Economic development in the United States from the Revolutionary War Essay

Economic development in the United States from the Revolutionary War to the Civil War - Essay Example In other words the paper describes the American economy from 1775 up to 1865. During the revolutionary war period, the British made attempts to crush down the American economy through blockading all the ports. However, with over 90 percent of the population practicing farming, it was not an easy task for the economy to be crushed. Thus, according to Atack and Passell (98-99), the economy of America during the revolutionary war period proved to be resilient and was able to sustain the war. The Congress and the most of the American states financed the war using various ways. At the time of declaration of American independence in 1776, the economies of the thirteen original states were stable. The adoption of the United States constitution in 1787 also facilitated the growth of America’s economy to large extents. The constitution for instance, stated that the entire nation was a common market, devoid of internal tariffs and taxes on interstate commerce. This greatly stimulated economic growth. The first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton championed a myriad of reforms that saw the US economy thrive (Rousseau, and Sylla 9). He established a strong national credit. This was based on taking over the incumbent state debts and adding them up to the old state debts into new securities which were in turn sold to the rich people. He also funded the state debts through tariffs imposed on imported goods as well as a high tax on whiskey. Hamilton succeeded in diversifying the American economy by ameliorating the manufacturing, banking and shipping sectors. Through his efforts, the first Bank of the United States was established in 1791.However, the bill for the establishment of the first Bank of the United States provided for a twenty year charter for the bank. This implies that, the charter was to be renewed in 1811. Even so, the Bank of the United States is credited for solving a plethora of monetary problems that had marred the United States

How I Learned to Drive Analysis Essay Example for Free

How I Learned to Drive Analysis Essay In Paula Vogel’s â€Å"How I Learned to Drive†, we follow our protagonist nicknamed â€Å"Lil Bit† on a gut wrenching, and downright disturbing journey through her adolescence, told as a series of narrations, monologues, and flashbacks with the occasional interjection of a PSA like voice over. The play recounts the physical and emotional abuse Lil Bit encountered from the ages of eleven to eighteen at the hands of her uncle Peck, while he teaches her to drive. The main flaw I saw in Lil Bit was that she is too smart for her own good. You see this characteristic throughout the play as she manipulates Peck. For example, it was most obvious for me when their roles of adult and child are reversed, and Peck is explaining to Lil Bit what a good boy he has been for not drinking. Knowing how much Peck lusts after her she offers him a reward for his good behavior in the form of undoing her bra. Another great example is when prior to her and peck going on a road trip and Lil Bit’s mother indicates that she has a sense of what Peck has on his mind, she responds by saying â€Å"I can take care of myself. And I can certainly handle uncle Peck.† At this point in the story she is only eleven. It’s hard to imagine a child of that age so grown up emotionally. Overall, most of the characters had likeable qualities, with the exception of the grandmother. I didn’t really like the way she meddled in the Parenting of Lil Bit. I liked â€Å"Big Papa† the best. He’s a crabby old timer who speaks anything that comes into his head with reckless abandon. It brought me some levity in an otherwise melancholy play. The climax of the play occurs on Lil Bit’s eighteenth birthday. She and Peck are in a hotel room, and she’s been ignoring peck for some time leading up to this meeting as he’s been sending her cards counting down to her birthday. Lil Bit is obviously conflicted about their relationship now that she has gotten older, but Peck is looking forward to a time when it’s not illegal for them to be together. This is creepy enough on its own, but when Peck drops the marriage bomb, the creep factor skyrockets. I was honestly disgusted at the idea of a man leaving his wife to be with his niece whom he  has known since birth, blood related or not. Prior to the climax, one major event occurs and that is in the monologue that Aunt Mary delivers indicating that she knows what’s going on between Peck and Lil bit. The words used during this monologue, indicate to me a couple of key points about this character. First of all she is very intelligent. Her thoughts are well put together and the words she uses indicates to me that she has some sort of education. She is also very intuitive, she picks up on the subtle, non-verbal signals that peck gives off when he’s got something on his mind and presumably when he’s around Lil Bit. Also, the words used by Lil Bit in her different flashbacks have a direct correlation to her age. It’s obvious as you read them, that during the later ones she is forming more complex thoughts and emotions, which is indicative of growth. For the music in this play, Paula Vogel suggested period correct music spanning two generations. She mentions Motown several times, as well as Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys. Most of this music is romantic and happy with little hints of sexuality and sometimes-pedophilic references. For some weird reason the voice of the announcer in my head was played by the Moviephone guy. The car in the play was described as a Buick Riviera, but in my mind it was more like a Camaro or GTO. The main reason for this is the obvious relationship between Peck and his car. The way he describes the way the aggressive way men are taught to drive and the feeling of a cars’ response to your touch, just makes me think of those fast nimble sports cars. Taking place in the 1960’s, the costumes in my mind were bell-bottoms and flowered shirts, polyester leisure suits, and fringes all over the place. This was your typical 1960’s attire. I believe the overall theme of this play is about the effect of time on relationships. The relationship between Peck and Lil Bit starts out strong, for her and fragile for him. She has a strong male figure giving her attention while he is nurturing a relationship that he knows is illegal and  immoral. As time progresses, the roles ultimately reverse leaving Peck with much confidence in the relationship while Lil Bit comes to realize the truth about it which leads to its demise. It just goes to show that time will always change relationships, jus not always in the way you imagined.

Social Order in P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder Essay -- P.D. James A Min

P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder - Social Order    One of the basic assumptions underlying any detective novel is a sense of social order. The novelist assumes that the reader agrees that killing people is wrong; it does not matter if the victims are exemplary citizens or odious individuals, it is the mere act of snuffing out another’s life that is against the social order. In P.D. James’ A Mind To Murder, Nurse Marion Bolam’s murder of her stuffy and self-righteous cousin Enid illustrates a situation where the nurse and her invalid mother had suffered from her cousin’s stinginess; James gives us a clear look at the murderer’s fear that if Enid had been given time to change her will as she had threatened to do, the Marion and her mother would never get the money to which they considered themselves entitled. However, James urges us to understand, this does not matter. Murder, for whatever reason it is committed, is still murder, and it is always wrong.     However, the murder of Enid Bolam is not the only violation of the social order which James describes in this book. Chief amongst his other villains is Peter Nagle, the young and attractive porter at the Steen Clinic. Peter is also a gifted painter, and is only working at the clinic to pay his living expenses while he waits for a prestigious arts grant to come his way.   However, Peter is infected with the arrogance of those who feel that their talent entitles them to liberties unavailable to the rest of society. He lives in a magnificent studio apartment, and owns only the very best painting equipment. He obviously cannot afford this on a clinic-porter’s salary, so he figures out a way to, with Marion Bolam’s help, blackmail former patients into paying him fifteen pounds... ...r, who wasn’t really at fault in any of this, has gone to live in a nursing home where she will be well-cared for, since her daughter obviously won’t be there to do it.        This isn’t a perfect solution, but it isn’t a   perfect   world, and it would be false to P.D. James’ premises to assume that everything can be returned to a state of Eden. However, James seems to feel that we as social beings have an obligation to keep everything as close to an ideal social paradigm as possible. Only in this way will everyone be in a position to achieve maximum happiness. The narcissism of Peter Nagle serves as a sober warning that we are not put on earth to ride roughshod over everyone else in our selfish search for happiness, but that happiness is a social construct in which everyone should reap equal benefit and for which everyone should assume equal responsibility.

Article Review Format Guide Essay

The article discusses whether the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the subsequence laws were the correct solution for the problems that arose from the Enron and WorldCom bankruptcies. The article illustrates how the different rules and legislature affect different size business, and the ramifications that resulted for companies that must follow the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The authors of the article also conducted a study on whether or not fraud of the financial statements was in direct correlation of businesses filing bankruptcy (Nogler & Inwon, 2011, p. 68) like in the cases of Enron and WorldCom. The results found that the larger the company that filed bankruptcy the more likely that securities fraud litigation and general overstatement of the revenue and assets of the company occurred (Nogler & Inwon, 2011). LEGAL ISSUE Legal issues were rampant in the article. For instance, with the issuance of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, companies chose to â€Å"go dark† to â€Å"no longer trade publically,† (Nogler & Inwon, 2011, p. 67) in order to not have to comply fully with SOX. The article also address whether it is fair or just to make smaller companies follow the same exact rules and fines of such articles as Article 404 of the SOX Act. MANAGERIAL PERSPECTIVE Fraud is a real threat to the financial stability of a corporation and even the country. The legal issues presented in the article show how damaging fraud truly is. Of the over 1,200 companies that filed for bankruptcy in the study, 77.8% had some sort of fraud (Nogler & Inwon, 2011). These numbers show that laws like Sarbanes-Oxley are justified in trying to stop the illegal actions within the finances of a corporation by making people responsible for their actions and the actions of those around us. The creative reporting methods that people use in ponzi schemes and recording of financial information needs to be highly monitored to prevent losses for stakeholders. Realistic solutions include more laws for the betterment of the corporate world. Laws that protect individual employees like auditors and Certified Public Accountants, because as it stands now all liability falls to only a few people like the CFO or CEO, when in fact there are instances when they too need protection. Smal l businesses that wish to go public should have similar laws designed for their size and not just an umbrella law that might prevent the company from growth. Reference: Nogler, G., & Inwon, J. (2011, May/June). Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Was the ’one-size-fits-all’ approach justified? Journal of Corporate Accounting & Finance (Wiley), 22(4), 65-76. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.20691

Ethical Challenges and Agency Issues

When an agent finds out that they are going overbudget or over the allotted time limit the most critical element is open communication. With open communication it gives management more advance warning earlier in the budget cycle to make changes that can get the project back on track. The most important element management needs is ample time to make corrections to keep the project on budget and within time constraints. The more time management has the better their chances are of getting the proper resources aligned to get the budget back under control. If the budget issues are due to the client not properly keeping records, the agency could word the contract in a way that allows provisions for adjustments which would enable the agency to form a financial or time resolution with the client. A contract that allows for those types of adjustments limits agency issues and will keep a better working relationship between the two parties. The main issue is deciding what party is responsible or accountable for an overbudget project. If the agency can demonstrate why the budget is off to the client and be able to charge extra for the additional work the agency could delegate more resources to get the project completed in time as well. It is critical for the agency to have open communication between its team members, but it is just as crucial for the agency to be honest with the client as well. The ethical issue that arises with being overbudget is that individual employees don’t want to be penalized or face repercussions for their performance so they delay reporting results to management. When employees are afraid to report shortfalls earlier in the process it can lead to higher costs and major agency issues. The sooner the agent can show the client that planning or reporting issues are occurring they can make vital decisions to get the project back in line. Employees need to objectively think about others involved in their future with the company and client. As long as individuals clarify expectations and apply ethics to a situation it is possible to get a project back on budget. The agency can delegate more resources to an area that needs more manpower or money to get the project completed as promised to the client. Executive Pay Analyzing the ethical challenges as well as any agency issues in the Level of Executive Pay Case Study brings forth hidden issues in the New York Stock Exchange. To better analyze these issues one first has to ask oneself the following question, what is the true definition of ethics. Wheelwright defined ethics as â€Å"that branch of philosophy which is the systematic study of reflective choice, of the standards of right and wrong by which it is to be guided, and of the goods toward which it may ultimately be directed. † Did Mr.  Richard (Dick) Grasso violate any ethical standards set forth by the organization he was representing; did he really violate the systematic study of reflective choice, of the standards of right and wrong? In order to get a straight answer to this question it will dependent in which side of the fence one might find oneself in; if you are on the side of the lucky ones that happens to earn this outrageous sums of money then the answer would be no. But if you find oneself in the other side of the fence with the individuals who earn an average salary that would never get the opportunity to reach the levels of aristocracy that Mr.  Grasso reached then the answer would be yes. The ethical roles on all companies play a big role on the decision making of each enterprise. Before and after Mr. Grasso was hired it was customary to compensate top officials with these large sums of money. Top officials in the NYSE never had to disclose their earning to the public or to the SEC before so it’s hard to say any ethical standards were bent or even broken. This type of compensation to top NYSE officials was customary and there were no real intentions to misguide or mislead the public or the SEC. Just because not everyone in the NYSE had access to potentially earn this outrageous sums of money will indicate to the public that these individuals were directly involved in unethical behavior. All companies in today’s business society have a code of conduct implemented but this does not means that it is being followed. What companies are doing is creating rewards methods in order to retain the services of these top business gurus that would help their business to maximize their profits and Mr. Grasso track record spoke for itself. These incentive programs can help businesses to minimize any unethical attempts to their code of conduct. The general public and the SEC are outrage because of the outlandish compensation top NYSE officials receives but at no point during the case study it mentions that these top officials have a salary cap. One believes that since there were no salary cap on how much NYSE officials might earn there are no ethical implications that could discourage NYSE official from making these large sums of money. What one does believe is that if there are established codes of conduct and employees or management violates them, there should be strict actions taken to prevent the problem from worsening. One believes that all employees including management needs to uphold the highest level of ethical conduct if a company wants to be successful. 1933, 1934, and SOX The financial information users usually rely on opinion of independent auditors to make important economic decisions. To protect users’ interest from fraudulent financial statement, security acts of 1933, 1934, and SOX joined in to ensure adequate information disclosure. The acts provide regulation that goes beyond and requires more extensive disclosure than GAAP to govern corporate financial activities. For example, companies must fill audited annual and unaudited interim financial statements in conformity with regulation S-k. In addition, the regulation S-K governs the footnote disclosure in the financial statements. Congress enacted the acts after the stock market crash in 1929 to regulate the trading of securities to the public. For this reasons, security trading companies must register with SEC prior to issuance of security to ensure that information presented to investor for making accounting decisions is correct. In the aftermath of the famous corporate accounting scandal (Enron) that rock the world market, congress enacted the Sarbanes- Oxley Act (sox) to strengthen corporate accountability and governance of public companies. The provision increases the CEO and auditors responsibilities. CEO and other top executive must certify that company financial statement and other disclosures are fairly presented in accordance with GAAP. In other words, CEO is responsible to ensure that material misstatement does not exist in the financial statement presented to the users. SOX also authorize the Public Company accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) to oversee the activities of the registered accounting firm. This changes the way auditors plan, implement and report the audit. The provision increases penalties that could affect an accountant who is involve in the destruction, alternation, or falsification of records in federal investigations. Any violation of such may be subject to fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years, additional training, new quality control procedure, revocation of firm’s registration, and barring from participating in audit of public companies.

Euphony Is Not So Far Away essays

Euphony Is Not So Far Away essays Music is a substance like nothing else in the world. It can touch our deepest emotions with such an intensity or it can be in the background and hardly noticed. There isnt anything in the world that is as strong of an expression of who people are, what they love, and what they represent. Music begins in the hearts of people. Then it must become substance. Just like the painter, first there is inspiration and then action. One way in which music moves from the heart to the ear is through the efforts of a group, known as a band. One great thing about a band is that the three major parts of music are covered: melody, rhythm, and harmony. Another amazing part of a band is the support and compounded creativity that is shared. Forming a band is not a very easy thing to do. It takes initiative and patience to bring a group of individuals together to form one unit. If you have the patience and time to learn to play an instrument, you can also form a band. I will show you how to bring indivi dual musicians together to make music worth listening to. The first step is to bring together all the parts. One of the most essential elements of a band is the rhythm section, which is performed by a percussionist. You need to find someone who can play a set of drums, a set of congas or bongos, or another percussion instrument. Another important part that you must find is the bassist. They will support the rhythm while also playing a harmony or a melody. Then, you must find the musicians to play the harmony. This can be very broad. It can be one person or multiple people playing the same or different instruments. Some of the most typical instruments used for this part are the guitar or the keyboard. Then comes the final touch, the vocalist. This can be one or more people. They will be very important in that they gain the attention of the crowd. Their melody lines are the most remembered and noticed. Typically, a band is only as good as its vocal...

List of 130 Mass Nouns (Or Noncount Nouns) in English

List of 130 Mass Nouns (Or Noncount Nouns) in English Have you ever wondered why you can have two plates of spaghetti but not  two spaghettis? Or two bags of rice  but not two rices? Most nouns In English grammar are like the words plate and bag: they can be counted. Count nouns, as theyre called,  have both  singular  and  plural  forms, such as one  diamond and four  diamonds. But theres also a group of nouns  that cant be counted. These mass nouns  (which are sometimes called  noncount nouns)  usually have only singular forms- spaghetti, rice, and gold, for example. Count nouns in the singular can follow an indefinite article (or another determiner): a plate, a bag, one  diamond. Mass nouns, on the other hand, usually dont follow an indefinite article, though they can follow certain determiners (such as much or less). At times the distinction between count nouns and mass nouns gets a little fuzzy. For example, the word water is usually treated as a mass noun, but in some contexts water can take the -s ending: Hammerhead sharks are found worldwide in  warmer waters  along coastlines and continental shelves. The word chicken is another fuzzy example. When were talking about the meat (We had chicken again for dinner), chicken is a mass noun. But when were referring to the animal (The cat chased the chickens out of the garden), chicken is a count noun. Keep this fuzziness in mind as you review the following list of 130 mass nouns in English. In certain contexts, some of these nouns can take an -s ending. Also, note that a number of these words can be used as more than one part of speech. The sentences in parentheses illustrate how the words are used as nouns. admiration (I have a deep  admiration for  any writer whose books stay in print.)advice (As usual, my brother gave me some bad advice.)air (The air in the storeroom was musty and cold.)anger (Whenever you get angry, you poison your own system.)anticipation (Anticipation is usually greater  than realization.)assistance (I need your assistance with these problems.)awareness (Awareness of problems is  no guarantee they will be solved.)bacon (I associate  the smell of bacon  with Sunday mornings.)baggage (At the airport I lost my baggage but found a new friend.)blood (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and sweat.)bravery (It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.)chess (I played two games of chess with myself.)clay (The birds built their nests out of clay.)clothing (The vast majority of  donated clothing  is exported overseas.)coal (Coal was burned as a fuel in China more than 3,000 years ago.)compliance (The building was  not in compliance with local  fire codes.) comprehension (Comprehension cant take place when students are distracted.)confusion (If confusion is the first step  to knowledge, I must be a genius.)consciousness  (Nobody knows how  many fundamental  forms of consciousness  exist in the human brain.)cream (My favorite dessert is strawberries and cream.)darkness (Education is the movement from darkness to light.)diligence (The supervisors lack of diligence led to  disasters of gigantic proportions.)dust (Their faces were caked with orange dust.)education (Education is the movement from  darkness  to light.)empathy (Socially skilled people are adept at managing teams: thats their empathy at work.)enthusiasm (Even small rewards may spark the childrens enthusiasm and ambitions.)envy (She saw envy in the eyes of her friends.)equality (The  global challenge of achieving full gender  equality and human rights  for women remains enormous.)equipment (We used camels to carry all our equipment and provisions.)evidence (The investigators looked for evidence in the debris.) feedback (Negative feedback is better than no feedback at all.)fitness (Fitness and good health are the result of a change in lifestyle.)flattery (Sue wasnt deceived by their flattery and lies.)foliage (Late summer and fall bring bright  fruits and colorful foliage.)fun (Tom  liked being around our family for  the fun we had and our big fancy dinners.)furniture (Jane looked around at the bare walls and broken furniture.)garbage (The skunk fell asleep in the garbage bin.)gold (The crown was made of gold and precious stones.)gossip (The only time people dislike gossip is when you gossip about them.)grammar (I studied English grammar in grammar school.)gratitude (The hiker expressed her gratitude  to the boys who had rescued her.)gravel (The path to the beach was made of gravel.)guilt (If you do the right thing, you wont feel any guilt.)happiness (Happiness isnt something you experience; its something you remember.)hardware (Until its loaded with software, a computer is just a p iece of hardware.) hate (Hate cannot drive out hate, Dr. King said. Only love can do that.)hay (The children played in the hay all day.)health (Good health is something that most of take for granted.)heat (If you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.)help (When he couldnt put out the fire by himself, John went to get help.)hesitation (When the alarms went off, Bruno acted without hesitation.)homework (Jorge decided to finish his homework before going out.)honesty (A good relationship is based on honesty.)honor/honour (Our parents deserve our honor and respect for giving us life itself.)hospitality (I thanked Maries mother for her hospitality.)hostility (New immigrants are sometimes  met with hostility  from older immigrants.)humanity (Though Earl had been mistreated, he never lost his faith in humanity.)humility (Gratitude and humility are the true keys to success.)ice (Franklins ship was stuck in the ice.)immortality (The key to immortality is living a life worth remembering.)independence ( Texas declared independence in  1836 and joined the U.S. in 1845.) information (There is  too much information and not  enough time.)integrity (The most important character trait of a leader is integrity.)intimidation (The boss  used intimidation to keep his staff in line.)jargon (The doctors jargon confused the patient.)  jealousy (Passion can quickly turn into jealousy.)jewelry (Jennifer left her jewelry on the dressing table.)justice (Justice delayed is justice denied.)knowledge (A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.)literacy (My parents gave me the gift of literacy.)logic (Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end.)luck (Dans luck ran out when his van ran out of gas.)lumber (A truckload of  lumber was stolen from  the sawmill.)luggage (The airline lost my luggage.)mail (The letter carrier delivered my mail to the wrong address.)management (Poor management leads to low morale and inefficiency.)merchandise (The expensive merchandise sat on the shelves gathering dust.)milk (Drinking too much milk can spoil a chil ds appetite.)morale (Poor  management  leads to low morale and inefficiency.) mud (The detective noticed that the suspect had mud on his shoes.)music (I cant listen to music while Im trying to write.)nonsense (Its nonsense to think that you can lose weight just by taking a pill.)oppression (Sooner or later, oppression leads to rebellion.)optimism (Optimism is an important part of good leadership.)oxygen (The diver ran out of oxygen before reaching the surface.)participation (Participation in school sports often has a positive effect on childrens grades.)pay (The strikers demanded higher pay.)peace (We wanted only to be  left alone, to live in peace.)perseverance (With perseverance and passion you can achieve your goals.)pessimism (Jill couldnt put up with Wills unrelenting pessimism.)pneumonia (Winston has just  recovered from a bout of pneumonia.)poetry (Peters poetry is pretty awful.)police (Mrs. Sanchez  called the police last night.)pride (Johns pride was hurt by Joans sarcastic remarks.)privacy (J.D. Salinger valued his privacy.)propaganda (Propagan da helps people to deceive themselves.) public (The young violinist lacked the confidence to perform in public.)punctuation (Punctuation is the written expression of pauses and gestures.)recovery (The insurance agency assisted in the recovery of the stolen jewels.)rice (Rice is the  most important food crop in the developing world.)rust (Achilles  scraped the rust off the  head of his spear)satisfaction (Success is finding satisfaction in giving a little more than you take.)shame (Imagine  the shame of being caught cheating!)sheep (Merino  sheep are an important source of high-quality wool.)slang (Slang is a sport that belongs essentially to the young.)software (Until its loaded with software, a computer is just a piece of  hardware.)spaghetti (Pauls favorite food is spaghetti.)stamina (It takes stamina and persistence to succeed in any sport.)starvation (The early American colonists faced the risk of starvation.)steam (Steam was the  first great power source of the industrial age.)steel (In 1943 all  penni es in the U.S. were made of steel.) stuff (Nobody was allowed to touch my Dads stuff.)support (Maria knew that she could depend on the support of her mother.)sweat (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and sweat.)thunder (Thunder rumbled over the  western hills.)timber (Basswood is the best timber for building pulpits.)toil  (Churchill said, I have nothing to offer but  blood, toil, tears, and  sweat.)traffic (The traffic was so bad that we had to give up and go back home.)training (Birdie injured her knee while  she was in training  for a marathon.)trash (The dog had emptied the trash all over the kitchen floor.)understanding (I have only a limited understanding of basic physics.)valor (The soldiers exhibited  valor in the face of  extreme peril.)vehemence (John was surprised by the vehemence of Joans response.)violence (Violence never achieves peace)warmth (She felt the warmth of the breeze on her arms.)waste  (Poor planning led to an enormous waste of time and money.)w eather (Bad weather slowed the recovery efforts.) wheat (Wheat is the most  important source of vegetable protein in our food.)wisdom (When the fight started, Pete had the wisdom to call a time-out.)work (The fire was the work of a careless burglar.)