Family Bereavement Experiences after Sudden Cardiac Death Essay

Family Bereavement Experiences after Sudden Cardiac Death - Essay Example CASP tool provides a series of questions whose answers require critical scrutiny of the article without biases. In this piece of critique writing, CASP will be applied in the quest to analyze the family bereavement due to SCD. Also, this being the first piece of critique writing; the tools provide better foundation and understanding of what is entailed in a critique essay (CRITICAL APPRAISAL SKILLS PROGRAMME 2011). The article of analysis is titled ‘Family bereavement after Sudden Cardiac Death’ written by Mayer. It is an article about a qualitative research to understand the predicaments faced by families that are victims of SCD. It was written on 28 July 2012 and later revised on 17 may 2013. Several outcomes were found pointing out the hardships faced by these families. The article came from Elsevier website. In this article, the CASP tool will be utilized to scrutinize an article about family bereavement and SCD. It is a qualitative research. Qualitative research is a form of research designed to help generate an explanation for a certain behavior among a group of people and if possible state the stimulus causing the various behaviors (Denzin and Lincoln 2005). Qualitative research is applied in many disciplines due to the many advantages that come with the technique. The goal or rather the main objective of the research is to illustrate the bereavement of family members after the departure of a dear one due to sudden cardiac death. Death of a family member brings about the distortion of the stability of several aspects in the family. The gap left by the departed person affects the family members in different ways that the author of the article has classified into themes. Five themes formulated by the researcher provided guidance to the search of the specific things to look for in the bereaved families.  

Human rights and armed conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human rights and armed conflict - Essay Example The paper describes the patterns, developments, controversies, problems and major sub-issues regarding each issue. As part of this paper, the relationships between the two issues and possible solutions that are effective in the next twenty-five years are discussed. Armed conflicts refer to the armed conflicts between two or more organized parties in disputes about power over government and territory (Moir, 2002 p210). There are 118 armed conflicts that ensued between 1990 and 1999, of which ten were strictly inter-state conflict. Five were wars of independence, and one hundred wars were primarily internal conflicts. Violent conflicts in Europe, including Turkey, Caucasus and Russia, accounts for two-thirds of the increased incidents of wars in the early 1990s (Moir, 2002 p210). Europe in the early 1990s became one of the most violent regions in the world. The annual reduction in the number of conflicts after 1992 is as a result of changes in Europe. There are a number of factors that led to the rise of international and regional armed conflicts. Poor economic status of different nations is the leading cause of intra-state armed conflicts in the modern world. The greatest challenge facing the current governments is resource allocation. The reso urces are limited in supply, and their demand is high. Most governments normally allocate more resources to urban centers and regions that are highly productive than dry, remote area. This makes some local governments feel neglected by the central governments, and this may cause conflict between different local governments (Moir, 2002 p211). Repressive political systems in transition periods are also the other significant cause of intra-state armed conflicts. Reformists and opposition parties are often witnessed organizing riots to protest against some political policies introduced by the sitting authority. This sometimes grows worst to appoint

Sinises film version Of Mice and Men Essay Example for Free

Sinises film version Of Mice and Men Essay Analyse both the beginning and ending of Steinbecks novel with the opening and closing sequences of Sinises film version Of Mice and Men They are many of difficulties that a director faces when adapting a classic novel to the big screen. One of the biggest difficulties Sinise would have faced in adapting Of Mice and Men in to a film would have been living up to the standard and expectation of the book. Imagination is a lot different to reality but imagination is extremely hard to capture on the Big Screen because there is possibility that what someone imagines is completely different to the film and therefore be disappointed in the film. There is also a lot of description in the book that paints a picture for the reader and he will have to try and involve some of this in the film. They story of Of Mice and Men is set during the depression that followed the Wall Street Crash of 1929. It involves the effects of poverty and the difficulty of getting a job. It follows two men, George and Lennie and their struggle to find employment. The novel show a great bond between them and how the two try and overcome Lennies disability. In the beginning of the novel Steinbeck creates a calming mood wereas in the film it starts with action. He also used a lot of effective description that helps the reader get a clear understanding of the setting he uses On one side of the river the golden foothill slopes curve up to the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains, but on the valley side the water is lined with trees- willows fresh and green with every spring, carrying in their lower leaf juncture the debris of the winters flooding When describing the two men he gives the reader the impression that one seems to be more powerful than the other even in the open one stayed behind the other. He also describes the first man as having restless eyes this tells you he is always looking out for his friend. His friend was the complete opposite , a huge man, shapeless of face, with large, pale eyes, with wide sloping shoulders; and he walked heavily, dragging his feet a little, the way a bear drags his paws. The way he has described the way he walks shows his strength. The beginning in book and film is most important because the author or film maker needs to attract the attention of the audience, interest them in what is going on and make them want to read or watch more. The way Steinbeck and Sinise have done this is both effective and creative but both different. They both start in different settings. The book describes every thing about the setting and its surroundings and doesnt introduce any characters till about the fourth page. It also starts as if everything is happening there and then and doesnt mention anything about a flash back, whereas in the film it starts as a flash back.. In the film George is shown on a train in a fast mid-shot sitting in the corner lonely and isolated in a crouched position, it shows him in thought. It then goes on a CU of George that shows we are going into his thoughts. It cuts to an MS of a woman running in a red dress (representing danger) which is ripped. It zooms in slowly and ends on a CU of woman and shows her emotions and tells the audience she is afraid and terrified. This is not mentioned at all in the beginning of the book. It soon cuts to a LS of two males running. There are rapid changing of shots showing action in the film. MS on males, cuts to a CU of viscous dogs barking and then LS on horses that gives the impression of hunting and also shows time in setting. The audience is involved when the camera is placed in the water that the males (George and Lennie) run through. The music in the film is slow at the start which creates a mood of sadness to the film and relates to the persons emotions, it tells you that George is upset. The music starts slow then gradually gets faster and tells you something is happening (chasing) it is also serious. Not a lot of dialogue is used at the beginning. You hear a woman screaming sounding frightened. You also hear a man shouting Come on! Lennie This tells us that they need to get away from what is happening and also gives one name of a character. There is a lot of SFX are used effectively during the beginning, dogs barking, a train, the music ends abruptly and you can hear the woman out of breath. You can also hear men running and splashes of water. The book lacks action and starts more calmly than the film. The book doesnt tell you why the men are running away and doesnt mention the woman, train or dogs at all during the beginning. The introduction to the two characters (George and Lennie) is very different. In the book it starts with a great deal of description. The film shows you they are in some kind of danger whereas in the book it introduces them calm and with a lot of description about setting and location. The death of Lennie shows alot more emotion in the novel, compared to that of the video. this is because it is slow, and it moves the reader, and makes the reader become emotionally involved. Steinbeck has used some short sentences to create a more dramatic effect of for example: George was silent. This shows Georges emotion. Not long after And he fell silent again. This again shows his emotion and that he just cant cope. Lennie at this point is confused, he has realised that he has done another bad thing but doesnt understands why George isnt angry at him. Lennie tries hard to understand and came to his own conclusion that George would live a better life without him and was willing to leave and let George carry on with his life. George lets him know that he doesnt want him to leave him, even though deep down he agrees that without Lennie he would live an easier life, not having someone to watch all the time. They then start talking about the dream they both had where they would own a place of their own and every thing was perfect. George shakily said Take off your hat Lennie The way he said it shows that he is not showin confidence. George told Lennie to look away, this gave him time to get ready and he used Carlsons Luger too. Which is the same way the dog died, this tells the reader that a death might occur. He looked at the back of Lennies head, at the place where the spine ant the skull were joined. He is thinking very hard here at which would be the least painful for Lennie, who is still no wiser that soon he will die, by his best friend. He is very child like and the book shows this by him giggling while thinking of the dream. He also has an obsession on rabbits (like the way a child would) and shows a lot of excitement towards the dream because he would finally get to tend the rabbits. George wanted Lennie to die happy and finally built up the courage to do it at his happiest. At first his hand shook violently this again shows his emotion. Steinbeck now used another short sentence for effect He pulled the trigger. This is used to shock the reader and also show emotion towards Lennie. The novel ends coldly with a cold-hearted remark from Carlson, Now what the hell ya suppose is eatin them two guys? In the film the death of Lennie is a lot quicker and shocking. When talking about the dream George shoots him first time Lennie says and I get to tend the rabbits Lennies child like features are shown again when he is dead because once he is shot he lies curled up like a baby with George standing over him. It shows Georges emotion towards Lennie and the close bond the had. In the film it doesnt show the audience his struggle to build up the courage to shoot him. It then cuts back to a CU George on the train again, like in the beginning. This time we again go in to his thoughts as he remembers the good times with Lennie. It then shows George and Lennie side by side, Laughing and smiling. Lennie puts his arm around George like a child wanting affection from his mother. This caption is in slow motion to show the audience how close they were and it also gets the audience emotionally involved again and makes them feel sorry. The music used in this part of the film is sad and slow, again for emotion. In my conclusion I have found that there can be a lot of differences between the book and the film. In my opinion I didnt prefer either one because I liked both of them but for different reasons. I liked the book because I liked the idea that Steinbeck emotionally involved the reader with the death of Lennie. It was in my opinion more emotional than the film even though it is upsetting because the music sad and the flash back at the end makes you feel sorry for Lennie and also George.

Leadership In The Tata Group

Leadership In The Tata Group Introduction: Leadership is integrated part of our life. According to corporate chief and former US presidential candidate Ross Perot, the principles of leadership are timeless because, in a rapidly changing world, human nature remains a constant. We all experience leadership in our life from early childhood in our families, through friendships, social and sports activities, school higher education, to politics government and of course in our work, we all recognize leadership in other people and often in ourselves. In government, global corporations and small businesses alike, the leadership role is becoming more demanding, more open to scrutiny and more difficult [Roger Gill]. The development of leadership theory also parallels the development of organizational theory. The bureaucratic form of business organization is characterized by laissez-faire leadership whereby so-called leaders tend to avoid taking a stand, ignore problems, not follow up, and refrain from intervening or transactional leadership, in which leaders practise management by exception, focusing only on deviations from what is required, and contingent reward, rewarding people (either materially or psychologically) for achieving what is required. The emergence of the post-bureaucratic form of organization in the late nineteenth century reflects the development of the concept of transformational leadership. Theory Approaches to Leadership: Many Leadership theories and approaches have been evolved around Style, Trait, Behaviour, Situational and Charisma. Many researchers made efforts linking some of the theories across these leadership approaches. However each leadership model has its merit, assumptions and limitations. Most recent researches are conducted on Situational Transformational leadership styles. Various leadership Gurus presented new models as variations to the already existing models. Max Weber, MacGregor, Bass, Bennis Nanus are some of the most important researchers in the area of transformational leadership. However the difference between transactional and transformational leadership is vital in getting the whole concept of transformational leadership theory. In general, a relationship between two people is based on the level of exchange they have. Exchange need not be money or material; it can be anything. The more exchange they have the stronger the relation. Managers expects more productivity from employee in order to give good rewards. In this way, if something is done to anyone based on the return then that relation is called as Transactional type. In business, leaders announce rewards in turn to the productivity. These relations are all about requirements, conditions and rewards. In life, at one point of time, things happen without expectation from other side. Transformational Leaders work toward a common goal with followers; put followers in front and develop them; take followers to next level; inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests in achieving superior results [wordpress.com]. Table 1, given below shows Basss full range model of leadership. Table 1 Leadership Approach in TATA Group: TATA Group founded in 1868, is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, India. The Group has more than 500,000 employees spread over six continents (more than 80 countries). TATA Group current market capitalization estimated worth $80bn and is the largest private corporate group in India. TATA Group is biggest employer in UK, employing more than 50,000 people. TATA Group has main interests in communications, IT, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. Its current chairman, Ratan Tata is the most influential business leaders in Indias and the worlds most influential person right now. The Tata Group is known for its valued business ethics and corporate governance. TATA Group has long standing leadership program in its system. Their leadership program is based in British administrative service model. TATAs leadership development programme aims at grooming the managers of today into the leaders of tomorrow. The leadership development programme conceived by JRD Tata, the late chairman of TATA group in 1950s. The idea behind the leadership programme known as Tata Administrative Services (TAS) was to select and groom young managers, provide them opportunity for professional growth, and make them leaders of tomorrow. This is TATAs in-house programme and has goal is to provide training to high performers, act as a cradle of change and develop the leadership qualities. Most of the TATA Group companies are traditionally led by these groomed leaders. The TATA Group leadership style has been quite consistent since its existence way back to 1868. The TATA Group has incorporated more leadership changes which are essential in current environment to drive towards to be more competitive. In terms of leadership style, TATA Group has adopted a team-led culture and collective approach. With Ratan Tata as leader of the Group, the management style of the entire TATA Group has changed considerably; trust became a huge facet and theme of the group. Ratan Tata has put a complete organisational restructuring when he took over in 1991 as leader of the TATA Group, by taking a more matrix-style approach building teams. These changes would have obviously transformed a lot in the business, senior managers would have had to be on their toes and flexibility and adaptability became essential qualities to have. The leadership changed from a centralised, command centre to a much more distributed form with employees and all managers enjoying greater respo nsibility and knowledge about the Group, which would have in turn; motivated them to work harder and as a group. From distinctive leadership models available such as the McGregor Theory X and Y; where a theory X manager believes workers dislike work, are not creative and avoid all responsibility while a theory Y manager believes that workers get as much enjoyment from work as they can derive with leisure, accept responsibility and are creative; it can be seen from this, that Ratan Tata wanted all his managers to be modelled as closely to Theory Y and he himself could be called a Theory Y manager. He encouraged managers to be innovative and share all their ideas, consulting actively with them and giving them more responsibility and importantly encouraged team-working. Five Factor Model (Big Five): Emotional Stability: Ratan Tata has very low anxiety within him and has great sense of security with his future leadership. Extraversion: Even being a bachelor Ratan Tata is very sociable. He has produced very positive affect on future leadership of TATA Group. Openness: He believes in originality and versatility. By making  £1200/- car he has shown his great interest with and innovation seeking personality. Agreeableness: Within his management team Ratan Tata is well trusted and very friendly. Conscientiousness: He is very dutifulness. He spent most of his life working for TATA Group without any self-interest. He is very well organised as well. Style (Behaviour) Theory in TATA Group: As per style theory, there are three types of leadership models are evident in leadership. These are as follows. Autocratic Democratic Laissez-faire Ratan Tata is a leader who engages more democratic style of leadership approach. However at previous occasion has used other two kind of style as well. He is more democratic because he always encourages his group leadership to be creating good communication and participation. Future leadership are well informed about future strategy and they are very well engaged in decision making process. Most of the group long-term and short-term strategies are formulated by the lower rank of the leadership. They are treated as stake holders. Until now TATA Group has got leadership within them. Ratan Tata has occasionally shown some form of autocratic style of leadership. Sometimes when needed especially when quick and informed decisions have to be taken, but he is never too commanding in his nature, being a man of few words and being more of a man of action, this is evident from the manner he aggressively pushes for bold international deals, such as during the global acquisitions of business powe rhouses such as Corus, Jaguar and Land Rover, and Tetley Tea. One of his senior leadership team member, Muthuraman( Executive Director) refers him Ratan was the chief architect of the Corus deal. I was worried about the magnitude and the amount of money. But he instilled confidence. In daily routine matters and in developing the leadership, Ratan Tata also uses facets of the Laissez-Faire model such as the delegation of important duties and decision-making, he also does not in any way interfere with any managers functioning, he might make a broad strategic assessment but he does not interfere in operational issues and details, this shows that he has complete trust and faith in his managers and believes in their ability, this quote from Gopalakrishnan, an executive director of the company, shows how much value Ratan Tata places on his trust, this can be highly motivating for managers and workers alike, I remember what Ratan told us at a meeting. He said that he will continue to trust all his managers, but once they lose that trust, he will go after them. I think that is a very fair deal. Max Webers Leadership Model in TATA Group: Looking at Max Webers Transactional and Transformational Leadership models, where a leader is classed in three forms which are Bureaucratic, Charismatic and Traditional, where a bureaucratic leader is one who is always bound by the set rule and does not want to go beyond them; a Traditional leader is one who does and follows everything from a long past or history and always loyally obeys these traditions; a Charismatic leader is one who uses his own laurels or abilities to inspire and is one who can be described as radically opposed to administrative rules and legal principles. From these models, Ratan Tata falls into the Charismatic form because he is one who leads by example, coming up with highly innovative ideas such as  £1200 (Rs. One Lakh) car the Nano, budget hotels or low-end watches, he brought radical change to the Tata Group as a whole, changing it from its Traditional mindset to new more flexible and adaptive cultural mindset. Bennis Nanus Transformational Leadership Model in TATA Group: We can see from Bennis and Nanuss Transformational Leadership model that the transformational leaders groom their followers into self-empowered leaders and their main focus is to articulate vision and values clearly so the newly self-empowered leaders know where to go. Their traits include logical thinking, persistence, empowerment and self-control. Benniss and Nanus has evolved the model which emphasis on the four Is of Transformational leadership, which are Idealised Influence (being a role model) Inspirational Motivation (creating a team spirit, motivating and provide a challenge) Intellectual Stimulation (innovation and creativity) Individual Consideration (mentoring and providing support for followers) Ratan Tata, Chairman of the TATA Group has been proved a true transformational leader. We can see all Is built-in in Ratan Tata. He is the leader with great vision hence he knows right approach to groom future leadership. He has implemented the team spirit in whole group at every level. He empowers all his managers and executives and has complete faith in them, he is extremely innovative and is credited for much of the Groups new products, he places a great deal of importance to his RD department and he definitely cares deeply about the welfare of all his employees and managers. During the Mumbais terrorist attack in Taj Hotel, he took front line in leading at the time of crises. In his vision statement he articulated One hundred years from now, I expect TATA Group to be much bigger, of course, than it is now. More importantly, I hope the Group comes to be regarded as being the best in India. Best in the Manner in which we operate, best in the products we deliver and best in our valu e system and ethics. Having said that, I hope that a hundred years from now we will spread our wings far beyond India, that we become a global group, operating in many countries, as Indian business conglomerate that is at home in the world, carrying the same set of trust as we do today [Tata Group Article]. As a leader of a global business group, Ratan Tata knows the fierce competition experienced by his business empire. He makes all effort to make his business competitive at global level. Through transformational leadership process TATA Group has made their processes and technology up to date. Once Ratan Tata said to his managers in his vision speech A company or business which remains static is a business that will die; a company that constantly changes and accepts that there are better ways to do things than the way they are done today, is a company that will survive in the global market that we face. From this statement we can infer that he knows the importance of developing a good leadership within group to take TATA Group to new heights. Ratan Tata involves strategy in leadership. He is a deep thinker and a brilliant strategist as is described by one of his Executive Directors, Alan Rosling, He is a deep thinker and extremely strategic. He is always 2-3 steps ahead. Ratan Tata is a man of strong integrity, ethics and valued principles. He cultivated the same across the TATA Group companies. One of his companies CEO said Tata has shown that there is no other way he will do business other than do it ethically. He believes in strong value based leadership approach in doing business. Ratan Tata has led the TATA Group to transforming from local business group to become a global leader. Conclusions: Ratan Tata of the Tata Group is a more kind of transformational leader. He made Tata Group as global brand. He has provided inspiration to leaders within his own company. In Tata Group leaders are engaged in decision making at every level. Ratan Tata has successfully led and motivated its CEO/MD of the group companies to be ambitious. He has always adopted a ethical approach in group business. Ratan Tata has adopted a management by consensus style. He stated once When a number of persons are involved I am definitely a consensus man, but that does not mean that I do not disagree or that I do not express my views. Basically it is a question of having to deal with individual men heading different enterprises. You have to adapt yourself to their ways and deal accordingly and draw out the best in each man. If I have any merit it is getting on with individuals according to their ways and characteristics. I have dealt with a hundred top directors and I have got on with all of them. At times it involves suppressing yourself. It is painful but necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection. Ratan Tata has ability to spot the talent. And once he has confident that a manager will perform, he gave him a long rope. Appendix: Reference List Roger Gill, Theory and Practice of Leadership, Sage Publication, 2006 http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com/2008/08/04/transactional-leadership-vs-transformational-leadership/ http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=682editionid=22catgid=70subcatgid=464 http://www.tata.com/company/Articles/inside.aspx?artid=YJbf7uiUY0M= John P. Kotter, A Force For Change: How Leadership Differs From Management (New York: The Free Press, 1990). OTool, James. Leadership from A to Z: A Guide for the Appropriately Ambitious, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1999. Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense of Direction for Your Organization (Jossey Bass Business and Management Series): Burt Nanus Tata Steel Group Annual Reports (2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10)

The Hippopotamus: Endangered Species Report :: essays research papers fc

The Hippopotamus: Endangered Species Report Jason Wapiennik Mr. Trippeer, Biology January 6th, 1997 The ban on elephant ivory trading has slowed down the poaching of elephants, but now poachers are getting their ivory from another creature, the hippopotamus. For the poacher, the hippo is an easy target. They stay together for long hours in muddy water pools, as many as eighty-one can be found in a single square mile. This concentration is so big it's only second to that of the elephant. Poachers kill the animal, then pick out the teeth and sell them for as much as seventy dollars per kilo. This is a very cheap price. Elephant ivory sells for as much as five-hundred dollars per kilo. The reason the price-per-kilo is so slow is because hippo ivory is very brittle compared to the much stronger elephant ivory. Elephant ivory is no longer at the biggest risk for poaching; hippo ivory is. Eastern Zaire once had one of the largest hippo populations in the world, around 23,000 hippos. According to a count done in 1994, this number has now dropped to 11,000. The 1989 ban on elephant ivory is the main cause attributed to the exponential rise to hippo ivory trade. "European and African activists are petitioning advocacy groups, including last week's annual Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species in Florida, for a ban on hippo poaching. But they say they're a long way from putting an end to the slaughter." (Howard & Koehl) The hippopotamus is an enormous amphibious animal with smooth, hairless skin. Hippos can be found in Liberia, the Ivory Coast, and a few can also be found in Sierra Leone and Guinea. Hippos used to be found anywhere south of the Sahara Desert where they could find enough water and plenty of room to graze. Now, due to poachers and predation they are confined to protected areas, but they can still sometimes be seen in many major rivers and swamps. Hippos need water that is deep enough to cover them, but it also has to be very close to a pasture. They must wallow in the water because their thin, hairless skin is vulnerable to overheating and dehydration. Hippos were once thought to sweat blood. Actually, hippos secrete a pinkish colored oil that helps them keep their skin moist in the hot African climate. Hippos are herbivores. They prefer the short grass of African plains to any other possible food. They normally eat up to eighty-eight pounds of this grass nightly, which they mow away a large patch at a time with their twenty-inch

Anorexia Nervosa Essay -- essays research papers

Anorexia Nervosa A lot of people including men not just women often dream about having the perfect body. Some may work hard for it and others may think they cannot achieve that dream. In our society, we seem to make body image appear to be almost one of the most important things. Young girls less then thirteen years of age can start to see themselves as being "fat" even if they are thin. In fashion magazines for instance, you will hardly ever see pictures of overweight or slightly overweight people. They are filled with runway models who are so skinny it looks as if they are sick with a disease or are cracked out on drugs. How can people think that looking that way is attractive? It's so disgustingly gross to see models like that when they look emaciated at times. They call themselves "models." Who would want to model themselves after someone who looked like that? Although, it is sad to say that some people actually go as far as starving themselves to look like what they thin k is perfect. Anorexia nervosa is an illness that most commonly happens with teenage girls. At times even teenage boys and adults can struggle with anorexia. Anorexia causes people to be obsessed with food and being thin. Often at times, people with anorexia have emotional problems and use food and weight to try to deal with their problems with a sense of control. "Ninety percent of all anorexics are women" (The National Women's Health Information Center Pg. 1 of 4). There is no exact cause of anorexia. For some, they feel that they are not happy and think that being thin Butler 2 would make them a lot happier and successful. Anorexia can sometimes come from problems in relationships or bad experiences from early childhood. People with anorexia are perfectionists. They need everything to be perfect in their lives and if not, then they blame themselves if their lives are not perfect. Along with having anorexia, there are many problems caused b... ...ients. There are also support groups that anorexics go to so they can discuss their fears and help each other recover from their illness. People with anorexia need full on support from their friends and family as well. Friends and family need to show love for the person with the illness. A lot of times, people with anorexia will beg and lie so they don't have to eat. They feel if they will give up the control they have from gaining weight. Friends and family need to be strong when dealing with a person who is suffering from anorexia. They cannot let the person talk them into believing there is nothing wrong or let the person convince them that they don't need to eat for the time being. Family and friends need to be there for that person and shouldn't get angry at them. Being anorexic is an illness and needs professional help because it cannot be controlled by willpower. Word count: 917

Global Financial Crisis Essay

The global financial crisis started to demonstrate its effects in the mid of 2007 and continued in 2008. Around the world a large number of the financial institutions collapsed, stocks fell and the entire world was under stress. The crisis unraveled in the USA, UK and then spread around the world. This meltdown of the financial systems will affect the lives of almost everyone around the globe. The genesis of the financial crisis was the collapse of the US sub-prime mortgages. Many people defaulted on their repayments of these loans. Basically, a sub-prime mortgage is a type of a loan made to borrowers who do not have a good credit history and are unable to qualify for the high interest rates in the market. It has a diversified product range from mortgages to car loans to credit cards. These loans started out in 2001 when the interest rates were historically lowest in US. At that time, the demand for the real estate was on high because of these low interest rates. The builders kept on investing in the construction of the houses even though the demand for property saw a decline after a while. Due to this huge boom, the property became so over valued that it saw the worse decline in prices in 2006 (University of Iowa, 2008). This made most of the investors and leaders became unwilling to refinance the sub-prime loans and were strict in their policies. This raised the interest payments which some of the investors were unable to afford. Hence more and more people stared defaulting. Around 3. 6 million home owners lost their homes due to the mortgage defaults. There have been around $100 billion worth of Sub-prime mortgage leans defaults from the low-credit worth people. At the same time, the world saw the world stock prices falling in most of the places which made large number hedge funds insignificant. This collapse in demand for the securities which were backing the sub-prime mortgages forced 90 of the firms into declaring bankruptcy (Acharya, 2007). These crises in the sub-prime mortgage and the declining world stock prices led to the global financial crisis in July 2007. Investors had also over indulged themselves in the sophisticated financial instruments such as the derivatives thinking they were reducing the risk associated with the assets. As people started earning money through it, they started taking more risk and hence earning more money. The real problem arose when the market turned towards speculative in nature. This means that with each loss the investor went with more risk to cover up the earlier losses and earn a higher profit. The financial instrument that the bank expected to will reduce its risk created the greatest problems for it. This is how the derivatives became a problem in the current world and one of the causes of the destruction of the banks around the globe (Shah, 2009). This shattered the confidence of the investors. People now did not want to buy the assets or securities but they wanted their money back. Therefore, this created a crisis situation for the investor confidence around the globe. The western economies were also affected by the process of securitization. It is a process by which the financial assets are backed by the real assets through the use of instruments such as the derivatives. The sub-prime mortgages were risky and under rated when compared in isolation but as soon as these loans were gathered together with other debts to diversify risk, they become more attractive and over-rated. Soon when the stocks fell in the international market, most of the securities lost their value. This caused a large deficiency in the capital of the banks and therefore, they were forced to tighten their credit policies around the world. For example: Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. It was the largest bankruptcy filed in the US history because it held a major share of the assets in the US. Its share value had fallen to less than $1. The bank had given out excess amount of the sub-prime mortgage loans which were backed by securities but it had no way to pay back the depositors. It had started facing severe problems when the credit policy was tightened across the world. Sine they were refused to be bailed out, they had filed for bankruptcy with the US government. This had a direct effect on almost all the banks in the US and abroad that were holding the assets of the Lehman Brothers and hence this caused a ripple effect globally. The whole world was affected with the sub-prime mortgage defaults because the world is a global village now and all the businesses in it are inter-related with each other. The credit housing market had indirectly affected all the other markets around the globe. The lenders developed strict policies for the credit facilities and hence decreasing the consumer spending. Demand for the goods and services decreases, profits declines and hence less investment and production. This leads to the layoffs, less household income and therefore less consumer spending. Due to the financial crisis, it is estimated that approximately 80 million people could be forced to live in poverty. The developing economies will be experiencing slow growth rates due to the decline in the export demand. This is due to the diminishing demand of the goods and services globally (Hodgson, 2007). The world GDP is expected to grow at a rate of 0. 5% which is slowest since World War II. The global financial crisis that unraveled in 2007 did expose some serious flaws in the regulations internationally as well as domestically and the global financial system. The major cause of the global financial meltdown is the weak regulatory mechanisms, inadequate transparency, insufficient competition and poorly designed incentive structures. The banking system in the US is the most unregulated sector of the financial institutions. It could create and sell many diversified products making them look secure and attractive. When the loans were being given out, there was very little risk analysis being done and that also with the imprecise and inaccurate data and models. The strict regulation of the sub-prime mortgage and low interest loans would have reduced the chances of the financial meltdown. In the US there is no notion of a central bank that controls the other financial institutions such as the insurance companies, mortgage banks and banks. The US federal government preferred self regulation of the financial institutions under the rule of Chairman Alan Greenspan. This provided for the relaxed and simple environment where different institutions came together to produce and flood the market with sophisticated and diversified products and made them look very attractive and safe. The investors invested in these banks as they did not have the right information about the negative consequences which were never released. This type of policy does result in growth but at the same time it also results in mismanagement and less control. Most of the firms present in the world were resistant to bring any change in themselves which would otherwise have brought strong competition in the market. The people have now called for better regulation and reforms for the financial sector both internationally and domestically. They want the developing nations to have some voice in the formation of these policies and shaping up the global economy. The simple and well designed policies will be easy to implement. They will protect the financial institutions in the short run and bring innovation and diversification in the products in the long run. The most important is that the banking sector in the USA needs to be regulated heavily by a central bank. They should be regulated in a way that they have the minimum required amount of deposits. The Bank of England deputy governor Sir John Gieve suggests that the capital and the liquidity requirements for the bank should be increased and made stricter along with the tough restraints on the building up of the risk. At the same time, the loans should be made difficult to get in good times. These banks need to provide the investors with the adequate information when they are making their decisions. The rating agencies in USA as well as around the world must have stricter reforms and should be heavily regulated so that they properly rate the assets using appropriate models and data. It is also suggestive that there should be a single international rating agency that will rate the assets worldwide. The IMF and the World Bank reforms will play an important role in the future. They need to go about a structural change in their policies because their â€Å"one fit all solution† was a disaster for the developing economies. They had earlier realized that the financial crisis in the developed world will sweep into the developing world and harm it further. Even then they were unable to find a clear solution. Therefore, they need to change their policies and must include the say of the poorer nation while making the new policies. The international bodies and the banks need to be more transparent in their operations and the enforcement of policies so that there no further objections rose to it (Shah, 2009). References Shiller, R. J. (2008) The Sub-prime Solution, Princeton University Press.Fraser, D. , Gup, B. , and J. 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