International standards on customs services Essay

International standards on customs services - Essay Example In addition, the customs offices that are not working in collaboration with the international community can create chaos in issues like intellectual property and patenting. Thus, the need to have international standards in customs services has been well understood by people. As a result, a large number of international regulatory bodies have taken birth. The very first one is World customs Organisation which represents more than 166 members. On 23 June 2005, all the members of WCO accepted the SAFE Framework of Standards to Secure and Facilitate Global Trade. The Framework intends to provide supply chain security and facilitation at a global level in order to enhance certainty and predictability. Also, it ensures an integrated supply chain management for all modes of transport. This introduces a number of changes in the existing system. Firstly, it harmonises advanced electronic cargo information requirements on inbound, outbound and transit shipments. Also, according to the Framework, it is the sending nation’s customs administration that performs outbound cargo inspection instead of the receiving nation. Such inspections will adopt non-intrusive detection equipments like x-ray machines and radiation detectors. This ensures that a clearance can be made before the cargo reaches the destination (World Customs Organization, 200 7, p.6-7). Another one is the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that deals with the global rules or trade between nations. This organisation works to see that trade is conducted smoothly, predictably and as freely as possible. The WTO usually covers goods, services and intellectual property. As nations become members of WTO, they have to disclose all the laws and regulations they have adopted. Then, the WTO committees will work to see that the WTO agreements are properly followed by the member nation. In

Wake Forest University President Nathan O’Hatch Essay Example for Free

Wake Forest University President Nathan O’Hatch Essay Wake Forest University President Nathan O’Hatch hinted that the success of the University has come directly from the students that inhabit the institution, along with the campus atmosphere created by them. He confirms that the university strives to obtain a vibrant and exhilarating community that moves toward success through education and character development. I believe that Wake Forest University is searching for students who will leave a positive impact on the establishment while having a strong concentration on their goals. I believe that my intellectual growth and experiences, religious background, and morally driven values and characteristics will contribute greatly to the expansion of the Wake Forest community. Lou Holtz once quoted, â€Å"Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. † This inspirational commitment to challenge your mind to attain success each and every day measures the achievements that a person will achieve throughout their life. Throughout my high school career, I have experienced many educational opportunities and held many leadership roles that were vital to shaping my future. A person’s ability, motivation, and attitude are imperative characteristics that define their motives throughout all of their endeavors. I have found it very important for one to surround oneself with positive influences, along with a diverse group of people in order to expand and grow as an individual. If one converses with the same community each day, they will never challenge themselves in their knowledge, and in turn become less intellectually rounded. I strive to be an active student in my school who engulfs many ideas and is well-rounded in the aspect of education and extra-curricular activities in order to leave a positive impact on my peers for the betterment of my future, and theirs. At the beginning of high school, I embarked in a program that has impacted my life in many ways. I have been molded into a confident leader who strives to make a positive impact at my high school, and on my community, due to my advisor and my personal commitment. This organization was Student Council. In the ninth and tenth grade, I was elected Secretary and then Vice President of my class. I then was nominated and selected to serve as the second vice president of the entire student body, which ultimately set me up to be the Student Body President my senior year. I have grown into a person through experiences that have come along as a result of my being an active part of the Student Council. My organizational skills have proved effective as I have planned and implemented many ideas throughout my high school career in Student Council. I have actively planned three Homecoming skits and dances, four spring dances, three Powder-Puff games, two dodge ball tournaments, three Mr. Central Cabarrus Pageants, two volleyball tournaments, and many more events as a head leader in leadership class and Student Council at my school. During my last two years as the Student Body second Vice President and Student Body President, I have actively led the council in a direction that has not been travelled before as we have embarked on a community service project and active participation throughout the community. As the second vice president of my council, we successfully raised $19,000 for Juvenile Diabetes through fundraisers including a dodge ball tournament, a spring dance, and many other small projects. We have set ourselves a challenge of exceeding this goal as a school this year. I have organized the council to participate in the Special Olympic Games at the Cabarrus Arena for the past three years to support and encourage these amazing athletes. I strive to lead the council and my school with a positive force that places a strong emphasis on community service and school betterment projects. Student Council has allowed me to work with the administration and high level officials in the community, building confidence in myself along with furthering my social skills. On numerous occasions, I have submitted proposals to the principal and school board to implement events, and I have had to professionally stand as the student body’s voice as I discuss these issues with officials of our community. Although disappointed after the Renaissance breakfast was rejected, I responded with enthusiasm to begin the next project of Darfur Awareness Week, a cause for which I am very passionate. I have actively taken a role in the Beta Club, Mu Alpha Theta Math Club, National Honors Society, and Junior Civitan Club, as I hope to do everything in my power to leave a legacy at Central Cabarrus High School. I strive to leave the school in a better place than I found the thriving establishment. On an educational basis, I have enlisted in numerous advanced placement and honors courses to further my intellectual ability throughout my middle school and high school career. Currently, I am challenging myself to complete two rigorous courses consisting of AP English IV along with AP Government just in this semester. These two classes are the most demanding at our school, and I am one of only ten individuals of each class who dared to confront these two challenging courses in the same semester. I admire each individual in these classes and learn new ideas and beliefs by surrounding myself with these amazing and bright students. In my AP English class, I have been exposed to many philosophies, and many forms of literature, including Shakespearean sonnets and plays, which I would have previously never studied. In AP Government, I have watched and analyzed the differing views of Democrats, Libertarians, and Republicans as we analyze the modern constitution and judicial system. I have set a high goal of myself to achieve success in each class with a broad knowledge of information from each lesson. If I keep a strong focus on my ability, motivation, and attitude, I will continue succeeding in each of these classes. I believe Wake Forest University President indicates the success of the University comes directly from the character development and diversity which is learned from surrounding oneself with individuals of intellectual and diverse backgrounds, and this is something that I have learned to embrace. Along with challenging me each day to intellectually grow from my experiences and education, the importance of Christianity has impacted and shaped my life in many areas. I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a Christian school until the age of thirteen, which assisted in molding me into a compassionate, honest, and respectable individual. I received a well-rounded education that allowed me to allocate a strong moral background and foundation for my life. I learned the importance of keeping a respectable reputation, giving back to the community, and continuing to practice humbleness before God. I have been a Christian for as long as I can recall and have grown as an individual due to this commitment. I have challenged myself to spreading the many blessings of God and exemplifying a positive Christian attitude in my every day encounters. I have portrayed an active role throughout the community and have an ambition of making a difference in as many lives as possible. As the Student Body President, a member of leadership class, and the Varsity Cheerleading Captain, I have had the opportunity to achieve my ambition already in my adolescent years. I am very active in Race for the Cure, Walk for Juvenile Diabetes, Special Olympics, Join the World of Winners, and Darfur Relief efforts. It is extremely critical to participate in volunteer community service projects for the good of your community. I have served as a volunteer Special Olympics Cheerleading coach for a gym in my area. As I have surrounded myself with these children on a weekly basis, I have learned the importance of dedication, open-mindedness, patience, optimism, and compassion. They have challenged me to live up to their standard, which in return has played a huge role in the basis of my character. Jesus once quoted, â€Å"It is more blessed to given than to receive† (Acts 20:35). With this verse in mind, a person can grow to see the importance of giving and, in return, receiving the satisfaction of impacting a person’s life. As an eight year old, I was one of five girls to raise $10,000 for the Masonic Home for Children in Henderson, North Carolina. This amazing experience left me passionate about helping others at an early age after seeing the impact that I had left on the lives of those children after we delivered the check. As I have visited numerous nursing homes and children hospitals throughout my lifetime and directly met victims of the current Darfur genocide, I have learned the impact that an individual can leave on another person needing support. With Wake Forest building their foundation upon a Baptist, Christian philosophy, my desire to reach out and help those in need along with exemplifying Christian character displays my willingness to continue to build upon the Wake Forest Community. Due greatly to my educational growth and religious background, I have developed many characteristics that will greatly benefit me throughout my life. After being selected as the Student Body President, I have had the privilege to lead Student Council and the Student Body in all of our endeavors. I have learned so many important qualities such as the importance of teamwork, reliability, dedication, and the ability to motivate a group of individuals throughout the leadership roles that I have held oover my high school career. My leadership advisor has inspired me to grow as a person and expand my leadership qualities into becoming the most successful leader that I can become. Over the last three years, I have become closer and closer to one of my goal: Striving to obtain success through keeping a positive attitude and leading a life of upstanding moral character. With each of the clubs and activities that I have been active in, I have learned responsibility and commitment is the key to victory. After my second day of AP English, I was asked to recite a speech concerning the topic â€Å"Who I am, Who I am not†. I was very nervous and spent much time preparing for what turned out to be an inspirational speech of what I strive to attain each and every day. After completing the speech, my English teacher asked me to give this speech to her Varsity Volleyball team. I was so honored and anxious, and before their big game I recited the speech to them. This meant an immense deal to me, and I was very grateful to do my best to inspire this amazing team. Through my English teacher’s boost, and my Leadership advisor’s inspiration, I have become a more relaxed and comfortable public speaker along with building a strong leadership character to follow with me throughout my life. I am a person who strives to build upon my leadership qualities for the betterment of myself along with keeping an open mind to all ideas of individuals as I build on my values and characteristics. Wake Forest University seeks to â€Å"wed knowledge with experience† just as a leader must do each and every day. â€Å"Two roads diverged in the wood and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all of the difference. † Throughout an individual’s life they encounter many paths and decisions that define them as a person. They must sometimes choose the best direction for their life in preparing for their future aspirations. As a person of high motivation, I always choose to challenge myself with high goals and new challenges. Sadly, in today’s modern world it seems that the road less travelled is the right road; the road where, instead of walking alone through life never taking notice of others, a person stops along the way to reach out a hand to help those who are left by the wayside. This is the path which I have chosen to take for myself. I use all of my life experiences to build upon my life and achieve all goals that I strive to accomplish. I believe that with a diverse education, strong religious background, and character inspiration to becoming a great leader, I will greatly contribute to the Wake Forest community. Nathan O’Hatch’s praise to the beautiful campus and community of Wake Forest illustrates the intention of continuing to build upon one of the greatest universities in the nation. I strive to be a unique individual with high goals to leave an impact on the world. I am ready to meet the challenge of continuing to expand Wake Forest University through education and experience.

Personal Narrative- The Dieting Cycle Essay -- Personal Narrative, ess

It was about 1:30 AM. "Well, its time to hit the sack," I thought. I had had a really long day. I had been in school since 8 AM and I was truly exhausted. God I hated Mondays! Three classes, four hours of work, and then a night class where even the walls attempted to escape the boredom of the lectures. I wondered how I was able to do this every week. I laughed and thought, "I must have a lot of patience..." I quickly changed into my favorite pajamas - sweats and a tee- and I began to brush my teeth. As I washed my face to eliminate the dirt and grime of a hard days work, I caught myself staring into the mirror. I said to myself, "Gosh, I look horrible today." My hair seemed so dull, so bland. My face looked so pale, so white. My eyes were surrounded by a purplish blue coloring, the same coloring that I had attempted to hide that same morning with my makeup. My eye lids felt like they weighed a ton. "Damn! Mondays are really starting to wear me down. I got to start getting some rest." But that was not it, and I knew it. I lied to myself so that I would feel at ease and calm, but deep down inside I knew why I looked the way that I did. It wasn't my hectic schedule and it wasn't the lighting of the mirror. It was my relentless battle that I fought day and night with no chance of victory. As I entered my bedroom, I immediately pulled down the covers and laid my body to rest. My spine hit hard against the rings within my mattress and I was in pain. "Ouch! That hurts like hell! When am I finally going to get a mattress that is actually soft and comfortable and that doesn't dig into my back." But the mattress wasn't the problem. I had used that mattress for years and it never once gave me a problem. But now things were diff... ... was now past 2:00 AM. I had wasted more than half an hour walking to and from the kitchen debating whether or not I should or should not eat. This was ridiculous. "Tomorrow I start fresh," I said. I will eat lunch and dinner. I will start trying to get my life back together. I felt at ease and was comforted by the thoughts of living a normal life again. Deep down inside, however, I knew damn well that tomorrow would be no different than today. I knew that I would start the day worrying about how I looked and how much weight I had gained. Then I would spend the day dieting and not eating a thing. Then at night I would flip out and tell myself that I would try harder the next day to make things right. It was an endless cycle that just went on and on. I prayed that it would stop, but I feared that it was too late. I had gone too far and now there was no turning back.

Bill Bryson †“Notes from a small Island” Essay

What features make it amusing? â€Å"Notes From A Small Island† is Bill Bryson’s accounts from travelling around Britain. He writes in a very distinctive style. He compared this journey to a similar one that he took in 1973. He begins the book by recalling his first sight of England â€Å"on a foggy March night in 1973.† This is in the prologue. He begins chapter one by comparing Britain in 1973 to the time when he revisited it. The humour in this passage is how he complains about England. Through out Bryson’s accounts of his trip he portrays a lot of Irony. The Irony is that it is over twenty years since his last visit Britain has actually changed surprisingly little. In his accounts of Dover he has noticed that there are a lot of similarities to Dover in 1973, â€Å"†¦found myself square in front of Mrs Smegma’s establishment. It was still a hotel and looked substantially unchanged, as far as I could remember†¦Ã¢â‚¬  It is the Ironic features that makes parts of â€Å"Notes from a small island† amusing. The reason that Bryson’s books are so funny is because they are so true and honest. I especially find the chapters about London funny because I have been there so many times my self. I love the part where he talks about multi – story car parks, â€Å"You drive around for ages, and then spend a small eternity shunting into a space exactly two inches wider than the average car.† Another reason why we laugh at Bryson’s books is because it is a common instinct to laugh at other’s misfortunes. This especially occurs when we have been in a similar situation, in the past, our selves. â€Å"Notes from a small island† is written in first person. Bryson uses Elision and Ellipsis in his writing. This makes his writing seem more personal and it also seems like he is actually telling his stories to the reader themselves. He also uses similes and many adjectives to create images in the reader’s mind. The use of modifiers is included in his writing. He has included dialect into his writing as well. Bryson has used both compound and complex sentences. He also uses â€Å"Tongue in Cheek Tone,† â€Å"†¦a sprig of artificial lilies instantly informed me that the food would be mediocre but present with a certain well – practiced flourish.† The use of â€Å"Tongue in cheek† creates more humour in Bryson’s writing. The potential audience for this book is people whom whish to travel or generally people who like reading comedy. It is a travel book merged with humour. The purpose of â€Å"Notes from a small island† is to inform the readers about the different places but also entertain and amuse them. His lexical field is effective. Through out the book Bryson makes many observations, â€Å"†¦between them consumed the last of the profiteroles and the black forest gateau from the sweet trolley. The boy, I noticed, had a double heap of both, the greedy fat pig.† In this quotation Bryson has basically written about what the majority of us think but do not actually say. Bryson’s ability to put into words his travelling experiences so they can be read and enjoyed are not achieved all that often by others. He appears to have an open mind and as a result gives extensive reviews of his experiences. In these reviews provide entertainment for the reader, as they are very funny.

A Dirty Job Chapter 3

3 BENEATH THE NUMBER FORTY-ONE BUS It was two weeks before Charlie left the apartment and walked down to the auto-teller on Columbus Avenue where he first killed a guy. His weapon of choice was the number forty-one bus, on its way from the Trans Bay station, by the Bay Bridge, to the Presidio, by the Golden Gate Bridge. If you're going to get hit by a bus in San Francisco, you want to go with the forty-one, because you can pretty much figure on there being a nice bridge view. Charlie hadn't really counted on killing a guy that morning. He had hoped to get some twenties for the register at the thrift store, check his balance, and maybe pick up some yellow mustard at the deli. (Charlie was not a brown mustard kind of guy. Brown mustard was the condiment equivalent of skydiving – it was okay for race-car drivers and serial killers, but for Charlie, a fine line of French's yellow was all the spice that life required.) After the funeral, friends and relatives had left a mountain of cold cuts in Charlie's fridge, which was all he'd eaten for the past two weeks, but now he was down to ham, dark rye, and premixed Enfamil formula, none of which was tolerable without yellow mustard. He'd secured the yellow squeeze bottle and felt safer now with it in his jacket pocket, but when the bus hit the guy, mustard completely slipped Charlie's mind. It was a warm day in October, the light had gone autumn soft over the city, the summer fog had ceased its relentless crawl out of the Bay each morning, and there was just enough breeze that the few sailboats that dotted the Bay looked like they might have been posing for an Impressionist painter. In the split second that Charlie's victim realized that he was being run over, he might not have been happy about the event, but he couldn't have picked a nicer day for it. The guy's name was William Creek. He was thirty-two and worked as a market analyst in the financial district, where he had been headed that morning when he decided to stop at the auto-teller. He was wearing a light wool suit and running shoes, his work shoes were tucked into a leather satchel under his arm. The handle of a compact umbrella protruded from the side pocket of the satchel, and it was this that caught Charlie's attention, for while the handle of the umbrella appeared to be made of faux walnut burl, it was glowing a dull red as if it had been heated in a forge. Charlie stood in the ATM line trying not to notice, trying to appear uninterested, but he couldn't help but stare. It was glowing, for fuck's sake, didn't anyone see it? William Creek glanced over his shoulder as he slid his card into the machine, saw Charlie looking at him, then tried to will his suit coat to expand into great manta-ray wings to block Charlie's view as he keyed in his PIN number. Creek snatched his card and the expectorated cash from the machine, turned, and headed away quickly toward the corner. Charlie couldn't stand it any longer. The umbrella handle had begun to pulsate red, like a beating heart. As Creek reached the curb, Charlie said, â€Å"Excuse me. Excuse me, sir!† When Creek turned, Charlie said, â€Å"Your umbrella – â€Å" At that point, the number forty-one bus was coming through the intersection at Columbus and Vallejo at about thirty-five miles per hour, angling toward the curb for its next stop. Creek looked down at the satchel under his arm where Charlie was pointing, and the heel of his running shoe caught the slight rise of the curb. He started to lose his balance, the sort of thing we all might do on any given day while walking through the city, trip on a crack in the sidewalk and take a couple of quick steps to regain equilibrium, but William Creek took only one step. Back. Off the curb. You can't really sugarcoat it at this point, can you? The number forty-one bus creamed him. He flew a good fifty feet through the air before he hit the back window of a SAAB like a great gabardine sack of meat, then bounced back to the pavement and commenced to ooze fluids. His belongings – the satchel, the umbrella, a gold tie bar, a Tag Heuer watch – skittered on down the street, ricocheting off tires, shoes, manhole covers, some coming to rest nearly a block away. Charlie stood at the curb trying to breathe. He could hear a tooting sound, like someone was blowing a toy train whistle – it was all he could hear, then someone ran into him and he realized it was the sound of his own rhythmic whimpering. The guy – the guy with the umbrella – had just been wiped out of the world. People rushed, crowded around, a dozen were barking into cell phones, the bus driver nearly flattened Charlie as he rushed down the sidewalk toward the carnage. Charlie staggered after him. â€Å"I was just going to ask him – â€Å" No one looked at Charlie. It had taken all of his will, as well as a pep talk from his sister, to leave the apartment, and now this? â€Å"I was just going to tell him that his umbrella was on fire,† Charlie said, as if he was explaining to his accusers. But no one accused him, really. They ran by him, some headed toward the body, some away from it – they batted him around and looked back, baffled, like they'd collided with a rough air current or a ghost instead of a man. â€Å"The umbrella,† Charlie said, looking for the evidence. Then he spotted it, almost down at the next corner, lying in the gutter, still glowing red, pulsating like failing neon. â€Å"There! See!† But people were gathered around the dead man in a wide semicircle, their hands to their mouths, and no one was paying any attention to the frightened thin man spouting nonsense behind them. He threaded his way through the crowd toward the umbrella, determined now to confirm his conviction, too far in shock to be afraid. When he was only ten feet away from it he looked up the street to make sure another bus wasn't coming before he ventured off the curb. He looked back just as a delicate, tar-black hand snaked out of the storm drain and snatched the compact umbrella off the street. Charlie backed away, looking around to see if anyone had seen what he had seen, but no one had. No one even made eye contact. A policeman trotted by and Charlie grabbed his sleeve as he passed, but when the cop spun around and his eyes went wide with confusion, then what appeared to be real terror, Charlie let him go. â€Å"Sorry,† he said. â€Å"Sorry. I can see you've got work to do – sorry.† The cop shuddered and pushed through the crowd of onlookers toward the battered body of William Creek. Charlie started running, across Columbus and up Vallejo, until his breath and heartbeat in his ears drowned all the sounds of the street. When he was a block away from his shop a great shadow moved over him, like a low-flying aircraft or a huge bird, and with it Charlie felt a chill vibrate up his back. He lowered his head, pumped his arms, and rounded the corner of Mason just as the cable car was passing, full of smiling tourists who looked right through him. He glanced up, just for a second, and he thought he saw something above, disappearing over the roof of the six-story Victorian across the street, then he bolted through the front door of his shop. â€Å"Hey, boss,† Lily said. She was sixteen, pale, and a little bottom heavy – her grown-woman form still in flux between baby fat and baby bearing. Today her hair happened to be lavender: fifties-housewife helmet hair in Easter-basket cellophane pastel. Charlie was bent over, leaning against a case full of curios by the door, sucking in deep raspy gulps of secondhand store mustiness. â€Å"I – think – I – just – killed – a – guy,† he gasped. â€Å"Excellent,† Lily said, ignoring equally his message and his demeanor. â€Å"We're going to need change for the register.† â€Å"With a bus,† Charlie said. â€Å"Ray called in,† she said. Ray Macy was Charlie's other employee, a thirty-nine-year-old bachelor with an unhealthy lack of boundaries between the Internet and reality. â€Å"He's flying to Manila to meet the love of his life. A Ms. LoveYouLongTime. Ray's convinced that they are soul mates.† â€Å"There was something in the sewer,† Charlie said. Lily examined a chip in her black nail polish. â€Å"So I cut school to cover. I've been doing that since you've been, uh, gone. I'm going to need a note.† Charlie stood up and made his way to the counter. â€Å"Lily, did you hear what I said?† He grabbed her by the shoulders, but she spun out of his grasp. â€Å"Ouch! Fuck. Back off, Asher, you sado freak, that's a new tattoo.† She punched him in the arm, hard, and backed away, rubbing her own shoulder. â€Å"I heard, you. Cease your trippin', s'il vous plaà ®t.† Lately, since discovering Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal in a stack of used books in the back room, Lily had been peppering her speech with French phrases. â€Å"French better expresses the profound noirness of my existence,† she had said. Charlie put both hands on the counter to keep them from shaking, then spoke slowly and deliberately, like he was speaking to someone for whom English was a second language: â€Å"Lily, I'm having kind of a bad month, and I appreciate that you are throwing away your education so you can come here and alienate customers for me, but if you don't sit down and show me a little fucking human decency, then I'm going to have to let you go.† Lily sat down on the chrome-and-vinyl diner stool behind the register and pulled her long lavender bangs out of her eyes. â€Å"So you want me to pay close attention to your confession to murder? Take notes, maybe get an old cassette recorder off the shelf and get everything down on tape? You're saying that by trying to ignore your obvious distress, which I would have to later recall to the police, so I can be personally responsible for sending you to the gas chamber, that I'm being inconsiderate?† Charlie shuddered. â€Å"Jeez, Lily.† He was continually surprised at the speed and accuracy of her creepiness. She was like some creepiness child prodigy. But on the bright side, her extreme darkness made him realize that he probably wasn't going to go to the gas chamber. â€Å"It wasn't that kind of killing. There was something following me, and – â€Å" â€Å"Silence!† Lily put her hand up, â€Å"I'd rather not show my employee spirit by committing every detail of your heinous crime to my photographic memory to be recalled in court later. I'll just say that I saw you but you seemed normal for someone without a clue.† â€Å"You don't have a photographic memory.† â€Å"I do, too, and it's a curse. I can never forget the futility of – â€Å" â€Å"You forgot to take out the trash at least eight times last month.† â€Å"I didn't forget.† Charlie took a deep breath, the familiarity of arguing with Lily was actually calming him down. â€Å"Okay then, without looking, what color shirt are you wearing?† He raised an eyebrow like he had her there. Lily smiled and for a second he could see that she was just a kid, kind of cute and goofy under the fierce makeup and attitude. â€Å"Black.† â€Å"Lucky guess.† â€Å"You know I only own black.† She grinned. â€Å"Glad you didn't ask hair color, I just changed this morning.† â€Å"That's not good for you, you know. That dye has toxins.† Lily lifted the lavender wig to reveal her close-cut maroon locks underneath, then dropped it again. â€Å"I'm all natural.† She stood and patted the bar stool. â€Å"Sit, Asher. Confess. Bore me.† Lily leaned back against the counter, and tilted her head to look attentive, but with her dark eye makeup and lavender hair it came off more like a marionette with a broken string. Charlie came around the counter and sat on the stool. â€Å"I was just in line behind this William Creek guy, and I saw his umbrella glowing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  And Charlie went through the whole story to her, the umbrella, the bus, the hand from the storm sewer, the bolt for home with the giant dark shadow above the rooftops, and when he was finished, Lily asked, â€Å"So how do you know his name?† â€Å"Huh?† Charlie said. Of all of the horrible, fantastic things she might have asked about, why that? â€Å"How do you know the guy's name?† Lily repeated. â€Å"You barely spoke to the guy before he bit it. You see it on his receipt or something?† â€Å"No, I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He didn't have any idea how he knew the man's name, but suddenly there was a picture in his head of it written out in big, block letters. He leapt off the stool. â€Å"I gotta go, Lily.† He ran through the door into the stockroom and up the steps. â€Å"I still need a note for school,† Lily shouted from below, but Charlie was dashing through the kitchen, past a large Russian woman who was bouncing his baby daughter in her arms, and into the bedroom, where he snatched up the notepad he kept on his nightstand by the phone. There, in his own blocky handwriting, was written the name William Creek and, under it, the number 12. He sat down hard on the bed, holding the notepad like it was a vial of explosives. Behind him came the heavy steps of Mrs. Korjev as she followed him into the bedroom. â€Å"Mr. Asher, what is wrong? You run by like burning bear.† And Charlie, because he was a Beta Male, and there had evolved over millions of years a standard Beta response to things inexplicable, said, â€Å"Someone is fucking with me.† Lily was touching up her nail polish with a black Magic Marker when Stephan, the mailman, came through the shop door. â€Å"‘Sup, Darque?† Stephan said, sorting a stack of mail out of his bag. He was forty, short, muscular, and black. He wore wraparound sunglasses, which were almost always pushed back on his head over hair braided in tight cornrows. Lily had mixed feelings about him. She liked him because he called her Darque, short for Darquewillow Elventhing, the name under which she received mail at the shop, but because he was cheerful and seemed to like people, she deeply mistrusted him. â€Å"Need you to sign,† Stephan said, offering her an electronic pad, on which she scribbled Charles Baudelaire with great flourish and without even looking. Stephan plopped the mail on the counter. â€Å"Working alone again? So where is everyone?† â€Å"Ray's in the Philippines, Charlie's traumatized.† She sighed. â€Å"Weight of the world falls on me – â€Å" â€Å"Poor Charlie,† Stephan said. â€Å"They say that's the worst thing you can go through, losing a spouse.† â€Å"Yeah, there's that, too. Today he's traumatized because he saw a guy get hit by a bus up on Columbus.† â€Å"Heard about that. He gonna be okay?† â€Å"Well, fuck no, Stephan, he got hit by a bus.† Lily looked up from her nails for the first time. â€Å"I meant Charlie.† Stephan winked, despite her harsh tone. â€Å"Oh, he's Charlie.† â€Å"How's the baby?† â€Å"Evidently she leaks noxious substances.† Lily waved the Magic Marker under her nose as if it might mask the smell of ripened baby. â€Å"All good, then,† Stephan smiled. â€Å"That's it for today. You got anything for me?† â€Å"I took in some red vinyl platforms yesterday. Men's size ten.† Stephan collected vintage seventies pimp wear. Lily was to be on the lookout for anything that came through the shop. â€Å"How tall?† â€Å"Four inches.† â€Å"Low altitude,† Stephan said, as if that explained everything. â€Å"Take care, Darque.† Lily waved her Magic Marker at him as he left, and started sorting through the mail. There were mostly bills, a couple of flyers, but one thick black envelope that felt like a book or catalog. It was addressed to Charlie Asher â€Å"in care of† Asher's Secondhand and had a postmark from Night's Plutonian Shore, which evidently was in whatever state started with a U. (Lily found geography not only mind-numbingly boring, but also, in the age of the Internet, irrelevant.) Was it not addressed to the care of Asher's Secondhand? Lily reasoned. And was she, Lily Darquewillow Elventhing, not manning the counter, the sole employee – nay – the de facto manager, of said secondhand store? And wasn't it her right – nay – her responsibility to open this envelope and spare Charlie the irritation of the task? Onward, Elventhing! Your destiny is set, and if it be not destiny, then surely there is plausible deniability, which in the parlance of politics is the same thing. She drew a jewel-encrusted dagger from under the counter (the stones valued at over seventy-three cents) and slit the envelope, pulled out the book, and fell in love. The cover was shiny, like a children's picture book, with a colorful illustration of a grinning skeleton with tiny people impaled on his fingertips, and all of them appeared to be having the time of their lives, as if they were enjoying a carnival ride that just happened to involve having a gaping hole being punched through the chest. It was festive – lots of flowers and candy in primary colors, done in the style of Mexican folk art. The Great Big Book of Death, was the title, spelled out across the top of the cover in cheerful, human femur font letters. Lily opened the book to the first page, where a note was paper-clipped. This should explain everything. I'm sorry. – MF Lily removed the note and opened the book to the first chapter: â€Å"So Now You're Death: Here's What You'll Need.† And it was all she needed. This was, very possibly, the coolest book she had ever seen. And certainly not anything Charlie would be able to appreciate, especially in his current state of heightened neurosis. She slipped the book into her backpack, then tore the note and the envelope into tiny pieces and buried them at the bottom of the wastebasket.

Imperialism in America essays

Imperialism in America essays It has been proven time and again throughout history that in order to survive, a nation must expand its borders and become more powerful. This is shown by the European countries' power at the beginning of the 20th century. They were the strongest countries in the world, and between them they controlled almost the entire globe. Soon after, America also became imperialistic. Three reasons America became imperialistic was to acquire naval bases and refueling stations for their ships, to control new markets in which to sell American products, and to get more raw materials and resources to help feed the growing American industries. The first reason Americans turned imperialistic was to control naval bases at sea in order to strengthen their military power outside of their boundaries. In 1885, America's navy was described as a "fleet of washtubs", and their army wasn't much better. It was obvious that if America wanted to protect its interests in foreign countries, it would need a stronger military force. The first step was to be able to defend itself should any foreign countries encroach on its territory. Naval bases were the key to this. So, after the Civil War, America looked to the Pacific islands of Midway, Samoa, and Guam, among others, to serve as bases and refueling stations for their navy. All three of these islands held very strategic positions. Midway was in the more northern Pacific Ocean, Samoa protected the southern Pacific, and Guam was the closest pacific island to the Philippines and China. Another reason America became imperialistic was to get more raw materials and resources. Like any industrial nation at the time, America was pumping out their manufactured products faster than the raw materials could keep up with. In order to keep producing at the rate it was, America needed to find another source from which to acquire their raw materials. An example is West Africa, where America used its Open Door...

Free Essays on Negative Effects Of Drinking In College

I have decided to talk about the negative effects of drinking while going to college. It’s hard to manage schoolwork responsibilities while still getting out and partying. It has many repercussions on ones school work. I found that drinking has many negative effects on college life; I’ll try to explain some of those effects that I have noticed from drinking and partying. Binge drinking is a major problem on most college campuses. Many people may not think that this is a major problem, but in fact it is. The Harvard School of Public Health did a survey of students from 119 colleges and found some shocking results. 44% of U.S. college students engaged in binge drinking during the two weeks before the survey. Students more likely to binge drink are white, age 23 or younger, and are residents of a fraternity or sorority. If they were binge drinkers in high school, they were three times more likely to binge in college. Over half the binge drinkers, almost one in four students, were frequent binge drinkers, that is, they binged three or more times in a two-week period. While one in five students reported abstaining from drinking alcohol. You may ask why college students do this? The survey found four reasons why students binge drink. They were: Drinking to get drunk (cited by 47% of students who consumed alcohol), status associated with drinking, culture of alcohol consumption on campus, and peer pressure and academic stress. Drinking in college has many different drawbacks, not just affecting the person drinking; it can also affect friends and other people. One bad thing about drinking is that drinking and partying seems to make most people lazy. This is by far the worst effect that drinking has on someone; it is the worst because laziness can affect so many things pertaining to school. Being lazy can cause a person to miss classes, this will in a short while catch up to that person, getting behind in schoolwork is an incred... Free Essays on Negative Effects Of Drinking In College Free Essays on Negative Effects Of Drinking In College I have decided to talk about the negative effects of drinking while going to college. It’s hard to manage schoolwork responsibilities while still getting out and partying. It has many repercussions on ones school work. I found that drinking has many negative effects on college life; I’ll try to explain some of those effects that I have noticed from drinking and partying. Binge drinking is a major problem on most college campuses. Many people may not think that this is a major problem, but in fact it is. The Harvard School of Public Health did a survey of students from 119 colleges and found some shocking results. 44% of U.S. college students engaged in binge drinking during the two weeks before the survey. Students more likely to binge drink are white, age 23 or younger, and are residents of a fraternity or sorority. If they were binge drinkers in high school, they were three times more likely to binge in college. Over half the binge drinkers, almost one in four students, were frequent binge drinkers, that is, they binged three or more times in a two-week period. While one in five students reported abstaining from drinking alcohol. You may ask why college students do this? The survey found four reasons why students binge drink. They were: Drinking to get drunk (cited by 47% of students who consumed alcohol), status associated with drinking, culture of alcohol consumption on campus, and peer pressure and academic stress. Drinking in college has many different drawbacks, not just affecting the person drinking; it can also affect friends and other people. One bad thing about drinking is that drinking and partying seems to make most people lazy. This is by far the worst effect that drinking has on someone; it is the worst because laziness can affect so many things pertaining to school. Being lazy can cause a person to miss classes, this will in a short while catch up to that person, getting behind in schoolwork is an incred...

Amplification Definition and Examples in Rhetoric

Amplification Definition and Examples in Rhetoric Amplification is a rhetorical term for all the ways that an argument, explanation, or description can be expanded and enriched. Also called rhetorical amplification. A natural virtue in an oral culture, amplification provides redundancy of information, ceremonial amplitude, and scope for a memorable syntax and diction (Richard Lanham, A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms, 1991). In The Arte of Rhetorique  (1553), Thomas Wilson (who regarded amplification as a method of the invention) emphasized the value of this strategy: Among all the figures of rhetoric, there is no one that helpeth forward an oration and beautifieth the same with such delightful ornaments as doth amplification. In both speech and writing, amplification tends to accentuate the importance of a topic and  induce an emotional response (pathos) in the  audience. Examples and Observations In amplification, writers repeat something theyve just said while adding more details and information to the original description. . .The main purpose of amplification is to focus the readers attention on an idea he or she might otherwise miss.(Brendan McGuigan, Rhetorical Devices: A Handbook and Activities for Student Writers. Prestwick House, 2007) One of the Biggest Trees in Pittsburgh A massive tree centuries old holds out against the odds here across from my mothers house, one of the biggest trees in Pittsburgh, anchored in a green tangle of weeds and bushes, trunk thick as a Buick, black as night after rain soaks its striated hide. Huge spread of its branches canopies the foot of the hill where the streets come together. Certain times of day in summer it shades my mothers front porch. If it ever tore loose from its moorings, it would crush her house like a sledgehammer. . . . (John Edgar Wideman, All Stories Are True. The Stories of John Edgar Wideman. Random House, 1996) Bill Bryson on Britain's Landscapes In terms of natural wonders, you know, Britain is a pretty unspectacular place. It has no alpine peaks or broad rift valleys, no mighty gorges or thundering cataracts. It is built to really quite a modest scale. And yet with a few unassuming natural endowments, a great deal of time and an unfailing instinct for improvement, the makers of Britain created the most superlatively park-like landscapes, the most orderly cities, the handsomest provincial towns, the jauntiest seaside resorts, the stateliest homes, the most dreamily spired, cathedral-rich, castle-strewn, abbey-bedecked, folly-scattered, green-wooded, winding-laned, sheep-dotted, plumply hedgerowed, well-tended, sublimely decorated 50,318 square miles the world has ever knownalmost none of it undertaken with aesthetics in mind, but all of it adding up to something that is, quite often, perfect. What an achievement that is. (Bill Bryson, The Road to Little Dribbling: More Notes From a Small Island. Doubleday, 2015)   Dickens on Newness Mr. and Mrs. Veneering were bran-new people in a bran-new house in a bran-new quarter of London. Everything about the Veneerings was spick and span new. All their furniture was new, all their friends were new, all their servants were new, their place was new, . . . their harness was new, their horses were new, their pictures were new, they themselves were new, they were as newly-married as was lawfully compatible with their having a bran-new baby, and if they had set up a great-grandfather, he would have come home in matting from Pantechnicon, without a scratch upon him, French-polished to the crown of his head. (Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend, 1864-65) "More Light!" Goethes final words: More light. Ever since we crawled out of that primordial slime, thats been our unifying cry: More light. Sunlight. Torchlight. Candlelight. Neon. Incandescent. Lights that banish the darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our refrigerators. Big floods for the night games at Soldiers field. Little tiny flashlight for those books we read under the covers when were supposed to be asleep. Light is more than watts and footcandles. Light is metaphor. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from homeLead Thou me on! Arise, shine, for thy light has come. Light is knowledge. Light is life. Light is light. (Chris Stevens, Northern Exposure, 1992) Henry Peacham on Amplification In The Garden of Eloquence  (1593), Henry  Peacham describes [the] effects [of amplification] in the following manner: It is full of light, plenty and variety causing the orator to teach and tell things plainly, to amplify largely, and to prove and conclude mightily. The very wording of this passage demonstrates the procedure of amplifying one term, amplification itself, and that with the purpose of catching the readers attention.(Thomas O. Sloane,  Encyclopedia of Rhetoric. Oxford University Press, 2001) Selective Amplification Judgment is to be exercised in deciding what thoughts require amplification and what do not. A greater degree of expansion is necessary in oral than in written discourse; and in popular works than in purely scientific. A brief exposition may be sufficient for those who have some acquaintance with the subject, while in addressing those of less intelligence a greater fullness of details is necessary. It is always a most serious fault to dwell on what is unimportant, trivial, or what can be supplied by the reader; it indicates a want of the power of just discrimination on the part of the writer. (Andrew D. Hepburn, Manual of English Rhetoric, 1875) The Lighter Side of Amplification: Blackadder's Crisis This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if youve got a moment, its a twelve-story crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying This Is a Large Crisis. A large crisis requires a large plan. Get me two pencils and a pair of underpants. (Rowan Atkinson as Captain Blackadder in Goodbyeee. Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989) Pronunciation: am-pli-fi-KAY-shun Etymology: From the Latin enlargement

War Occurs Because There Is Nothing to Prevent It Essay

War Occurs Because There Is Nothing to Prevent It - Essay Example According to the realist theory, the international system operates on checks and balances method that is flawed to a certain extent given the ethnic and cultural dissimilarities between the peoples of the world. Samuel Huntington’s â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations† argues that the fault lines between civilizations lead to war. This has proved in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks against the US. Other commentators like Robert Kagan have pointed to the resurgence of Russia and the recent conflict in the Caucasus between Russia and Georgia as an example of how â€Å"history returns† whenever certain nations fall from pre-eminence and then assert themselves to regain the lost glory. In his recent work, â€Å"The Return of History and the End of dreams†, Keegan forcefully makes the point about how the 21st century might look like when it comes to international relations. The realist perspective seems a good prism to look at the complex dynamics shaping war. Thi s can be seen from the fact that in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Collapse of Communism, the then US president George Bush Sr. made a case for a â€Å"New World Order† and proclaimed that â€Å"we are at the threshold of a new era that has been dreamed by generations of men but has always eluded them†. However, the euphoria was short lived as Iraq, under Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait and subsequently this led to American intervention and the first Gulf war. Thus, we have history repeating itself in 2008 when Russia asserted itself in South Ossetia.

Concept of culture shock and reflective diary Essay

Concept of culture shock and reflective diary - Essay Example 16 Reisinger, Y. &, Turner, L. 2003. Cross cultural behaviour in tourism. London: British Library 16 Concept of ‘Culture Shock’ Culture shock is the feeling of dissociation that one feels upon travelling to a foreign country and experiencing a sudden change in their way of life. It is experienced due to a sudden change in food, clothing, manner of communication and even the roles of men and women in the community as. It results from one being unable to read the cultural cues as they differ from the ones, which an individual was familiar with at home. Culture shock has been identified to occur in five different phases Euphoria, disintegration, reintegration, adjustment and re-entry, each one has its own challenges and should be handled in a different manner from the other. Before Travel Before preparing to travel to a new destination, the individual should read as much as they can about their new location. Background knowledge will result in the traveller being prepared t o see some of the things that differ from their culture, which will mean lower shock, and less confrontation between the traveller and the indigenous people (Greensboro, n.d). Upon arrival, the traveller should also talk to his embassy about the local culture there, this is imperative to add on the learning in order to get a first-hand detailed description of the differences they will experience from those from their own country. While China is trying to improve its international image, its public toilets have been of very low hygiene standards (Bailie and Jeff, 2013) and most foreigners are generally advised by their own fellow citizens to not use the public ones but rather wait to use the ones at their hotel. This is information that can only be got from first-hand experience and not from any average travel website. Initial Euphoria Upon arrival, the newcomer to the society is usually excited by the experience of going to a new culture. The new way of life seems extremely appealin g and is usually experienced by those who have stayed there for at most a month. Many tourists on holiday experience this and travel back home without progressing to the other stages. People in the euphoric stage use words such as enchanting, magical, mystical, beautiful and exotic to describe the places they have travelled to as they are experiencing the new country for the first time even when the new country has high levels of poverty and a low development level (Pedersen, 1995). The reason for this is that the locals of the destination country recognize that you are a foreigner and therefore exempt you from the social expectations and cultural norms that the rest of the country is governed by. The locals therefore dismiss the foreigner as just been ignorant instead of confronting them as they would a local (Pedersen, 1995). Police also realize that the national image is at stake when a foreigner lodges a complaint and will do their best to ensure that their problems are resolved quickly in order to avoid complaints being lodged by the embassy resulting in their supervisors coming to scrutinise their work. Locals also try their best to ensure that foreigners will leave with a good report of the country and therefore see to it they explain to them the dangers of doing certain things that would be criticised in the destination c

Employee Engagement and Employee Voice (Contemporary HRM Research) Essay

Employee Engagement and Employee Voice (Contemporary HRM Research) - Essay Example The role of employee voice in employee issues therefore very important in the operation of human resource management units since it has a significant influence on employee performance, employee views and also regulates the relationship between employers and employees. This paper examines the concept of 'employee voice'. It attempts to identify what that concept actually is and how it has evolved over the past 60 years The research then goes on to examine the position of employee voice after the Second World War and how it has evolved to this day. It will examine key concepts and ideas that define the phenomenon. Also, the research discusses the role of employee engagement in organisations. This is done from two perspectives. The first is the position of employers and the facades within which they deal with employee demands. The second is how the organization and the human resource department specifically, deals with employee voice. Finally, the paper will focus on the role of employe e relationships and how it affects the strategic position of organisations. It will be done by examining the business case of employee relations and how it is integrated into the communication plan of organisations. Employee Voice â€Å"For working purpose, we define voice as the expression of ideas, information, opinions and concerns as well as silence, such as withholding† (Greenberg & Edwards, 2009 p4). This means that voice refers to communication in the wider sense. There is no clearcut definition of employee voice. However, using this preamble, we can say that voice refers to the kind of feedback or message that employees give or seek to give to their employers in the workplace. From another perspective, this also means that where employees refuse to communicate or make any demands, it can also be viewed as some kind of a voice. This implies that communication from employees is essential for the success of organisations around the world. Employee voice therefore takes a different connotation all together. Its scope is wider than just making demands and asking management or the owners of a business to come up with certain actions or activities. â€Å"Employee voice is the term increasingly used to cover a whole variety of processes and structures which enables and sometimes empowers employees directly or indirectly to contribute to decision-making in the firm† (Armstrong, 2008 p200). This shows that employee voice is a kind of involvement of employees in the

Economics is, essentially the science of decision making. Do you agree Essay

Economics is, essentially the science of decision making. Do you agree or disagree Please explain and support your position - Essay Example The following discussion strengthens the hypothesis that economics is essentially the science of decision-making. Economics helps people to understand the production process, how goods and services can be exchanged, and the different consumption patterns in an economic system. In this case, economics plays a crucial role of helping individuals, and organizations to identify the goods and services that they can produce in the most profitable manner. It also enlightens them on the best markets to exchange their commodities, thus maximizing their returns. In relation to consumption, economics provides consumers with the ability to differentiate the consumption patterns that can make them live a stable life as opposed to consumption patterns that may impose strains on their lives. Therefore, economics plays a major role in the decision making process as it dictates what to do at given periods through provision of analytical data. The government also utilizes economic concepts when dealing with issues related to public finance and the concepts allow the government to set certain prices in the nation, and determine the spending of the government. Economics also contribute significantly to setting prices as it deals with the forces of demand and supply. Therefore, economics aids in the decision making process as it allows different entities to fix prices based on several considerations, that involves statistical relationships. Given that we live in a world of scarce resources, people strive to find ways that can help them utilize such resources in an efficient manner. Economics, which aims at studying human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means that have alternative uses teaches individuals to cope. It helps individuals to make good use of scarce resources, thus increasing their wealth, and welfare. This emanates from the fact that economics increases the ability of individuals to make wise

World War I Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

World War I - Research Paper Example However, suffice it to say that within this particular author’s understanding, the First World War was fought under the most horrific conditions imaginable. Ultimately, the reason that so many different countries became embroiled in this conflict had to do with the alliance structure that existed within Europe time. Ironically, the structure of the alliance system was engaged as a means of preserving the peace; allowing lesser powers to ally with great powers as a means of ensuring that conflict would not break out. However, as was seen, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Bosnia-Herzegovina ignited the so-called â€Å"tinderbox† of the Balkans; dragging in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, France, Germany, the United States, and a litany of other actors. Sadly, the horrors of the first world war are not constrained to the years 1914 through 1918. Instead, many scholars and authors have argued that the repercussions of the First World War did not truly conclud e until 1945. This is due to the fact that the peace accords for the First World War and the Treaty upper side created a situation in which a resurgent Germany would attempt to shake itself from the shackles of financial hardship and national disgrace that the treaty of Versailles had affected upon

Economics is, essentially the science of decision making. Do you agree Essay

Economics is, essentially the science of decision making. Do you agree or disagree Please explain and support your position - Essay Example The following discussion strengthens the hypothesis that economics is essentially the science of decision-making. Economics helps people to understand the production process, how goods and services can be exchanged, and the different consumption patterns in an economic system. In this case, economics plays a crucial role of helping individuals, and organizations to identify the goods and services that they can produce in the most profitable manner. It also enlightens them on the best markets to exchange their commodities, thus maximizing their returns. In relation to consumption, economics provides consumers with the ability to differentiate the consumption patterns that can make them live a stable life as opposed to consumption patterns that may impose strains on their lives. Therefore, economics plays a major role in the decision making process as it dictates what to do at given periods through provision of analytical data. The government also utilizes economic concepts when dealing with issues related to public finance and the concepts allow the government to set certain prices in the nation, and determine the spending of the government. Economics also contribute significantly to setting prices as it deals with the forces of demand and supply. Therefore, economics aids in the decision making process as it allows different entities to fix prices based on several considerations, that involves statistical relationships. Given that we live in a world of scarce resources, people strive to find ways that can help them utilize such resources in an efficient manner. Economics, which aims at studying human behavior as a relationship between ends and scarce means that have alternative uses teaches individuals to cope. It helps individuals to make good use of scarce resources, thus increasing their wealth, and welfare. This emanates from the fact that economics increases the ability of individuals to make wise

Bloomington IN, and corn field Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bloomington IN, and corn field - Research Paper Example ll therefore address culture and cultural centers in Bloomington Indiana and equally draw a relationship between Indiana University students and the corns in the neighborhood of Bloomington Indiana. Corn that refers to maize grain in the US was plant domestication by the indigenous people in Mesoamerica and specifically in Bloomington Indiana. Indeed, settlers, Tibets stopped at the fertile Whitewater Valley in 1800s to initiate the cornfields in Bloomington Indiana. Moreover, the Wayne County farmers, Tibets still embrace their traditions in course of their grain farming that include corn, soybeans, oats, wheat, and canola (Waynet Web). As such, culture and attached traditions are fundamental factors in the cornfields and in Bloomington Indiana where they are located. Indeed, even Indian university embraces this culture in its school curriculum. As such, where culture is a dominant aspect in Bloomington Indiana and the neighboring cornfields, it is only fair to analyze this culture. This culture is enshrined and preserved in Tibetan Cultural Center. Hence, culture as reserved in the Tibetan Cultural Center is a relevant topic in relation to Bloomington Indiana and the cornfiel ds. Corn farming is a cultural activity in Bloomington Indiana. Bloomington Indiana has been the only Tibetan Cultural Center in the United States since 1979. In addition, Bloomington Indiana hosts then Dagom Gaden Tensung Ling Tibetan Monastery that came to being in 1996. Dagom Gaden Tensung Ling Tibetan Monastery follows the Buddhas teachings as transmitted by the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It is thus significant in offering the Indiana community with diverse sources of cultural and educational programs applied in this society especially in the cornfields. Tibetan Cultural Center came up in the 1970’s courtesy of an Indiana University professor, Thubten J. Norbu. The main aim of the cultural centre was to preserve the memory and culture of Tibetans and bring awareness to the

Basic Economics Definitions Essay Example for Free

Basic Economics Definitions Essay Colander (2010) stated, â€Å"Economics is the study of how human beings coordinate their wants and desires, given the decision-making mechanisms, social customs, and political realities of the society† (p. 4). The main word defining â€Å"economics† would be coordination, and in economics, refers to three central problems that face any economy and how they are solved. These central problems are 1. What and how much to produce. 2. How to produce it. 3. For whom to produce it (Colander, 2010). Individuals frequently assume that economics only concern is with business, money, and supply, and demand. However, economics began as a branch of philosophy, and Alfred Marshall, the 19th century economist describes economics as the study of individuals in the business of everyday life. * Scarcity Colander (2010) stated â€Å"scarcity has two elements: our wants and our means of fulfilling those wants. These can be interrelated since wants are changeable and partially determined by society† (p. 5). Scarcity is a basic problem of economics it has apparent limitless individual wants and needs when the world in fact has limited resources. We as a society have scarce creative resources to fulfill everyone’s wants and needs. * TANSTAAFL Colander (2010) states TANSTAAFL â€Å"economic knowledge in one sentence â€Å"There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch† (p. 7). This acronym is trying to illustrate the cost of spending and decision making, and expresses that there is always a cost whether hidden or indirect even if it may seem like it is free. * Opportunity Cost Colander (2010) states â€Å"Opportunity cost is the benefit that you might have gained from choosing the next-best alternative. To obtain the benefit of something, you must give up something else. TANSTAAFL theory embodies the opportunity cost concept because it tells us that there is a cost to everything; that cost is the next-best forgone alternative† (p. 9). In economics, the term â€Å"opportunity cost† refers to money or benefits lost or given up pursuing a particular path specific path of action instead of an alternative or something else. Almost every decision made in business has an opportunity cost attached to it. For example should a business continue using a particular piece of equipment, or should the business purchase new equipment with additional features, and pay a higher rate. * Production Possibilities Curve Colander (2010) states the definition as â€Å"The production possibility curve is a curve that measures the maximum combination of outputs that can be obtained with a given number of inputs† (p. 29). The Production Possibility Curve is a graph representing the difference in rate when two products are produced with only a specific quantity of resources. For example, Suzie will bake brownies and cookies, but she has only one oven. An area in the oven used for baking brownies is not necessarily used for the cookies; therefore, for each brownie baked there are fewer baked cookies. * Comparative Advantage Colander (2010) states the definition as â€Å"some resources have a comparative advantage over other resources— the ability to be better suited to the production of one good than to the production of another good† (p. 28-29). Comparative advantage is the capability to manufacture services or merchandise at an opportunity cost lower than other individuals or businesses giving the individuals or businesses the capability of selling their services or merchandise at lower pricing than their competitors price. * Business Cycle Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"a business cycle is the upward or downward movement of economic activity that occurs around the growth trend† (p. 158). Business cycles refer to economic fluctuations in trade, production, and economic activity in over several months or years. Economic fluctuations take place throughout long-term growth trends, involving shifts over time showing fast economic growth, and periods of decline. * CPI Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"the consumer price index (CPI) is an index of inflation measuring prices of a fixed basket of consumer goods, weighted according to each component’s share of an average consumer’s expenditures† (p. 171). The CPI or consumer price index is a measurement showing household purchases indicating the change in the price levels of services and consumer goods. The CPI calculates the price changes for each predetermined item in the â€Å"basket of goods† and averages them, and weighted by their importance with the price changes related to the cost of living. * Labor Force To define labor force or workforce, and this is the calculation of every adult whether employed or unemployed. Estimated by The Bureau of Labor Statistics labor is categorized by employed, unemployed or not in the labor force for individuals age 16 and over. Individuals not categorized into the labor force are students, retired, or institutionalized individuals. The labor force changes over periods because of social and demographic changes. * Transfer Payments Colander (2010) states the definition, as â€Å"payments to individuals that do not involve production by those individuals. Transfer payments include Social Security payments, and unemployment insurance† (p. 184). Transfer payments are monies from the government given to individuals such payments include unemployment, social security, disability, and other welfare payments. References * Business cycle. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/business cycle Comparative advantage. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comparative advantage Colander, D. C. (2010). Macroeconomics (8th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. (pg. 4, 5, 7, 9, 28-29, 158, 171, 184). Economics. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/economics Opportunity cost. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/opportunity cost Scarcity. (2013). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scarcity

Issues Related To Household Expenditures And Consumption Economics Essay

Issues Related To Household Expenditures And Consumption Economics Essay Introduction With economic and social progression of the nation the minimal basket of basic human needs which a society would expect for its citizen may be expected to keep expanding. These changes in the basic needs of the society may be affordable by the level of income. The level of income of the households ensures the minimum standard of living in the society. Household income and consumption expenditure are two direct monetary measures used in assessing the economic well-being of a population. However, consumption expenditure is pre ­ferred to income as it reflects long-term economic status of the household, particularly in low income countries (Friedman 1957). It is important to note however that expenditures are not similar with income, which may even be a better indicator of well-being, for various reasons. Among them is the possibility of consumption without expenditures at least within the same period. According to Atkinson, (1998), Expenditures are thus supposed to better reflect long-term or permanent income and are from this point of view considered to be a better measure of economic well-being and respective inequalities. Besides, in developing countries, income estimates are under-reported, drawn from multiple sources and vary across seasons. Though the consumption expenditure data are collected in many developing countries including India, the process is time-consuming, expensive and needs adjustment for household size, composition and for price level. Owing to these difficulties, the economic proxies (consumer durables, housing quality and household amenities) are collected to measure the economic sta ­tus of the households in both small-and large-scale population-based surveys. In the context of the growth performance during these two decades, economists and policymakers have become interested in the trends in regional inequality during this period. Rising regional inequality can create economic, social and political problems for any country. For the Indian economy, it has serious ramification for the continuation of the reform process. Hence, it is of utmost importance to understand the regional disparity in terms of consumption expenditure on consumer durables, housing quality and household amenities of the economy. Household expenditures as they result from budget limitations at the one hand and choices based on needs, demand, preferences etc. on the other may be regarded as manifestations of economic and social inequalities as well as cultural differences and social distinctions. Studying the patterns, disparities and determinants of household expenditures and their changes across time by making use of large scale population surveys thus seem to be promising in various respects. At a most general level it may provide insights into general consumption behaviour as a major source of human well-being and respective choices and restrictions. Investigating household expenditures and consumption patterns is considered to be key for the monitoring and explanation of inequalities and changes in material living standards and general welfare. Studying expenditures and consumption behaviour of households also seems to be an important and promising strategy to extend and supplement mainstream approaches of studying inequality as a key topic of sociological and economic research. As one would expect, research on household expenditures and consumption is much more common and popular among economists and looks back to a long tradition in economics (Stigler, 1954). This issue was also addressed by Houthakker (1957) as early as in the 1950s. The issues related to household expenditures and consumption have been disregarded in sociology and particularly empirical sociological research to a large degree, although family and household budget data frequently used for empirical study in the early days. Some observers and commentators of developments in sociological research thus conclude that consumption has been strongly neglected in sociological research (Rosenkranz and Schneider, 2000). Thus it is an area which needs greater attention to be paid. Although there is a long history of research on patterns of household expenditures and their changes across time, which goes back to the 19th century and the famous work by Ernst Engel and others, these questions have attracted surprisingly little attention in recent years. Blacklow and Ray, (2000) in their paper compare, using Australian unit record data, income and expenditure inequalities over the period 1975-76 to 1993-94. The study finds inconsistencies between the two inequality movements over much of this period. They, also, observe differences in the nature of income and consumption disparities. Bà ¶genhold and Fachinger, (2000) used repeated cross sectional data (RCS) in their empirical analysis which is based on the West German Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1993. The results revealed that the relationship between income and expenditure is given but it is weak. All in all, the social organisation of consumption is a research object in itself to obtain information about the living standard of individuals and households. Zaidi and Klass (2001) in their study on poverty and inequality in developed countries focus on income. This paper presents trends in consumption-based poverty and inequality in nine member countries of the European Union. During the 1980s, both poverty and inequality increased in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Belgium, while decreases in both poverty and inequality are observed for Spain and Portugal. In Greece only inequality increased. Dhawan-Biswal, (2002) measure inequality in Canada with a comprehensive look at inequality trends in Atlantic Canada during the period 1969 to 19966. They use consumption expenditure as a measure of family well being and compare it with the income based measure of well being. Overall consumption inequality has continuously been lower in Atlantic Canada in comparison to the rest of Canada. Meyer and Sullivan, (2003) found in their study that it is fairly compelling that most households can more easily report income. They suggested that use consumption to supplement income in analyses of poverty whenever possible. Kalwij and Salverda, (2004) examine in detail the changes in household expenditures patterns, and in particular services related expenditures, in the Netherlands over the years 1979, 1989 and 1998. Using Engel curve estimations, these changes are related to changes in household demographics, employment, the budget and relative prices. They find that the dominating changes in demand are decreasing shares of expenditures on food and clothing and an increasing share of expenditures on housing. Decrease in food expenditures is for a large part explained by changes in household characteristics and the budget and about a third is a price effect. The increase in housing expenditures share is predominantly a price effect. Blow, Leicester and Oldfield (2004) examined how and why has the way in which the average British family spends its money changed over the past 25 years by using data from the UK FES between 1975 and 1999. It looks not only at broad changes in total spending, but also at how the division of expenditure between basics and non-basics and between durable goods, non-durable goods and services has altered over time. Johnson, Smeeding and Torrey (2005) used the period 1981 and 2001, to measure economic inequality among groups in the general population in the United States. Two measures of income and consumption are used to gauge relative well-being. Households with children are at a disadvantage, relative to the general population through both prisms. And households with children are the only group whose distribution of consumption was relatively more unequal than their distribution of disposable income throughout the 1981-2001 period studied. Comparison with the general population is a zero-sum game where households with children are relatively less well off, regardless of whether disposable income or consumption is used as the resource measure. Brewer, Goodman, and Leicester, (2006) in their study on Household spending in Britain by using 30 years of data from household surveys conclude that although there has been much recent emphasis on the advantages of measures of household expenditures in assessing household welfare in more academic circles, this has yet to work its way into the mainstream poverty measurement debate. This study shows the trends in poverty in Britain since the 1970s when household expenditure is used as a measure of financial well-being, rather than household income and investigates how using spending, rather than income, as a measure of well-being alters our view of who is poor. It examines the spending levels of the lowest-income households and analyses whether low-income pensioners spending on basic and non-basic items increased as a result of the large increases in entitlements to means-tested benefits since 1999. Zhang, Xie and Zhou, (2009) studied the disparity of consumption expenditure among rural areas in China by principle and method of cluster analysis. Results showed that income and consumption expenditure of 31 districts, cities and provinces could be divided into 5 classes of income and consumption. Shanghai City was the only city rated as the first-class areas with highest income and consumption. Bhattacharya and Mahalanobis (1967) had decomposed the Gini-coefficient and the standard deviation of logarithms for the year 1957-58 based on the household consumer expenditure survey data of India and found that one-quarter of the total inequality was being explained by between-state inequality and the remaining three-quarters was explained by the within-state inequality. Paul, (1988) studied the importance of household composition in the analysis of inequality measurement based on the National Sample Survey data (25th round). The results for rural Punjab reveal that the ranking of households by per equivalent adult consumption expenditure (PEAE) differs significantly from the ranking by per capita consumption expenditure (PCE). Many households classified as poor according to the criterion of PCE are not so classified by the criterion of PEAE. The exercise also reveals that the distribution of HCE, if not adjusted for household size and composition effects, gives biased measures of the extent of true inequality. Jain and Tendulkar (1989) in their paper deduces the analytical conditions for the movements in the same or in the opposite direction of the real and the nominal relative disparity in cereal consumption consequent upon the differential movements in the prices of cereals faced by the bottom and the top fractile groups of the population. These conditions are used for interpreting the movements in the real and the nominal relative disparity with reference to the Indian rural population over the period from 1953 to 1978. Datt and Ravallion, (1990) argued that the costs and the benefits of regional policies will tend to be borne widely within regions. Some benefits are likely to leak to the nonpoor in recipient regions, and some costs to the poor in donor regions. The paper suggests that the quantitative potential for alleviating national poverty through purely regional redistributive policies is small. Even assuming no political problems, the maximum impact on poverty is nomore than could be achieved simply by giving everyone a uniform (untargeted) windfall gain equal to about 1.5 percent of Indias mean consumption. And other considerations including increased migration to areas of higher benefits make it unlikely that the maximum impact will be attained in practice. Greater alleviation of poverty requires supplementary interventions that reach the poor within regions, by reducing the costs borne by the poor in donor regions and enhancing benefits to the poor in recipient regions. Mishra and Parikh (1992) in their paper measured household consumer expenditure inequalities in India by regions (states) and sectors (urban-rural) for the years 1977-78 and 1983 based on the National Sample Survey data. The results consistently indicate that the inequality within states contributes much more towards national inequality and within-sector inequality explains a large part of state level inequality. The inequality at state levels has shown a decline from 1977-78 to 1983 due to a better monsoon season in 1983, and anti-poverty programmes. Dubey and Gangopadhyay (1998) in their analytical report mention intra-state disparities by using NSSO consumption income data set. There are several states in India where the incidence of poverty across regions within a state is very high. They reported for seven regions of Madhya Pradesh, poverty incidence varied from one of the lowest in the country in the western region to one of the highest in the eastern region. Deaton and Dreze (2002) in their paper presents a new set of integrated poverty and inequality estimates for India and Indian states for 1987-88, 1993-94 and 1999-2000. The poverty estimates are broadly consistent with independent evidence on per capita expenditure, state domestic product and real agricultural wages. They show that poverty decline in the 1990s proceeded more or less in line with earlier trends. Regional disparities increased in the 1990s, with the southern and western regions doing much better than the northern and eastern regions. Economic inequality also increased within states, especially within urban areas, and between urban and rural areas. They also examine other development indicators, relating for instance to health and education. Most indicators have continued to improve in the nineties, but social progress has followed very diverse patterns, ranging from accelerated progress in some fields to slow down and even regression in others. Gaiha, Thapa, Imai and Kulkarni (2007) in their analysis of the 61st round of the NSS for 2004-05 confirms higher incidence and intensity of poverty among the STs and SCs, relative to non-ST/SC (Others). A decomposition of poverty gap suggests that a large part of the gap between the ST and Others is due to differences in returns or structural differences while among the SCs it is due largely to differences in characteristics or endowments. Whether these structural differences are a reflection of current discrimination is far from self-evident, given the important role of personal identity in determining performance. The policy design therefore cannot be limited to enhancing the endowments of the STs, SCs and other disadvantaged groups. Dubey (2009) examine the interstate disparity in five states in India i.e. Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Orissa and Punjab by using NSSO data of 50th round and 61st round. He used three indicators, consumption, inequality and incidence of poverty. Highest level of disparity emerged in Punjab followed by Gujarat and Kerala. Haryana has least disparities only marginally lower than that in Orissa. Singh (2010), in her study examined and analysed the disparities in level of living as measured by monthly per capita consumption expenditure across different income groups in various states in India based on 61st round survey of NSSO. Various measures like gini coefficient and rank for the states in rural and urban areas has been calculated. Disparities in MPCE across income groups are observed in Punjab. Srivastava and Mohanty (2010) in their study used data from the World Health Survey, India, 2003, covering a nationally representative sample of 10,750 households and 9,994 adults, examines the extent of agreement of monthly per capita consumption expenditure and economic proxies (combined with the wealth index) with the differentials in health estimates. Cain, Rana, Rhoda and Tandon, (2010) utilise household-level consumption expenditure data to examine the evolution of inequality during 1983-2004 in India. Various measures of inequality show that inequality levels were relatively stable during 1983-93, but increased during 1993-2004. The increases in inequality have not precluded reductions in poverty, however. They are also more of an urban phenomenon and can be accounted for by increases in returns to education in the urban sector to a considerable extent, especially among households that rely on income from education-intensive services and/or education-intensive occupations. Significance of the study The National Human Development Report 2001 for India (2002) reveals vast differences in human development and poverty between the States of India in 1981. The report notes that At the state level, there are wide disparities in the level of human development. (NHDR 2002, page 4). The report also notes that disparities amongst the States with respect to human poverty are quite striking. Socio-economic disparities across the regions and intra-regional disparities among different segments of the society have been the major plank for adopting planning process in India since independence. Even after its impressive performance in the field of science, technology and agriculture during the last three or four decades, a vast majority of Indians are facing the problems of poverty. They are denied even the basic needs of human life like food, safe drinking water, shelter, health, education etc., and are forced to live in a degraded social and physical environment. According to the 61st NSS, the proportion of persons living below poverty line was estimated at 27.5%3 (i.e., more than 315 million people). But, about one third of the population lives under the poverty line of $1 a day, and out of them three in four poor people live in rural areas. Thus, poverty in India is most widespread in the rural areas. Despite a vast range of poverty eradication programmes and several measures adopted in this regard, even after more than 60 years of Independence the situation is still very critical. In recent years, some significant changes have occurred in the poverty alleviation strategy. The Government of India has launched various programmes, such as NAREGA, MNAREGA, Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP), Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSEM), Development of Women and Children in Rural Area (DWCRA), Wage Employment Programme, National Rural Employment Programme, Jawahar Rozgar Yojana, etc., for the alleviation of poverty. Further, these programmes are now the responsibility of the local bodies (Panchayati Raj institutions) that are expected to improve their performance. But despite all the rigorous efforts, the desired results could not be achieved and considerable level of regional disparities remained in the society. The Structure Adjustment Programme of economic reform s since 1991 with stabilisation and deregulation policies as their central pieces seems to have further widened the regional disparities. Sen 2002 rightly observed that, the real concern of the so called anti-globalization protesters is surely not globalization per se, for these protests are amongst the most seem to stem in large part from the continuing deprivations and rising disparities in level of livings that they see in current period of globalization. Liberalisation had resulted in the rich becoming richer and the poor, poorer. No State actually got poorer in terms of falling per capita income but the interstate inequality certainly increased  [1]  . The seriousness of the emerging acute regional imbalances has not yet received the public attention it deserves. On the basis of above it can be understood that no significant study has been found in the area of disparity in household consumption expenditure for the period 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 by using NSSO unit level data in India. The NSSO has been collecting data on consumption expenditure on a regular basis for over four decades. Along with other infor ­mation, it collects detailed information on food and non-food items in a reference period. While majority of the studies happen to be at macro level, this study is a more specific analysis in micro frame by using unit level data household survey conducted by NSSO in India. It is able to lay stress on certain vital issues that needed a more serious discussion. To large extent, the study can be regarded as pioneering one. Objective of the study: The major objectives of the study are as follows: To know the expenditure structures and consumption patterns To know the level of disparity in household consumer expenditure in Indian society. To know the level of disparity in household consumer expenditure in various regions (states) and sectors (urban-rural) in the society. To know the difference in levels and patterns of household consumer expenditure and across socio-economic groups i.e. caste, religion and family structure in the society. To know the difference in levels and patterns of food and non-food expenditure of across socio-economic groups i.e. caste, religion and family structure in the society. Methodology Data: Collecting consumption expenditure data is not new in India. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) conducted an all-India survey of households on participation and expenditure in education, employment, unemployment, migration and consumer expenditure on a regular basis for over four decades. Surveys on consumer expenditure are being conducted quinquennially on a large sample of households from the 27th round (October 1972 September 1973) of NSS onwards. Additionally, the NSSO has conducted annual consumer expenditure surveys using a smaller sample of households from 1986-87 to 2007-08. In the present study data will be utilised from the three rounds of NSSO consumer expenditure survey i.e. 62, 63 and 64 round collected in the year 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively .These three consumer expenditure surveys belongs to annual series. Data Analysis: In the present study the disparity in terms of consumer expenditure will be measured in the above mentioned three rounds of survey. Data provided by NSSO is in text document. For the analysis of these unit level data we will use statistical software (STATA). Disparity in terms of MPCE will be calculated for the state wise, region wise, caste, religion and family structure. Different statistical methods (like; descriptive statistics, range, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, Gini coefficient Lorenz curve, Theils index, etc.) will be utilised for measuring inequality and disparity. Graphical presentation of the results will be used for the easy understanding of the data. There are the criteria (Mean Independence, Population size independence, Symmetry, Pigou Dalton Transfer sensitivity  [2]  , Decomposability, Statistical Testability) that make a good measure of income inequality. Among the most widely used are the Theil indexes and the mean log deviation measure. Both belong to the family of generalized entropy. The formula is given by Where is the mean income per person (or expenditure per capita).The value of the measures vary between zero and infinity, with zero representing an equal distribution and higher values representing higher levels of inequality. The parameter in the GE class represents the weight given to distances between incomes at different parts of the income distribution, and can take any real value. For lower value of GE is more sensitive to changes in the lower tail of the distribution and for higher values GE is more sensitive to changes the affect the upper tail. The most common values of used are 0, 1, and 2. GE(1) is Theils T index and GE(0) is Theils L (sometimes refered to as the mean log deviation measures) are given by: Atkinson has proposed another class of inequality measures that are used from time to time. This class also has a weighting parameter Ɇº (which measures aversion to inequality). The Atkinson inequality measures defined as Decomposition of Income Inequality The issue of relating subgroup inequality levels to overall inequality has been discussed in the number of recent studies (Cowell 1980, Cowell and Kuga 1981, Bourguignon, 1979, Shorrocks 1980 and 1984, Shorrocks and Mukherjee, 1982, Das and Parikh 1982, Mishra and Parikh 1992). If the total inequality can be expressed as a function of sub-group inequality values, when the sub-groups are mutually exclusive and exhaustive, then a variety of ways is found to decompose the total inequality. The particular method of decomposition depends on the nature of the inequality index and the way in which it is decomposed since the decomposability of the indices differ from measure to measure. The most attractive type of decomposability has been additive decomposability. An index is additively decomposable if it can be neatly expressed as the sum of a between-group term and a within-group term. Conceptually, the between-group component can be defined as the value of the inequality index when all the within-group inequalities are assumed to be non-existent by a hypothetical assignment of the group average income to each member of the same group. The common inequality indicators mentioned above can be used to assess the major contributors to inequality, by different subgroups of the population and by region. For example, average income may vary from region to region, and this alone implies some inequality between groups. Moreover, incomes vary inside each region, adding a within-group component to total inequality. For policy purposes, it is useful to be able to decompose these sources of inequality: if most inequality is due to disparities across regions, for instance, then the focus of policy may need to be on regional economic development, with special attention to helping the poorer regions. More generally, household income is determined by household and personal characteristics, such as education, gender, and occupation, as well as geographic factors including urban and regional location. Some overall inequality is due to differences in such characteristics-this is the between-group component-and some occurs because there is inequality within each group, for instance, among people with a given level of education or in a given occupation. The generalized entropy (GE) class of indicators, including the Theil indexes, can be decomposed across these partitions in an additive way, but the Gini index cannot. To decompose Theils T index (that is, GE(1)), let Y be the total income of all N individuals in the sample, and be mean income. Likewise, Yj is the total income of a subgroup (for example, the urban population) with Nj members, and is the mean income of this subgroup. Using T to represent GE(1), Where is the value of GE(1) for subgroup j. Equation separate the inequality measure in to two components the first of which represents within group inequality while the second term measures the between-group inequality.