21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism Essay

Religious fundamentalism is the belief that social and political life should be organized on the basis of what are seen as essential religious principles that are supported by a belief in the literal truth of scared texts.1 Fascism, on the other hand is a totalitarian ideology that centers itself upon the leader and possesses the ‘anti-factor’ whereby it rejects a whole lot of other ideologies such as liberalism and communism. At first glance, there seems to be not much connection between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism; however a more detailed comparison between the two ideologies will reveal similarities that caused the former to be viewed by some as the â€Å"new fascism† and differences that made this view irrelevant. In the first half of this paper, I am going to compare and contrast the various similarities and differences between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism and then show that to deem religious fundamentalism as a new form of fascism is really unjustified. In the remaining half of the paper, I will make an argument for my belief that 21st century religious fundamentalism should indeed be considered as an ideology and also the basis of its mass appeal. Due to the complexities and varieties of 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century fascism, the similarities and differences listed below can be seen as generalizations and thus proven wrong by certain sects of religious fundamentalism or certain style of fascism. However, this is inevitable as this is the only way to compare the similarities and differences between these two complex ideologies. The first similarity between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism is the emphasis in both ideologies upon charismatic leadership. Many of the fundamentalists believe in the embodiment of ‘truth’ by their leader who will in turn implement it.2 For instance, in the Catholic faith, the pope is seen as the Vicar of Christ and can do no wrong.3 Furthermore, Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Islamic Iran was recognized first as Ayatollah (a ‘reflection of Allah’) and then Grand Ayatollah. 4Fascism is based upon the cult of personality built around its leaders and it is effectively crafted to exploit this cult. For instance, Hitler effectively cultivated the Fuhrer cult through Nazi propaganda machine under the expertise of Goebbels and through films such as ‘Triumph of Will’ by Leni Riefenstahl.5 Perhaps fascism’s huge emphasis on charismatic leadership is best embodied by Mussolini’s proclamation, â₠¬Å"Fascism is Mussolinism†¦what would Fascism be, if I had not been?†6 The second similarity between these two ideologies is the intolerance shown by both ideologies upon conflicting elements that goes against their principles. For instance, some sects of religious fundamentalism such as evangelicalism or Islamic fundamentalism exhibits little tolerance for other faiths and in some instances even prosecute and victimize minorities that believes in other faiths in a largely Islamist or Christian country. This intolerance also translates into the belief that religious views can be coercive and religious views ought to have a role in politics thus cementing the power of the religious fundamentalists in their country. This is comparable to the racism and anti-semitism present in European Fascism whereby the proclaimed enemies of the ideologies were shown no mercies and prosecuted and victimized through no faults of their own. The most extreme illustration of this is the holocaust which was brought about systematically by the Nazis. These two similarities certainly contributed to 21st century religious fundamentalism been branded by some as â€Å"the new fascism†. However, the more important contributing factor should be the increasing role that religion is playing in world politics. Judaism has produced its own militant â€Å"nationalist† terrorists; Buddhists show a militant and violent side in their politics in Sri Lanka against Hindu Tamils. 7 A few American evangelists have engaged in murder and violence on the abortion issue.8 Islam-inspired terrorism also received much publicity especially after the 911 attack. Furthermore, religious fundamentalists have tried their best to exert their influence through proper channels of government. For instance, American fundamentalists fielded candidates for elections.9 Thus the increasing influence that religious fundamentalists are trying to exert in politics and the adverse violent happenings that they brought in the 21st century doubtlessly brought echoes of the 20th century European Fascism which brought about not only the 2nd World War but also the holocaust. However, to brand 21st century religious fundamentalism as the ‘new fascism’ is not only incorrect but also unjustified. In the following paragraphs, I will proceed to show the differences between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism. 21st century religious fundamentalism does not contain elements of racism, anti-semitism or the belief in the possibility of a master race. It also holds no faith in eugenics. Furthermore, it is also an ideology that does not preach upon imperialism, militarism or world domination. All the above elements are defining attributes of 20th century European Fascism. The mere evidence that religious fundamentalism does not believe in all these attributes made the branding of it as a new form of fascism unjustified. Many religious fundamentalists believe that political power should be subordinated to religious power whereby the Bishop, the Rabbi, or the Ayatollah should be able to make the final decision on social issues.10 The best case scenario for religious fundamentalists would be as in the case of Iran where they actually govern however, compromises are made between religious fundamentalists and secular authorities.11 This belief that political power should be subordinate to religious power is of course the direct opposite of fascism whereby churches (religion) should be subordinate to the state. 21st century religious fundamentalism also possess other aspects in their ideology that is absent in 20th century European Fascism. Some of these attributes are otherworldliness and messianic spirit (where fundamentalists are concerned with the sacred and devote energy only in activities consonant with the words of God), against science (rejecting critical interpretations of the Bible and Darwin’s evolutionary theory), belief in the supernatural, moralism and the subordination of women.12 After showing the differences between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism, I will like to conclude that to brand the former as â€Å"new fascism† is not only unfair but incorrect. Next, this paper shall argue for 21st century religious fundamentalism to be accorded its rightful status as an ideology. Before I start defending my belief that religious fundamentalism is an ideology, I will like to provide the definitions of political theory and political philosophy. This is because of the commonly interchangeable usage of ideology, theory and philosophy and thus a clear distinction between the three terms will be helpful to my argument. Political philosophy is defined as a â€Å"disinterested search for the principles of the good state and the good society.†13 Political theory has been defined as â€Å"disinterested search for knowledge of political and social reality.† 14 Thus many scholars claimed that political philosophy is a normative theory while political theory is an empirical theory.15 Political ideology contains both the normative and empirical propositions.16 Thus, I will now start my argument by looking at the characteristics of an ideology and how religious fundamentalism actually fits these characteristics and rejects any suggestions that religious fundamentalism is only a ‘philosophy’ or a ‘theory’. â€Å"Ideologies arise in conditions of crisis and in sections of society to whom the hitherto prevailing outlook has become unacceptable†17 This accounts for the resurgence of religious fundamentalism in the late 20th to 21st century(similar to how European Fascism evolved) where social problems in western countries such as Britain and America have caused evangelicals to organize pressure groups to petition against abortion laws and other problems such as pornography. This further explains the popularity of political Islam in the Middle East as it is the only other viable solution to the secular ideologies propagated by the West. â€Å"An ideology is more than just ideas; it is also actions based upon those ideas.†18 21st century religious fundamentalism can be seen to fulfill this criterion as many examples show this. One example will be the establishment of Iran as an Islamic state and in its latest issue of Iran daily; Iran reiterated that it will still maintain its fundamentalist ways despite pressures from the United States.19 Another example will be Evangelicals forming pressure groups to translate their ideas into actions. â€Å"Ideology includes both empirical and normative elements-empirical assertions that certain conditions exist, and normative assertions that a certain political order is to be preferred.†20 21st century religious fundamentalism does possess this quality and one instance will be how Islamic fundamentalist view the Israel issue where they see Israel as a western creation due to no fault of their own and sought not to recognize the status quo but to take steps to revise it. Another example will be Islamic fundamentalists’ view of the United States role in the Middle East. â€Å"Ideology tends to be exclusive, absolute, and universal.† 2121st century Religious Fundamentalism contains various different sects, for instance, evangelicalism and Islamic fundamentalism and thus could not lay claim to this criterion. However, there are indeed common attributes within religious fundamentalism such as the inerrancy of the â€Å"Written Word† and the subordination of political power. Furthermore, within the different varieties of religious fundamentalism, one can points out that evangelicalism and Islamic fundamentalism is by itself, exclusive, absolute and universal. Lastly, â€Å"Ideologies seek to elicit a response of commitment and obligation on the part of the adherents.† Again, this criterion is easily satisfied by 21st century religious fundamentalism. This can be seen in the 911 suicide bombing of the twin towers by terrorists inspired by Political Islam. To pursue ‘jihad’, Islamic extremists are willing to give up their lives for a greater good. On a more moderate note, ideologies certainly influence evangelicals who try to fight against social laws that their ideology deem inappropriate. After showing the ability of 21st century religious fundamentalism of fulfilling the various criteria of an ideology, I can safely conclude that 21st century religious fundamentalism is an ideology and not a political philosophy or a political theory. In this last part of the paper, I will provide the basis of its mass appeal. The basis of 21st century religious fundamentalism’s mass appeal must be its political vision of the world and the kind of a new society that it can bring to the world. Faced with social problems such as rising crime rates, teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in the Western countries, evangelical activists draw strength from its ideology and attempt to fight all these social problems through the formation of pressure groups pressuring and cajoling the government to make improvements in all realms of lives, from abolishing abortion to anti-pornography laws to religious education in school. These actions by evangelical activists from their perspective can be seen not only as morally rewarding but also efforts made that adhere to their religious beliefs. Political Islam’s appeal in the Middle East can also be attributed to the erosion of traditional values brought about by modernization.22 Furthermore, complicated by the colonial experience, the failure of secular nationalism, the Israel creation and unhealthy US interferences in the region, political Islam remains a very attractive alternative to western ideas.( the reason been that Islam cover all aspects of lives and offer solutions to just about everything) In conclusion, this paper has shown the similarities and the differences between 21st century religious fundamentalism and 20th century European Fascism and also argued that to call religious fundamentalism â€Å"new fascism† is not only incorrect but unjustified. This paper has also argued for 21st century religious fundamentalism to be considered as an ideology through the demonstration of it fulfilling the various criteria of an ideology. Lastly, this paper has provided the writer’s perception for the basis of 21st century religious fundamentalism mass appeal. Bibliography Andrew Heywood, â€Å"Politics†, second edition, palgrave foundations, 2002 Aristotle A. Kallis, â€Å"The Fascism Reader†, first edition, Routledge, 2003 Graham E. Fuller, â€Å"The Future of Political Islam†, palgrave, 2003 J. Christopher Soper, â€Å"Evangelical Christianity in the United States and Great Britain†, Macmillian, 1994 Reo M. Christenson, â€Å"Ideologies and modern politics†, first edition, Fletcher and Son Ltd, 1972 Roy C. Macridis and Mark Hulliung, â€Å"Contemporary Political Ideologies, Movements and Regimes†,sixth edition, HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996 http://www.iran-daily.com/1384/2526/html/ Iran Daily Newspaper copyright,2005, 20/03/06 1 Andrew Heywood, â€Å"Politics†, second edition, palgrave foundations, 2002, p. 63 2 Roy C. Macridis and Mark Hulliung, â€Å"Contemporary Political Ideologies, Movements and Regimes†,sixth edition, HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996, p.233 3 Hulluing, p. 233 4 Hulluing, p. 234 5 Aristotle A. Kallis, â€Å"The Fascism Reader†, first edition, Routledge, 2003, p.294 6 Reo M. Christenson, â€Å"Ideologies and modern politics†. first edition, Fletcher and Son Ltd, 1972, p. 60 7 Graham E. Fuller, â€Å"The Future of Political Islam†, palgrave, 2003 p. 78 8 Fuller, p. 78 9 Fuller, p. 78 10 Hulluing, p. 233 11 Hulluing, p. 233 12 Hulluing, p. 233 13 Christenson, p. 7 14 Christenson, p. 7 15 Christenson, p. 8 16 Christenson, p. 8 17 Christenson, p. 9 18 J. Christopher Soper, â€Å"Evangelical Christianity in the United States and Great Britain†,Macmillian,1994, p.26 19 http://www.iran-daily.com/1384/2526/html/ Iran Daily Newspaper copyright,2005, 20/03/06 20 Christenson, p. 11 21 Christenson, p. 11 22 Fuller, p. 68

Nutrition and Carbohydrates Essay

In today’s society everyone is looking for the next best thing, there are all kinds of fad diets out there that are consistently making outrageous promises to consumers. The latest in the fad diet trend is the â€Å"Low Carbohydrate/High Protein† diet. To break it down simply  proteins are needed to help the body to grow and repair while carbohydrates provide energy. Both are needed in order for a person to remain healthy, which is why fad diets that promote one over the other are harmful to our bodies. Fad diets such as the â€Å"low carb/high protein† diet tend to have one thing in common. They promote the exaggerated benefits of their program and show unrealistic results all while telling the consumer that their diet is the best, the safest, or the most natural diet available. What they fail to make known are the potential health problems that going on crash or fad diets can cause. Fad diets such as the â€Å"low carb/high protein diet† all have well documented risks that should not be overlooked when doing research on weight loss. Are low carb/high protein diets and the rapid weight loss they promise worth the potential harm we could be doing to our bodies in the long run? On a daily basis we decide what we are going to put into our bodies with the knowledge that what we choose to eat affects the body in different ways. Carbohydrates are one of the crucial macronutrients that perform an essential role in fueling the human body. They provide the body with energy and in order for the body to use carbohydrates for energy food must undergo digestion, absorption, and glycolysis. It is recommended that 55 to 60 percent of our caloric intake come from carbohydrates. It is important to keep in mind that there are different types of Carbohydrates. There are good and there are also bad carbohydrates and it is up to us to choose which ones to digest as part of a healthy diet. Eating a healthy diet would ideally include Carbohydrates but it is possible for the body to exist without them. Certain diet programs suggest cutting out Carbohydrates all together in order to lose weight. It is up to the consumer to decide to include Carbs in their diet or accept the potential risks of cutting them out completely. There are simple Carbohydrates which are most commonly referred to as blood sugar are found in sugared sodas, pastries, and high processed foods. Then there are complex Carbs which are composed of starch, glycogen, and dietary fiber. These types of Carbs are commonly found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The starch represents the digestible carbohydrate that gets broken down in order to release sugar into the bloodstream to produce energy. Glycogen is similar to starch but, the primary storage site in the human body is the liver and the muscles. Proteins are equally as important as Carbohydrates and play a critical role in keeping the body healthy. There are many health benefits that come from including protein in your diet. The body needs to ingest enough protein to help with tissue repair if you sustain an injury. Proteins help the body to fight off illness and disease and also keep the immune system functioning properly. Our bodies can produce almost every amino acid needed to remain healthy but there are nine amino acids that our bodies cannot produce. Therefore we must obtain these nine amino acids by keeping a balanced diet that is high in protein. Though they are becoming more and more popular, â€Å"High Protein, Low Carbohydrate Diets† have their pros and cons. When protein levels become escalated due to high amounts of saturated fats such as those found in animal products, problems may occur. These problems could eventually lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Restricting Carbohydrates from your diet is essentially cutting off the fuel from your brain, heart, and other organs thus depriving the body of what it needs to function. Diets that advocate cutting Carbohydrates count on the fact that your body will go into a different metabolic state called ketosis, in order to lose weight. When the body is in Ketosis it begins to pull energy from the carbon fragments that the breakdown of fat creates. The beginning stages of ketosis can be recognized easily as the consumer begins to feel less hungry and the weight starts to come off rapidly. Though this seems like an optimal outcome, restricting Carbohydrates could lead to health problems such as kidney failure or kidney stones. The issues associated with protein packed diets are that often times once the consumer decides to stop the diet, the weight they lost is rapidly regained, leading to a potentially dangerous cycle of â€Å"yo-yo dieting. † Diets such as these can place you at risk for certain deficiencies. Sometimes too little or too much of something may result in poor health which is why balance is so important. Eating a low carbohydrate diet has adverse side effects such as headaches, bad breath, constipation, muscle weakness, and feelings of fatigue. The effects of not having of not having complex carbohydrates result from restricting plant based foods, which are in phytochemicals and antioxidants and these chemicals offer protection against diseases. The healthy solution is choosing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans as your carbohydrate source since these contain vitamins, nutrients, and fiber that our bodies need. Consuming high protein diets consisting of red meats or other high fat food are linked to high cholesterol. The benefits of a healthy and balanced diet should include high energy levels, internal organs working properly, and overall physical and mental good health. With the United States being at the forefront of the obesity epidemic, many have turned to fad diets as a solution, without concern for the potential risks. Comparatively to living a natural and holistic lifestyle, dieting has been proven to be ineffective and detrimental in the long run. Throughout history diets have been proven to be unreliable and at times unsafe, which is why it is so important to understand that having a healthy well-balanced diet is the key to weight management and overall good health.

American Privateers in the Revolutionary War

American Privateers in the Revolutionary War American Privateers in the Revolutionary War Before the Revolutionary War began, the Continental Congress showed little interest in creating a navy for the new nation (Nelson 62). Congress was reluctant to supply the funds to purchase or build ships, purchase supplies, or pay sailors to man the ships. When the Revolution began, however, Congress realized it was important to have American ships patrolling the coasts of the new nation, especially because Britain’s naval force was the most powerful at the time (Frayler). Consequently, the Americans turned to privateering. Privateer ships were privately owned vessels and were similar to pirate vessels. Unlike pirates, privateers were authorized by the government to attack ships belonging to an enemy. Privateering during the Revolution financially benefited both sailors and colonists alike and it assisted the Continental Army by providing supplies. American privateers, commissioned by the Continental Congress and the colonies, played an important role in the development of the United States and the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Beginning in 1775, soon after the beginning of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress and individual colonies began commissioning privateers (Konstam 148). In November of 1775, the Massachusetts General Court approved â€Å"An Act For Encouraging the Fixing out of Amed Vessels† (Patton 27). This act allowed citizens to â€Å"equip any vessel to sail on the seas, attack, take and bring into any port in this colony all vessels offending or employed by the enemy† (qtd. in Patton 27). Additionally, it outlined the proper procedure for obtaining commissions and creating prize courts to distribute the captured wealth. The Continental Congress passed an act on March 23, 1776, which formalized the commissioning process and established rules of conduct for privateers (Frayler). The act required owners of privateering vessels to post monetary bonds in order to verify that they would adhere to Congress’s regulations. (Frayler). Applications for commission required the applicant to supply a sum of money as much as $10,000 as a promise to treat captives with â€Å"the greatest humanity and tenderness† (Patton 98). Applicants were charged $5,000 if the vessel weighed less than 100 tons and $10,000 if it was larger (Kuhl 86). In another act, passed on April 3, 1776, Congress issued instructions for the commanders of privateering vessels. The act authorized the commanders to â€Å"by Force of Arms, attack, subdue, and take all Ships and other Vessels belonging to the inhabitants of Great Britain on the High Seas,† and â€Å"by Force of Arms, attack, subdue, and take all ships and oth er Vessels whatsoever carrying Soldiers, Arms, Gun powder, Ammunition, Provisions, or any other contraband Goods, to any of the British Armies or Ships of War employed against these Colonies† (qtd. in Salem Maritime National Historic Site). As Massachusetts’s act suggested, any vessel could become a privateer (Patton 27). Although this quickly increased the number of privateers on the seas, it made it possible for ships of any condition to become privateering ship. When Washington, a large Continental schooner, was captured by the British, the Royal Navy deemed it to be unsuitable for sea or for war, suggesting that not all privateer ships were in the best condition when they were commissioned (Patton 32-33). The physical state of a ship was important, but the size of a ship was equally significant. The largest ship was the Caesar, a 600-ton, 26-gun ship and the smallest was the 8-ton Defense (Frayler). The most prevalent ships were two-masted schooners and brigantines. By early 1776, ships of all sizes were cruising the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and the Canadian coast (Konstam 148). In order to become a privateer, the owner of the ship had to be issued a letter of marque and reprisal. These documents promised that the bearers would not be prosecuted as pirates by their home nation (History Channel). If a ship attacked another ship but did not have a letter of marque, the attackers were considered pirates and could be hung for their crimes (Kuhl 12). Letters of marque provided extra protection to the bearer because it guaranteed that captured privateers would be treated as prisoners of war rather than criminals by the foreign nation (History Channel). The documentation from this time is incomplete, but about 1,700 Letters of Marque were provided on a per-voyage basis to Revolutionary privateers (Frayler). Although letters of marque were supposed to protect the privateers, the promises made by the Congress were never fully accomplished because the British passed the Pirate Act in March of 1777 (Patton 34). Under this act, privateers were regarded as pirates, and were denied both due process in British courts and the opportunity for prisoner exchange. As a result, many captured American privateers were jailed and had only three options to get out: join the Royal Navy, escape, or die. Even before the Pirate Act was passed, the British often treated their prisoners poorly (Kuhl 43). However, it is worth noting that many British citizens disagreed with the poor conditions that American privateers were subject to and many opponents called the Pirate Act â€Å"cruel, persecuting† and â€Å"shocking to humanity† (qtd. in Patton 142). In December of 1777, about one hundred Londoners met together and raised  £1,300 to be allocated to American inmates so they could purchase goods that were otherwise unavailable to them (Patton 143-144). Three members of the House of Lords also contributed money to the cause and charities and churches donated food and other supplies. The risk of capture, imprisonment, or death did not deter sailors and citizens from rushing to become privateers. Men continued to join privateering vessels because of the promise of riches. Although privateers received no pay for their service other than the spoils they stole from British ships, many men signed up to become privateers because they could quickly earn a large sum of money (Konstam 148). Privateering was so lucrative that it was possible for a man to make more money in a month as a privateer than he could earn in another occupation in an entire year (Patton xvii). There is at least one known instance of a sailor, Joseph Peabody, who rose from a lowly deckhand to a privateer investor by participating in just nine voyages between 1777 and 1783 (Patton 115). In August of 1776, John Adams observed, â€Å"Thousands of schemes for privateering are afloat in American imaginations. Out of these speculations many fruitless and some profitable projects will grow† (qtd. in Patton 113). When a ship was captured by privateers, it was usually taken to a friendly port (Kuhl 33). Crews on a privateer tended to be larger than normal because part of the crew was required to board the captured ship and sail it. Goods captured by privateers, called prizes, were usually subject to judgement in an admiralty court (Kuhl 12). The admiralty court decided if the captors were eligible for payment and if they had followed the correct protocols (Kuhl 87). In order to receive payment, the prize had to arrive in port with the correct paperwork and whole cargo; it had to have been captured from an enemy; and the prisoners could not be harmed and their personal belongings could not be confiscated. However, in some cases of extreme need, supplies could be sent to the Army without being invoiced (Patton 120). In the case of the cargo ship Lively, the load of clothing and blankets were sent directly to American troops, and the captors did not receive payment for the supplies, which were estimated to be worth  £25,000. When the admiralty court decided that the crew had followed the correct protocols, the prize would then be auctioned off and the crew would be paid (Patton 121). Once they were paid, privateers tended to equally divided the payment between crew and owners (Kuhl 51). In some cases when the military was bidding on supplies, the public would sometimes refrain from bidding (Patton 121). Although this saved the government money, it lessened the payment that the crew would receive. Once the auction had ended, the winning bidder was usually required to immediately pay five percent of the purchase price (Patton 118). In its infancy, Revolutionary privateering was a disaster. The first privateering ship, the Hannah, would cause numerous problems for Congress (Nelson 87). The captain of Hannah was reluctant to sail far from port so he frequently seized merchant ships belonging to fellow Americans (Patton 30). The first ship captured by Hannah was Unity, a continental transport belonging to a member of Congress. Although Unity had been captured by the British, Hannah’s crew received no payment for the recapture of the transport ship. As a result, thirty-six members of the angry crew mutinied and were punished when the mutiny was eventually subdued (Patton 31). The next seven ships captured by Hannah also belonged to Americans, and damages had to be paid out of Continental funds for the merchandise that the crewmen stole. Another early privateer ship, Washington, captured only one legitimate prize (a load of hay) before being captured by the British after only eight days of service (Patton 3 2). Despite the discouraging beginnings, not all privateering ventures were disastrous. Lee, a small schooner crewed by 50 men, was able to capture Nancy, a transport ship that was four times the size of Lee (Patton 35). Despite Nancy’s size, Lee was able to capture the transport ship because Nancy’s crew was disoriented after sailing through a storm and they had mistaken the Lee for a Royal Navy ship. The British ship was loaded with precious supplies: tons of ammunition, thousands of weapons, and a three-thousand-pound mortar were all seized for use by the Continental Army. The cargo had an estimated worth of  £10,000 to  £30,000. In 1776, the Continental schooner Franklin intercepted the three-hundred-ton British transport, Hope (Patton 44). Hope carried numerous cannons and muskets as well as seventy-five tons of powder, making it the most valuable prize captured during the Revolution. When Hope and the cargo were finally auctioned off, they would be sold for more than $1.5 million (Patton 118). A Salem privateer ship named the Rattlesnake captured more than $1 million worth of prizes in a single cruise (Konstam 148). The Connecticut privateer Defence successfully captured two British transports, George and Annabella, and a third ship within a period of a few days (Kuhl 41-42). The captured ships carried necessary equipment, including tent supplies, blankets, cooking supplies, clothing, and small arms and bayonets (Kuhl 44). Washington immediately demanded that these supplies be sent to the Continental Army stationed in New York. Sailors were not the only people to profit from government-endorsed piracy against British fleets. Many ports, including the ports at Salem, Baltimore, and particularly Boston, benefitted from the privateers that operated off their coasts (Konstam 148). General Washington praised Bostonians for â€Å"the valuable prizes that have been lately brought into your port. We stand in need of all your activity to increase our supplies by these means† (qtd. in Patton 107). Rhode Island benefitted as well, and an estimated  £300,000 worth of prizes were brought into Providence between April and November of 1776 (Patton 91). Sailors of privateer ships often pledged future earnings to creditors as a way to settle debts (Patton 79-80). If the sailor’s earnings exceeded the debt amount, the agreement allowed the creditor to keep the difference. Investors earned money by owning and trading privateers shares (Patton 80). The value of these shares depended on the quality of the ship and the competency of the crew. A sixteenth of a share in a small privateer ship cost  £56 during the war (Patton 91). Manufacturing companies in the colonies profited as well. One cannon company owned by the Brown family in Providence, Rhode Island, sold their cannons for  £35 per ton (Patton 88). Congress ordered sixty twelve- and eighteen-pound cannons for their privateering vessels and a former member of Congress ordered twenty-six cannons (Patton 89). However, because many of the guns manufactured by the Brown’s company were set aside for private ships who would pay in advanced and pay extra for weapons, customers like Congress had to wait a long period of time for their guns to be produced (Patton 90). Although privateers helped the American cause by supplying the Continental Army with goods and weapons, privateering had a downside: privateers were owned by individuals, rather than the Navy or government, so they were not obligated to fight enemy ships (Nelson 285). While this helped maximize profits for the privateers, it limited their usefulness in the war. However, targeting merchant vessels did help the Revolutionary cause by applying financial pressure to English merchants (Kuhl 51). The Americans knew that if they harassed the British merchants enough, the merchants would in turn pressure Parliament and the king into ending the war. The popularity of privateering also decreased the number of men fighting in the Continental Army (Patton 124). Naval sailors were especially attracted to privateering, and they frequently deserted the Navy. While the Continental Navy offered many of the same benefits as privateers (such as a doubled prize share for the first sailor to spot an enemy vessel and a tripled share for the first sailor to board an enemy vessel), privateers had no regulations against cursing and did not require sailors to attend a religious service twice a day (Patton 78). As a result, the government began to place embargoes on the privateering industry (Patton 124). Before a privateer or merchant ship could leave its home port, the town had to fulfill the military manpower quotas for the town. Unsurprisingly, businessmen openly protested the embargo. John Adams opposed the embargo as well, stating, â€Å"I am sorry the embargo was ever laid. I am against all shackles upon trade. Let the spirit of the peo ple have its own way† (qtd. in Patton 124) As the Revolutionary War progressed, the success of the privateers began to dwindle. In 1777, British Parliament authorized their own anti-American privateers (Patton 107). Parliament had been initially been reluctant to authorize anti-American ships because it would acknowledge America as a legitimate country. As a result of Parliament’s decision, more than a thousand loyalist ships were launched from Britain and the West Indies and another one hundred warships launched from New York. Some estimates claim that admiralty courts in New York were inundated with up to 2,600 requests for privateer commission and letters of marque (Patton 147). It is difficult to calculate the number of American privateers killed, but records show that 832 Continental seaman (not including privateers) had died at sea during the Revolutionary War (Patton 111). During the Revolution, American privateers had captured more than three thousand British merchant ships (Konstam 148). Other sources state that eight hundred vessels that were commissioned as privateers have been credited with capturing or destroying about six hundred British vessels (Frayler). The British lost an estimated  £6 million annually as a result of privateering during the war (Patton, 43). Maritime diminution in the West Indies alone by mid-1777 were calculated at  £2 million (Patton 135). Additionally, American privateers caused an estimated $18 million (a little more than $302 million today) worth of damage to British ships (Frayler). In fact, shipping losses caused by privateers were a part of the reason in Britain’s decision to surrender (Konstam 148). Privateering was initially a disaster but many ships were very successful in capturing British vessels. Although privateering was dangerous, it was an extremely profitable venture that many Americans benefitted from. Sailors benefited by quickly earning money, merchants supplied weapons and other necessary items to privateers, and investors could earn money by trading stock in privateer ventures. Most importantly, privateers helped supply the Continental Army with captured British goods, such as clothes, blankets, weapons, and gunpowder. Privateers, regardless of their successes and failures, played a crucial role in the development of the United States and the outcome of the Revolutionary War.

The Need for a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan Dissertation

The Need for a Workplace Violence Prevention Plan - Dissertation Example 11). While it might be difficult, and sobering, to convince a reluctant boss that consideration must be given to keep all of their employees safe form violence while on the job, it is certainly worth the effort. To begin, it is helpful to point out some real world examples that bring the problem a little bit closer to home. Consider a bank, where tellers are on the frontline of ealing with the public on a daily basis, with thousands (in some cases much more) of dollars in their grasp. Without a violence prevention program in tact, an unsuspecting teller, and the public at large, can quickly become the victim of a violent act of grave proportions. There are many types of businesses that have a propensity towards violence occurring in the workplace. Consider any business that has its primary function being various interactions with the public. By the sheer nature of having unsecured people entering the office or place of business on a daily basis, all employees and an unsuspecting publ ic are put at risk. To not have some type of prevention effort in place to ward off possible attacks, management and owners are simply doing a disservice to the very employees that have devoted their working lives to the company. This is not to mention the customers who have a basic assumption that they are safe during the time that they are in a place of business. The management and owners owe it to the very customers that make them money to keep them relatively safe from harm in every way possible. Owners need to be aware of the risks, and cannot simply adopt a ‘this will not happen us’ mentality. A firm example of this can be seen in a company that utilises armoured trucks to transport money and various precious metals around major cities all across the United States. Such employees literally put their lives on the line to protect that which they are transporting, yet they all too often become victims of violent crimes. Without an adequate plan of workplace violence prevention, the drivers and guards would be left at a loss for which protocols to follow when they are under threat (Bruce & Nowlin, 2011, p. 294). Yet, almost all such companies do have a violence prevention plan in place. Naturally, such a plan does not work in every case, unfortunately, but they have thwarted many a violent attack in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. The owner who simply says that their business is not subject to violent attacks, such as the one described in this example, is missing the point. Any business that has any number of employees is, at some point, vulnerable to an attack. Consider any transportation company. Their drivers would be under the risk of attack from criminals who would seek to rob them of their merchandise. Any employee, working alone or with a partner, that is off site for any part of the work day is in a dangerous position and should have some kind of protection to ward off a possible violent attack that might occur. It is not only businesses that work with the public that are subject to violent attacks either. Consider the recent attacks at post offices, tax agencies, and general office

Human Resources Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Human Resources Management - Essay Example Nasr believed that there was a need of some fresh blood which could spur growth in the financial services sector for Morgan Stanley. For this job, Nasr required an individual, who was an initiator, some one who was an expert in not just market and product knowledge. But was a shrewd salesperson; that is be able to identify the needs of his customer and is able to bring a feasible solution to the customer’s problem. And more importantly, the person must also be having an established credibility in the financial sector for his expertise. As Morgan Stanley’s Capital Markets division needed to leverage on an expert’s experience and talent; in order to establish a brand name for itself. Parson became Nasr’s choice for this job as he had known for his professional expertise in this sector. In Nasr’s opinion, Parson’s experience in industry, his analytical capabilities, his motivation and his selling skills; made him the perfect fit with the job’s requirements. (Fisher, Schoenfeldt, & Shaw, 2005) Although, initially Parson may have been skeptical to work at Morgan Stanley; but Parson’s ambitions to excel in his career made him grasp this opportunity. Parson’s acceptance of this challenging job and then his success in drastically improving the market share of Morgan Stanley in financial services sector; not only justified Nasr’s choice but also proved that Parson was an achiever, he had successfully accomplished a lot in a very short span of time. Morgan Stanley may have begun to enjoy profits from Parson’s endeavors. But still Nasr faced a problem at his hands. Rob Parson does not incorporate Morgan Stanley’s working habits in his business manners. He fails to follow the Morgan Stanley way of doing things with consensus and as a team. Thus, Parson’s evaluation is reviewed as being that of an individualistic not a team player;

Global Depository Receipts (GDR) and convertible bonds Law of Intl Essay

Global Depository Receipts (GDR) and convertible bonds Law of Intl Finance - Essay Example DRs offer a number of benefits to investors seeking to diversify internationally. DRs greatly facilitate trading in foreign securities by reducing the risk of fraud. While foreign companies shares typically are written in the language of the issuer, DRs are usually issued in the language of the issuing agent. DRs are legal obligations of the issuing agent and not of the firm that issued the stock. Thus, the risk of falling prey of bogus certificates is eliminated. As such, DRs overcome many of the obstacles that mutual funds, pension funds, and other financial institutions have in investing and holding securities outside the homeland. (Geiders 1997, cited in Webster, 1998, p. 2). DRs are also convenient. Securities do not have to be delivered through international mail, prices are quoted in pounds or U.S. dollars, and pay dividends or interest in the home currency. In fact, the prices of a number of foreign stocks routinely are reported in the financial press. Importantly, global cus todian safekeeping charges associated with purchasing foreign securities are eliminated, which could save the investor as much as 40 basis points annually. (Webster, 1998) An important function of DRs is that they enable foreign firms to raise capital in the most lucrative markets for investment capital such as Great Britain and United States. Listing shares directly on UK or U.S. stock exchanges, however, is problematic, Disclosure requirements are among the strictest in the world. Foreign firms also face significant costs producing UK or U.S.-style financial statements. DRs provide foreign firms with a way around these listing problems. While the potential benefits of direct foreign investment are connected to overseas diversification the potential disadvantages to investing in DRs also are communicated by overseas diversification risks: fluctuating currency values, lower liquidity, and foreign tax liability. Fluctuating currency values. An investor does not have to exchange currency to purchase DRs, but DR prices are still influenced by fluctuating currency values. Since the pricing of DRs reflects the UK pounds value of a foreign security currency movements will work to an investor's advantage when the foreign country's currency drops in value in relation to the UK currency. But the opposite also is true. The value of DRs will drop when the foreign currency increases in value against the UK pound of sterlings. Overall, DRs still tend to track with the performance of their corresponding foreign securities. Lower liquidity. Most DRs are not as actively traded as foreign shares that are traded directly As a result, DRs may not be as easy to liquidate. Brokers that specialize in trading DRs, however, can liquidate them by instructing the foreign custodian to sell the underlying securities. Foreign tax liability. Although DRs pay dividends in pounds, these payments represent conversions of foreign dividends paid to a custodian on the underlying securities. As a result, DR holders must pay foreign taxes on these dividends. Although many DRs are considered highly

The reinterpretation of dreams; The role of cognition in classical and Essay

The reinterpretation of dreams; The role of cognition in classical and operant conditioning - Essay Example 882). As Revonsuo argues that nightmares do not support psychological theories according to which dreams serve emotional healing and adjustment problems. Revonsuo argues, however, that dream content is not as random as theorists claim. In fact, dream content is not only highly organized, but also highly selective. While dreaming occurs, the brain recreates a complicated representation of the world and these representations can either exaggerate waking world experiences of downplay them (Revonsuo 783). Revonsuo also argues that the content of dreams illustrates that dreams are mediated by specific experiences in the waking world. As a result, Revonsuo hypothesizes that dreams are therefore biological functions that serve to â€Å"simulate threatening events, and to rehearse threat perception and threat avoidance† (p. 783). Revonsuo supports his hypothesis by arguing that empirical studies consistently demonstrate that dream content is usually associated with â€Å"threatening elements† (p. 883). In other words, dreams usually involve negative experiences and rarely involve positive experiences. For example, a study conducted by Hall and Van de Castle in 1966) involved dream recollections from 500 females and 500 males between the ages of 18 and 25. The contents of the dream recollections revealed that 80% of the dream contents were negative experiences and only 20% contained positive experiences. Relying on the study conducted by Hall and Van de Castle, Revonsuo observes that a majority of the negative dreams were comprised of attacks or apprehensions of attacks from strange men or animals and in each case the dreamer either took flight or attempted to take flight or hid, or immediate arose from sleep (p. 884). Revonsuo evaluates why strange men and/or animals are the predominant threats in dream contents. Revonsuo goes back to the experiences of primitive man and notes that our ancestors existed in an environment in which animals were persistent t hreats. Our ancestors developed a survival instinct in which running, hiding or otherwise escaping became a staple coping mechanism. These human fears and instincts continue to haunt modern man. Dreaming simulates and perpetuates our instinctive and ancestral â€Å"threat-avoidance programs† (Revonsuo 884). Moreover, human relations were such that men often fought with one another for access to resources necessary for basic living. Although today, interactions with strange men are rarely threatening, it remains true that violence and wars are more frequently committed by males than by females. Therefore unpleasant dream contents in which strange men are the aggressor are also rooted in our ancestors’ survival instincts (Revonsuo 884). Essentially, Revonsuo concludes that dreams represent simulations of threats and that actions played out in dreams are actually representations of waking world experiences of possibilities. Dreaming about perceptions of threats and mechan isms for avoiding threats is no more than a rehearsal or simulation technique conducted in a relatively safe location: the dream world (Revonsuo). Essay 2: Kirsch, I.; Lynn, S. J.; Vigorito, M. and Miller, R. R. â€Å"The Role of Cognition in Classical and Operant Conditioning.† Journal of Clinical Psychology, Vol. 4(2004): 369-392. Previously classical condition was perceived as a reflexive response to external stimuli. For example,

RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

RESEARCH ARTICLE SUMMARY - Assignment Example Each of these professionals worked with children in their homes. Each child had been diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Delays or Autism. The materials used during the study were written pamphlets and any manipulative materials such as flash cards, toys and treats necessary for the Discrete Trial Teaching instruction. The independent variable was the discrete trial teaching instruction delivered to each of the paraprofessionals. The dependant variable was the percentage of accuracy each paraprofessional displayed in correctly implementing the discrete trial instruction in a home setting. The procedure for this study involved training the paraprofessionals in a classroom setting until they were 100% accurate in delivering correct discrete trial teaching. They were then monitored over the space of several months to see how accurately they could generalize the skills to the children they worked with in their homes. Multiple observers were used as a part of this procedure, as was typ ical, non-specific supervision by agency supervisors. After arriving at 100% accuracy in the classroom setting, all three paraprofessionals showed very low accuracy scores at the beginning of the home sessions. Initially, they scored at 50%, 54% and 63% accuracy. After typical supervisory interventions over the next 1-3 weeks, all of the participants were operating above 95% accuracy. All participants were approaching 100% accuracy by the end of the study. The results suggest that training paraprofessionals in discrete trial teaching is an effective way to instruct children with Autism and Pervasive Developmental Delays in the home setting. The high percentages suggest that the paraprofessionals were able to generalize the classroom instruction to the home base instruction they are expected to deliver to their clients. This ability to generalize is important because paraprofessionals typically work with multiple clients in multiple settings throughout the

Beneficial Effects of Overseas Travel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Beneficial Effects of Overseas Travel - Essay Example The "Beneficial effect of overseas travel" demonstrates positive effect that traveling has on adventurers. It also contains personal experience of some travelers. The learning on an overseas trip begins from the point where the person enters the terminal for international flights. As one moves ahead through check-in counter, one learns the laws and regulations regarding international travel. The swarms of people arriving and departing from the airport is a sight in its own where one experiences a place where no single culture is dominant, people of different ethnic backgrounds and belonging to different countries can be seen talking and waiting for their flights to depart. This is one place where a passenger will have a chance to observe his own people and their personalities and traits in comparison to those of people from around the globe. You may have heard of someone returning from an excursion and telling you about what different people were wearing at the airport or how they sp oke etc. Also if you have a connecting flight and have a stop over at a certain airport on the way you will mention the food available and what you liked and disliked. A personal experience of this sort happened on a trip to Malaysia with a stop over in Bangkok. The Bangkok airport which is known to be one of the biggest and busiest airports allows you to meet and interact with people from so many different places. It is hard for a person to walk out without learning a new thing about the people from many parts of the world. I for instance found most people at the airport to be very fashion conscious. Nearly every

Philosophy of Hans Jonas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Philosophy of Hans Jonas - Essay Example Hans Jonas studied the philosophy of biology and at some point made the whole theory belong to him, this resulted in many philosophers following suite. It is for this reason that the philosophy of biology has become an independent subject of its own and this was realized fifty decades ago. Hans Jonas’s thought of biology in terms of life and this made his work willingly easier. For him, life was not just a living presence but also a cognitive science of a living being. Many philosophers of biology ignored to cover the traditional mechanism of life in a living being and instead covered the theory of modern biology. Philosophy of Hans Jonas Hans Jonas discovered the phenomenal origin of life in relations to biology, and this quickly changed into a venture of philosophy. Hans Jonas justified the thought between God’s creation and the existence of life on earth. From the introduction of Deoxyribonucleic acid (D.N.A) to the study of psychology, biology has become an importan t aspect in life. Hans Jonas examined that the philosophy of biology can sometimes be interpreted in the same concept as theoretical biology. This is because of the mathematical concept involved in the study of medicine in theoretical biology. Hans Jonas made the study even more related to the philosophy of biology by using genes to examine both theories of biology. According to Hans Jonas, the main issue facing many scientists is doing a research on the living beings without the experimental exploitation. Hans Jonas stresses out that the main solution is putting across and explaining the individual rights to biological theories. The medical experts have attributed outbreak of various diseases to lack of human experiments. Hans Jonas examines the philosophy of biology and reflects on the justification of medical experiments on human beings. Hans Jonas also ponders on life as an experience that might have biological experiments of its own. According to him, not all aspects of life re quire biological attention as some human beings justify life as an experience. Though some philosophers have linked the two to biology, Jonas has come out to differentiate the two as stemming back to the traditional examination of biology. Hans Jonas has used this approach to differentiate the biblical theory of life from the philosophy of biology. Though Hans Jonas does not criticize the biblical concept attributed to life, he acknowledges the biological concept as an easier understanding of life. Hans Jonas has categorized life in three aspects and this has enabled many philosophers to understand biology more easily and as a result put it in their own understanding. Being is the first classification that Hans Jonas used to examine life. He acknowledged that without life, there would not be in existence any living being. He ponders this theory of life as a mortal tension between being and nonbeing. According to him, the idea of death causes trauma in the minds of every being. Birth is more an intellectual theory of life than death and Han Jonas examines that all beings would welcome the idea of birth more than death. Self and world is the second classification that Hans Jonas used to relate life to biology. Hans Jonas ponders into the idea that once an individual is born then he considers himself to be alone in this world. According to him, alone would mean owning your own life and not the physical self. He examines the fact that an individual has an access to his own life and therefore

Cost Theory Essay Example for Free

Cost Theory Essay Once a plant owner spends money to manufacture goods, that money is no longer available for something else. Production facilities, machinery used in the production process and plant workers are all examples of costs. Cost theory offers an approach to understanding the costs of production that allows firms to determine the level of output that reaps the greatest level of profit at the least cost. 2. Features * Cost theory contains various measures of costs. These include a firms fixed costs and variable costs. The former do not vary with the quantity of goods produced. Rent on a facility is an example of a fixed cost. Variable costs change with the quantity produced. If increased production requires more workers, for example, those workers wages are variable costs. The sum of fixed and variable costs is a firms total costs. * Additional Measures * Cost theory derives two additional cost measures. Average total cost is the total cost divided by the number of goods produced. Marginal cost is the increase in total cost that results from increasing production by one unit of output. Marginalsincluding marginal costs and marginal revenueare key concepts in mainstream economic thought. Falling and Rising Costs * Economists often use graphs, similar to supply-and-demand charts, to illustrate cost theory and firms decisions about production. An average total cost curve is a U-shaped curve on an economic diagram. This shape illustrates how average total costs decline as output rises and then rise as marginal costs increase. Average total costs decline at first because as production rises, average costs are distributed over a larger number of units of output. Eventually, marginal costs of increasing output rise, which increases average total costs. Maximizing Profits * Economic theory holds that the goal of a firm is to maximize profit, which equals total revenue minus total cost. Determining a level of production that generates the greatest level of profit is an important consideration, one that means paying attention to marginal costs, as well as marginal revenue (the increase in revenue arising from an increase in output). Under cost theory, as long as marginal revenue exceeds marginal cost, increasing production will raise profit. Types of Cost Economics Economists factor costs in many different ways. Though you may read the cost of a soup can at $1 as it’s listed on the grocery store shelf, economists view the cost of the soup can in very different ways. For example, an economist asks what you are giving up to buy that can of soup over another item. They measure the firm’s cost of producing that soup can as it relates to their output and factors of production. Thus, the different types of economic costs are varied. 1. Sunk Cost * A sunk cost is an expense that cannot be recouped. Mark Hirschy, author of the book, â€Å"Fundamentals of Managerial Economics,† explains that sunk costs should not factor into a decision when deciding between alternatives. For example, say a person spent $50,000 on a degree in education and earns $60,000 as a teacher. She is later offered a job in marketing that pays her $80,000. Though she may be tempted to factor in her education degree as reason to stay in her current teaching job, her $50,000 degree is regarded as a sunk cost. She already spent this money, and it cannot be recouped. In this case, she should only compare the respective salaries of the positions. If all else is held equal, she should pursue the marketing job. Opportunity Cost * An opportunity cost is the value of an alternative choice. Though the word â€Å"cost† usually equates to a numerical value, like a dollar figure, this is not always the case. William Baumol and Alan Blinder, authors of the book, Economics: Principles and Policy, state that an opportunity cost calculates intangible things like time, location and job satisfaction. They explain opportunity costs are what you give up to follow one course of action. For example, a college graduate is deciding between a job as a tech consultant in Seattle or an investment broker in New York City. If the grad pursues the investment broker position, the opportunity costs of foregoing the job in Seattle could be a slower pace of life, $10,000 higher salary and lower costs of living like rent and food. * Marginal Cost * A marginal cost is the amount it takes to produce one more item. Under this view of costs, they vary along the production line and in most cases the cost to produce a good reduces over time. Intuitively, this makes sense: the more proficient you become at producing a good, the faster you can do it and less waste is produced. The savings in labor and material as you achieve â€Å"economies of scale† means the cost of production usually decreases. The way economists find the marginal cost is by taking the derivative of the total costs as it relates to the total output. How to Find Marginal Cost in Economics Deciding whether to produce more units is often based on marginal cost. The economic concept of marginal cost is the cost associated with producing one additional unit. This information is important to businesses because it allows the company to decide if the additional unit is worth producing from a financial standpoint. When a company produces a small amount of product, the cost of additional units often decrease. However, marginal costs increase when additional units are added once the production level reaches a minimum. This is based on the law of diminishing marginal returns. Instructions 1. * 1 Calculate the change in total variable cost. This is the amount that the costs increased by after additional units are produced. For example, if youd like to produce more T-shirts and the increase in output would change the costs by $100, then the total variable cost is $100. * 2 Find the change in quantity produced. This represents how many additional units you would like to produce in the given scenario. For example, the change in quantity would be 50 if youd like to produce 300 T-shirts instead of 250. * 3 Divide the change in total variable costs from Step 1 by the change in quantity from Step 2. This will give you the marginal cost (marginal cost = the change in total variable cost/the change in quantity). For this example, $100 (the change in total variable cost) / 50 (the change in quantity) = $2 in marginal costs, which is the cost of producing each additional T-shirt. What Is the Relationship Between Production ;amp; Cost? Production costs are linked to t he cost of materials and labor. The relationship between production and cost in any manufacturing process varies based on volume produced and whether any part of the manufacturing process is outsourced or performed by subcontractors. Additionally, production and cost ratios vary based on the amount of automation involved in production and the amount of human oversight and involvement required. 1. Factors of Production * The main factors of production are labor, capital and supply costs. Capital is defined as equipment, cash reserves, and physical location or production facility. Labor is defined as the amount of and cost of manpower required to bring a product to market. This includes not only the physical labor and oversight related to product production, but also the associated costs of salaries of positions such as managers, delivery drivers, warehouse supervisors, marketing directors and even administrative assistance. Supply costs are any fee associated with securing necessary materials for production. Subcontractor or outsourced work is considered a supply cost as well, as the manufacturer is essentially purchasing a product or service for use in the production process. In this example, work such as offsite creation of product packaging or assembly of minor components of a finished product are considered supply costs in the same way the purchase of raw materials are considered supply costs. Volume of Production * Volume of production figures signify the amount of products being produced. Typically, the greater the volume the lower the cost per unit as raw material suppliers often offer discounts on mass or bulk orders. Volume of production is based on a company’s anticipated product needs, past sales records and placed orders. * Volume of Business * The relationship between production and cost is frequently determined by the volume of business a company is doing. An example that illustrates this point is a multinational vitamin supplement company that produces vitamins in bulk compared to a small health food chain that produces its own vitamin line in small quantities. The cost of the product produced by the small company will typically be greater than the cost of the product offered by the bulk manufacturer because the smaller company produces its product in smaller volumes. Price Points The more it costs a company to produce a product, the greater price the company will have to charge consumers. A company’s production costs include the price of materials, the cost of manpower, the production and packaging process, advertising, and distribution. Mass producers may be able to offer more competitive pricing to end users because they have the luxury of working on a thin margin due to the large volume of production. In microeconomics, the long run is the conceptual time period in which there are no fixed factors of production as to changing the output level by changing the capital stock or by entering or leaving an industry. The long run contrasts with the short run, in which some factors are variable and others are fixed, constraining entry or exit from an industry. In macroeconomics, the long run is the period when the general price level, contractual wage rates, and expectations adjust fully to the state of the economy, in contrast to the short run when these variables may not fully adjust. [1] In the long run, firms change production levels in response to (expected) economic profits or losses, and the land, labor, capital goods and entrepreneurship vary to reach associated long-run average cost. In the simplified case of plant capacity as the only fixed factor, a generic firm can make these changes in the long run: * enter an industry in response to (expected) profits * leave an industry in response to losses * increase its plant in response to profits * decrease its plant in response to losses. Long-run average-cost curve with economies of scale to Q2 and diseconomies of scale thereafter. The long run is associated with the long-run average cost (LRAC) curve in microeconomic models along which a firm would minimize its average cost (cost per unit) for each respective long-run quantity of output. Long-run marginal cost (LRMC) is the added cost of providing an additional unit of service or commodity from changing capacity level to reach the lowest cost associated with that extra output. LRMC equalling price is efficient as to resource allocation in the long run. The concept of long-run cost is also used in determining whether the long-run expected to induce the firm to remain in the industry or shut down production there. In long-run equilibrium of an industry in which perfect competition prevails, the LRMC = Long run average LRAC at the minimum LRAC and associated output. The shape of the long-run marginal and average costs curves is determined by economies of scale. The long run is a planning and implementation stage. [2][3] Here a firm may decide that it needs to produce on a larger scale by building a new plant or adding a production line. The firm may decide that new technology should be incorporated into its production process. The firm thus considers all its long-run production options and selects the optimal combination of inputs and technology for its long-run urposes. [4] The optimal combination of inputs is the least-cost combination of inputs for desired level of output when all inputs are variable. [3] Once the decisions are made and implemented and production begins, the firm is operating in the short run with fixed and variable inputs. [3][5] Short run All production in real time occurs in the short run. The short run is the conceptual time period in which at least one factor of production is fixed in amount and others are variable in am ount. Costs that are fixed, say from existing plant size, have no impact on a firms short-run decisions, since only variable costs and revenues affect short-run profits. Such fixed costs raise the associated short-run average cost of an output long-run average cost if the amount of the fixed factor is better suited for a different output level. In the short run, a firm can raise output by increasing the amount of the variable factor(s), say labor through overtime. A generic firm already producing in an industry can make three changes in the short run as a response to reach a posited equilibrium: * increase production decrease production * shut down. In the short run, a profit-maximizing firm will: * increase production if marginal cost is less than marginal revenue (added revenue per additional unit of output); * decrease production if marginal cost is greater than marginal revenue; * continue producing if average variable cost is less than price per unit, even if average total cost is gre ater than price; * shut down if average variable cost is greater than price at each level of output. Transition from short run to long run The transition from the short run to the long run may be done by considering some short-run equilibrium that is also a long-run equilibrium as to supply and demand, then comparing that state against a new short-run and long-run equilibrium state from a change that disturbs equilibrium, say in the sales-tax rate, tracing out the short-run adjustment first, then the long-run adjustment. Each is an example of comparative statics. Alfred Marshall (1890) pioneered in comparative-static period analysis. [6] He istinguished between the temporary or market period (with output fixed), the short period, and the long period. Classic contemporary graphical and formal treatments include those of Jacob Viner (1931),[7] John Hicks (1939),[8] and Paul Samuelson (1947). [9] The law of diminishing marginal returns The law of diminishing marginal returns to a variable factor applies to the short run. [10] It posits an effect of decreased added or marginal product of from variable factors, which increas es the supply price of added output. [11] The law is related to a positive slope of the short-run marginal-cost curve. 12] Macroeconomic usages The usage of long run and short run in macroeconomics differs somewhat from the above microeconomic usage. J. M. Keynes (1936) emphasized fundamental factors of a market economy that might result in prolonged periods away from full-employment. [13] In later macro usage, the long run is the period in which the price level for the economy is completely flexible as to shifts in aggregate demand and aggregate supply. In addition there is full mobility of labor and capital between sectors of the economy and full capital mobility between nations. In the short run none of these conditions need fully hold. The price is sticky or fixed as to changes in aggregate demand or supply, capital is not fully mobile between sectors, and capital is not fully mobile to interest rate differences among countries amp; fixed exchange rates. [14] A famous critique of neglecting short-run analysis was by John Maynard Keynes, who wrote that In the long run, we are all dead, referring to the long-run proposition of the quantity theory of, for example, a doubling of the money supply doubling the price level. 15] Marginal  Analysis Thinking at the  Margin From Mike Moffatt, former About. com Guide From an economists perspective, making choices involves making decisions at the margin that is, making decisions based on small changes in resources: * How should I spend the next hour? * How should I spend the next dollar? On the surface, this seems like a strange way of considering the choices made by people and firms. It is rare that someone would consciously ask themselves How will I spend dollar number 24,387? , How will I spend dollar number 24,388? . Treating the problem in this matter does have some distinct advantages: * Doing so leads to the optimal decisions being made, subject to preferences, resources and informational constraints. * It makes the problem less messy from an analytic point of view, as we are not trying to analyze a million decisions at once. * While this does not exactly mimic conscious decision making processes, it does provide results similar to the decisions people actually make. That is, people may not think using this method, but the decisions they make are as if they do. Marginal Analysis An Example Consider the decision on how many hours to work, as given by the following chart: Hour Hourly Wage Value of Time Hour 1 $10 $2 Hour 2 $10 $2 Hour 3 $10 $3 Hour 4 $10 $3 Hour 5 $10 $4 Hour 6 $10 $5 Hour 7 $10 $6 Hour 8 $10 $8 Hour 9 $15 $9 Hour 10 $15 $12 Hour 11 $15 $18 Hour 12 $15 $20 The hourly wage represents what I earn for working an extra hour it is the marginal gain or the marginal benefit. The value of time is essentially an opportunity cost it is how much I value having that hour off. In this example it represents a marginal cost what it costs me by working an additional hour. The increase in marginal costs is a common phenomenon; I do not mind working a few hours since there are 24 hours in a day. I still have plenty of time to do other things. However, as I start to work more hours it reduces the number of hours I have for other activities. I have to start giving up more and more valuable opportunities to work those extra hours. It is clear that I should work the first hour, as I gain $10 in marginal benefits and lose only $2 in marginal costs, for a net gain of $8. By the same logic I should work the second and third hours as well. I will want to work until which time the marginal cost exceeds the marginal benefit. I will want to work the 10th hour as I receive a net benefit of #3 (marginal benefit of $15, marginal cost of $12). However, I will not want to work the 11th hour, as the marginal cost ($18) exceeds the marginal benefit ($15) by three dollars. Thus marginal analysis suggests that rational maximizing behavior is to work for 10 hours. Next Lesson: Market Distortions: Altering the Supply and Demand Equilibrium. Marginal Analysis * Marginal Revenue Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Revenue * Marginal Significance Value Glossary Dictionary Definition of Marginal Si * Marginal Revenue and Marginal Cost Practice Question Related Articles * Running a Private Practice Working with Animals * Work Stress Long Work Hours Are Not the Culprit * Open for Business: Scheduling Your Week Being a Personal Trainer * Three Union Work Rules That Increase the Cost of Operating Transit * Hold On to Your Sanity Start Your Own Business AN INTRODUCTION TO COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS| * Background * Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) estimates and totals up the equivalent money value of the benefits and costs to the community of projects to establish whether they are worthwhile. These projects may be dams and highways or can be training programs and health care systems. * The idea of this economic accounting originated with Jules Dupuit, a French engineer whose 1848 article is still worth reading. The British economist, Alfred Marshall, formulated some of the formal concepts that are at the foundation of CBA. But the practical development of CBA came as a result of the impetus provided by the Federal Navigation Act of 1936. This act required that the U. S. Corps of Engineers carry out projects for the improvement of the waterway system when the total benefits of a project to whomsoever they accrue exceed the costs of that project. Thus, the Corps of Engineers had created systematic methods for measuring such benefits and costs. The engineers of the Corps did this without much, if any, assistance from the economics profession. It wasnt until about twenty years later in the 1950s that economists tried to provide a rigorous, consistent set of methods for measuring benefits and costs and deciding whether a project is worthwhile. Some technical issues of CBA have not been wholly resolved even now but the fundamental presented in the following are well established. * Principles of Cost Benefit Analysis * One of the problems of CBA is that the computation of many components of benefits and costs is intuitively obvious but that there are others for which intuition fails to suggest methods of measurement. Therefore some basic principles are needed as a guide. There Must Be a Common Unit of Measurement * In order to reach a conclusion as to the desirability of a project all aspects of the project, positive and negative, must be expressed in terms of a common unit; i. e. , there must be a bottom line. The most convenient common unit is money. This means that all benefits and costs of a project should be measured in terms of their equivalent money value. A program may provide benefits which are not directly expressed in terms of dollars but there is some amount of money the recipients of the benefits would consider just as good as the projects benefits. For example, a project may provide for the elderly in an area a free monthly visit to a doctor. The value of that benefit to an elderly recipient is the minimum amount of money that that recipient would take instead of the medical care. This could be less than the market value of the medical care provided. It is assumed that more esoteric benefits such as from preserving open space or historic sites have a finite equivalent money value to the public. * Not only do the benefits and costs of a project have to be expressed in terms of equivalent money value, but they have to be expressed in terms of dollars of a particular time. This is not just due to the differences in the value of dollars at different times because of inflation. A dollar available five years from now is not as good as a dollar available now. This is because a dollar available now can be invested and earn interest for five years and would be worth more than a dollar in five years. If the interest rate is r then a dollar invested for t years will grow to be (1+r)t. Therefore the amount of money that would have to be deposited now so that it would grow to be one dollar t years in the future is (1+r)-t. This called the discounted value or present value of a dollar available t years in the future. * When the dollar value of benefits at some time in the future is multiplied by the discounted value of one dollar at that time in the future the result is discounted present value of that benefit of the project. The same thing applies to costs. The net benefit of the projects is just the sum of the present value of the benefits less the present value of the costs. * The choice of the appropriate interest rate to use for the discounting is a separate issue that will be treated later in this paper. CBA Valuations Should Represent Consumers or Producers Valuations As Revealed by Their Actual Behavior * The valuation of benefits and costs should reflect preferences revealed by choices which have been made. For example, improvements in transportation frequently involve saving time. The question is how to measure the money value of that time saved. The value should not be merely what transportat ion planners think time should be worth or even what people say their time is worth. The value of time should be that which the public reveals their time is worth through choices involving tradeoffs between time and money. If people have a choice of parking close to their destination for a fee of 50 cents or parking farther away and spending 5 minutes more walking and they always choose to spend the money and save the time and effort then they have revealed that their time is more valuable to them than 10 cents per minute. If they were indifferent between the two choices they would have revealed that the value of their time to them was exactly 10 cents per minute. * The most challenging part of CBA is finding past choices which reveal the tradeoffs and equivalencies in preferences. For example, the valuation of the benefit of cleaner air could be established by finding how much less people paid for housing in more polluted areas which otherwise was identical in characteristics and location to housing in less polluted areas. Generally the value of cleaner air to people as revealed by the hard market choices seems to be less than their rhetorical valuation of clean air. * Benefits Are Usually Measured by Market Choices * When consumers make purchases at market prices they reveal that the things they buy are at least as beneficial to them as the money they relinquish. Consumers will increase their consumption of any commodity up to the point where the benefit of an additional unit (marginal benefit) is equal to the marginal cost to them of that unit, the market price. Therefore for any consumer buying some of a commodity, the marginal benefit is equal to the market price. The marginal benefit will decline with the amount consumed just as the market price has to decline to get consumers to consume a greater quantity of the commodity. The relationship between the market price and the quantity consumed is called the demand schedule. Thus the demand schedule provides the information about marginal benefit that is needed to place a money value on an increase in consumption. * Gross Benefits of an Increase in Consumption is an Area Under the Demand Curve * The increase in benefits resulting from an increase in consumption is the sum of the marginal benefit times each incremental increase in consumption. As the incremental increases considered are taken as smaller and smaller the sum goes to the area under the marginal benefit curve. But the marginal benefit curve is the same as the demand curve so the increase in benefits is the area under the demand curve. As shown in Figure 1 the area is over the range from the lower limit of consumption before the increase to consumption after the increase. * Figure 1 * When the increase in consumption is small compared to the total consumption the gross benefit is adequately approximated, as is shown in a welfare analysis, by the market value of the increased consumption; i. e. , market price times the increase in consumption. * Some Measurements of Benefits Require the Valuation of Human Life * It is sometimes necessary in CBA to evaluate the benefit of saving human lives. There is considerable antipathy in the general public to the idea of placing a dollar value on human life. Economists recognize that it is impossible to fund every project which promises to save a human life and that some rational basis is needed to select which projects are approved and which are turned down. The controversy is defused when it is recognized that the benefit of such projects is in reducing the risk of death. There are many cases in which people voluntarily accept increased risks in return for higher pay, such as in the oil fields or mining, or for time savings in higher speed in automobile travel. These choices can be used to estimate the personal cost people place on increased risk and thus the value to them of reduced risk. This computation is equivalent to placing an economic value on the expected number of lives saved. * The Analysis of a Project Should Involve a With Versus Without Comparison * The impact of a project is the difference between what the situation in the study area would be with and without the project. This that when a project is being evaluated the analysis must estimate not only what the situation would be with the project but also what it would be without the project. For example, in determining the impact of a fixed guideway rapid transit system such as the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in the San Francisco Bay Area the number of rides that would have been taken on an expansion of the bus system should be deducted from the rides provided by BART and likewise the additional costs of such an expanded bus system would be deducted from the costs of BART. In other words, the alternative to the project must be explicitly specified and considered in the evaluation of the project. Note that the with-and-without comparison is not the same as a before-and-after comparison. Another example shows the importance of considering the impacts of a project and a with-and-without comparison. Suppose an irrigation project proposes to increase cotton production in Arizona. If the United States Department of Agriculture limits the cotton production in the U. S. by a system of quotas then expanded cotton production in Arizona might be offset by a reduction in the cotto n production quota for Mississippi. Thus the impact of the project on cotton production in the U. S. might be zero rather than being the amount of cotton produced by the project. * Cost Benefit Analysis Involves a Particular Study Area The impacts of a project are defined for a particular study area, be it a city, region, state, nation or the world. In the above example concerning cotton the impact of the project might be zero for the nation but still be a positive amount for Arizona. * The nature of the study area is usually specified by the organization sponsoring the analysis. Many effects of a project may net out over one study area but not over a smaller one. The specification of the study area may be arbitrary but it may significantly affect the conclusions of the analysis. * Double Counting of Benefits or Costs Must be Avoided Sometimes an impact of a project can be measured in two or more ways. For example, when an improved highway reduces travel time and the risk of injury the value of property in areas served by the highway will be enhanced. The increase in property values due to the project is a very good way, at least in principle, to measure the benefits of a project. But if the increased property values are included then it is unnecessary to include the value of the time and lives saved by the improvement in the highway. The property value went up because of the benefits of the time saving and the reduced risks. To include both the increase in property values and the time saving and risk reduction would involve double counting. * Decision Criteria for Projects * If the discounted present value of the benefits exceeds the discounted present value of the costs then the project is worthwhile. This is equivalent to the condition that the net benefit must be positive. Another equivalent condition is that the ratio of the present value of the benefits to the present value of the costs must be greater than one. * If there are more than one mutually exclusive project that have positive net present value then there has to be further analysis. From the set of mutually exclusive projects the one that should be selected is the one with the highest net present value. * If the funds required for carrying out all of the projects with positive net present value are less than the funds available this means the discount rate used in computing the present values is too low and does not reflect the true cost of capital. The present values must be recomputed using a higher discount rate. It may take some trial and error to find a discount rate such that the funds required for the projects with a positive net present value is no more than the funds available. Sometimes as an alternative to this procedure people try to select the best projects on the basis of some measure of goodness such as the internal rate of return or the benefit/cost ratio. This is not valid for several reasons. * The magnitude of the ratio of benefits to costs is to a degree arbitrary because some costs such as operating costs may be deducted from benefits and thus not be included in the cost figure. This is called netting out of operating costs. This netting out may be done for some projects and not for others. This manipulation of the benefits and costs will not affect the net benefits but it may change the benefit/cost ratio. However it will not raise the benefit cost ratio which is less than one to above one. For more on this topic see Benefit/ cost Ratio Magnitude. * An Example * To illustrate how CBA might be applied to a project, let us consider a highway improvement such as the extension of Highway 101 into San Jose. The local four-lane highway which carried the freeway and commuter traffic into San Jose did not have a median divider and its inordinate number of fatal head-on collisions led to the name Blood Alley. The improvement of the highway would lead to more capacity which produces time saving and lowers the risk. But inevitably there will be more traffic than was carried by the old highway. * The following is a highly abbreviated analysis using hypothetical data. TRIP DATA| No Extension, Blood Alley Only| 101 Extension and Blood Alley| Rush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips ( per hour)| 3,000| 4,000| Trip Time (minutes)| 50| 30| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 10| $0. 10| Nonrush Hours|   |   | Passenger Trips (per hour)| 500| 555. 55| Trip Time (minutes)| 35| 25| Value of Time ($/minute)| $0. 08| $0. 08| Traffic Fatalities per year)| 12| 6| * The data indicates that for rush-hour trips the time cost of a trip is $5 without the project and $3 with it. It is assumed that the operating cost for a vehicle is unaffected by the project and is $4. * The project lowers the cost of a trip and the public responds by increasing the number of trips taken. There is an increase in consumer surplus both for the trips which would have been taken without the project and for the trips which are stimulated by the project. * For trips which would have been taken anyway the benefit of the project equals the value of the time saved times the number of trips. For the rush-hour trip the project saves $2 and for the nonrush-hour trip it saves $0. 80. For the trips generated by the project the benefit is equal to one half of the value of the time saved times the increase in the number of trips. * The benefits per hour are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| 6,000. 00| 1,000. 00| 7,000. 00| Nonrush Hour| 400. 00| 22. 22| 422. 22| * To convert the benefits to an annual basis one multiplies the hourly benefits of each type of trip times the number of hours per year for that type of trip. There are 260 week days per year and at six rush hours per weekday there are 1560 rush hours per year. This leaves 7200 nonrush hours per year. With these figures the annual benefits are: TYPE| Trips Which Would Be Taken Anyway| Trips Generated By the Project| Total| Rush Hour| $9,360,000| $1,560,000| $10,020,000| Nonrush Hour| $2,880,000| $160,000| $3,040,000| Total| $12,240,000| $1,720,000| $13,960,000| * The value of the reduced fatalities may be computed in terms of the equivalent economic value people place upon their lives when making choices concerning risk and money. If the labor market has wages for occupations of different risks such that people accept an increase in the risk of death of 1/1,000 per year in return for an increase in income of $400 per year then a project that reduces the risk of death in a year by 1/1000 gives a benefit to each person affected by it of $400 per year. The implicit valuation of a life in this case is $400,000. Thus benefit of the reduced risk project is the expected number of lives saved times the implicit value of a life. For the highway project this is 6x$400,000= $2,400,000 annually. * The annual benefits of the project are thus: TYPE OF BENEFIT| VALUE OF BENEFITS PER YEAR| Time Saving| $13,960,000| Reduced Risk| $2,400,000| * Let us assume that this level of benefits continues at a constant rate over a thirty-year lifetime of the project. * The cost of the highway consists of the costs for its right-of-way, its construction and its maintenance. The cost of the right-of-way is the cost of the land and any structures upon it which must be purchased before the construction of the highway can begin. For purposes of this example the cost of right-of-way is taken to be $100 million and it must be paid before any construction can begin. At least part of the right-of- way cost for a highway can be recovered at the end of the lifetime of the highway if it is not rebuilt. For the example it is assumed that all of the right-of-way cost is recoverable at the end of the thirty-year lifetime of the project. The construction cost is $200 million spread evenly over a four-year period. Maintenance cost is $1 million per year once the highway is completed. * The schedule of benefits and costs for the project are as follows: TIME (year)| BENEFITS ($millions)| RIGHT-OF -WAY ($millions)| CONSTRUCTION COSTS $millions)| MAINTENANCE ($millions)| 0| 0| 100| 0| 0| 1-4| 0| 0| 50| 0| 5-29| 16. 36| 0| 0| 1| 30| 16. 36| -100| 0| 1| * The benefits and costs are in constant value dollars; i. e. , there was no price increase included in the analysis. Therefore the discount rate used must be the real interest rate. If the interest rate on long term bonds is 8 percent and the rate of inflation is 6 percent then the real rate of interest is 2 p ercent. Present value of the streams of benefits and costs discounted at a 2 percent back to time zero are as follows:   | PRESENT VALUE $ millions)| Benefits| 304. 11| Costs|   | Right-of-Way| 44. 79| Construction| 190. 39| Maintenance| 18. 59| Total Costs| 253. 77| |   | | Net Benefits| 50. 35| | *independent rounding| * The positive net present value of $50. 35 million and benefit/cost ratio of 1. 2 indicate that the project is worthwhile if the cost of capital is 2 percent. When a discount rate of 3 percent is the benefit/cost ratio is slightly under 1. 0. This means that the internal rate of return is just under 3 percent. When the cost of capital is 3 percent the project is not worthwhile. It should be noted that the market value of the right-of-way understates the opportunity cost of having the land devoted to the highway. The land has a value of $100 million because of its income after property taxes. The economy is paying more for its alternate use but some of the pay ment is diverted for taxes. The discounted presented value of the payments for the alternate use might be more like $150 million instead of $100 million. Another way of making this point is that one of the costs of the highway is that the local governments lose the property tax on the land used. * Summary By reducing the positive and negative impacts of a project to their equivalent money value Cost-Benefit Analysis determines whether on balance the project is worthwhile. The equivalent money value are based upon information derived from consumer and producer market choices; i. e. , the demand and supply schedules for the goods and services affected by the project. Care must be taken to properly allow for such things as inflation. When all this has been considered a worthwhile project is one for which the discounted value of the benefits exceeds the discounted value of the costs; i. . , the net benefits are positive. This is equivalent to the benefit/cost ratio being greater than on e and the internal rate of return being greater than the cost of capital. * History of Cost-Benefit Analysis * CBA has its origins in the water development projects of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps of Engineers had its origins in the French engineers hired by George Washington in the American Revolution. For years the only school of engineering in the United States was the Military Academy at West Point, New York. In 1879, Congress created the Mississippi River Commission to prevent destructive floods. The Commission included civilians but the president had to be an Army engineer and the Corps of Engineers always had veto power over any decision by the Commission. * In 1936 Congress passed the Flood Control Act which contained the wording, the Federal Government should improve or participate in the improvement of navigable waters or their tributaries, including watersheds thereof, for flood-control purposes if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs. The phrase if the benefits to whomsoever they may accrue are in excess of the estimated costs established cost-benefit analysis. Initially the Corps of Engineers developed ad hoc methods for estimating benefits and costs. It wasnt until the 1950s that academic economists discovered that the Corps had developed a system for the economic analysis of public investments. Economists have influenced and improved the Corps methods since then and cost-benefit analysis has been adapted to most areas of public decision-making.

Human impact on coral reefs

Human impact on coral reefs Human Impact On Coral Reefs In The Last 30 Years Abstract Coral reefs are the homes that provide shelter for approximately one quarter of all known marine species as well as being the most diverse ecosystems. Coral reefs are vulnerable to even the slightest environmental changes. A review of the literature of the last 30 years shows that the frequency of human activity has intensified to a new level where human actions have extended to the coral reefs on a global scale. Humans are actively damaging the coral reef ecosystems on our earth. Coral reefs are overfished, poisoned by chemical pollution, smothered by sediment, and choked by macroalgae growing on nutrient rich sewage and fertilizer runoff. In the meantime, global warming and ocean acidification is a greater contribution to coral reef mortality. The main driving force behind the coral crisis is the continuing increase in human population. These will give a burden to environment, and eventually will impact on marine life, especially the coral reefs. Through the review of the past pape rs, I found that from the least and latest topic of ocean acidification to the largest one (sedimentation and nutrient enrichment), scientists are getting concerned about the problem relate to carbon dioxide which results in climate change and ocean acidification globally, especially in the recent years. Lots of coral reef scientists have risen to this key issue. Introduction â€Å"Coral reefs are evaluated to cover 284,300 square kilometers, with the Indo-Pacific region (including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, Southeast Asia and the Pacific) accounting for 91.9% of the total. Southeast Asia accounts for 32.3% of that figure, while the Pacific including Australia accounts for 40.8%. Atlantic and Caribbean coral reefs only account for 7.6% of world total†. (Spalding, M., Ravilious, C., and Green, E. (2001). World Atlas of Coral Reefs. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press and UNEP/WCMC) It is reported that Australia, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Fiji contain almost over half of the worlds reefs. It is now generally acknowledged that coral reefs are among the most threatened global ecosystems, and among the most vital (Costanza et al. 1997; Bryant et al. 1998; Boesch et al. 2000; Reaser et al. 2000; Wilkinson 2000). However, one of the upcoming crises is a major threat of death of corals and large scale damage of coral reefs in all over the world. This crisis is partly a result of the frequency of human activities which are having a negative effect on marine ecosystems, especially on coral reef ecosystems. A study from 1998 showed that coral reefs around the world were affected by human activities (Lauretta B. et al. 1998, Fig. 2). The study showed the relative proportion of reefs at risk in five regions, with Southeast Asia having the highest area at risk. This phenomenon probably is related to the overfishing in this area which leads to coral reefs being at the highest risk compared to the rest of the world. It is known that the current situation is directly or indirectly consistent with human activities. However, the question remains that to what extent has human activity changed the coral reef ecosystems? So in this report, I would use ISI web database to search articles related to coral reefs crisis. Basically, I will try to answer this question. To do this I will discuss the various threats to coral reef, including overfishing and fish live trade issue, pollution-including terrestrial runoff, chemical compounds and sedimentation, and macroalgae overgrowth which is causing by nutr ient enrichment under the seawater, and global warming and ocean acidification which contribute to coral disease and coral mortality. Impacts Of Overfishing It is sure about that overfishing in general is a damaging problem to many coral reefs around the world. In this field, it is shown that scientists did research in the topic of overfishing and fish trade was increasing since 1990. (Figure 3) In recent years, as a result of human interference on coral reefs, coral mortality is higher than ever before. When this occurs, the algae immediately take this opportunity for growth, which results in seedlings of coral not being able to attach to the reef. This type of event highlights the important role of herbivorous fish on the restoration of coral reefs. But if herbivorous coral reef fish are captured in large numbers, ethnic groups are difficult to recover. In this situation, macroalgae continues to overgrow, and inhibits the growth of corals. For example, The Caribbean region has been hit particularly hard, with 40% of absolute coral cover lost since the late 1970s due to overfishing and macroalgae overgrowth (Gardner et al. 2003). So some authors argue that overfishing is an important reason why reef corals have declined in recent years. (Aronson et al. 2006) However, overfishing has also been due to the improvement of global fishing technology, and a variety of advanced equipment is used in the exploitation of fishing. A large number of fish becomes extinct annually. As a result of advanced fishing technology, the worlds annual catch of fish is continuing to rise. Indeed, on one hand, increased fishing will provide sufficient global supply of fish products. However, at the same time, the increase in fisheries production will reduce the global average price of fish in the global market, and this decline will lead to the reduction of fishing profits, which in turn will drive an increase in catches again, ultimately leading to a vicious circle in fisheries. On the other hand, large scale fishing can lead to the sharp decline in fish population. Without predators, algae can overgrow and suppress coral recruitment. Even though, some scientists argue that these algae are not directly killing corals. In fact, they are competing with corals in t he space and intake of light. So without light, corals will die eventually due to corals can not get nutrients to survive. (Figure 4) Pollution A major threat besides the overexploitation of fishery resources is undoubtedly the strong increase in coastal development, and discharge of untreated sewage into the near-shore waters, resulting in enormous amounts of nutrients spreading into the sea and coastal zones (Burke et al., 2002; Wilkinson, 2002; Brown et al., 2006; UNEP, 2006). For example, around 60% of the wastewater discharged into the Caspian Sea is untreated, in Latin America and the Caribbean the figure is close to 80%, and in large parts of Africa and the Indo-Pacific the proportion is as high as 80-90% (UNEP, 2006). Agricultural run-off to the ocean, Nitrogen exports to the marine environment is projected to increase at least 14% globally by 2030 (UNEP, 2006). During the past 30 years, more and more scientists were on to the problems of sedimentation and nutrient enrichment and chemical pollution and oil spills. It is shown that a big number of topics on pollution and nutrient enrichment and so on. (Figure 5 and 6) Basically, the scientists wanted to understand how did sedimentation and nutrient enrichment and chemical pollution and oil spills impact on the corals? There are various mechanisms by which these factors can harm coral reefs. First of all, suspended sediment makes water turbid which allows less sunlight to penetrate the water. With less sunlight, zooxanthellae which live within the corals tissue can not photosynthesize to produce organic nutrients that support the corals to thrive. In addition, it is known that zooxanthellae are sensitive to chemical changes (Parker et al. 2008). In industrial wastewater and farming runoff, there are always chemical compounds which can make zooxanthellae toxic to corals as well as in the case of oil spills. So to protect themselves, corals have to eject the zooxanthellae (Parker et al. 2008). After a period in this situation, corals will die. Furthermore, farming near the coast results in large quantities of sediment and soil going into sea and onto coral reefs. This dirt, silt or sand can make water muddy, smothering the corals (Rogers 1990). In addition, the use of fertilizers for farming is another problem resulting in increased nutrient flow into the ocean. The discharge human sewage leads to the nutrient enrichment in certain areas, especially in the estuary, which may result in rapid growth of algae which as mentioned before they will outcompete corals, cutting off the supply of light as well. Ocean Acidification In this area, it is shown that more and more conservationists were interesting in ocean acidification in recent years (Figure 7). It seems a very new field that scientists have only focused on just 7 years ago. It might be scientists aware of the issue of acidification rising, which is now noticing that acid level rising makes an impact on coral reefs. Ocean acidification is related to the carbon dioxide being released in to the atmosphere and reacting with seawater. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the Earths atmosphere now exceeds 380 ppm, which is more than 80 ppm above the maximum values of the past 740,000 years (Petit et al. 1999; EPICA community members, Nature. 2004). Carbon dioxide reacts with water to form a weak acid H2CO3, which results in acid levels increasing in the oceans of the world. Ocean acidification is a current key problem that all marine animals have to face, especially coral reefs. As previous mentioned that corals get organic nutrients from a mutualistic symbiont zooxanthellae to grow. These algae are sensitive to acid rising in the seawater. If the environmental conditions are changing, corals will eject algae and turn to white, a phenomenon known as coral bleaching. Global Warming With respect to global warming, corals are sensitive to the sudden temperature changing as well, which means the change of temperature is a factor causes their photosynthetic process to break down. When this happens, zooxanthellae become toxic to corals. Then, if they want to protect themselves, the corals have to expel the zooxanthellae. And they will get starved and become bleaching. As is figure 8 shown that another very important threat affecting coral reefs is global warming. The rise in temperature can result coral bleaching. It is usual to see coral bleaching just temperature a little higher than hottest summer temperature (Parker et al. 2008). Large-scale bleaching events seem to be becoming increasingly common (Wellington et al. 2001). If temperature continues to increase, in the future, this means that coral bleaching events may increase their frequency an extent of severity. Even though populations adapt and corals do survive, this pressure increases their susceptibility to disease and reduces their ability to reproduce. Overall From 11393 articles found in the literature search on the topics of coral reefs, one eighth of papers are related to the impact of human activities on coral reefs (Figure 9 and Figure 10). Of course, there should be more factors impacting on coral reefs and have contributed to their mortality. Indeed, the coral reef crisis in all over the world is getting worse and worse, even in the future the coral reef would face further threats. But this does not mean we have no ideas to save them, the figure 11 also shows that marine biologists were concerned about the coral reef crisis more than before, larger possibly because more and more scientists were aware of the importance of coral reefs to the entire marine ecosystems. Protecting coral reef ecosystems probably is an effective pathway to get most species recovered. Conclusion During the past 30 years, marine ecosystems took place some changes. The interference of human activities directly or indirectly gives more and more burden for our earth. The damaged environment makes some species become threatened species or endangered species, even critical endangered species. Even though, coral reefs are not becoming extinct, they are facing high risk which leads them to die. Indeed, the world lost a large scale of coral reefs which all due to the humans since early 20th century. From the review of the literature of the past 3 decades, scientists are focusing now more on climate changes, including global warming and ocean acidification, which results in corals death. Compared to the previous large number and key issues, like fishing and pollution problems, scientists are beginning to find more new factors that influence the coral reefs. From this trend, we can see that there should be more work to do to find a solution to marine scientists. With the population con tinuing to rise, it is difficult to imagine what will happen in the near future. For the humans, perhaps, they have to think about what they can and should do to reduce the dead of corals and the damage of coral reefs. To find a solution to solve the coral reef issues, humans have to give more actively motivations and passions to change the current situations.