The Annual Inflation Rate Essays - Monetary Policy, Inflation

The Annual Inflation Rate Essays - Monetary Policy, Inflation The Annual Inflation Rate The Annual Inflation Rate Just about everything we do as a nation lends to the annual inflation rate. In this article, though, I have chosen four of the most important variables that influence inflation the most. Inflation is the sustained increase in prices, or in other words, a steady decline in the buying power of the dollar. I have come up with an equation that includes the following variables: the unemployment rate, the federal funds interest rate, per capita income, and new home sales. These variables consistently have shown a relationship to the inflation rate and aggregately may help to explain the cause of inflation. The first variable I chose was the unemployment rate. This is the annual average of persons 15 years of age or older, actively seeking and available for work, but unemployed. (BLS). The relationship between unemployment and inflation provides evidence of a short-run trade-off between the two variables known as the short-run Phillips curve (BLS). The relationship suggests that by accepting higher inflation levels, the Fed can use monetary policy to stimulate the economy and temporarily reduce unemployment. When prices go up, the wages are affected also. This occurs because if no adjustments are made, then the same wages will buy less goods and services, which affects consumer spending. Less spending means less profits, which ends in layoffs and higher unemployment. The flip side reveals the effect of unemployment on inflation. The hypothesis for this variable is that as the unemployment rate decreases, the annual inflation rate will increase. The reasoning here is that if more people are employed and have money, there is more spending, more demand, and therefore prices will rise. The second variable I chose was the federal funds interest rate. Federal funds are the Feds channel of affecting the economy through the banks. The Fed aims to maintain a steady economy with steady growth and stable prices. Too much money results in price increases, or inflation. Too little money slows growth. To increase money, the Fed buys bank-owned government securities. It pays with deposits, which enable more loans, which enable more deposits, and so on. To reduce money, the Fed sells government securities, and banks pay from their Fed accounts. This reduces reserves, forcing banks to reduce loans. So they raise interest rates to consumers and businesses. While reducing loans, a bank may find that its reserves are less than allowed under Fed regulations. To stay legal, it phones for a one-night loan from a bank with excess reserves. The borrowed funds move from one banks Fed account to anothers, thus the name federal funds (Fedpoint15, p.2). The federal fund interest rate is a good indicator of what aims the Fed has for the economy and what state we are currently in. The hypothesis for this variable is that if the Fed raises interest rates, there must be too much money in the economy. The Fed is predicting a rise in inflation rates. So a rise in federal fund interest rates will reveal a rise in the inflation rate. The next variable I chose to explain inflation was per capita income. When consumers have and are spending more money, prices will continue to climb. Income though, plays another role in inflation. A rise in per capita income is a good indicator of higher wages. Wage escalation is a direct result of low unemployment rates. The more people working the more money is being made and spent, more demand and thus higher prices. Take a look from a different angle. (Lonski, p.1). The hypothesis here is that as per capita income increases, inflation will also increase. More money means more spending and more demand, as stated previously. Thus, prices will inflate. Other factors may also play a role such as when interest rates are raised to combat inflation. Will we then see the opposite effect take place? The fourth and final variable I chose to help explain inflation was new home sales. Construction spending is a good indicator of our nations economy, but the actual purchase of new homes is probably a better indicator of consumer spending. If the houses are built and no one is buying, it does not help the economy. Volume of sales

Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald

Biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald F. Scott Fitzgerald, born Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American author whose works became synonymous with the Jazz Age. He moved in the major artistic circles of his day but failed to garner widespread critical acclaim until after his death at the age of 44. Fast Facts: F. Scott Fitzgerald Full Name: Francis Scott Key FitzgeraldKnown For:  American authorBorn:  September 24, 1896 in St. Paul, MinnesotaDied:  December 21, 1940 in Hollywood, CaliforniaSpouse:  Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (m. 1920-1940)Children:  Frances Scottie Fitzgerald (b. 1921)Education: Princeton UniversityNotable Works: This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, Tender Is the Night, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Early Life F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, to a well-off upper-middle-class family. His parents were Edward Fitzgerald, a former Marylander who moved north after the Civil War, and Molly Fitzgerald, the daughter of an Irish immigrant who made a fortune in the grocery industry. Fitzgerald was named after his distant cousin, Francis Scott Key, who famously wrote â€Å"The Star-Spangled Banner.† Only a few months before his birth, two of his sisters died suddenly. The family did not spend his early life in Minnesota, however. Edward Fitzgerald worked mostly for Proctor and Gamble, so the Fitzgeralds spent most of their time living in upstate New York and in West Virginia, following Edward’s job demands. Nevertheless, the family lived quite comfortably, thanks to a wealthy aunt and Molly’s inheritance from her own rich family. Fitzgerald was sent to Catholic schools and proved to be a bright student with a particular interest in literature. In 1908, Edward Fitzgerald lost his job and the family returned to Minnesota. When F. Scott Fitzgerald was 15 he was sent away from home to attend a prestigious Catholic prep school, the Newman School, in New Jersey. College, Romances, and Military Life After graduating from Newman in 1913, Fitzgerald decided to stay in New Jersey to continue working on his writing, rather than returning to Minnesota. He attended Princeton and became heavily involved with the literary scene on campus, writing for several publications and even joining a theatre troupe, the Princeton Triangle Club. During a visit back to St. Paul in 1915, Fitzgerald met Ginevra King, a debutante from Chicago, and they began a two-year romance. They conducted their romance mostly through letters, and she was reportedly the inspiration for some of his most iconic characters, including The Great Gatsby’s Daisy Buchanan. In 1917, their relationship ended, but Fitzgerald kept the letters she’d written to him; after his death, his daughter sent them to King, who kept them and never showed them to anyone. F. Scott Fitzgerald in his military uniform in 1918; he never saw action in the war.   Time Life Pictures / Getty Images Fitzgerald’s writing-related activities took up the bulk of his time, which meant he neglected his actual studies to the point of being on academic probation. In 1917, he officially dropped out of Princeton and joined the Army instead, as the U.S. was just joining World War I. He was stationed under the command of Dwight D. Eisenhower, whom he despised, and feared that he would die in the war without ever having become a published author. The war ended in 1918, before Fitzgerald was ever actually deployed overseas. New York and Europe in the Jazz Age While stationed in Alabama, Fitzgerald met Zelda Sayre, the daughter of a state Supreme Court justice and a Montgomery socialite. They fell in love and became engaged, but she broke it off, worried that he would be unable to support them financially. Fitzgerald revised his first novel, which became This Side of Paradise; it sold in 1919 and was published in 1920, becoming a quick success. As a direct result, he and Zelda were able to resume their engagement and were married that same year in New York City at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Their only daughter, Frances Scott Fitzgerald (known as â€Å"Scottie†) was born in October 1921. The Fitzgeralds became staples of New York society, as well as the American expatriate community in Paris. Fitzgerald formed a close friendship with Ernest Hemingway, but they came into conflict over the subject of Zelda, who Hemingway openly hated and believed was holding Fitzgerald’s career back. During this time, Fitzgerald supplemented his income by writing short stories, since only his first novel was a financial success during his lifetime. He wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925, but although it’s regarded as his masterpiece now, it was not a success until after his death. Much of his writing was tied to the â€Å"Lost Generation,† a phrase coined to describe the disillusionment in post-WWI years and often associated with the group of expatriate artists with which Fitzgerald mingled. Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, circa 1921. Time Life Pictures / Getty Images   In 1926, Fitzgerald had his first movie offer: to write a flapper comedy for the United Artists studio. The Fitzgeralds moved to Hollywood, but after Fitzgerald’s affair with actress Lois Moran, their marital difficulties necessitated a move back to New York. There, Fitzgerald began working on a fourth novel, but his heavy drinking, financial difficulties, and Zelda’s declining physical and mental health got in the way. By 1930, Zelda was suffering from schizophrenia, and Fitzgerald had her hospitalized in 1932. When she published her own semi-autobiographical novel, Save Me the Waltz, in 1932, Fitzgerald was furious, insisting that their lives together were â€Å"material† that only he could write about; he even managed to get edits made to her manuscript before publication. Later Years and Death In 1937, after Zelda’s final hospitalization, Fitzgerald found himself financially unable to decline an offer from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to move to Hollywood and write exclusively for their studio. During that time, he had a high-profile live-in affair with gossip columnist Sheilah Graham, and he wrote a series of short stories mocking himself as a Hollywood hack. His hard living began to catch up with him, as he had been an alcoholic for decades. Fitzgerald claimed to suffer from tuberculosis–which he very well may have–and he suffered at least one heart attack by the end of the 1930s. On December 21, 1940, Fitzgerald suffered another heart attack at his home with Graham. He died almost instantly, aged 44. His body was taken back to Maryland for a private funeral. Since he was no longer a practicing Catholic, the Church refused to allow him a burial in the Catholic cemetery; he was instead interred at Rockville Union Cemetery. Zelda died eight years later, in a fire at the asylum where she was living, and she was buried next to him. They remained there until 1975, when their daughter Scottie successfully petitioned to have their remains moved to the family plot at the Catholic cemetery. Legacy Fitzgerald left behind an unfinished novel, The Last Tycoon, as well as a prolific output of short stories and four completed novels. In the years after his death, his work became more praised and more popular than it ever was during his life, especially The Great Gatsby. Today, he’s regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Sources Bruccoli, Matthew Joseph. Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2002.Curnutt, Kirk, ed. A Historical Guide to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Definition of Cisman or Cisgender Man

Definition of Cisman or Cisgender Man Pronunciation: siss-man Also Known As: cissexual man, cisgender man, cisguy, natural-born man (offensive) Antonyms: transwoman Definition: A cisman, shorthand for cissexual man or cisgender man, is non-transsexual man- a man whose assigned gender is male, and whose assigned male gender is more or less consistent with his personal sense of self. This distinguishes him from transmen, shorthand for transgender men- men who were initially assigned a female gender, but who now have a male identity. If you identify as a man but are not a transgender man, youre a cisman.Cisgender and transgender identity are grounded in gender roles, but because gender roles are socially constructed and gender is not a very clearly-defined concept, the argument could be made that nobody is completely cisgender or transgender- that these are relative terms representing individual experiences of what gender is. As Ashley Fortenberry, a local transwoman, explains: Gender cannot be defined by anyone other than the individual... Gender is personal and is based on ideas and characteristics that usually pertain to a specific sex. The simp le fact is that everyone has characteristics of the opposite gender.

Should Accounting Rules be Global Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Should Accounting Rules be Global - Essay Example The multinational companies have been required following the systems and accounting standards followed in the various economies of their operation for the preparation and reporting of financial statements. The companies have also faced difficulties in explaining their financial position to the investors due to the difference in the accounting systems in different countries that reflects various financial situations of the business (Basu, 1997). A globalized accounting system requires the establishment of harmonious accounting standards such as International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) that can help the users of accounting information to apply the same rule during preparation and interpretation of the accounting information. Various companies have gradually engaged in the establishment of "accounting standards that can be applied in more than one country" (Heidhues & Patel, 2012, p. 39). Some of the factors that influence the accounting system of the economy could be broadly categorized under the country’s historical origin, socio-economic demands, culture, institutional environment and many non-accounting factors such as values and beliefs (Gaffikin, 2007). These factors are different for every country. Also, the accounting systems of the countries vary from one another. The recent cause of suggestion for establishment of uniform accounting standards has been the expansion of businesses into the international economies (Gaffikin, 2007, p. 3). Having uniform global accounting standards will help businesses to compete effectively and compare the performances of affiliate businesses across the globe using standard information. The variation of accounting standards has affected number of sectors of the economy that require harmonization of accounting standards to make them operate smoothly (Zimmerman & Werner, 2013, p. 117). The operation of capital markets is affected by accounting principles since

Islamic Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Islamic Studies - Essay Example I t is consisted of everything that the prophet has spoken of, his decisions on important matters, his opinions and his answers to the queries and doubts raised by his followers and believers. The Hadiths literature which consists of the narrations of the life of the prophet also has played major role in the shaping of Islamic faith. The fact that the Hadith were recorded after the death of the prophet make many to doubt the authenticity and the validity of the Hadith. There are people who consider the Hadith merely as a history book having not much of religious significance. The essay attempts to unearth the understanding of Hadith in Islam religion, and it tries to bring out the differences in the understanding and the practice of Hadith soon after the death of Prophet Mohammed with a special reference to the changed political scenario after the Prophets death. The Hadith assumed greater significance after the death of Mohammed as the believers could no longer ask their questions or clear their doubts from the prophet. So wherever they did not have a specific guideline in the Quran, they sought for it in the Hadith. The hadiths very often acted as the guiding principle for the Muslim way of life along with the Koran. One should not forget the fact that the Hadith was transmitted by the companions of the prophet (his contemporaries and witnesses to his teaching) to the next generation through oral tradition in the initial stages. Therefore, many attempts have been undertaken by the scholars to assess the reliability and authenticity of Hadith. The Hadith was judged based on their content, the degree in which they did not contradict the Quran and the extend to which they resonated divine wisdom. Thus, they were categorized into authentic, good or weak. Hadith were collected and confirmed or proved to be authentic by many scholars; however on e cannot negate the influence of personal bias or prejudices in the process. There was also the risk of interpreting the personal responses of the prophet as having general implications to the Islamic teachings. In the eighth century there was a considerable division in the Islamic thought due to the diversity of thought that the Hadith were not reliable and authentic. This division of thought prompted Muhammad ibh Idris al-Shafi to make a common methodology for all schools of Islamic faith by the end of 9th century. He identified four sources of Islamic law- the Quran, the sunnas or the tradition of the prophet, reasoning by analogies and unanimous agreement. The Muslim community strongly believed that Allah has sent His prophets and messengers to keep them united with Him and Mohammed for them is the last of the prophets. Mohammed proved himself to be a strong religious leader for the Muslims and after his time the Islam community really lacked strong spiritual leaders even though they did have some powerful rulers in the caliphs who succeeded Mohammed. After the death of Mohammed, there weren't any undisputable leaders for the Muslims and one comes across a series of struggle for power and control over the Muslim community and it is interesting to note how this struggle affected the Muslim belief and their way of life. It is these struggles that led to the formation of Sunnism and Shiism, and the underlying reason for most of the conflicts and struggles within Islam can be attributed to these struggles. The original version of the Hadiths suffered various setbacks at the hands of

Nigel Slacks transformation process model Essay

Nigel Slacks transformation process model - Essay Example However, this was only the first Dimension of the whole project. In fact, a second Dimension follows in which should answer the following question: what the relevant technology could offer to the transformation of resources in the particular firm. More specifically, the business process technology would improve the firm’s resources mainly offering a framework for the increase of their productivity. If such a target could not be achieved by the above procedure then the firm should avoid the transformation of its processes by first instance. On the other hand, the value of the business process technology for the completion of the business transformation process would be examined thoroughly before the implementation of the relevant technology. Finally, the role of business process technology in the whole procession would be evaluated in terms of its importance for the achievement of the targets set by the firm attempting the transformation of its processes.The effectiveness of th e relevant procedure was examined by Slack et al. (2005) with a specific reference to five firms: a fashion clothing retailer, a retail bank, a full-service airline industry, a food company and a company operating in the area of laboratory services. Their research led to the following results: a) the market performance opportunities associated with BPT (business process technology) are far broader than the traditional narrow focus on cost reduction; as a result, any evaluation of BPT must reflect its impact.

How risk affect corporate financial strategy Research Paper

How risk affect corporate financial strategy - Research Paper Example Risk is the probability of loss to occur. Corporate financial strategy is affected by various types of risks. This includes political risk. Conflicts and civil wars leads to massive loss of assets by companies. When there is conflict in a country, companies’ property are looted and others destroyed.   Companies located in these countries suffer huge losses since it become hard to protect their investments. Nationalization of industries also poses political risk since companies’ lose their licenses; hence, they cannot continue to operate in these countries. Governments may also increases taxes on companies, making it difficult for any company to continue operating. The second type of risk is interest rate. When higher interest rate is charged on loans, it makes it impossible for companies to fund their operations using loans. Due to high interest rate charged on loans, corporate may fix higher prices on good and services hence reducing the market share as consumer will shift to cheaper goods (Ehrhardt and Eugene 7).The author states that one of the risks is credit risk. This type of risk is most common in banking industry where borrower will fail to meet the obligation to repay the loan in the agreed terms. Other risks occur in book keeping where incorrect figures are entered. Failure of borrowers to repay their loans and errors in book keeping causes huge loses to banking industries. The fourth type of risk is business risk. This is the probability that an auditor will suffer loss to his professional practice.