Archive for

Gauging the True Effects of Dodd-Frank

Recently the Obama administration and our nation’s politicians signed into office a piece of legislation known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This act was installed as a response to the catastrophic financial crisis of 2008. While the act is well intentioned seemingly addresses the core failures of the crisis, it is overbearing and far too complex. Specifically, the Dodd-Frank act, with its numerous policies and regulations, will seek to fundamentally undermine small and community banks that have had nothing to do with the financial crisis. Congress must take action to ensure that this does not take place and our community banks, and furthermore local economies, thrive. In its current state, Dodd-Frank does not sufficiently and accurately address the large and complex financial institutions that led to the largest economic downfall since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Moreover, its drastic regulations will seek to exponentially raise operating costs and decrease revenues through increased compliance. Plagued with the new compliance requires much cost that is tough for these small banks to absorb as they do not have access to capital like the larger banks do.

Congress must seek to stop the implementation of the Durbin amemdment which is a new piece of regulation that will decrease the amount of interchange fees charged by banks, thereby drastically decreasing interchange revenue (a significant portion of small bank revenue). Congress must put a stop to this amendment being implemented. Additionally, the large amount of regulation flooding into the banking industry will seek to greatly hurt our nation’s financial institutions. More compliance translates into more cost for banks. Small community banks do not have the access to capital that large banks do and therefore struggle with hiring compliance staff to comply with the influx of new rules and regulations. The effect is a chain reaction. As more regulation floods into the industry, banks must comply which translates into cost. This cost is furthermore transferred over to the consumer as fees must be raised in order for banks to continue to be profitable. As banks spend more capital on compliance, less capital is available to lend and offer financial services to their local customers. As a result, small businesses and communities suffer from stagnant economic growth. Our nation’s small community banks are vital to local economic growth and furthermore the growth of our economy as a whole. Congress MUST take action before its too late. 

The Importance of Foreign Language Learning in Education

Education is a big problem in the United States, but one of the major issues tends to fall short of receiving the attention it deserves. This problem is the teaching of foreign languages in K-12 education. As our businesses go global, gaining multinational business partners, Americans need to be able to communicate in order to be competitive in this market. Following 9/11, foreign language education also became important for our nation’s national defense. It is now more important than ever to learn the less-taught languages of Chinese and Arabic in order to protect our country and also maintain our competitive position in the global marketplace. These problems will be solved if we enforce more strict standards of education requirements of foreign languages in the early stages of education. Studies have shown that younger children are able to learn new languages faster and develop a more native accent than adults, and it is therefore going to be a crucial move by the individual state departments of education to enforce these standards in order to improve the future of our country.

Wal-Mart’s Effect on Local Economies

Built on the formula “buy cheap, sell for less than the other guy, and make a profit on high volume and fast turnover,” Wal-Mart today is the world’s largest retailer – and one of the most controversial.  Founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, the company’s key focus is selling goods at the lowest price possible, with the slogan “Save Money. Live Better.”  Saving money to help people live better is the goal Sam Walton envisioned when he created the first Wal-Mart (Wal-Mart Corporate).  For Americans with tight budgets, Wal-Mart has become a staple place to shop – a place for people to enjoy the products they need and love, at a price they can afford.

The Wal-Mart effect, in essence, is when a big box retailer comes into town, reshapes the shopping habits of consumers, drives prices down, and ultimately creates a “race to the bottom” among businesses (Fishman, 2006).  Today, Wal-Mart’s ubiquitous presence has subjected the retailer to considerable attention over its effect on local economic activity.  From an economic perspective, Wal-Mart is criticized for “infiltrating small-town America” while offering an extremely large variety of consumer goods at very low prices (McCune, 1994).  Many critics argue that this strategy undermines the ability of small, locally owned businesses to compete, forcing many to close.  Additionally, Wal-Mart has an extensive history of using public money to aid in financing its rapid expansion across the United States.

Up until now, the local and state governments have done little to address the phenomenon known as the “Wal-Mart effect.”  I believe state and local governments need to play a much bigger role in protecting their community’s future.

Greenpeace and Sea Shepherd: “Fight” to Save Whales

The launch of the TV show Whale Wars on Animal Planet spread the issue of Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean.  Organizations like Greenpeace and the Sea Shepherd campaign to protect whales.  However, an underlying tension exists between these two major players.  Greenpeace is committed to non-violent direct action while the Sea Shepherd has been know to take radical and innovative direct action against the whalers.  This difference in opinion is causing turmoil between the two groups and their lack of cooperation is inhibiting the effectiveness of their anti-whaling campaigns.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qxdkZGBLKU

The Differences Between The International Monetary Fund’s Loan Conditionality And The Actions Of Developed Countries

             The role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has become increasingly focused on maintaining stability in the international economy.  The IMF provides financial recourses and education to countries that need assistance in exchange for compliance with the conditionality attached to those loans.  The IMF argues that this is necessary to ensure that those who accept these will pay them back.  My paper does not disagree with the assertion that the IMF needs to take steps to ensure that their loans are repaid.  Instead, I offer a sharp critique aimed at the policy decisions that the IMF forces upon each loanee. 

            The balancing of budgets is the main policy condition that is almost universally included in the conditionality of loans.  This is the opposite of what Keynesian economics and developed countries advocate during economic crises.

            This paper shows that expansionary policies, both fiscal and monetary, result in the best possible outcome during economic crises.  Examples of expansionary policies are increased government spending, lower taxes, lower interest rates, and increased money supply.  These policies usually lead to budget deficits, and therefore should be temporary, for no longer than absolutely needed, and paired with budget surpluses during economic upswings.  The evidence presented in this paper shows examples of when expansionary policies have succeeded, and when contractionary policies have failed.  I hope that developed countries, who control a vast majority of the voting power in the IMF and partake in expansionary policies themselves, will move towards expansionary policies in the conditionality of IMF loans.

Living in a Throwaway Society

It is trash day. Consumers have placed their garbage and recycling units outside to be whisked away by municipal garbage trucks. This ritualistic behavior has contributed to American’s accustomed lifestyle of “out of sight, out of mind” when it comes to garbage. What needs to be enlightened is the dark side of decay and filth: a subject that most people are not consciously aware of or perhaps do not even care to think about. It is time to start caring as our country, and the world as we know it, is becoming a giant heap of trash.

https://sites.google.com/a/bucknell.edu/biz-gov-soc/research-for-white-papers/white-paper-archives-or-sources

Torture Interrogations

In my White Paper, I focused on educating the reader on the practices of torture and its use in prisoner interrogations, providing evidence supporting and condoning these practices, and ultimately suggesting policies to aid Army executives on the subject of torturing. The use of torture has been documented well throughout history, primarily used as a form of intimidation and aggression from one group to another. However, this ancient practice has turned into an information-gathering tool from incarcerated prisoners in modern times. These torture interrogations hope to physically and psychologically breaking down helpless prisoners to the point that they relay vital information to their torturers.

Evidence points to the United States Army as utilizing such techniques to gather intel from captive terrorists. While many countries admit to using torture interrogations, the fact that the United States uses similar strategies is nothing short of appalling. Though the United States is involved in a difficult War on Terror, the country who holds individual’s rights above all else should focus on leading by example with the way she treats her prisoners. Therefore, it is shocking that the United States has been implicated in numerous torture interrogation scenarios, such as Bagram Prison, Guantanamo Bay, and Abu Ghraib.

Continue reading →

Domestic Violence in the US: Not Just A Domestic Problem

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four women have experienced domestic violence in her lifetime. ¹ Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Every nine seconds in the United States, a woman is assaulted or beaten. ² 3.3 million children witness domestic violence in their homes every year.³ According to the National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, “232,960 women in the U.S. were raped or sexually assaulted in 2006. That’s more than 600 women every day.”⁴ The Bureau of Justice reported in 1995, women of all races are about equally vulnerable to violence by an intimate partner. On average, intimate partners murder more than three women and one man in the United States every single day. ² Even more alarming, 74% of Americans personally know someone who is or has been a victim of domestic violence. That means that statistically speaking, you personally know at least one domestic violence victim. It could be your professor or your student, a co-worker or your neighbor. It could even be your mother, your sister, or your daughter.

However, violence in the household does not end with women. The abuse and neglect of children is also a pressing issue that many domestic violence advocates try to address as well. In fact, child abuse in the United States has recently grown worse. In Appendix 1 is a graph displaying the number of child deaths per day due to child abuse in the US; from 1998 to 2010, it has risen from 3.13 to 5. This gives the United States the worst record in the industrialized nation.¹⁵ Each year, 3.3 million reports of child abuse are made in the United States involving 6 million children; reports can include multiple children. ¹⁶  Other disturbing statistics include the frequency of reports of child abuse, one report every ten seconds, and the estimation that between 50-60% of child fatalities due to maltreatment are not recorded as such on death certificates. 

The statistics do not lie about the severity of the domestic violence problem on a national and global level. It will affect 75% of American citizens sometime in their lifetime, regardless of their age, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, income level, or gender. For many of these victims, those effects may have life-changing, or even life-ending, consequences. Although the United States has passed a comprehensive set of legislation on domestic violence, I still believe there is much more our government can do to help prevent domestic violence and help victims. In my paper, I will present a comprehensive set of facts on how domestic violence affects our country, what is already in place to help prevent domestic violence, and what more can be done.

Reducing Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance Costs for Small Public Companies

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) has been in place for nearly a decade. The elements of the act have conflict controversy between Congress, the SEC, investors, public accounting firms, and public companies. Many feel as though costs associated with the act are higher than the benefits, especially the public companies. However, it has been proven that investor confidence has increased since the act was instated (Wolkoff). An even bigger issue is over the disproportional costs of complying with SOX between small and large companies. Small companies operate very differently compared to large companies but they are still expected to meet all of SOX requirements. There is much evidence that these extra costs stem from increased audit fees, complying with Section 404, and from having to hire more employees and consultants. These costs are causing many small public companies to deregister, go dark, or merge in order to absorb the extra costs.

The amount of IPO’s has decreased over the years and has hurt the American economy. The economy is in a recession and one solution is to increase the number of IPOs. An increase in IPO’s would provide more investor opportunity as well as create more jobs. In order to get more private companies to go public and keep small public companies public, SOX compliance costs need to be lower for small companies. I have made three recommendations that would help to lower SOX compliance costs. The first recommendation is to establish a three tier system in which public companies are divided into three different sized groups. Each bracket would have a different set of requirements that matches their cost capability and company structure. A second recommendation is for the PCAOB to release a compliance road map that would help small companies meet SOX standards and to provide private companies with a process for complying. The last recommendation is for the PCAOB to publish a pamphlet that would give advice to small public companies on how to be more cost effective and efficient. There are multiple ways in which public companies can help themselves.

Educating our Future Entrepreneurs

Remember when you were a kid and you thought you could do anything – absolutely anything? When does that stop? When do all of our limitless imaginations and creative capacities disappear and why does that happen? The United States Education System is failing us. It is not only failing us in the present, but it is failing us in preparation for the future. Through a standardized and uniform primary and secondary education agenda, our children are severely limited.

Needing entrepreneurship is nothing new to this country. Our forefathers founded the United States of America and our democratic capitalist system with entrepreneurial values. It is in our history. It is inherent to all of us. Our economy is in need of a revival, and entrepreneurship and innovation have never been as important than at this very moment.The question that remains is who will be our next entrepreneurs? The answer is our children – America’s youth, America’s youngest generation. There is no disputing this answer. Our youth are next in line to join the workforce, to start their own companies, to lead our country, and to change our world. That being said, it would seem that the obvious answer to the need for more entrepreneurs would be to create an environment in our schools that makes the entrepreneurial characteristics that all kids have come to life. However, our public school system does just the opposite of that. Our schools suppress entrepreneurial qualities in students. This is fundamentally contradictory to America’s values and to America’s vision for the future.

It is time to usher in an era of revived entrepreneurship and innovation. The manifesto of Peter Thiel’s venture-capital fund is, “We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters.” He is underwhelmed with what technology has given us for the past decade. He is an extreme libertarian who believes the power of the government to create positive change for innovation and entrepreneurship is hopeless. Let’s prove him wrong. Through initiatives driven by the U.S. Department of Education, let’s make preparing students to be entrepreneurs a central part of primary and secondary education. Peter Thiel wants flying cars. Our children will give them to him.

Preserve College Sports

The institution of college sports is faltering.  With growing revenues, greater exposure, and increasing volatility, college athletics are more heavily scrutinized as institutions bring in more money.  In tandem with this grand commercialization of college sports, the governing body of major college sports – the NCAA – hands out more and more violations each year.  Most violations are frivolous rules that seek to aggressively enforce the NCAA ideal of amateurism in college sports.  That is, college athletes will never see a penny of the billions of dollars generated by one of the greatest spectator sports in the world.  The issue of whether to provide salaries for college athletes has gained steam in the last few years; people are beginning to get fed up with players losing eligibility and teams being vacated of their wins and championships.  

However, paying student – athletes a salary will cause irreparable damage to the institution of college sports, creating complications that will not only shake the foundation of college sports, but could prove to destroy them altogether.  This is no doubt that college athletics need to be fixed, but it is a matter of deciding to effectively overhaul the way college sports is governed.

Inequalities in Collegiate Athletics – 40 Years after Title IX

On March 8, 2010, President Barack Obama stated, I didn’t run for President so that the dreams of our daughters could be deferred or denied. I didn’t run for President to see inequality and injustice persist in our time. I ran for President to put the same rights, the same opportunities, and the same dreams within reach for our daughters and our sons alike. I ran for President to put the American Dream within the reach of all of our people, no matter what their gender, or race, or faith, or station.[1] With the President’s unwavering support for gender equality, one would assume that the United States’ government would be taking proactive and protective measures to eliminate the number of discrimination cases and incidences that continue to plague our society. Despite the fact that women face an array of obstacles in today’s culture, the source of these hurdles is often rooted in the notion of parity. Whether it is in the private or public domain, women have been pressing for equality and working towards eradicating gender stereotypes through governmental channels for centuries and despite immense strides, inequalities still plague our nation.

Even though both men and women have benefited from the implementation of Title IX and despite the fact that the law clearly states that its purpose is to promote fairness and equality, cases of inequity and discrimination are still emerging from the athletic realm. Although we live in an age where some people would agree that women have made tremendous strides towards social, political, economic equivalence, there is still much room for improvement and change. Within the context of intercollegiate sports, while the number of women and women participating in athletic programs and the number of teams at institutions have consistently trended upwards, why are there increases in the number of discrimination cases filed with the Office of Civil Rights?

Addressing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic

The childhood obesity epidemic is a social, economic, and public health challenge (Wechsler, et al, 2004).  It constitutes a critical threat to the health and well-being of our nation, as rates have risen dramatically over the past decades.  The United States now has the highest rate of childhood obesity among all developed nations (Kluger, 2008).  Its mitigation requires a multi-disciplinary strategy, as it has become a serious public health concern, not only in the U.S., but also worldwide.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that, over the last thirty years, the number of overweight children has doubled, while the number has almost tripled among adolescents (Ogden and Carroll, 2010).  The main issue is that children and adolescents are eating unhealthy high calorie, high fat, processed foods, and are not getting enough physical activity.

Children, in contrast to adults, are treated as unable to weigh the future consequences of their actions.  Children may have a poor understanding of the long-term health consequences of overeating or lack of physical activity.  In the case that they have adequate information, they may assign minimal importance to problems in the distant future.  Therefore, government actively regulates the decisions of children more strictly than those of adults.  Additionally, when children are enrolled in the public school system, the government acts in loco parentis; thus, it is important to consider the relationship of school policies, especially regarding nutrition and physical activity, to the childhood obesity epidemic (Acs and Lyles, 2007). Continue reading →

Would You Buy a White Paper? Last WWYD?

As you know, we have been doing short vignettes-“What Would You Do?”-all semester.  A survey sent to BU faulty about “dishonesty among students” got me thinking about the ability to buy papers on the Internet.  I surfed to samedayessay.com .  The following transcript is verbatim.  I only changed the name of the customer service rep a I worried she would potentially face some retribution.

Interesting points:

• The company claims they sell papers to be guides only.  I did not see the disclaimer anywhere.
• The cost to do my white paper assignment seemed around $425.
• Maria thought it was sad how many “lazy” students would use the service, but she seemed to suggest it was more acceptable for students also working or with other extenuating circumstances.
• I posed as a student for awhile.
• I left spelling errors in for accuracy.

Now online: Please leave your question here and one of our agents will attend to you shortly.

Customer Service

Hi there! Thank you for your interest in our services! Our friendly 24/7 support would be happy to answer any questions. Feel free to ask!

 

You (click to change)

so, I give you a topic and you can produce a 15 page research paper?

You are currently being served by
Maria

 

Maria

hi

You (click to change)

howdy

 

Customer Support

Hi there! Our friendly support reps are online, feel free to chat with us if you need assistance =)

  Continue reading →

How Grand Theft Auto changed video games (and the world). For Ben.

How Grand Theft Auto changed video games (and the world) – http://m.cnet.com/news/57414909?part=pulse&subj=latest-news&tag=related&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews