Monetary Policy Essays (5418 words) - Foreign Exchange Market

Monetary Policy International Dimensions to U.S. Monetary Policy Executive Summary Federal Reserve monetary policy has traditionally focused on the domestic economy. Over time, however, a number of significant trends have underscored the potential importance of the international dimensions of contemporary monetary policy. Such trends include the following: ? Financial markets continue to become increasingly integrated internationally; capital is evermore mobile. ? The U.S. dollar continues to remain the world's principal international currency despite evolving exchange rate arrangements. ? Official and unofficial dollarization has continued in several emerging market economies. These trends suggest that monetary policy may have differing transmission mechanisms increasingly involving international variables than was earlier the case. In addition to these trends, empirical evidence recently has accumulated showing that changes in U.S. monetary policy can significantly impact emerging market economies in a number of ways. For example, changes in U.S. monetary policy can (1) dominate capital flows in emerging market economies, (2) be associated with financial crises in these countries, and (3) significantly impact interest rates and financial markets in emerging economies under differing exchange rate arrangements. Furthermore, experience shows that the Federal Reserve can successfully assume international lender-of-last-resort responsibilities and stabilize world financial markets in situations of international liquidity crises. The Federal Reserve should increasingly recognize these international considerations when conducting monetary policy. International Dimensions to U.S. Monetary Policy I. Introduction Traditionally, Federal Reserve monetary policy has focused on the domestic economy. Although international factors have not been ignored, they have been subordinate to domestic concerns. International concerns are rarely important rationale influencing Federal Reserve monetary policy decisions; further, the global impacts of U.S. monetary policy decisions seldom receive much attention from monetary officials. Recent trends and developments, however, suggest this domestic orientation may not be entirely satisfactory for U.S. monetary policy. There is a growing recognition of the fact that financial capital is increasingly mobile, and financial markets are evermore globally integrated. At the same time, varying degrees of dollarization have occurred in several emerging market economies and the dollar remains the world's principal international currency despite evolving developments in exchange rate arrangements. These considerations have a number of important implications for U.S. monetary policy. For example, they help to explain why changes in U.S. monetary policy can have increasingly potent effects on emerging market economies that should be recognized and why the Federal Reserve's implicit international lender-of-last-resort (LOLR) responsibilities are so important.1 These international considerations can be taken into account by anchoring prices with a price stabilization policy goal and using key market price indicators as policy guides. After briefly describing these evolving circumstances -- namely, increased capital mobility, dollarization, and the international role of the dollar -- this paper briefly reviews the evidence suggesting that changes in Federal Reserve monetary policy have implications for both emerging markets and the global economy. Implications for the Federal Reserve's international LOLR role are highlighted and some recommendations for monetary policy are outlined. Recent Trends and Developments ? Increasing Financial Integration and Growing Capital Mobility. Clearly, one important trend of recent years is increasing international financial integration and growing capital mobility.2 Most economists now recognize the inexorable trend toward globalization or growing international integration of financial markets and increasing capital mobility. Empirical results, for example, increasingly provide evidence of growing capital mobility. In particular, data on capital flows as well as interest rate differentials indicate that a growing degree of capital market integration or increased capital mobility has occurred since the 1970s.3 The U.S. economy, along with most other economies, is more open. Many experts believe these trends are largely inevitable and irreversible, partly because they are being driven by communications and informational technological change and partly because policymakers increasingly recognize the many compelling benefits of regulatory changes that foster financial integration.4 Accordingly, a growing consensus among econo mists is that there is no turning back: i.e., that capital mobility is here to stay.5 There are a number of important implications of this increased international financial integration. This more open environment, for example, implies that changes in monetary policy involve a somewhat different transmission mechanism. In particular, the more integrated the economy, the more quickly and substantially do divergent policies affect financial markets and capital flows. And the foreign exchange rate may play an increasingly

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President

Biography of James A. Garfield, 20th U.S. President James A. Garfield ( November 19, 1831- September 19, 1881) was an educator, lawyer, and a major general in the Union Army during the Civil War. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate and to the U.S. Congress before becoming the 20th American president on March 4, 1881. He served only until Sept. 19, 1881, when he died from complications caused by an assassins bullet 11 weeks before. Fast Facts: James A. Garfield Known For: 20th president of the United StatesBorn: Nov. 19, 1831 in Cuyahoga County, OhioParents: Abram Garfield, Eliza Ballou GarfieldDied: Sept. 19, 1881 in Elberon,  New JerseyEducation: Williams CollegeSpouse: Lucretia RudolphChildren: Seven; two died in infancy Early Life Garfield was born in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, to Abram Garfield, a farmer, and  Eliza Ballou Garfield. His father died when Garfield was just 18 months old. His mother tried to make ends meet with the farm, but he and his three siblings, two sisters and a brother, grew up in relative poverty. He attended a local school before moving on to Geauga Academy in Geauga  County, Ohio in 1849. He then went to the Western Reserve  Eclectic  Institute (later called Hiram College) in Hiram, Ohio, teaching to help pay his way. In 1854, he attended Williams College in Massachusetts, graduating with honors two years later. On Nov. 11, 1858, Garfield married  Lucretia Rudolph, who had been a student of his at the Eclectic Institute. She was working as a teacher when Garfield wrote to her and they began courting. She contracted malaria while serving as first lady but lived a long life after Garfields death, dying on March 14, 1918. They had two daughters and five sons, two of whom died when they were infants. Career Before the Presidency Garfield began his career as an instructor in classical languages at the Eclectic Institute and was its president from 1857 to 1861. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1860, and he was ordained a minister in the  Disciples of Christ  church, but he soon turned to politics. He served as an Ohio state senator from 1859 to 1861. Garfield joined the Union army in 1861, taking part in the Civil War battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga and reaching the rank of major general. He was elected to Congress while still in the military, resigning to take his seat as a U.S. representative and serving from 1863 to 1880. During this time he had an extramarital affair with a woman in  New York City. He later admitted the indiscretion and was forgiven by his wife. Becoming President In 1880, the Republicans nominated Garfield to run for president as a compromise candidate between conservatives and moderates. Conservative candidate Chester A. Arthur was nominated as vice president. Garfield was opposed by Democrat Winfield Hancock. Acting upon the advice of President Rutherford B. Hayes, Garfield shied away from actively campaigning, speaking to reporters and voters from his home in  Mentor, Ohio, in what was referred to as the first â€Å"front porch† campaign. He won 214 out of 369 electoral votes. Events and Accomplishments Garfield was in office for only six and a half months. He spent much of that time dealing with patronage issues. The one major issue that he faced was an investigation of whether mail route contracts were being awarded fraudulently, with tax money going to those involved. The investigation implicated members of his Republican Party, but Garfield didnt flinch from continuing. In the end, revelations from the incident, called the Star Route Scandal, resulted in important civil service reforms. Assassination On  July 2, 1881, Charles J. Guiteau, a mentally disturbed office seeker, shot  Garfield  in the back in the Washington, D.C., railroad station while he was on his way to a family vacation in  New England. The president lived until Sept. 19 of that year. Guiteau apparently was driven by politics, saying to police after he surrendered, Arthur is now president of the United States. He was convicted of murder and hanged on June 30, 1882. The cause of death was massive hemorrhaging and slow  blood poisoning, which was later described as being related more to the unsanitary way physicians treated the president than to the wounds themselves. Doctors of the time were unschooled in the role of hygiene in preventing infection. The standard procedure was to devote most of the treatment effort to removing the bullet, and a number of doctors repeatedly poked his wound in an unsuccessful search. Legacy Garfield served the second shortest presidential term in American history, topped only by the 31-day term of William Henry Harrison, the ninth president, who caught a cold that turned into fatal pneumonia. Garfield was buried in Lake View Cemetery in  Cleveland. Upon his death, Vice President Arthur became president. Because of Garfields brief time in office, he couldnt achieve much as president. But by allowing the investigation into the mail scandal to continue despite its effect on members of his own party, Garfield paved the way for civil service reform. He also was an early champion of the rights of African-Americans, believing that education was the best hope for improving their lives. In his inaugural address, he said: â€Å"The elevation of the Negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. No thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people.†¦It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both.† Garfields prolonged death is credited with helping to establish the American president as a celebrity. The public and the media of the day were described as being obsessed with  his lengthy passing, more so even than they had been with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln 16 years before. Sources James Garfield. WhiteHouse.gov.James A. Garfield: President of the United States. Encyclopedia Brittanica.

The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing

The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing The Best Way To Start Out In Freelance Writing By Sharon When youre thinking of becoming a freelance writer, you will find a lot of advice about starting a writing career. However, theres one thing that you should do above anything else. Thats to write. If you dont write, you are not a writer. Skills Development There are several reasons why its a good idea to form the writing habit. First of all, you get to practice your writing skills. The more you write, the better your writing will become. Its as simple as that. Writing every day is a good opportunity to try out different types of writing and see what you like best. Its also a chance to study the writers you want to emulate and use what you learn as a basis for developing your own style and writing voice. Creative Freedom Another good reason to write is to enjoy the creative freedom of writing what you want. When you start writing for clients, you wont be able to do that as often. I find that most of my writing time is taken up with clients work, with very little time left for my own creative pursuits. However, its essential to spend some time on your own projects. That will keep you motivated to write and creatively fulfilled, helping to stave off the burnout that affects many freelance writers. Forming The Writing Habit Third, writing gets you in the writing habit. I recommend writing every day, even if its only for a little while. It makes writing part of your daily routine and it makes it easy to draw on the skills you have built up even if a particular writing project isnt very inspiring. The great thing about writing for practice is that you dont have to show it to anyone if you dont want to. However, once you feel confident, try showing your work to a critical friend or a group of fellow writers who will give you constructive criticism on where to improve. This will make you a better writer. Building Your Confidence As you get more confident, you will begin to find freelance writing opportunities that appeal to you. You have nothing to lose by trying to get a freelance writing commission. In fact, theres everything to gain. Since you have been practicing every day for the last little while, you have the skills you need to do the writing and you will be able to deliver a competent job. Im not saying that freelance writing is always easy. At first, there may be rejections and days when you doubt your own worth. But forming a writing habit and sticking to it will help you to overcome these obstacles and start a successful freelance writing career. Notice: Due to popular request we have finally released our Freelance Writing Course. Come check it out if you want to get started freelance writing online. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Math or Maths?10 Techniques for More Precise WritingThe 7 Types of Possessive Case

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Research Paper

Supply Chain Management, Vertical Integration and Horizontal Integration of Business Structure - Research Paper Example There are two main issues that we need to consider when making a decision for the vertically integrated, these issues are control and cost. However, the cost feature relies on the cost of marketplace transactions among corporate versus the cost of administering similar activities within a single corporate. On the other hand, the next concern is the influence of asset control that is able to influence barriers to entry as well as that can make a certain collaboration of main value-adding players (Susan Crawford blog, 2010). According to (Clinton et al., 2008) there are a lot of advantages of the vertical integration that potentially a present reduction in transportation costs if general possession results in nearer geographic proximity. In addition, it enhances the supply chain coordination. Also, it offers additional opportunities to differentiate through augmented control over inputs. Since the vertical integration captures downstream or upstream profit margins. This also augments the entry barriers to potential business competitors, for instance, if the company is able to achieve sole access to a limited resource (Clinton et al., 2008). According to (Clinton et al., 2008), there are also various drawbacks those can negate some of the potential gains attained through vertical integration. The main problem is about the capacity balancing. For instance, the corporation can require constructing excess upstream capability to make sure that its downstream operations have enough supply beneath all demand circumstances. In addition, there is a problem of the potentially high costs because of little efficiencies consequential such as lack of supplier competition. Also, there is some decreased flexibility because of the previous downstream or upstream investments. Furthermore, there is some less capability to augment product diversity if major in-house development is needed.     Ã‚  

Financial Ratios Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Ratios Analysis - Essay Example d. Cost of beverage sold percentage: Cost of beverage sold as percentage of total beverage sales. This works out to be 22.9%, which is within the range of industry average of 20-25%. Interestingly, the actual is very close to budgeted average of 22.5%. This shows that while management has made efforts to achieve what was budgeted, the efforts are certainly within the industry average. e. Average daily rate: This is taken as Room revenue to paid room nights. The paid room night is taken as 7555 and the average daily rate works out to be $62.7. As the value for previous year is not available, it is not possible to compare. f. Profit margin: This is income to revenue. The margin works out to be 56.4% of revenue. Profit margin has been worked out separately for room services and F&B. Profit margin for room service stands at 78.2%, which is marginally higher than the industry average of 70-75%. At the same time, F&B division has profit margin of 22% as against the industry average of 15-25%. g. Total revenue change from budget for rooms and F&B: This is actual revenue to budgeted revenue. This is almost one for F&B; but 0.88 for rooms. This is further corroborated by poorer occupancy rate. Marketing of room service is essential in this context. h. Housekeeping cost per occupied room: This is ratio of total housekeeping costs to total room sold. The actual is 6.5 which are substantially lower than budgeted 7.6. Thus, it appears that housekeeping costs has been controlled considerably. i. Room sales to total sales: This is a good indicator to gauge revenue generation by rooms. On the whole, room sales contributed 61.1% of total revenue. But this is found to be lower than budgeted 64.3%. This calls for some strategic intervention to boost up revenue collection from room service. Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that F&B division has performed well in comparison

Oedipus And Othello :: Compare Contrast Oediput Othello Essays

Oedipus and Othello   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When comparing and contrasting the character's Oedipus and Othello by means of the different theatrical practices, one must take in account that there have been many interpretations, and productions of each of their respected plays. The differing presentations of each may lead someone to think differently about the play than another would. In comparing and contrasting the dramatic representation of the protagonists Oedipus and Othello, theatrical presentation, costume design, and character will lead the reader, and viewer, to have a greater insight into the theatrical practices of their times and their approaches to the issue of verisimilitude.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The theatrical presentation of both plays are very similar. The two plays would both be presented on a thrust stage, which is a platform surrounded on three sides by the audience. Except for the backdrop which would have some element of scenery, the stage itself would be bare apart from a few scenic elements and props. Othello, like most of Shakespeare's plays, had what is called an abstract setting. That is a setting in which the locale may change rapidly, it may not be indicated by the script that it has changed, and was most likely suggested by a few props. Abstract settings place more emphasis on the language and the performer, which causes the spectator to use their imagination. It also places more emphasis on costuming. This type of setting helped set up the style of representational theater, which places high emphasis on the realistic. The style used in classical Greece was presentational which, because of the use of the mask, gave no illusion that this story is happening before their eyes. The audience is reminded that they are watching a play, and not merely observing life. Thus, the use of the thrust stage is the only similarity of the two types of presentation. Othello is a purely illusionistic play, whereas Oedipus Rex is one that when watched, the viewer knows that they are watching a performance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Costumes convey information about the character and aid in setting the tone or mood of the production. Because most acting involves impersonation, most costumes are essential to re-create historical or to the period in which the production takes place. Costumes like that of William Shakespeare's Othello maybe abstract, ever-changing, like it's setting. When using the costume design of the latest film version of Othello, he is usually seen in a toga-like uniform which may have stemmed from his moor background. Since costume elements were formalized in classical Greek theater, the costumes would be that of everyday dress with slight additions of colour, designs, all of which created a larger

Why Looks Are the Last Bastion of Discrimination

Why looks are the last bastion of discrimination In the 19th century, many American cities banned public appearances by â€Å"unsightly† individuals. A Chicago ordinance was typical: â€Å"Any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or in any way deformed, so as to be an unsightly or disgusting subject . . . shall not . . . expose himself to public view, under the penalty of a fine of $1 for each offense. † Although the government is no longer in the business of enforcing such discrimination, it still allows businesses, schools and other organizations to indulge their own prejudices.Over the past half-century, the United States has expanded protections against discrimination to include race, religion, sex, age, disability and, in a growing number of jurisdictions, sexual orientation. Yet bias based on appearance remains perfectly permissible in all but one state and six cities and counties. Across the rest of the country, looks are the last bastion of acceptable bigo try. We all know that appearance matters, but the price of prejudice can be steeper than we often assume.In Texas in 1994, an obese woman was rejected for a job as a bus driver when a company doctor assumed she was not up to the task after watching her, in his words, â€Å"waddling down the hall. † He did not perform any agility tests to determine whether she was, as the company would later claim, unfit to evacuate the bus in the event of an accident. In New Jersey in 2005, one of the Borgata Hotel Casino's â€Å"Borgata babe† cocktail waitresses went from a Size 4 to a Size 6 because of a thyroid condition.When the waitress, whose contract required her to keep an â€Å"an hourglass figure† that was â€Å"height and weight appropriate,† requested a larger uniform, she was turned down. â€Å"Borgata babes don't go up in size,† she was told. (Unless, the waitress noted, they have breast implants, which the casino happily accommodated with paid medica l leave and a bigger bustier. ) And in California in 2001, Jennifer Portnick, a 240-pound aerobics instructor, was denied a franchise by Jazzercise, a national fitness chain.Jazzercise explained that its image demanded instructors who are â€Å"fit† and â€Å"toned. † But Portnick was both: She worked out six days a week, taught back-to-back classes and had no shortage of willing students. Such cases are common. In a survey by the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, 62 percent of its overweight female members and 42 percent of its overweight male members said they had been turned down for a job because of their weight. And it isn't just weight that's at issue; it's appearance overall.According to a national poll by the Employment Law Alliance in 2005, 16 percent of workers reported being victims of appearance discrimination more generally — a figure comparable to the percentage who in other surveys say they have experienced sex or race discrimination . Conventional wisdom holds that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but most beholders tend to agree on what is beautiful. A number of researchers have independently found that, when people are asked to rate an individual's attractiveness, their responses are quite consistent, even across race, sex, age, class and cultural background.Facial symmetry and unblemished skin are universally admired. Men get a bump for height, women are favored if they have hourglass figures, and racial minorities get points for light skin color, European facial characteristics and conventionally â€Å"white† hairstyles. Yale's Kelly Brownell and Rebecca Puhl and Harvard's Nancy Etcoff have each reviewed hundreds of studies on the impact of appearance. Etcoff finds that unattractive people are less likely than their attractive peers to be viewed as intelligent, likable and good.Brownell and Puhl have documented that overweight individuals consistently suffer disadvantages at school, at work and beyond. Among the key findings of a quarter-century's worth of research: Unattractive people are less likely to be hired and promoted, and they earn lower salaries, even in fields in which looks have no obvious relationship to professional duties. (In one study, economists Jeff Biddle and Daniel Hamermesh estimated that for lawyers, such prejudice can translate to a pay cut of as much as 12 percent. When researchers ask people to evaluate written essays, the same material receives lower ratings for ideas, style and creativity when an accompanying photograph shows a less attractive author. Good-looking professors get better course evaluations from students; teachers in turn rate good-looking students as more intelligent. Not even justice is blind. In studies that simulate legal proceedings, unattractive plaintiffs receive lower damage awards. And in a study released this month, Stephen Ceci and Justin Gunnell, two researchers at Cornell University, gave tudents case studies involving real criminal defendants and asked them to come to a verdict and a punishment for each. The students gave unattractive defendants prison sentences that were, on average, 22 months longer than those they gave to attractive defendants. Just like racial or gender discrimination, discrimination based on irrelevant physical characteristics reinforces invidious stereotypes and undermines equal-opportunity principles based on merit and performance.And when grooming choices come into play, such bias can also restrict personal freedom. Consider Nikki Youngblood, a lesbian who in 2001 was denied a photo in her Tampa high school yearbook because she would not pose in a scoop-necked dress. Youngblood was â€Å"not a rebellious kid,† her lawyer explained. â€Å"She simply wanted to appear in her yearbook as herself, not as a fluffed-up stereotype of what school administrators thought she should look like. † Furthermore, many grooming codes sexualize the workplace and jeopardize em ployees' health.The weight restrictions at the Borgata, for example, reportedly contributed to eating disorders among its waitresses. Appearance-related bias also exacerbates disadvantages based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation and class. Prevailing beauty standards penalize people who lack the time and money to invest in their appearance. And weight discrimination, in particular, imposes special costs on people who live in communities with shortages of healthy food options and exercise facilities.So why not simply ban discrimination based on appearance? Employers often argue that attractiveness is job-related; their workers' appearance, they say, can affect the company's image and its profitability. In this way, the Borgata blamed its weight limits on market demands. Customers, according to a spokesperson, like being served by an attractive waitress. The same assumption presumably motivated the L'Oreal executive who was sued for sex discrimination in 2003 after a llegedly ordering a store manager to fire a salesperson who was not â€Å"hot† enough.Such practices can violate the law if they disproportionately exclude groups protected by civil rights statutes — hence the sex discrimination suit. Abercrombie & Fitch's notorious efforts to project what it called a â€Å"classic American† look led to a race discrimination settlement on behalf of minority jobseekers who said they were turned down for positions on the sales floor. But unless the victims of appearance bias belong to groups already protected by civil rights laws, they have no legal remedy.As the history of civil rights legislation suggests, customer preferences should not be a defense for prejudice. During the early civil rights era, employers in the South often argued that hiring African Americans would be financially ruinous; white customers, they said, would take their business elsewhere. In rejecting this logic, Congress and the courts recognized that custome r preferences often reflect and reinforce precisely the attitudes that society is seeking to eliminate.Over the decades, we've seen that the most effective way of combating prejudice is to deprive people of the option to indulge it. Similarly, during the 1960s and 1970s, major airlines argued that the male business travelers who dominated their customer ranks preferred attractive female flight attendants. According to the airlines, that made sex a bona fide occupational qualification and exempted them from anti-discrimination requirements. But the courts reasoned that only if sexual allure were the â€Å"essence† of a job should employers be allowed to select workers on that basis.Since airplanes were not flying bordellos, it was time to start hiring men. Opponents of a ban on appearance-based discrimination also warn that it would trivialize other, more serious forms of bias. After all, if the goal is a level playing field, why draw the line at looks? â€Å"By the time you' ve finished preventing discrimination against the ugly, the short, the skinny, the bald, the knobbly-kneed, the flat-chested, and the stupid,† Andrew Sullivan wrote in the London Sunday Times in 1999, â€Å"you're living in a totalitarian state. Yet intelligence and civility are generally related to job performance in a way that appearance isn't. We also have enough experience with prohibitions on appearance discrimination to challenge opponents' arguments. Already, one state (Michigan) and six local jurisdictions (the District of Columbia; Howard County, Md. ; San Francisco; Santa Cruz, Calif. ; Madison, Wis. ; and Urbana, Ill. ) have banned such discrimination. Some of these laws date back to the 1970s and 1980s, while ome are more recent; some cover height and weight only, while others cover looks broadly; but all make exceptions for reasonable business needs. Such bans have not produced a barrage of loony litigation or an erosion of support for civil rights remedies gener ally. These cities and counties each receive between zero and nine complaints a year, while the entire state of Michigan totals about 30, with fewer than one a year ending up in court.Although the laws are unevenly enforced, they have had a positive effect by publicizing and remedying the worst abuses. Because Portnick, the aerobics instructor turned away by Jazzercise, lived in San Francisco, she was able to bring a claim against the company. After a wave of sympathetic media coverage, Jazzercise changed its policy. This is not to overstate the power of legal remedies. Given the stigma attached to unattractiveness, few will want to claim that status in public litigation.And in the vast majority of cases, the cost of filing suit and the difficulty of proving discrimination are likely to be prohibitive. But stricter anti-discrimination laws could play a modest role in advancing healthier and more inclusive ideals of attractiveness. At the very least, such laws could reflect our princ iples of equal opportunity and raise our collective consciousness when we fall short. [email  protected] edu Deborah L. Rhode is a Stanford University law professor and the author of â€Å"The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law. â€Å"