they are brothers as the audience already knew this they just wanted to know when and how this would be revealed to the twins. Willy Russell wrote Blood Brothers to show how life was in Liverpool in 1980s and how being in a different class separated people. He also refers to the recession and how so many people lost their jobs and the only way for them to earn a living was to turn to crime like Mickey did as he needed money to support Linda and his child, Sammy did not help the situation as he was the one who had persuaded Mickey to earn money in that way. The end of the story is revealed to the audience by the narrator at the very beginning of the play. This builds up tension because people know what is going to happen so they are waiting to find out how it happened and what led up to that scene. Another thing that adds tension to the play is how the narrator keeps on referring back to the devil â€Å"the devils got your number, y’know he’s gonna find y’. Y’know he’s right behind y.† Towards the end of the play the narrator says how close the devil is getting, the devil being the devil inside Mickey when he shoots Eddie down. Mrs Johnstone sings a song about the price that she has to pay â€Å"Living on the never, never, constant as the changing weather never sure who’s at the door or the price I’ll have to pay† This song says that Mrs Johnstone has a price to pay, this could mean that she has to give up her baby in return for the money that Mrs Lyons gave her but the audience know that the price that she will have to pay is the guilt that she will suffer and that both her twins die. The constant weather indicates her life has been up and down like it’s raining when she is sad and sunny when she is happy and that everything changes as fast as the weather. Secondly when she says that she is â€Å"living on the never, never, Constant as the changing weather never sure who’s at the door† this could refer to the people who came to knock on her door to take away her possessions and that living on the never, never could mean that she knows that nothing that she has will stay with her forever. Another thing that indicates this is that when she says â€Å"It’s alright lad we’re used to it we were in the middle id our tea one night when they came for that table.† This means that she has had her belonging possessed before and because of this she doesn’t really mind when it happens again because it has happened so many times before. Willy Russell has made the audience sympathize with Mrs Johnstone because she has been through a lot in her life. At the beginning of the play she tells us how she got to be in that position in that moment in time. Mrs Johnstone describes her marriage and says â€Å"that I was six weeks overdue† which makes the audience feel sorry for her. It also describes the place of marriage which was at the registry office. â€Å"We got married at the registry and had a do†. This suggests to us the audience that the wedding was nothing too fancy, not too expensive and that the marriage was sudden and unexpected. She got married because she was expecting a baby, in difficult, circumstances to get married in. Soon after the wedding Mrs Johnstone wanted to go out and enjoy herself like she had done before but her husband wouldn’t take her anywhere because he became very conscious of her appearance and felt embarrassed to be seen with her. This is evident due to the fact that sh e gained weight and now perceived herself to be â€Å"twice the size of Marilyn Monroe†. The audience feels sympathetic towards her because she has seven children and low self esteem. This is shown by the fact that she describes herself to look like she is forty two instead of twenty five. This shows the physical strain that Mrs. Johnston has gone through. I understand why she gave her baby away to Mrs Lyons because Mrs Lyons emotionally manipulated Mrs Johnston in this terrible time she is going through. Mrs Lyons attempts to make Mrs Johnstone think positively by saying that â€Å"if he’s with me you’ll still be able to see him each day as you come to work† Mrs Lyons presents Mrs Johnstone with the idea that her son would have a much better life with herself â€Å"if he grew up here as our son†¦ he could have everything†. However this is why she may have done this for the benefit of the baby because she felt that Mrs Lyons could provide for him much better than she ever could and she just wanted him to have a better life. The purpose of the narrator is to explain some of the key action on stage. The narrator also involves the audience by asking them directly, to judge what they see. He reveals that the brothers die at the very start of the play and from then on he constantly reminds the audience of the twin’s fate. He presents the themes of fate, destiny and superstition throughout the play, but at the end he asks the audience to consider if it was social class rather than fate that caused the tragedy. In the play the narrator constantly reminds Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons about the devil â€Å"Y’know the devils got your number, y’know he’s gonna find y’, y’know he’s right behind y’, he’s starin through your windows and he’s creeping down the hall.† This makes the audience realise that when the narrator refers to the devil he means the devil that is going to cause the death of the twins at the end of the play this makes the audience anxious as to when this is all going to happen. In this play Mickey, Eddie, Linda, and Sammy play all sorts of games, I think that the games that they play influence them when they are older for example they play with pretend guns and Sammy says â€Å"It only fires caps. I’m gonna get a real gun soon, I’m gonna get an air gun† This later becomes true as Sammy does get a real gun which is then used to kill someone; both Mickey and Sammy were arrested for this. The arrest is also relevant as the children used to play cops and robbers. â€Å"Come on Eddie, you can have a shot at our target in the park.†This is relevant because Mickey and Eddie practised shooting and in the end Mickey shoots Eddie so the shooting practise came in handy. I think the strongest child was Linda because she stuck up for Mickey no matter what; she stuck up for him when he was getting told of by the teachers and she was able to have the courage to lie to a police officer. Superstition is a big theme in the play and Mrs Johnstone is shown to be superstitious right at the beginning of the play. â€Å"New shoes on the table. Take them off†.The new shoes on the table could result in the birth of the twins. â€Å"Plural, Mrs Johnstone, mouths to feed, you’re expecting twins.† The narrator uses superstition during the play to imply the loss of money or precious things. â€Å"An’ a spider’s been killed.† A main part in the play is when Mrs Lyons uses Mrs Johnston’s superstitions to stop her from telling Eddie and Mickey that they actually brothers â€Å"They say that if either twin learns that he once was a pair, they shall both immediately die.† As Mrs Johnstone is very superstitious she believed every word Mrs Lyons says to her. This superstition later becomes true, as at the end of the play the only reason why the gun got fired was because Mrs Johnstone told the boys that they were actually brothers as she thought that it would stop Mickey from shooing Eddie but in the end although it may have been an accident Mickey still fired the gun either over anger or rage over Linda or pure shock to find out that he was a twin. The narrator finishes his speech with the idea of superstitions and whether they are the cause of the traumatic story line and ending. â€Å"And do we blame superstition for what came to pass.† The first sign of tension is when he kids grow up and Sammy causes trouble on the bus as he gets a knife out and starts threatening the conductor to give the bag with all of the fair money in just because he wouldn’t give Sammy a ticket â€Å"Fuck off, now move, you move! Give me the bag† This creates tension because nobody has ever seen that side of Sammy before and even Mickey gets scared and tries to stop him from getting into to deeper trouble â€Å"Sammy, Sammy!† The repetition means that Mickey is really worried and wants to get Sammy’s attention. When both Sammy and Mickey are both fired tension is created when Sammy asks Mickey to help him out with a job, Sammy then produces a gun and says they will go and hold someone up for some money. Mickey is reluctant at first, but wants to be able to buy Linda something nice, and agrees to stand guard. The audience want Mickey to be able to say no to Sammy because they know that it probably won’t end well, because they know that Mickey wants to be able to provide for Linda and his child but he won’t be able to do that behind bars. Meanwhile all this is happening at exactly the same time Edward meets up with Linda, proclaiming his love for her. She explains she has always loved him in a way, but she is now married to Mickey, and very much in love. Willy Russell shows them talking at the same time so the audience can compare what both Linda and Mickey are saying, Mickey gave into temptation and was willing to help Sammy with a job for money whilst Linda had Eddie declaring his love for her but Linda was strong enough to say no because she couldn’t do that to Mickey. At the beginning of the play Mickey and Eddie had a very strong friendship and cared and looked out for each other, when one was sad the other asked why and wanted to help â€Å"Mickey what’s wrong?† Eddie saw that Mickey was upset so he wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help. â€Å"I Thought we were blood brothers† this shows that they were once very close and being blood brothers meant that they always stuck together. As the play went on and the kids grew up into adults the relationship between Mickey and Eddie had changed. Before they were best friends, which had then changed into a university kid and an unemployed man who had nothing to say to each other. When Eddie announced that he had everything he had ever wanted and offered to give Mickey money, Mickey’s jealousy got the better of him â€Å"You, you’re a dickhead†. This indicates that Mickey is angry at Eddie because he has everything including all the money in the world whilst Mickey had no job, no money and hated the thought that his old best friend had everything he didn’t have. Right at the start of the play everyone saw how close Mickey and Linda were but when Mickey was in jail it not only changed him, but it changed his mental health as he became attached to drugs and became insane and mad. â€Å"He said about, about me nerves, an how I get depresses an, I need to take these cos they make me better.† But when Mickey did use these drugs it might have made him feel better but it put a strain on his and Linda’s relationship as they argued all the time which then resulted to Linda turning to Eddie for comfort and supposedly romance. Willy Russell uses ellipses to show pauses or that t he character is being hesitant in sentences to create tension and also to make the reader hang on to the speakers words and waiting for the next instalment. In the final moments of the feel tense as Mickey is running round the town with a gun searching for Eddie and everyone is wondering if he actually will shoot his brother or if he will just threaten him. The confrontation between Eddie and Mickey is very dramatic as Mickey is shouting out the odds and Eddie is denying everything. Then the police come in demanding that Mickey puts down the gun down then when he starts to realise what he is doing he begins to lower the gun, then when Mrs Johnstone comes and announces that they are twin brothers â€Å"Mickey don’t shoot Eddie, he’s your brother, I couldn’t afford to keep both of you. His mother couldn’t have kids so I agreed to give one of you away.† Mickey despairs that he was not the one given away, because then he could have had the life given to Eddie. Mickey, distraught, gestures carelessly with the gun towards Eddie. This sad story ends when the police misinterpret this action and gun Mickey down as he accidentally shoots Eddie, killing him. I think Blood Brothers the musical is a fantastic play, I especially love the way that each song has a meaning and the emotions of the characters in the lyrics. But I thought the end was good as you would have never thought that Mickey would kill Eddie. How the play was set for the narrator to have told the end of the story and the beginning of the play created more and more tension as the play went. I liked the fact that Willy Russell was influenced by Liverpool in 1983, only some of the characters had a Liverpool accent these were Mickey, Sammy, Linda, and Mrs Johnstone these were all the people in lower class and the ones who didn’t have an accent were Eddie, Mrs Lyons and Mr Lyons as they were very well spoken and in upper class. I learnt how social class can get in the way of you want to be friends with because their parents might not approve of you. I think the play might still have a relevance for a modern day audience as some people still rely on their class to get things, for example if Mrs Lyons wasn’t in upper class then Mrs Johnstone would have been able to stand up to her because she wouldn’t have thought that she was so high up. This can make modern day audiences change their mind and know that the times have changed so they can be friends with whoever they want to be. Another thing that the audience would see is how Mrs Lyons gave Mrs Johnstone money for her baby and that still happens today, so they can see that if someone does give their baby away to someone for money then it might not always end in happiness.

The causes and effect of slums in Sub Saharan Africa

The causes and effect of slums in Sub Saharan Africa Structurally instituted social inequalities, in addition to conflicts of inheritance, poorly implemented gender equal policy attempts for land and its systems of administration make ownership expensive for the average person thereby excluding many citizens from the prospects of acquiring a permanent shelter. This leads to the mushrooming of informal and often unsafe temporary settlements in major urban cities. Unclean rivers polluted by wastage makes the water available to slums unhygienic and is a great contributor in illnesses especially found in children. There exists a lack of policymaking to address poverty alleviation or mitigation which allows the excluded people of the citizenry to resort to such abodes, and this lead to slums being built in the Sub Saharan Africa. Regardless of the nature or origin of slums they are characteristically similar in terms of the poor quality of lands, the size of its construction, and the conflicts of vague communications of when signing lands over. The crime rates are seen to be escalated in areas of greater poverty. Also as time has progressed, one major obstacle to growth of this situation is these benefits that accrue to the slums which have now become commercially beneficial to both the dwellers as well as corporations who get easy access to their labours in return for the labour to find employments as well as a housing arrangement. This helps in the development of the society organically. The authorities responsible of instilling change and appreciation of the situation are local landlords whose interests lie in leasing or renting their lands to desperate citizens seeking slums. Due to the strategic placement of these residences the labour seeks the houses while in turn create an informal market for the appa rent demand. The otherwise employed majority population of Sub Saharan Africa commute through public transportation system of the bus or railway which does not contribute much to their health but takes away from development and convenience due to the time and energy opportunity costs. We conducted surveys of women in Dhaka slums to establish the struggles caused to the most vulnerable socio economic group that is victimized despite urbanization. These revealed insights to the earning, saving, and expenditure behaviour of families residing in the slums. They also revealed how economic growth and infrastructural development have contributed nothing to the development of the underprivileged whose conditions remain as they always were. The reason why slums have been populated, at the core of those mentioned above is the prevalence of the urban dream in the city. Low earning unskilled individuals from the rural areas migrate to the cities pursuing development efforts aspiring to get consistent and secure jobs that will secure them. Once in the city however, they find their capabilities unmatched with the needs of job roles. The lack of education, vocational training, and finances restrain these individuals into the cities and force them to dwell in the slums by doing menial labour work which due to the oversupply of labour fetches very low and mostly inhuman wage rates. This creates a poverty spiral whereby they neither have the means to go back nor the ability to afford a dignified living in pursuing their ambitions even though all members of these households work temporary wage jobs regardless of their sex or age. Results of the survey revealed the following: Expenditure on Food: Naturally, one of the main expenditure of the families is on food. 33% respondents claimed that they spend an amount of up to BDT. 2500 per month, on food related expenses. This amount varies from family to family as per their income level. The highest amount spent on food exceeds BDT. 10,000 and this too is affordable to only 1 of the households of the slums. This means that more than one third of the socioeconomic strata live on a food budget of $ 31.25 per month as a family. Since most of these families on average comprise of 5 members so per person expenditure on food in a day is barely 25 cents which does not even buy one full meal a day. Under these situations it is only natural for them to be malnourished, feeble, and prone to many diseased. It also explains their disinterest in striving for hygiene or education in their spending habits as supported by the data below. Expenditure on Non-food Items: As opposed to the expense on food items, the ratio of the amount spent on non-food items is very low. For example, the highest amount paid in terms of non-food is BDT. 10,000 dispensed by only 1% of the families. Usually this amount is BDT 2000 spent by almost all the families on items such as payment of bills, house rent, etc. So, the spending that takes first and only possible priority after food for these households is that on the essentials contingent to their shelter i.e. rent and utilities. Due to the nature of these dwellings however, these utilities are still not available at all times, and so they have to ration their water, electricity and gas by sharing kitchens and toilets. In spite of this, the expenditure possible for the majority remains at $25 a month per household which for the average family member translates into 16.67 cents per day. Usually after these basics, most families exhaust their entire incomes. Workplace Culture The nature of the work that runs the slum dwellings are twofold, mostly designated by gender. So women mostly work in garment factories on a daily wage basis where their work varies according to training and years on the job, while keeping extensive work hours, and unsafe, uninsured workplaces constant. So much so that when there are factory fires which are not very uncommon, workers numbering over hundreds die and most of them are found to be women. Despite some social and labour union support these factories have taken no measures in protecting the employees who subscribe to the exploitation due to the dire necessity of survival. Even where there have been successful efforts with administration and inspections, factories were found to be only placing empty fire extinguishers for show of safe work environments while remaining oblivious to the appreciation of the lives of their workers. The men do not have any more privileges than their female counterparts. They are mostly rickshaw pullers because this is the least skills requiring job. These pullers are second to the working women in the garment factories who make up the greatest number of employments in Dhaka. The 200,000 rickshaw pullers of Dhaka work all day for a bare $1 a day, and that too in fierce competition between the licensed and unlicensed ones, both of whom are harassed by police who not only seize their only means of earning i.e. the rickshaws but often burn those which are found illegal. The female counterparts of these rickshaw pullers on the other hand travel as far as 37 miles on foot to work and back, amid traffic and pollution which the city is best known for. A third group of workers bringing money into the households of Dhaka slums are unfortunately children who number in 750,000. Boys between the age of 10 and 14 spend their days in generating incomes by any means they can find. Usually these are in the likes of a â€Å"help† in shops and restaurants, or in pulling rickshaws or carriage vehicles known as vans. Otherwise they are seen selling items by roadsides and in signals. A portion of children as small as 7% aged 5-16 pursue schooling despite their troubles. Sometimes, little girls are sold into prostitution as sex slaves to repay debts to heads of brothels who charge high commissions from these under aged girls. Since prostitution is legal in Bangladesh, the demand for these girls from clients is not questioned legally, and their desperate conditions at home allow them to be exploited and pushed into sex slavery. To further the analysis of the findings, the following variables: age of respondents, education, Income, Marital Status, Sources of Income and Total Income, Savings on Sources and Total Savings, and Type of Training were found to be significantly correlated with a number of variables using the Pearson Chi-square at 0.05 P-value. These findings can be considered as having a valid basis for identifying actions for empowering women particularly in the socio-economic life both in the family and in the community. Position in the Society: Interestingly, the participants want to work as they believe it will help them in alleviating their position in the society and their voices will also be heard. Working not only will bring additional income to their families but will also entail more empowerment and freedom to them. Assets: In the case of assets, the highest response was 284 representing an 88.2% of the sample who own furniture. At the opposite end, 2 respondents representing 0.6% of the sample are owners of business land. In addition to these, cattle owners make up 2.5% and agricultural landowners make 4.7% of the surveyed sample. Savings of respondents in various sources: The sources of savings for the respondents are inferred to be quite limited as the highest participation was seen at 35 responses affirming a mere 10.9% savings due to NGOs or Rural Cooperatives. Even less popular with 4 responses was the 1.2% savings that comes from crop. On the other hand, bank as a source accounts for 9.9% of savings and cash does so for 3.4% only. Total savings: When total savings are assessed, it can be deduced from the responses of 262 participants that in a rather alarming 81.4% cases, no savings occur. In contrast, 8responses helped deduce that 2.5% of the sample saves a total which is within Tk. 1001-2000. The data helps assert that among the 269 responders, 83.5% save between tk. 0and 20000. The percentage of responses for above tk. 60000 for households is still as low as 0.6%, as shown by the 2 responses received for the range of tk. 60001-80000. The middle amount of tk. 20001 to 40000 made up 14.3% of the cases. Sources of income: 156 responders showed that a decent 48.4% of their incomes are generated by the effective delivery of service. Also, at the lower extreme of income generation is the 0.3% contributions made by the handicrafts market or beyond that, the good 23% of women working as maids who develop and manage the household activities. The data helps assert that among the 269 responders, 83.5% save between tk. 0and 20000. The percentage of responses for above tk. 60000 for households is still as low as 0.6%, as shown by the 2 responses received for the range of tk. 60001-80000. The middle amount of tk. 20001 to 40000 made up 14.3% of the cases. Facilities and service Available: Total 322 responses delivered that in 100% cases, 3 Health clinics, 3 police stations and water pumps are unavailable to the survey participants. The water pumps were not available for the subject’s area as were not many other crucial amenities which are required for the quality of health and life. Type of training: Of the 288 people approached about training, 89.4% reported that they have received no training. The lowest response came from 1 person and helps infer that 0.3% people received the training for women empowerment. Training in tailoring occurred for 4.7% cases and that of garments stood at 3.4%. Awareness: It is seen from the data that awareness in general is quite high in the sample studied. 258 responses presented that 80.1% are aware about human rights, and the lowest response of 226 people shows that 70.2% are aware about property rights. In this sample, awareness for family rights was 73.3% and that of violence against women stood to be at Regarding day to day expenses: 41.6% of the daily expenditure is spent by the women on themselves according to 134 responders. In the lowest case, 2 responders show that 0.6% expenditure occurs by the consultation of the respondent but the needs of her husband and son are prioritized. Regarding other matters: The survey conducted with 216 responders revealed that 67.1%were spending for the purpose of clothes. Additionally, 198 responders revealed that 61.5% is spent on festivals donations. Also, 65.5% of expenses are spent for educating children. Borrowing details: The borrowing sample shows for the 36 responses11.2% occurs from Cooperatives while the lower response of 10 individuals presented that 1.1% borrowing occurs through NGOs. The greater response of 206 participants revealed that borrowing does not apply to the practices of 64% people. Recommendations: Based on our study these are the recommendations that we would suggest: The migration to urban parts of the country is motivated mainly by the negligence and despair in the rural side where the permanent abodes of people and their workplaces i.e. the agricultural lands are prone to climatic catastrophes. When their backs hit bottom, these people migrate for hopes of a better living standard and for availing more secure lives for their children. So, the issue of migration and how urbanization affects the lives of migrants should be dealt with meticulous planning which incorporates them into economic development policies that provide social protection and integration so as to drive social change from them. Many NGOs and development related organizations are already expending their efforts and finances into the slums of Dhaka for improving the livelihoods of the people who dwell there. Such efforts were largely based on provision of micro credit loans which allowed the residents to pay off their dues without having to be dependent on the brothels, or withou t having to sacrifice the education of the children. In addition, extensive trainings and awareness campaigns regarding liquor, evacuation at times of threats and the like have also been conducted in these impoverished areas. Much more effort is still critical for the desired outcomes to be produced. Training of vocational nature should be provided so as to develop skills that have better job prospects in order to generate higher incomes for the households. These can range from machine using to making handicraft items that will allow the adults of these households to create products. Also, they need to be honed and encouraged for small business start-ups, starting from creative business strategies to the execution of them. These would also entail leadership and managerial training in the long run. In these efforts, NGOs alone will not be enough. So, government, local banks, and other private organizations should collaborate to help the people in their own capacities. Banks could pro vide less costly loans, while businesses can help train and agencies can help execute and teach so as to make the people of such slums independent and self-sufficient. The need for social campaigns about women empowerment and child rights also need to gain momentum to eradicate the prevalent abuse of the two vulnerable groups. The government should also institutionalize change by active policy making and administering. This could be done in attempts in the likes of building safer, more hygienic, more facilitated housing facilities for those who have already migrated to Dhaka and are susceptible to dangers of earth quake, fire hazards, or illnesses. The government may also create better job opportunities in the rural areas so as to discourage or omit the reasons which force people to migrate in the first place. Rural development projects should also be undertaken with equal focus and allocation of resources. These would include well defined action plans that teach farmers about their rights, train them about their crops, and yield, aware them against exploitation by the middlemen and market prices so as to secure their incomes. Furthermore, efforts are required to equalize the salary gap that exists between the two sexes of the lower income socioeconomic strata, because this would not only help increase ove rall earnings for most families, but also facilitate the lives of households which are run by females working in labour using jobs. Needless to say that neither government, nor NGOs and development agencies can hope to be successful on their own. There needs to be collaboration of these parties for their common stakeholder group so that they can use specialized knowledge, and resources in specific areas and bring effective changes everywhere instead of segregating their efforts which is found to help a few while ignoring many others entirely.