Programmable Logic Controller Essay Example for Free

Programmable Logic Controller Essay To respond to these phenomenal changes, we introduce the second edition of Programmable Controllers: Theory and Implementation. This second edition, like the first, provides a comprehensive theoretical, yet practical, look at all aspects of PLCs and their associated devices and systems. However, this version goes one step further with new chapters on advanced PLC topics, such as I/O bus networks, fuzzy logic, the IEC 1131-3 programming standard, process control, and PID algorithms. This new edition also presents revised, up-to-date information about existing topics, with expanded graphics and new, hands-on examples. Furthermore, the new layout of the book—with features like two-tone graphics, key terms lists, well-defined headings and sections, callout icons, and a revised, expanded glossary— makes the information presented even easier to understand. This new edition has been a labor-intensive learning experience for all those involved. As with any task so large, we could never have done it alone. Luis Bryan holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, both from the University of Tennessee. His major areas of expertise are digital systems, electronics, and computer engineering. During his graduate studies, Luis was involved in several projects with national and international governmental agencies. Luis has extensive experience in the field of programmable controllers. He was involved in international marketing activities, as well as PLC applications development, for a major programmable controller manufacturer. He also worked for a consulting firm, providing market studies and companyspecific consultations about PLCs. Furthermore, Luis has given lectures and seminars in Canada, Mexico, and South America about the uses of programmable controllers. He continues to teach seminars to industry and government entities, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Luis is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the IEEE’s instrument and computer societies. He is a senior member of the Instrument Society of America, as well as a member of Phi Kappa Phi honor society and Eta Kappa Nu electrical engineering honor society. Luis has coauthored several other books about programmable controllers. E RIC B RYAN Eric Bryan graduated from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree, concentrating in digital design and computer architecture. He received a Master of Science in Engineering degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he participated in a special computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) program. Eric’s specialties are industrial automation methods, flexible manufacturing systems (FMS), and artificial intelligence. He is an advocate of artificial intelligence implementation and its application in industrial automation. Eric worked for a leading automatic laser inspection systems company, as well as a programmable controller consulting firm. His industrial experience includes designing and implementing large inspection systems, along with developing PLC-based systems. Eric has coauthored other publications about PLCs and is a member of several professional and technical societies.

Public Interest Is Used To Justify Regulation Media Essay

Public Interest Is Used To Justify Regulation Media Essay Public interest is a concept that can be high-jacked by journalists themselves: a plea of in the public interest is a favourite defence for journalism under attack. It is at the heart of the argument about the extent to which prying reporters and cameras should be allowed to invade personal privacy. The Ofcom code says that Where broadcasters wish to justify an infringement of privacy, they should be able to demonstrate why in the particular circumstances of the case, it is in the public interest. Examples of public interest would include revealing or detecting crime, protecting public health or safety, exposing misleading claims made by individuals or organizations or disclosing incompetence that affects the public. The BBC also has its own guidelines as it seeks to balance the public interest in freedom of expression with the legitimate expectation of privacy by individuals. There is no single definition of public interest, it includes but is not confined to: exposing or detecting crime, exposing significantly anti-social behaviour by those holding high office, preventing people from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation, disclosing information that allows people to make a significantly more informed decision about matters of public importance. However, neither media code or attempts a full definition of the public interest. The BBC requires a higher public interest test for secretly recording in a private place where the public do not have access, secretly recording medical treatments, secretly recording identifiable people in grief or under extremes of stress both in public and semi-public. There are also some arguments over the media whether they are serving the public interest or interesting the public. Public/social purpose media should be informing and educating, but medias are more likely to weigh up the market-driven news values nowadays. The news media are failing to serve the public interest because of the following points: Firstly, abuse of individual right to privacy Privacy and alleged invasions of privacy by the media are central issues in the ethics of journalism. Clearly, we live in a society that values personal privacy, and is concerned about intrusions into privacy from whatever source, including the media. Yet, perhaps paradoxically, we also live in a society that thrives on publicity, or at least one in which many individuals depend on publicity for their lives and activities. This seeming paradox is usually defused by drawing a distinction between the private and the public aspects of peoples lives, and by further claiming that there is indeed a right to privacy, but that in certain circumstances the right can be overridden in the name of the public interest. This account of the matter accepts that in such circumstances an invasion of privacy has actually occurred but that the invasion can be justified by an appeal to a greater good. The right to privacy is no more than a presumption ( though an important one), and that where some information about an individual that he or she would prefer to keep private should be in the public domain, then putting it there is not overriding that individuals right to privacy because no such right ever existed concerning this aspect of the persons life. There is, on this account, no such thing as a justifiable invasion of privacy because justification is in fact a demonstration that no privacy could properly be claimed in the first place. On this account, all invasions of privacy are unjustifiable. This is particularly important in the case of politicians and others who occupy similar positions in society. Thus a politician who has his or her secret love nest exposed in the press is not the victim of an invasion of privacy, because scandalous behaviour of this nature cannot legitimately claim the protection of privacy. This is not simply because politicians are in the public eye, but because they, and others in business and the media as well, wield power in society, and all aspects of the exercise of power must be open to public scrutiny. This is the only way to avoid corruption in public life, and by corruption. I mean more than financial chicanery. I do not say that politicians are not entitled to privacy, but that they are not entitled to abuse the right to privacy. In a democracy those who wield power cannot decide for themselves where to draw the boundary between the public and the private aspects of their lives. In spite of the recent introduction in the UK of some legislative safeguards in the first two areas, there is a little that members of the public can do to assure themselves that their privacy is not being abused here. They simply do not know what is going on an cannot find out, for such abuse is normally hidden at source, even though it might have actual consequences for peoples lives. With invasions of privacy by the press it is wholly different, for here the victim obviously knows. This might explain why there is a considerable outery against invasions of privacy by the press even though this is less harmful to individuals and the democratic political process than abuses in the other two areas for here is an open target, easily identifiable, to soak up the publics concern and wrath. Hence the demand for the press to clean up its act, either voluntarily or, if this fails, through controls imposed by legislation. This threat of statutory restraints prompted the editors if the national newspaper in Britain to issue their own Code of Practice in 1989 to add the codes promulgate by bodies such as the Press Council ( now defunet) and the National Union of Journalists. The editors code and the Press Council code were later absorbed into a newspaper-industry code, monitored by the Press Complaints Commission, in which the voluntary protection of privacy, without legislative intervention, was a primary aim. Secondly, interesting the public rather than serving the public interest According to the trend, the pursuit of profit has replaced that of serving the public interest as the driving force of journalism. News producers even those like the BBC which are free of direct commercial pressures have been required to become more an more oriented towards ratings, subordinating the journalistic obligation to inform to the more audience-friendly task of supplying entertainment. The result of these pressures has been an explosion of infotainment journalism in which entertainment values take precedence over information content, presented at an intellectual level low enough to appeal to the mass audiences which comprise the major media markets( the lowest denominator, as critics frequently express it). Lower, too, than a healthy democracy demands. Political journalism is said to be conforming to the pressures of tabloidisation observed elsewhere in the media: a term which used interchangeably with dumbing down and infotainment, functions as shorthand for the offence, as it is often characterised, of catering for popular tastes. One manifestation of this trend would be the medias contemporary fascination with elite deviance( sexual, financial or moral), as in the cases of Conservative and Labour politicians in Britain throughout the 1990s, an of course Bill Clinton, whose sex addiction was a prominent theme of political journalism in Britain as well as the United States during the 1990s, exemplified by coverage of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998-9. The sleaze agenda which featured prominently in British and American political news for most of that decade was alleged to be driven by market forces rather than public interest, in so far as the relentless commodification of journalism an the ever-increasing competitiveness of the media market put a commercial premium on sensationalism an prurience in coverage of politics. Although journalists like to envision themselves as independent pursuers of truth, the public sees them as employees who are only trying to help corporations make a pound. More than two-thirds say: News papers are concerned mainly with making profits rather than serving the public interest. I believe that newspaper frequently overdramatize some news stories just to sell more papers. Journalists chase sensational stories because they think itll sell papers, not because its an important story. Journalists sometimes see themselves in heroic terms. Lurking in the back of their minds are phases like eyes and ears of the public, representatives of the citizenry and the publics watchdog. By keeping tabs on the politicians, they can ensure that the public will be properly served by the government. The public, however, is convinced that politicians are more ethical than journalists. Many journalists shrug off such findings. Journalists are not supposed to be popular, they say. Theyre supposed to be tough observers of government and society. Thirdly, lies: publish and be damned degenerates to publish and be sued we can afford it: The law is a conservative profession. Most legal advisers first impulse will be tell news organisation Dont publish. The paper is at liberty to ignore the advice: to publish and be damned. But because of the complex risks involved, this is not a decision for an individual reporter or sub-editor to make. It needs to be made collectively and at policy level. Many news reporters start their careers with a stint on the court beat. This is considered good training in the need for discipline and accurate fact-gathering in journalism. Many young journalists, however, find the courts intimidating, confusing, and stultifying boring. Often, thats because they dont know the ropes. News media nowadays tend to pay for the punishment than actually avoid treading lines. They are more likely to step into the grey area on the ethical issues. Fourthly, abuse of the public interest defence (especially by some elements of the news media) : Journalists damage their case further when their stories go too far, as they often do. Tabloids have behaved as though the public interest argument stretches indefinitely, that once established it justifies anything. But a legitimate public interest in an aspect of the private behaviour of a public figure cannot automatically justify disclosure of any private information about the individual. Legitimate public interest certainly justified the story that the heir to the Britain throne, Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, had had an affair with Mrs Camilla Parker-Bowles after his marriage. Public interest would probably also has justified the story, were it true, that Charles have sex with Camilla at his home while his wife was upstairs. The case was compromised, though by publication of pictures inside the Parker-Bowles home and bedroom against their will. They were not justified by a pub lic interest. The chairman of the PCC, Lord Wakeham, gave a strong warning to editors early in 1995 against abuse of the public interest defence. He said the Commission would not tolerate spurious use of the defence when considering complaints. Soon afterwards, the PCC severely critised the biggest selling British newspaper, the Sunday tabloid, the News of the World, for coverage of the illness of Lady Spencer, wife of the brother of the Prince of Wales. The paper has shown sad pictures of Lady Spencer, taken evidently without her knowledge, while she was being treated for an eating disorder. No genuine public interest was involved an Lord Wakeham took the unusual step of writing to the owner of the paper, Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation, about it. As a result, Murdoch publicly rubuked the News of the World editors. Specious and spurious arguments and dubious cases aside, the public interest defence is widely recognized as valid within limits. The committee appointed by government to examine media intrusion and suggested what public interest defences might be used. Journalistic intrusion could be justified if the information collected expose crime, other wrong-doing or a danger to public health. The PCC adds a further consideration: intrusion can be justified if it would prevent the public from being misled by some statement or action of an individual or organisation. This could be strengthened further by adopting the public interest defence that already exists in the Obscene Publications Act. An intrusion could be defended if the material gained exposed any matter of serious concern to the general public. Critics regard generalized exceptions as weasel words designed to allow disreputable journalism to proceed unhindered. But plainly interpreted, a wide-ranging defence of the kind envisaged would offer some protection for public figures, would reduce the risk of commercial villains sheltering behind a privacy law and would not damage protection for ordinary people when they deserve it. Lastly, Outings by media which are couched as serving the public interest. To conclude , the news media are failing to serve the public interest because of abusing of individual right to privacy, interesting the public rather than serving the public interest, lies: publish and be damned degenerates to publish and be sued, abusing of the public interest defence (especially by some elements of the news media) and Outings by media which are couched as serving the public interest.

Academic Performance And Motivation Education Essay

Academic Performance And Motivation Education Essay This chapter aims to answer the following question, what are the differences in motivation between male and female, differences in motivation among the 3 year of study, and relationship between motivation and academic performance among UTAR students. This studys results suggest there is statistically significant difference in academic motivation between male and female, and significant difference in motivation among 3 years of study among UTAR students. However, there is significant relationship between motivation and academic performance among UTAR students. In addition, each variable will be examined for significant and non-significant differences between the genders, as well as applicability to previous studies, significance to college enrollment and possible future research. Motivation Results for motivation suggested there are statistically differences between male and female. This might be interpreted as meaning the more motivated a student is, the more likely they are to enroll in, attend regularly and graduate from University or College. Academic Motivation Scale-College Version (AMS-C) was used to measure motivation, which reported average scores of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. for male students andà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦for female students (see Tableà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ in Chapter 4). The data represents a difference found between the two groups, with the female students reporting higher levels of intrinsic motivation. When comparing male students and female students, results of this study suggest there are higher levels of motivation reported by the femala students. The current study found similarities to past research. According to Nadia (2010) indicated that female students more likely to have academic ethics than male students, which are characterized by higher academic attainment. Furthermore, the findings of the study show that female students were intrinsically motivated than males. In contrast, male students were extrinsically motivated than females. The possible explanations of these findings are that males are expected to be the main breadwinner of the family in society (Nadia, 2010). Whereas, for females, they are academic performance and motivation is based on self-exploration and internal satisfaction (Nadia, 2010). Data have shown that there is a significant link between a parents education and a childs motivation for college enrollment. Other research suggests, for first-generation students, the motivation to enroll in college is a deliberate attempt to improve his or her social, economic, and occupational standing (Ayala Striplen, 2002). Academic Performance and Motivation On top of that, findings suggest that there is significant relationship (r=.;n-)between motivation and academic performance among UTAR students. Academic performance was using grade point average (GPA) and the average of (B-). These findings are consistent with previous literature. Johnson (1996) and other researchers also found out that academic achievement is highly correlated with students motivation (as cited in Nadia, 2010). Due to the previous research, the types of the motivation can affect on the performance of the students. This is because intrinsic and extrinsic motivation effects on the achievement and goals of the students performance. Students enjoyment when they learn new things is an example of intrinsic motivation. For instance, student may do their homework because they find it interesting and satisfying to learn about certain subjects (Isiksal, 2010). Findings also supported previous research based on SDT, which posit the relation between students being intrinsically motivated and academically successful (Turner, Chandler Heffer, 2009). As Fortes, Rodrigues and Tchantchane (2010) pointed out that when students are realize that the academic courses can improve their career prospects, they will be motivated to improve their academic performance as well. These types of students are tending to more on extrinsic motivation and other such as they want to get more reward or praise. Moreover, students with ammotivation also can affect their academic performance. They will experience feelings of incompetence and expectancies of uncontrollability they perceive their behavior as caused by forces out their own control. They feel undeceived and start asking themselves why in the world, why they go to school or they may stop participating in academic activities (Nadia, 2010). Year of Study The results for motivation among 3 years of study in UTAR students. This could be due to the differences in age and experience during their study in University. A research done by Uguroglu (1982) and McClure (1986) found that older students were more stable in certain personality characteristics and have higher achievement motivation and self-control than the younger one (as cited in Habibah Elias Rafaei abdul Rahman, 1995). Female stuents hv in general a better motivation profile and spent more time studying for their courses. Due to these observations, it is expected that the average female student would be the significant better performer in her first year at university. But it was observed, that the group of female students did not scored better in their first year. Students find increasingly little that is directly relevant or useful in their daily lives or those students ability belief and goal orientations shift from being positive and task focused to being more pessimistic and performance focused in their study. Intrinsic motivation is certainly not being supplanted by extrinsic motivation in the second year in University (Lepper, Iyengar Corpus, 2005) . Limitations of the Study There have several limitations that are identified during the progress of completing in this study such as that is related to population sample limitations to only one University, with a limited amount of student willing or able to participate. It might be more beneficial towards this type of research to have a wider range of University involvement in hopes to have a larger amount of student participants. With a larger amount of participants, this research could possible give results that are more inferential and accurate from the data. In addition, there is the lack of a large sample size within the target population. Instead of focusing research efforts on just one University, students from all Kampar,Perak state University or College could be considered as potential participants. It suggested that a larger population yield a larger amount of participants and could potentially lower instances of extraneous flaws thus results are reliable and valid to all state-level University or College populations. On top of that, this research is only focusing on the demographic variable, such as years of study, gender and GPA. However, there were other variables that might affect the level of motivation and academic performance. For example, classrooms environment, parental-child attachment styles, parental behavior, urban or rural area, peer pressure, courses, faculty, socioeconomic status (SES) and others. Those variables may account for the shift in intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Another possible flaw is an inadequate time to collect the questionnaires. Even have give enough time for participants to fill in the questionnaire, but they may not collaboration to participate answering the questionnaire. Additional research is needed in order to get the reliability results and to determine the generalization of such findings to other populations and cultures. Recommendations for Future Research With the conclusion of this study, some possible recommendations for future research haven arisen. In the future, studies could aim to focus on younger demographic where intervention can be assesses and applied. This would include factors that are currently lacking, like motivation and college academic preparation. This research study discovery that preparing people for college starts at young age, as early as elementary school. This information could initiate further research, which aspires at a much younger demographic than the current study. Possible development of interventions for implementing programs that targets for the purpose of college preparation and provide the social support needed for these youth to be motivated to want and attend college could also be explored. Moreover, it is important assess the absence of parental figures, like with those in prison or who have passed away. For example, if a child is raised by a single parent, it might be important to narrow down factors and see how perceived social support and motivation apply to his or her circumstance. Once again by knowing what could contribute to these individuals can further assist those interested in implementing programs that target these particular populations. In the Western countries, researchers are very focusing about youngers education and performance in school, and there have many research talking about this, but yet very few research in Malaysia. Therefore more research should be conducted in order to know more about the students motivation in school, how this can effect on their learning and the perception or early support services for parents. Therefore, future research could be important in finding which variables are contributing to or the level of motivation in homes as children develop ideals for future. This would be helped to improve the education and getting more researches in Malaysia. Conclusion

Much Ado About Nothing Essay: An Exploration of Conformity

Much Ado About Nothing as an Exploration of Conformity       In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedict rant about marriage for most of the beginning of the play, while Claudio raves about how wonderful it will be being married to Hero.   Yet in the end, Claudio exchanges his marriage to Hero for an opportunity to bash her in public, while Beatrice and Benedick marry despite that they were mortal enemies for most of the first three acts.   How did the situation swing around to this degree?   Beatrice and Benedick had been using the most extreme metaphors to demonstrate their scorn of each other and of marriage, and Claudio had been doing the same to demonstrate his love of Hero.   Not only did none of these three characters mean what they were saying, but meant the reverse, and the people that plotted to bring them together or pull them apart plotted because they understood on some level what each really wanted.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Beatrice and Benedick seem to have had some relationship before the beginning of the book that ended badly.   This suggests that the initial situation between Beatrice and Benedick was one of mutual attraction, not of the overt hate they seem to flaunt at the beginning of the play.   Scorn of this magnitude is rare among people who dislike each other from the start, and seems very unlikely in a broken up couple.   In addition, both Beatrice and Benedick turned out to be very willing to abandon their smear campaigns as soon as they are convinced the other is aching for them.   It is ridiculous that one would abandon one's own principals to bail out a hated enemy in trouble.   This makes clear that their attitude toward each other is an act.   If this is so, what is the purpose of the act... ...ther, and nearly kills an innocent woman.   In a broader perspective, conformity can leave people walking aimlessly down the beaten path with no real direction except conformity, doomed to live yet another meaningless life in a society based on archaic principles.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Barton, Anne.   Introduction.   Much Ado About Nothing.   The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed.   Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.   361-365.    Lewalski, B. K. "Love, Appearance and Reality: Much Ado About Something" Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8 (1968): 235-251.    Prouty, Charles A.   Conformity in Much Ado About Nothing. New York: Books for Libraries Press/Yale University Press, 1980.    Rossiter, A.P. "Much Ado About Nothing."   William Shakespeare Comedies & Romances. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Much Ado About Nothing Essay: An Exploration of Conformity Much Ado About Nothing as an Exploration of Conformity       In Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedict rant about marriage for most of the beginning of the play, while Claudio raves about how wonderful it will be being married to Hero.   Yet in the end, Claudio exchanges his marriage to Hero for an opportunity to bash her in public, while Beatrice and Benedick marry despite that they were mortal enemies for most of the first three acts.   How did the situation swing around to this degree?   Beatrice and Benedick had been using the most extreme metaphors to demonstrate their scorn of each other and of marriage, and Claudio had been doing the same to demonstrate his love of Hero.   Not only did none of these three characters mean what they were saying, but meant the reverse, and the people that plotted to bring them together or pull them apart plotted because they understood on some level what each really wanted.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Beatrice and Benedick seem to have had some relationship before the beginning of the book that ended badly.   This suggests that the initial situation between Beatrice and Benedick was one of mutual attraction, not of the overt hate they seem to flaunt at the beginning of the play.   Scorn of this magnitude is rare among people who dislike each other from the start, and seems very unlikely in a broken up couple.   In addition, both Beatrice and Benedick turned out to be very willing to abandon their smear campaigns as soon as they are convinced the other is aching for them.   It is ridiculous that one would abandon one's own principals to bail out a hated enemy in trouble.   This makes clear that their attitude toward each other is an act.   If this is so, what is the purpose of the act... ...ther, and nearly kills an innocent woman.   In a broader perspective, conformity can leave people walking aimlessly down the beaten path with no real direction except conformity, doomed to live yet another meaningless life in a society based on archaic principles.    Works Cited and Consulted:    Barton, Anne.   Introduction.   Much Ado About Nothing.   The Riverside Shakespeare, 2nd ed.   Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.   361-365.    Lewalski, B. K. "Love, Appearance and Reality: Much Ado About Something" Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 8 (1968): 235-251.    Prouty, Charles A.   Conformity in Much Ado About Nothing. New York: Books for Libraries Press/Yale University Press, 1980.    Rossiter, A.P. "Much Ado About Nothing."   William Shakespeare Comedies & Romances. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986.

The Russian Peasant in Pre-Revolutionary Times Essay -- Russian Histor

The Russian Peasant in Pre-Revolutionary Times Russia in the late 19th and early 20th century was riddled with social and economic hardships throughout the countryside and inner cities. The Russian peasant was faced with widespread poverty and poor living conditions throughout their entire life. The economic situation and the living conditions drove the peasants and working class to rebel and begin the Russian revolution that would change the face of the country and impact the world forever. The peasants were the lowest ranking social group in Russia. Some peasants owned tracks of land that they farmed, while others worked nobles’ land for money and food. Peasants had literally no rights under czarist rule. The nobles bought and sold the peasants as needed. The women usually cooked the food, while the men served the nobles and all of their guests. The peasants ate only a few basic foods, which consisted mainly of dark bread, porridge, cereal, or meal boiled in water. Peasant families who owned land normally owned strip farms. In strip farming, tracks of land were divided up into different parcels. Each peasant family in a village had control over a certain number of parcels and they could farm it as necessary. This type of farming was ineffective because the different tracks of land were spread about, sometimes at a distance of miles. This resulted in peasants wasting time â€Å"needless journeys-to-work, consumed land in boundary furrows and headlands, resulted in fields that were too remote to cultivate properly and prevented innovation† (Pallot, 276). This also created tension between neighbors in disputes over confusing land boundaries. Peasants being forced to live together in small villages also increased the risk of... ... scare that swept the world in response to communist Russia. - Edelman, Robert. Proletarian Peasants. New York: Cornell University Press, 1987. - Dunn, Stephen and Ethel Dunn. The Peasants of Central Russia. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc., 1967 - Worobec, Christine D. Peasant Russia. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1995. - Inkeles, Alex. Social Change in Soviet Russia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968. - Geiger, Kent. The Family in Soviet Russia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1968. - Pallot, Judith. â€Å"Imagining the rational landscape in late imperial Russia.† Journal of Historical Geography, 26, 2 (2000): 273-291. Links: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/2163/bolintro.html http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/1169/history/revolut.html http://www.historychannel.com

Can governments correct market failures? Essay

Whatever economic system a country adopts, there is always a role for the government due to market failures. Can governments correct market failures? Illustrate your answers with example. Part One Adam Smith who proclaimed the principle of the â€Å"invisible hand† that holds every individual is led, as if by an invisible hand, to achieve selfishly the best good for all. Smith saw harmony between private interest and public interest. In his view, any government interference with free competition is almost certain to be injurious in the economic world. He recognized that the virtues of the market mechanism are fully realized only when the checks and balances of perfect competition are present. Under the perfect competition and with no market failures, markets will squeeze as many useful goods and services out of the available resources as is possible. However, in reality, markets may fail to function well under numerous reasons. According to Wolf1, there are two kinds of failures which are i) insufficient allocation of resources in terms of the quality of products and prices and ii) inequitable distribution of income or wealth. To be more specific, it includes the following: the inability to provide public goods, negative externalities, imperfect information and increasing returns to scale and monopoly. Public Goods â€Å"A public good is a commodity or service whose benefits are not depleted by an additional user, and for which it is generally difficult or impossible to exclude people from its benefits, even if they are unwilling to pay for them. In contrast, a private good is characterized by both excludability and depletability† 2. Some examples of public goods are provision of national defense, the building of highway network or the support of basic science. Adequate private production of these public goods will not occur as the benefits are so widely dispersed across the population that no single firm or consumer has an economic incentive to provide them. Since private provision of public goods is insufficient, government must step in to provide public goods. PA302 (1) CHAN Sau-fung (S05012153) Externality This is another type of inefficiency arises when there are spillovers or externalities. These effects occur when firms or people impose costs or benefits on others outside the marketplace. The phenomenon of externalities is universal. Since our society has become more densely populated and as the volume of production of energy and other material increases, negative spillover effects will be generated. This is where governments come in. Government regulations are designed to control externalities like air and water pollution, hazardous wastes, unsafe drugs and etc. Imperfect Information It is idealist to assume that producers/sellers and consumers/buyers to have all information before they make their decisions. In reality, producers, providers or sellers have more information about their products than their customers. The decision behavior of customers, to a certain extent, is relying on the information they obtain from their friends or mass media. An optimal decision can never be made as it is impossible for the consumers to obtain adequate or perfect information. In this connection, governments in developed countries have to step in to enact legislation to protect consumers. Increasing Returns to scale Increasing returns to scale arise when a balanced increase in all inputs leads to a more-than-proportional increase in the level of output. For example, when doubling inputs leads to greater than double the quantity of output, we have increasing returns to scale. As firms become larger and larger, difficulties of control and management may eventually produce decreasing returns to scale. Monopoly Perfect competition in a market arises when there is a sufficient number of firms or degree of rivalry such that no one firm can affect the price of that good. Imperfect competition, on the other hand, is a serious deviation from perfect competition. An imperfect competitor is one whose actions can affect a good’s price. PA302 (1) CHAN Sau-fung (S05012153) At the extreme of imperfect competition is the monopolist, hence, a single supplier who determines alone the price of a particular good. Monopoly power leads to prices that rise above cost and consumer purchases that are reduced below efficient levels. The pattern of too high price and too low output is the hallmark of the inefficiencies associated with monopoly power. In some cases, the government has to take steps to curb monopoly power. The government regulates the prices and profits of monopolies, as is now the case for local utilities. Part Two Even though the market mechanism is an admirable way of producing and allocating goods, sometimes market failures lead to deficiencies in the economic outcomes. Government steps in to correct these failures in order to make the economy function more efficiency, maintain the equitably and to promote economic growth and stability. Direct Regulations Direct regulation is where most of a good people are allowed to use is directly limited by government. The purpose of the regulations is to stabilize the running of the national economy. For instance, governments attempt to correct monopoly and pollution (externalities) to encourage efficiency by introducing legal antitrust constraints on business behavior or antipollution laws. Incentive Policies Incentive programs are more efficient than direct regulatory policies. The two types of incentive policies are either taxes or market incentives. A tax incentive program uses a tax to redistribute income so as to lessen the situation of unacceptable inequalities of income and wealth. In fact, the tax often yields the desired end more efficiently than straight regulation as this solution embodies a measure of fairness about it, i.e. the person who conserves the most pays the least tax. An alternative to direct regulation is some type of market incentive PA302 (1) CHAN Sau-fung (S05012153) program that is a plan requiring market participants to certify total consumption. For example, when there is high inflation and unemployment rate, the government introduces monetary policies, hence, the changes in money supply and interest rates with a view to stabilizing through macroeconomic policies. Or, during slow economic growth, the government will reduce budget deficit and raise national savings rate in order to stimulate growth. Provision of public goods In case there is inefficiency in public goods, government must step in to provide public goods by spending expenditures. Apparently, the government plays an important role in promoting efficiency, achieving a fairer distribution of income, and pursuing the macroeconomic objectives of economic growth and stability. However, in reality, government intervention does not allow fine-tuning, and when the problems change, the government solution often responds far more slowly. Government intervention leads to more government intervention. In short, Government can in some instances improve and extend the functioning of the market. However, the result of government intervention sometimes is worse that if it did not intervene at all. This is what we call non-market failures, i.e. â€Å"government failure†. Due to the difference in demand and supply in government, its bureaucratic structure, the step in of the government may create more harmful effects than market failures. Inefficiency The revenue that supports government’s activities is mainly generated from taxes. Unlike other business sectors, the output of the government is difficult to measure. As it is not required to maintain competitiveness in order to survive, a government is unlikely to try its best to explore possible ways to improve its efficiency. The sometimes inherently inconsistent objectives or unrealistic goals may also lead further inefficiency. As there is no competition, cost overruns are also common in some government sectors. The government contractor may often revise their prices upwards in the mid-course as they viewed that raising prices is justified. The disjunction between costs and revenues leads the government fails to address the issue in an efficient manner. PA302 (1) CHAN Sau-fung (S05012153) Cost ineffectiveness The government sectors have its own internal standards. According to Wolf3, it calls â€Å"internalities†. They may include the agency’s goal which are used to guide and evaluate that agency’s performance and the performance of its personnel. Government agencies usually stick to standard operating procedures and are reluctant to make changes. They tend to protect and increase benefits to the interest groups they are supposed to regulate. Moreover, there are numerous reasons for government agencies to maximize their budgets. They will try their best to spend it all at the end of the year. If not, it will be allocated a smaller amount in the next year. In this connection, government agencies would prefer to invest their money in more advanced technological systems and cares very little about a newer technology really works or is cost effective or not. For example, they would prefer to invest money in national defence, the most advanced weapon systems rather than other more useful purposes that will bring substantial benefits to public. Moreover, most of the government sectors such as the foreign affairs and intelligence agencies wish to collect and control timely information. However, acquisition and protection of information requires great cost and there may be a point at which there is a diminishing return. Therefore, internalities tend to inflate costs and raise supply functions. Derived externalities When government intervenes due to market failure, it may create unintended or unanticipated side effects which may not be known immediately. This is called a â€Å"derived externalities†. For example, in Oct 1997, HK’s stock market came under attack from currency speculators. The HKSAR Monetary Authority refused to take proactive action during the early stages, but decisively intervened in the stock market in Aug 1988. The intervention not only damage HK’s image as a free market economy but also starts a series of economic crises such as deflation, high employment rate and the greater public demand for more government assistance to disadvantaged groups. Distributional inequity PA302 (1) CHAN Sau-fung (S05012153) Market activities may produce distributional inequity, however, government intervention that intends to remedy a market inequity may itself generates another kind of distributional inequity in form of power and privilege. As an extreme example illustrated by Wolf, in communist society, the government correct inequity create a system in which both power and privilege and quality of life are much worse than before. Conclusion In fact, both market and government may fail. Perfect market or government is never existed. I opine that government’s intervention, to a certain extent, is essential in maintaining the market’s order. However, over-intervention may cause more harmful effects. Therefore, what is more important is who is running the government. An effective government is performing the role of check and balance. It sets up regulations and guidelines so that the private business sectors can follow and enable then to take on global competition. And, at the same time, it helps to protect our labour and avoid exploitation. On the other hand, there are areas in which the market can help government, such as in the areas of education and the privatization of government agencies. Therefore, whether the harmony between the government and market can be maintained depends solely on the one who runs the government. Reference: 1. Market failures: http://elmo.shore.ctc.edu/economics/market.htm 2. Government Policy & market failure: 2.2. http://wwwz.gsu.edu/~ecorlcx/colander-Ch15-market failure.ppt #16 3. The role of the government: http//www.clas.ufl.edu/user/rjohnson/graduate_policy_Analysus/Market failure.html. 4.Business and Government in the Global Marketplace. (7th edition), Murray l. Weidenbaum 5.Economics (14th edition), Paul A. Samuelson & William D, Nordhaus PA 302: Assignment One From: Chan Sau-fung (S05012153) 1 Wolf, C Jr (1993) Markets or Governments: Choosing between Imperfect Alternatives, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, (p.17) 2 Baumol, W J (1988) Economics: Principles and Policy, Ch.29, ‘The market mechanism: Shortcomings and remedies’ (p631-51) 3 Wolf, C Jr (1993) Markets or Governments: Choosing between Imperfect Alternatives, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, Ch 4

A Soldier’s Play

Title: A Soldier’s Play Professor: Wallace Bridges I really enjoyed this play as it kept me wondering what will happen next and taught me some life lessons on how people react or make decisions. As I read on this play goes into the man Sergeant Vernon C. Waters personality and who he really was. We learn that Sergeant Waters hates being black and anyone who may exhibit black characteristics or stereotypes for example. For example in Act Two we learn that Sergeant Waters does not really like C. J. as he frames him and provokes him to attack so that he could be arrested for any reason. Sergeant Waters admits to this is Act Two and wanted C,J. rrested so the world would be free of one more simpleton colored boy. In Sergeant Waters’s eyes he wanted to prepare his men to survive in a white man’s world and by having his men adopt the white man’s culture or characteristics would help them survive. The theme of A Soldier’s Play in my eyes would be racism. I f racism exists in a community, then racism will affect the behaviors and ideals of others within the community. Starting with the white soldiers and Sergeant Waters racism is the main source of violence at this army post as the black soldiers are not welcomed at this dominated white community.Captain Davenport who is assigned to this murder assignment is black and is not welcomed very warmly and they do not want a black captain arresting a white soldier. The murder is first blamed on the Klu Klux Klan and the white officers and soldiers are all aligned against the blacks and as mentioned there is racism within the black community as Sergeant Waters’s turns against C. J. who thought Waters liked him. For example in Act Two we learn that Sergeant Waters has Private James Wilkie plant a gun under C,J’s pillow that could earn three stripes back that he had lost.This in turn contributes to C. J. getting arrested and eventually killing himself all because of what Sergeant W aters perceived C. J. to be as another black holding other blacks back. It is not said that Sergeant Waters wanted C. J. dead but he wanted him arrested because of his viewpoint of surviving through white characteristics. The protagonist of A Soldier’s play is Captain Davidson who is a black officer. After a black Sergeant is murdered Vernon Waters, Captain Davidson is assigned to solve this murder.His superobjective is to interview other officers and soldiers, learn about Sergeant Waters, and find out who and why Waters was murdered. In Act One his superobjective begins with Corporal Ellis who is assigned with Davidson to bring the officers or soldiers into questioning and get answers. Davidson asks Ellis of any informal theories of Sergeant Waters’s death and all Ellis has come up with is the Klu Klux Klan is responsible but there are rumors of two white officers. The investigation stalled but they continue to investigate and bring soldiers in for questioning.Captain Davidson does accomplish his superobjective through investigating and questioning other soldiers. As Davidson questions soldiers he learns more about Sergeant Waters as Waters believed the way to success was the white man’s way. He also learned that Waters was a drunk and abusive towards his own men but did this to mold them into white characteristics. In Act Two when Smalls has gone A-W-O-L Davidson questions him and wants to know why he has gone A-W-O-L and as Davidson questions Smalls he breaks down and admits to watching Peterson shoot Waters as he did nothing to stop it.One of the Afrocentric Objectives in a Soldier’s play is storytelling when Davidson is speaking with Wilkie. In Act two Wilkie tells Davidson that Waters told him a story involving a colored soldier in France during World War I. Waters told Wilkie that the white soldiers told the women that all the colored soldiers had tails like monkeys. So the white soldiers played a game and paid a black soldie r to tape a tail to his behind, they placed the balck soldier on a table with a reed in his hand and a crown on his head.They called the black soldier moonshine, king of the monkeys. Later on Waters and some other soldiers cut the soldiers throat and none of the other soldiers knew what the black soldier had done wrong. This is where we learn more about Waters and possibly the straw that broke the camel’s back to stand for what he believed in. Waters vowed to eliminate all matter demeaning simpleton behavior from people of his own race. If I were to direct this play I would manipulate the lighting to reinforce the theme of the play.As stated I believe one of the themes to be racism in this play as there are struggles of racism within the black soldiers as there leader Sergeant Waters believes the only way to success is by adopting the white way. In Act 2 when Wilkie admits to Davidson that Waters had him plant the gun under C. J. ’s pillow so he could earn his stripes back that were taken away and this could lead to C. J. being taken to jail. I would manipulate the lighting here to set the mood and direction of the play which is Waters hates being black and his plan to eliminate simpleton black men.Waters would get his way by eliminating another simpleton black man and this would show the racism that existed within the blacks because Waters himself hated being black and he took it out on his soldiers. When Charles Fuller wrote this play in 1981 the military was the largest equal opportunity employer for blacks for many years. But historically it was not always this way as blacks fought for freedoms and made sacrifices for nothing because none of this was going to be theirs (land or opportunities in America).Many blacks viewed World War II as a white man’s war but in the play Sergeant Waters viewed it as a chance for blacks to prosper. This is why he was so hard on his men and wanted them to adapt the white man’s way, but this also a ffected his and his men’s behavior and ideals. The contemporary significance of the production’s primary theme is racism existed during the plays time and setting but was viewed as a way blacks could try and eliminate racism and slowly but surely be accepted and be honored for their sacrifices they made for a country that they belong to as the white’s.Today racism still exists but we have made tremendous strides and came a long way to distance ourselves from racism an example is today the military is one of the largest equal opportunity employer for blacks as everyone is recognized as one and they are a family watching each other’s back. Even though strides have been made racism does still exist and it affects behaviors and ideals.