Animal Rights Final Research Paper

Animal Rights Final Research Paper Franco Pacheco ENGL-135 Prof. Gurin DeVry University December 13, 2012 Animal rights The idea of animal rights is not new. Through the 18th and 19th Century philosophers like Rousseau, Kant, Bentham, and Schopenhauer have produced different arguments in favor of the treatment of animals.Animal rights is the idea that nonhuman animals are entitled to the possession of their own lives and that they should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings. All animals are equal in the sense that they all can sense pain and suffering however as far as treating them like humans, I do not think so. Humans have been eating meat for as long as we have been on this earth and there is nothing wrong with that. That does not mean people enjoy killing them for pleasure, their lives are taking for our survival.Eating meat is not wrong as long as we are conscious of their contribution to humankind over the years, providing us with transpo rtation, food, clothing, and companionship. Torturing and killing animals for pleasure is wrong, however, eating their meat moderately for survival is not. By the beginning of the 18th century, writers began to discuss animal feelings of pain and suffering, vivisection, and the cruel treatment of animals raised and slaughtered for food.All animals have the same capacity for suffering, but how we see them differs and that determines what we will tolerate happening to them. Most people are not capable of killing what they eat with their own hands but if is cooked and served; there are no thoughts of how or where it came from. Over 9 billion chickens, pigs, cattle, turkeys, sheep, goats, ducks, and geese are bred, raised, and killed for food annually in America.Today, the breeding of farm animals is dominated by industrialized facilities that maximize profits by treating them as production units and forgetting that they can also feel pain as human do. The abuse of farm animals in facto ry farms, for example, did not see an influx until the early 19th century, when small family farms and traditional ranching of livestock started to cave under the pressure of larger institutional farming practices. As factory farms became the norm, so, unfortunately did the systematic and prolonged abuse of animals raised for human consumption.Most animals in these facilities are forced to endure physical and psychological abuse for months if not years on end, deprived of the ability to perform behaviors inherent to their species, and housed in overcrowded facilities with insufficient food, water, and natural light. Most are given steroids to enhance growth, and antibiotics to fend off illnesses that are likely to occur in such unsanitary conditions. Their eventual slaughter is often performed in a manner as inhumane as the condition in which they are forced to exist until that day.There are many people working for the improvement of the ways in which animals that are raised for foo d are handled and slaughtered; most notable is Temple Grandin. She is one of the leading authorities on the design of animal handling facilities, specializing in the humane handling of animals at the point of slaughter in the meat industry. She is credited with having â€Å"done more to improve welfare for animals at the point of slaughter than any human alive. † According to data extrapolated from U. S. Department of Agriculture reports that nearly 10. billion land animals were raised and killed for food in the United States in 2010. This is a 1. 7% rise from the 2009 totals, larger than the 0. 9% increase in US population, meaning that animals killed per-capita increased slightly. Based on January-August 2011 USDA slaughter numbers, it is projected that the number of land animals killed in 2011 will increase an additional 1% from 2010 numbers, rising to approximately 10,266 million animals. Fortunately, due to increased feed prices and sinking domestic demand, Bloomberg. om is speculating that there may be a 5% drop in animals raised for food in 2012! While the number of aquatic animals killed each year is not reported, meticulous calculations by researcher Noam Mohr estimate the number of finfishes killed each year for US consumption to be 13,027 million, and the number of shellfishes to be 40,455 million, resulting in a combined 53,481 million (over 53 billion) aquatic animals who died for American consumption in 2010. Becoming a vegetarian overnight will not stop the purposeful harm done to animals at the hands of human beings.Consequently, I agree that there is a lot that has gone very wrong with most of our meat production, but we are omnivores, and arguing that we are not is not going to get us anywhere. It may be possible to live without meat, but considering that all animals will eventually die, will be a sin not to eat them before other animals do. We feel bad of the killing of the animals we eat, but not bad enough to stop eating them comple tely. People have their own reasons for becoming vegan and not everyone is concern about the animal’s welfare.Becoming vegan will not stop animal abuse; people are still going to do what they want to do, especially if it involves animal cruelty. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) can do all they can, but you cannot right all the wrongs in the world. The most prominent of the abolitionists is Gary Francione, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers School of Law-Newark. He argues that focusing on animal welfare may actually worsen the position of animals, because it entrenches the view of them as property, and makes the public more comfortable about using them.I actually hate the way animals are treated and could not find a better way of killing them without making it go through torture. However, I am not switching to become vegan, just because a group of people considers it cruelty. I still love meat, but I treat animals with respect and morality because the y are providing the protein my body needs for survival. It is not admissible to cause animal’s unnecessary pain and suffering. I do not believe in the unethical treatment of animals, however I do believe in the ethical use of them.Confinement production of livestock and poultry has generated a major conflict between the meats, dairy, poultry industries, and reformist welfare and abolitionists animal rights group. They condemn and oppose factory farming because they view intensive production as inhumane, being carried out under unnatural conditions and causing suffering for the animal and poultry. Over the past 50 years, animal agriculture has increased from small family farms to large corporate factory farming systems.In these factory-farming systems, their main concern is increasing the profits margins at all costs and the process has devastating consequences for the animals. Farmed animals lead a life of misery from the moment they are born to when they are slaughtered. Eve ry day, everywhere across the globe, millions of these animals are mishandled, kept in confinement, mutilated as part of routine husbandry practices, and deprived of their basic physical and behavioral needs. In September of 1994, The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) designated the National Farm Animals Awareness Week (Guither, pg. 1). They criticized the cruelty of the confinement housing of such animals and they asked consumers to â€Å"shop with compassion. † Bernard E. Rollin an American philosopher and currently a professor of philosophy, animal sciences, and biomedical sciences at Colorado State University urges the food animal producers and animal industry â€Å"not to resist and combat the new ethic for animals , for they will not win, but rather to appropriate it into their production systems with the help of research that acknowledges and respects the patent truth that animals can both suffer and be happy†(Guither, pg. 9). In the last two decades hu ndreds of thousands Americans have fight animal rights as part of a new, powerful and controversial social movement. All animal liberationists believe that the individual interests of non-human animals deserve recognition and protection, but the movement can be split into two broad camps. Animal rights advocates, or rights liberationists, believe that these basic interests confer moral rights of some kind on the animals, and/or ought to confer legal rights on them; for example, the work of Philosophers Tom Regan and Peter Singer.They do not believe that animals possess moral rights, but argue, on utilitarian grounds (Utilitarianism in its simplest form advocating that we base moral decisions on the greatest happiness of the greatest number) that, because animals have the ability to suffer, their suffering must be taken into account in any moral philosophy (Isacat, 2008). Dr. David Nibert is a Professor of Sociology at the Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. He teaches Animal s & Society, Global Change, Social Stratification, Minority Groups, and Law and Society.He is the author of Animal Rights/Human Rights: Entanglements of Oppression and Liberation (Rowman/Littlefield). He conducted a survey among residents of Clark County, Ohio and found that support for animal rights is significantly related to seven of the eleven variables, suggesting the existence of an important link between one's disposition toward human and nonhuman animals. Five hundred and one residents of Clark County, Ohio, aged eighteen and older, responded to a telephone survey conducted April 16-18, 1993. This survey was designed to examine respondent’s opinions on several social issues.One of the questions was, â€Å"Some people say that animals have rights that people should respect. Would you agree or disagree? † They were also asked eleven questions adapted from the General Social Survey (Wood, 1990). Here are the results of the Nibert’s survey: â€Å"Of the 501 respondents, 246 (49. 1 %) were male and 255 (50. 9%) were female. 81 1 (20. 8%) were less than 30 years of age, 208 (41. 6%) were between 30 and 49 years old, and 184 (36. 8%) were over 50. 76 (15. 2%) had not graduated from high school, 277 (55. 3%) were high school graduates and 143 (29. %) were college graduates. The sample was predominantly white (461 or 92%) and married (334 or 66. 7%). In response to the animal rights question, 373 respondents (74. 5%) agreed, 84 (16. 8%) disagreed, 37 (7. 4%) were undecided and 7 (1. 4%) refused. For purposes of convenience, the respondents who agreed that animals have rights will be referred to as â€Å"animal rights supporters. † Examination of demographic variables reveals that age, sex, place of residence and religion were significantly related to support for animal rights.Younger people were more likely to support animal rights than older people, women more than men, and city residents more than those living in more rural areas of the county (Nibert 1994). † To summarize, Animal rights are a matter of personal choice. Every individual has a right to decide how he or she wants to treat others, including other species. Animals have been around on the earth for as long as humans have, if not longer. They play an important role in today's society whether or not we choose to admit it. To say that animals have rights is only to end the discussion before it starts.Animals will be animals and they will eat one another for the need of survival: that is a natural phenomenon. We can reduce some suffering by eliminating certain practices in certain areas, but this will not solve the problem. As explained above, we cannot humanely raise nine billion animals. Going vegan is the only solution. Also, keep in mind that some meat, eggs and dairy products are misleadingly marketed as â€Å"humane† but offer only marginal improvements over traditional factory farming. These animals are not raised humanely if they are in larger cages, or are taken out of cages only to live in overcrowded barns.And â€Å"humane slaughter† is an oxymoron. References Cavalieri, Paola. (2001) the animal question, why nonhuman animals deserve human rights. New York, NY: Oxford University Press Grillo, Alexander, (August 15, 2012), Five Reasons Why Meat-Eating Cannot Be Considered a ‘Personal Choice’ Free from Harm, Food and Psychology http://freefromharm. org/food-and-psychology/five-reasons-why-meat-eating-cannot-be-considered-a-personal-choice/ Guither, Harold D. (1998) Animal rights, History and scope of a radical social movement. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University PressIssitt, Micah & Newton, Heather (2011), p2-2, 1p – Animals Deserve the Same Rights as Humans. http://search. ebscohost. com. proxy. devry. edu/login. aspx? direct=true&db=pwh&AN=26608510&site=pov-live Rich, Alex & Wagner Geraldine (2011), p1-1, 1p Points of View: Animal Rights: An Overview. http://search. eb scohost. com. proxy. devry. edu/login. aspx? direct=true&db=pwh&AN=22827052&site=pov-live Thompson, Michael (2012) Why We Have Ethical Obligations to Animals: Animal Welfare and the Common Good more http://wpunj. academia. du/MichaelThompson/Papers/392701/Why_We_Have_Ethical_Obligations_to_Animals_Animal_Welfare_and_the_Common_Good April 12, 2011. American Humane Association hails ‘yes’ vote on humane standards for poultry in Washington http://www. americanhumane. org/animals/animal-welfare-news/american-humane-association-hails-yes-vote. html Report: Number of Animals Killed In US Increases in 2010 http://farmusa. org/statistics11. html Animal Rights and Human Social Issues David A. Nibert, Wittenberg University (1994) http://www. animalsandsociety. org/assets/library/283_s222. pdf

Arabic Language in Learning Sahria and Islamic Law Essay

Language is very important in our daily life. It serves as the way in communicating and dealing with other people. There are many language used by different people in different places. In field of teaching, language is the most important factor to be considered. Arabic language was known to be the second most used language in the world second to Chinese. A good knowledge of Arabic language will greatly enhance one’s ability to work and interact effectively with Arabic-speaking people and that, the diligent study of Arabic can lead to exciting careers in various fields in that particular vicinity. In addition, Arabic is the language of Islam and to properly understand Islam, that is why Arabic should be learn and taught for every Muslims (Tamano 1996). In teaching Sharia or Islamic Law, Arabic Language should be highly encouraged as the fundamental medium used in the classroom. However, in the case of King Faisal Center most of the students taking up Sharia courses have only miniature background in Arabic field particularly Arabic language. As a result the teachers preferred to use Local language just to make the student understand the discussions of Sharia. Sharia Law or Islamic Law derives its legal rules to Quran and Hadith. The primary sources of Islamic law are the Quran and Hadith which is written in Arabic language. In order to understand the Quran and Hadith you should be knowledgeable in Arabic language. For Muslims, the Qur’an is the literal word of God received verbatim by the Prophet Muhammad in his native Arabic tongue, who passed it on his followers. Qur’an is the foundation of Islam and the primary source of guidance for Muslims in all aspect of life, whether spiritual, legal, moral, political, economic or social (Saeed 2006). Qur’an is the primary source of Islamic Law and it originally written in Arabic text. Sharia derives its law based on the Qur’an. That is why the students and teachers should give an importance in teaching and learning Arabic Language in order to help the students specially Sharia students in order for them to understand the Sharia clearly and to help them in their future job as a Sharia practitioner. In the case of KFCIAAS in Islamic Studies Department, they preferred to use English language in most of their Sharia courses. KFCIAAS should consider that Arabic language is the foundation of Islam and we should give importance for improving and enhancing their methods of teaching Arabic language. The focus of this study is to gather information on the importance of Arabic language in teaching Sharia in King Faisal Center for Islamic Arabic and Asian Studies and try to strengthen and improve the teaching of Arabic language in King Faisal Center.

What Happened to the Mayan Civilization

Week 2 Assignment 1 Michael McCue HUM111 World Cultures I Dr. Andrew N Allphin 16 October 2012 †¢No one can say for certain what happened to the Mayan people, but theories abound and include varied possible alternatives to explain the abrupt and mysterious disappearance of the Mayan civilization. Many historians have questioned â€Å"how† or â€Å"why† the Mayan civilization disappeared after the 10th century; however there is no definitive answer to this question.One possible theory is the Mayan’s civilization grew to such an extent that they deforested so much of the region that it had significant climate changes, thereby forcing the Mayan people to immigrate to other regions (Server, 2004), this theory has some scientific background, and scientists have used satellites to study the topsoil of Central America. They found that right before the civilization collapse, the sediment had changed from tree pollen to weed pollen, suggesting there were no more tree s in the area.The result of a treeless environment is the erosion of fertile topsoil, warmer climate, and a possible reduction of precipitation. Since the Mayans depended on water reservoirs from precipitation, this would have had a detrimental effect. Another theory surrounding the disappearance of the Mayan people is consistent droughts that took place preceding the tenth century and the reduction of civilization through various wars caused the Mayan civilization to dwindle down to virtual extinction.While both theories sound relevant, scientific data is also consistent to what is happening the region of Central and South American and the deforestation of the rain forest. Perhaps history is only repeating itself. References Medina-Elizalde, M. & Rohling, E. J. (2012). Collapse of Classic Maya Civilization Related to Modest Reduction in Precipitation. Science 24 February 2012, Vol. 335 no. 6071 pp. 956-959. DOI:10. 1126/science. 1216629 Sever, T. (2004). The Rise and Fall of the Ma yan Empire. [email  protected] Headline News. Retrieved from http://science. nasa. gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/15nov_maya/[pic][pic]

Gender Buying Behaviour within the Beauty Industry Essay

Gender Buying Behaviour within the Beauty Industry - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that the beauty sector is part of a vast multi-national industry. The value of the professional beauty industry in the UK in 1998 was  £366 million, which represented a growth of almost 6% on the previous year. This figure includes beauty therapy/ products treatments in a variety of sites including mobile, hair and beauty salons, health clubs, high street retailers as well as the conventional beauty salon. The growth in the customer base stood at over 13%. This means that 13% more people, visited salons and bought products in 1998 compared to 1997. The beauty industry operates through a variety of sites, all sectors of which are supported by media and advertising. However, in recent years there’s a whole new target market. Traditionally, the only thing men are interested in putting on their faces is shaving cream and aftershave. But, as a generation of men raised in a culture where youth is a good age, cosmetic companies are increa singly targeting men. The sheer number of aging men is piquing the curiosity of cosmetic marketers. The number of men between 35 and 54 is expected to reach 40 million by 2000 –up from 32 million in 1990. Cosmetic marketers have never had much success targeting men. Lancome launched a men’s line about five years ago, then quickly pulled it. Two California companies, Jan Stuart and Inner-Face also launched men’s lines during the 1980s that flopped.

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic management - Essay Example The organization has gained a successful name for its leadership in the management process. Right from its inception the company has shown accelerating growth over the years. William Procter and James Gamble; one being candle maker and the other being a soap producer started a partnership business long back in 1837 in Cincinnati named P&G. The company won a very fruitful contract during the American civil war. The organization was supposed to supply candle and soaps to the Union army during the civil war as per the contract. Gradually working systematically over time the company has gained its giant social appearance. It now engages in the production of beauty, grooming, food and drink and pet care, cloth and habitat care, baby and family unit care segments, health care. As estimated in 2012 the companies operating income is about $13.29 billion (P&G, 2012). It provides large employment opportunities in the economy. Objectives and Mission The company’s mission is to provide go od quality products to the people and improve the quality of their life. This is because by doing so they can achieve leadership sales, value and goodwill in the market. The mission of the company would help its employees and shareholders to prosper in their activities. The company attempts to provide good quality products to the consumers all over the world and help to improve their quality of lifestyle. They trust the fact that their profit, value and fame in the market can be automatically generated, if the consumers have faith in the quality of their manufactured goods (Mullerat, 2011). The company claims to recruit the best employees in the Globe. The employees are rewarded or promoted in the company only on the basis of their performance. This is the sole reason for which all the workers give their 100% to make the company work better over time. Thus one of the most important assets of the values of the company is to think their employees as their assets. The company has keen leadership and ownership qualities. It realizes every step of its business in a strategic pattern. The workers take the assets of the company as their own wealth. The company gives values to perform tasks with integrity and trust. The company works completely with empirical observations and intellectually advocates all its proposals and risks. The company always gives importance to the interests of all the individuals. At the same time the organization separates the interests of the individuals and the company. The company has always claimed to focus on its operations. P&G always gives maximum importance to innovations. The company is always focused externally; it constantly tries to build good customer relations and fine corporate populace. The company follows a motto of ‘be best the best’. They believe that communal interdependence is the best way of existence. The company wants to enhance their core business and make it a global leader. It wants to innovate new brand s. It wants to accelerate its growth all over the world, mainly in the western part of the globe. The organization desires to drive growth in the developing economies. Social Responsibilities of the Company P&G has continually enhanced the

Understanding Marketing Strategic Planning Processes (Marketing Idea Research Proposal

Understanding Marketing Strategic Planning Processes (Marketing Idea Product Plan) - Research Proposal Example Being alone is rather frightening to most senior citizens (Sachteleben, 1) supporting psychologists stating that warm interpersonal relationships are the most fundamental of human needs (Singer, 28). Off 2 Gran Grans will provide psychological adjustment for its target consumers and also fill a tangible need that need fulfilling due to limited mobility, lack of access to transportation, or lack of family and social support. The competitive innovation, completely unique in the competitive market, is the installation of a communications device modeled after the Life Alert system, a pendant/base unit system that contacts the company (Life Alert, 2012). Technology is intimidating to seniors (Sachteleben, 1) and this maintains significant comparative advantage to other similar, low-profile competitors. Off 2 Gran Grans will provide short- and long-term contracts with financed and pre-paid elements to ensure revenue that include device installation, with fees applied for early termination. The business will be positioned under quality and responsibility with less emphasis on pricing. Start-up costs will be higher than average, but revenues will offset the initial

Hypothetical Working Agreement Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hypothetical Working Agreement Paper - Essay Example After reading through the work, you are free to contact me through the message board for any clarifications and amendments and I shall be glad to assist you. Thank you. Hypothetical Working Agreement between Clinician and Sheila who wants her children back Introduction The use of illegal drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroine continue to be a critical issue in our contemporary world. The menace has no proved advantage but day in and out, people get themselves in it. According to the Schaffer Library of Drug Policy (2006), â€Å"The effects of marijuana and THC on several intellectual and cognitive abilities with drug doses commonly used in North America today.440 Short-term serial position memory was significantly impaired with the higher THC and marijuana doses, but not with lesser quantities.† The same is true for cocaine and other hard drugs. The cause of illegal drug usage results from false ideas peddled about them. In some circles, it is believed that the use of dr ugs can improve intellectual performance but people who follow these ‘doctrines’ only end up retarding their intellectual capabilities instead of improving it. It is a situation of this nature that Sheila currently find herself in; resulting in the adoption of her two children by the Child Protective Unit. But of course, there is hope for Sheila as long as she is willing to be helped. Assessment Sheila, who lives in Austin, Texas No.1 Westend Street, is a 27-year-old mother with two kids. The woman, a White American by descent is currently separated with her husband and lives with her cousin in Austin, Texas. The 27 year old lady is a Catholic and works with a local restaurant as waitress though she is a first degree holder in Education. Sheila has had four years previous working experience as a teacher; at which time she received as much as $1800 a month compared to the $900 she takes currently as a waitress. The lady, who justifiably deserves more than her current soc ial status has a problem of drug addiction. She has been using crack cocaine for four years. Meanwhile, â€Å"Existing law provides for services to abused and neglected children and their families† (Department of Social Service, 2007). Consequently, Sheila’s two children, ages 7 and 9 were removed from her care by Child Protective Services when her addiction because noticeably clear and she started losing control in bringing the kids up. Though Sheila admits the stand of the Child Protective Services is legal, she seriously feels that she needs her children back under her care. This is because the situation makes Sheila feel even more irresponsible, disrespected and guilty. Apart from drug addiction and the separation of her children from her, Sheila has also separated with her husband and this situation also causes her a lot of worry. Because of the separation of both husband and children, Sheila sees herself as an outcast and this demoralize her a lot. She feels reje cted and even cheated for losing her children. Sheila addiction has taken from her some degree of social recognition and respect. What worsens her situation are her biopsychosocial stressors which includes, peer pressure, poverty, depression, low self-esteem and lost of dignity. However, despite all her problems, Sheila possesses some excellent qualities. This is a confirmation of the saying that â€Å"nothing is all wrong: even a stopped clock is right twice a day†. Among other things, Sheila is courageous, loving,

Real Estate Market Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Real Estate Market Crisis - Essay Example It is because of this reason that various banks and financial institutions have developed their internal rating methodologies which they assign to various consumers asking for credit. Banks than through their internal as well external credit scores or ratings decide to whom they should provide the credit. These criteria of credit rating often are designed to be tough since Banks in order to avoid defaults, tighten their criteria to extend the credit to these customers. However, due to increasing needs of those customers, whose credit history or their credit ratings do not fall under the criteria laid down by the banks, banks try to accommodate them also. Sub-prime lending is the part of that phenomenon. A subprime lender provides loans at higher interest with inappropriate incentives to high risk borrower. Ideally a subprime lender is one who lends to the borrowers who do not qualify for the loans from mainstream lenders. This is because of the fact that those borrowers who have a bad credit history. A subprime lender is mainly an independent entity or the sub-entity of the main players in the markets. However the only way to identify the lenders who lend to the subprime borrowers is to judge from their prices as they are normally higher than the prices charged by the normal lenders with standardized terms and conditions in the market. A subprime lender generally lend following types of loans: i) Interest Only Loans are the loans which give borrower an option to pay interest on their loans only; thereby Principal remain unchanged and at the end of loan term payments increase substantially. Traditionally these loans are cheaper in nature as the normal mortgage loans require some portion of principal and mark-up to be paid in the monthly installment of the mortgage. These loans became popular mainly due to the fact that they required lower loan payments therefore buyers can afford the larger homes as

World Religions - Psychology of Mystical Experience Term Paper

World Religions - Psychology of Mystical Experience - Term Paper Example Within the Bible, saints, mystics, and sages blessed with an intimate God’s knowledge have existed since the beginning of ages. Mystical experiences are opposite of the numinous experiences in a number of ways. All ‘otherness’ in mystical experience disappears while the believer becomes one entity with the transcendent. Through this, the believer discovers his/her similarity with the deity, cosmos, or other reality. According to Zaehner, quoted by James William (17), there are 2 typically varied mystical experiences: religious and natural mystical experiences. These two modes of mystical experience vary in their nature and scope with the natural mysticism being free from any particular tradition link like the religious mysticism. Actually, religious mystics are common among us today. For over the last 100 years, researchers in religious scientific study have had the ability of determining that God’s mystical experiences are actually not so rare (Vincent 1). The purpose of this paper is to interpret the mystical experiences using the approaches and theories of Freud and Jung. This paper wil l offer some social science and personal evidence that will aid in expanding this phenomenon’s understanding.

Reply of an Invitation Essay Example for Free

Reply of an Invitation Essay Thank you for the invitation to the Chinese National Day. It will be a wonderful opportunity to meet you all. I am very much happy that sharing the happiness and being a speaker at an upcoming dinner at Government House. Globally speaking, China is known as one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Due to the fact that the potential of China has been currently realized, trading with China becomes a major trend in the world. Especially in terms of the I. T. industry because of the large amount of population and rapid development of internet lead China to become the most powerful country in the world. Therefore, I am going to share the knowledge and views of dealing with China I. T. , in accordance to my experiences. Also, a funny but short video, which is created by the team of resource and development from our organization, would be kindly played for briefly introducing the relationship between China and I. T. and emphasizing the celebration of the Chinese National Day. Additionally, I would like to get more information in order to enrich the content and enhance the interest of the speech. First, it would be graceful to know more about the category of audience as well as special guests if any. A successful speech is critically depending on the responses of audience. I would like to give you all a meaningful speech. Moreover, the duration of the speech is an essential part of a speech. Though I understand the programs on that day would be tight. Thus, my time management should be fine tune. I am looking forward to a joyous and meaningful celebration for the Chinese National Day.

Effects of Derivatives

Effects of Derivatives Abstract Banks and other financial institutions have progressively understood the need to measure and manage the credit risk they are exposed to. Derivatives, therefore have ascended in retort to the surge in demand of financial institutions to create vehicle tools for hedging and shifting credit risks. Derivatives over the years have become a valuable financial tools with system-wide benefits. However as innovative as the derivatives have been, they carry inside themselves so many threats that in the hand of inexperienced market participants, destabilize the whole economic system. Inside such a Pandora box were the instruments that would participate in amplifying the 2008 financial crisis. This paper postulates that derivatives may have contributed to the 2008 crisis. Derivative contracts are probabilistic bets on future events, as defined on Investopedia they are securities with a price that are dependent upon or derived from one or more underlying assets. Many people argue that derivatives reduce systemic problems, in that participants who cannot bear certain risks are able to transfer them to stronger hands. These people believe that derivatives act to stabilize the economy, facilitate trade, and eliminate bumps for individual participants (Buffett, 2016). We have now reached the stage where those who work in finance, and many who work outside finance, need to understand how derivatives work, how they are used, and how they are priced (Hull, 2015). For this reason, derivatives are at the center of everything. However, in 2008 the world witnessed a financial and economic hurricane that left massive financial and economic damages. It was universally recognized as the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. The old saying has it that success has a hundred fathers, but failure is an orphan (Davies, 2016). In this situation, it was the opposite as this failure had a long list of guilty men. While some argued that the changes in the law are the cause of the crisis, others pointed out the role derivatives played via the crash in the value of subprime mortgage-backed securities. The main thesis of this paper is that, while derivatives contributed a lot for the financial market would we be better off them? After a discussion of the positive effects of derivatives (their ability in refining the management of risk), the paper will analyze the negative aspects of them (enhancing risk-taking, evading taxes and creating financial crises). And we finish by looking at how derivatives fueled the financial crisis. Derivatives are instruments that derive their performance from some other instruments or assets. In contrary to the spot market, derivative markets require less capital and usually are more liquid.   Higher liquidity means more efficiency such that prices change more rapidly in response to new information, which is a good thing (Chance, 2008). There are different types of derivatives that an individual can use to protect himself against volatile time. Derivatives confer to the financial market different types of benefits such as risk management, price discovery, enhancement of liquidity. Fundamentally they are instruments that permit the transfer of risk from a seller to a buyer. Exporters, exposed to foreign exchange risk, can reduce their risk using derivatives (forward, futures, and options) (Viral Richardson, 2009). Derivatives can be viewed as insurance; one party gives up something in order for the other party to accept the risk. Some say that derivatives are nothing mo re than gambling (Peery, 2012). But derivatives can be compared more to insurance than be called gambling. In insurance, we have an insurer collecting the premiums where in derivatives, we have speculators receiving fees for speculation. Without speculators, hedging risk is impossible. Another benefit is price discovery; derivatives provide information to the market about the expectations of people on the future spot price. The ABX indices (i.e., a portfolio of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) of subprime mortgages) which were one of the first instruments to provide information to the marketplace on the deteriorating subprime securitization market (Viral Richardson, 2009). Moreover, they also give the opportunity to market participants to extract forward information instead of historical information. Such information is used, among others, by central banks in making policy decisions, investors for risk and return decisions on their portfolios and corporations for managing financial risk (Viral Richardson, 2009). An additional positive benefit is the enhancement of liquidity. When derivatives are added to an underlying market, it brings additional players who use the derivatives and give the opportunity to companies to earn income that would not be available to them or available but the cost would be high. By and large, spot markets with derivatives have more liquidity and thus lower transaction costs than markets without derivatives (Viral Richardson, 2009). If derivatives provide to the financial market all those useful benefits, how come they were accused of player a role in the financial crisis of 2008? Derivatives play an important role in reducing the risk that companies face, but they are a synonym of danger to the stability of the financial market and in doing so, the economy in general. Within the field of finance, derivatives are the most dynamic instruments because they have no limits unless parties, markets, or governments set them (Peery, 2012). In his annual letter to shareholders in 2002, Warren Buffett branded derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system (Buffett, 2016). However, that fear of derivatives existed way before Warren Buffett expressed it.   Max Webers 1896 essay on the stock exchange lingered over the concern that derivative contracts encouraged speculation and increased market instability (Maurer, 2002). Years after the financial crisis, (Hoefle, 2010) argued that derivatives were doomed from the start, that they were the answer to the stock market crash of 1987, the demise of the SL industry, and bankrupt cy of U.S banking system. Why are some people against the use of derivatives? At first, derivatives were tools that can be used to hedge against pre-existing risks, in another word a form of insurance. But as time went on, people realised that they can use derivatives in another form than insurance. They went from hedge to speculation, implying that they tried to earn a profit by prophesying future events better than another can, including future asset prices, interest rates, or credit ratings. While doing that most companies got themselves hugely exposed to derivatives. As you can see in the example I have in the appendix Table 1, most of those companies total assets cannot match the leverage the companies are facing throughout the use of derivatives. And when the corporations exposure becomes large to the overall market, that could translate to problems, for example the collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. The company at that time had capital of $4 billion, assets of $124 billion, but their exposure to derivatives was more than $1 trillion. How all of these translated into becoming one of the causes of the financial crisis? The Bank for International Settlements has only published statistics on the Credit Derivatives market since the end of 2004 when the total notional amount was $6 trillion (Stulz R. M., 2009). The market grew hugely and by the time we get to the middle of 2008 the notional amour was $57 trillion. Quickly Credit Derivatives became an important tool to manage credit exposure. There are different reasons to why market participants have found credit derivatives appealing.   First you do not need a deep pocket in order to take a position, secondly, CDs can be used as insurance against any type of loans, not just a specific. In addition to that, the largest derivatives market is for swaps. With a swap, two parties exchange the rights to cash flows from different assets (Stulz R. M., 2009). In principle, credit default swaps should make financial markets more efficient and improve the allocation of capital (Stulz R. M., 2009). As time went on people were more focused on CD contracts o n subprime mortgages. Although subprime mortgages carried inside them significant default risk, as other mortgages they were securitized. As (Stulz R. M., 2010) explained in his article, mortgages are placed in a pool, and notes are issued against that pool. In the pool, the highest notes always have an AAA rating. In the case of mortgages default, the lower-rated notes suffer first, but as the default losses increase the higher rated notes will be affected too. In 2006 the ABX indexes were introduced, it was based on the average of credit default swaps for identical superiority securitization notes. Every six months, ABX indexes played an important role as they made it possible for an investor to take positions on the subprime market, even though they have no ownership of subprime mortgages or as insurance for subprime exposure. As a result, it was possible for investors to bear more subprime risk than the risk in outstanding mortgages (Stulz R. M., 2009). As all good thing must co me to an end, in 2008 financial institutions faced counterparty risks in derivatives that they had never factored in their calculations. Renà © M. Stulz (2010) offers a more detailed explanation of the counterparty risks and the problem that can arise. As for the causes of the counterparty risk, some people argued that derivatives lead to huge web exposure across financial institutions. In case one of the financial institution fails, the others will follow. And as we saw with the failure of Lehman, which had at that time derivatives contracts with other financial firms. Those firms were expecting payments from Lehman on their derivatives. Sadly, for them, Lehman at that time had filed for bankruptcy. While they could have managed their exposure to the counterparty risk, as they were high rated counterparties something unexpected happened. The failure of Lehman had as consequence a huge increase in the price of derivatives, at that moment the collateral amount would not be enough to cover the default of other counterparties default. As a domino effect, most firms were hit by the default of Lehman and without the help of the government to bail them out some would not have survived. The CDs market grew too fast for its own good and it created a bubble that fooled the financial markets. The lack of regulations, transparency, and clarity in financial statements made it hard to prevent. And before people realised we were in what some people call the worse financial crisis of all time. No matter the instruments you give to someone the results will depend on his intention. A good instrument in the hand of an evil person who focuses on profit over ethics will make that instrument look evil. Pablo Triana in his book The number that killed us gave a perfect example of a situation where a red Ferrari was involved in an accident that had civil casualties. Should we blame the car for the accident or the driver who was guilty of speed driving in the past? Same dilemma with the derivatives, we have seen how derivatives allow firms and individuals to take risk efficiently and to hedge risks. However, they can also create risk when they are not used properly. And the downfall of a large derivatives user or dealer may create a systemic risk for the whole economy. Which is why as for any instruments that may harm the world, derivatives should be regulated more effectively. We did not ban the atomic bomb after Hiroshima, nor we did with planes for their risk of a crash, but bett er regulations were introduced to make them safe as sense to be. While derivatives have been blamed, sometimes wrongly, for large losses from Barings to Enron the benefits are widely dispersed and may not make for good headlines. On balance, the benefits outweigh the threats (Balls, 2016). Appendix Table 1 References Ahmad, I. M. (2010). Greed, financial innovation or laxity of regulation? a close look into the 2007-2009 financial crisis and stock market volatility. Studies in Economics and Finance, 110-134. Alnassar, W. I., Al-shakrchy, E., Almsafir, M. K. (2014). Credit Derivatives: Did They Exacerbate the 2007 Global Financial Crisis? AIG: Case Study. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1026-1034. Balls, A. (2016, 12 12). The Economics of Derivatives. Retrieved from nber.org: http://www.nber.org/digest/jan05/w10674.html Buffett, W. E. (2016, 11 28). Letters. Retrieved from berkshirehathaway: http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/2002pdf.pdf Chance, D. M. (2008). Essays in Derivatives . New Jersey: Jonh Wileys Sons. Crotty, J. (2009). Structural causes of the global financial crisis: a critical assessment of the new financial architecture. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 563-580. Davies, H. (2016, 11 20). The Financial Crisis: Who is to Blame? Retrieved from Google Books: https://books.google.ie/books?hl=enlr=id=MNH6q2YGEUkCoi=fndpg=PR1dq=financial+derivatives+and+crisisots=2_ZzDDFPS3sig=JW59MDMZt2HWvDWthLHWtyDyZwcredir_esc=y#v=onepageq=financial%20derivatives%20and%20crisisf=false Hoefle, J. (2010). Ban, Dont Regulate, Derivatives. Executive Intelligence Review, 32-34. Hull, J. C. (2015). Options, Futures, and other Derivatives. New York: Pearson Education. Lebron, M. W. (2016, 12 20). Derivatives: The toxic financial instrument on par with terrorism . Retrieved from rt.com: https://www.rt.com/op-edge/325982-derivatives-toxic-instrument-review/ MacKenzie, D., Millo, Y. (2016, 11 12). Negotiating a Market, Performing Theory: The historical sociology of a financial derivatives exchange. Retrieved from SSRN Electronic Journal : https://ssrn.com/abstract=279029 Maurer, B. (2002). Repressed futures: financial derivatives theological unconscious. Economy and Society, 15-36. Peery, G. F. (2012). The Post-Reform Guide to Derivatives and Futures. New Jersey: John Wisley Sons. Stout, L. A. (2011). Derivatives and the legal origin of the 2008 credit crisis. Harvard Business Law Review, 1-38. Stulz, R. M. (2009). Financial Derivatives: lessons from the subprime crisis. The Milken Institute Review, 58-70. Stulz, R. M. (2010). Credit Default Swaps and the Credit Crisis. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 73-92. Triana, P. (2012). The Number That Killed Us: A Story of Modern Banking, Flawed Mathematics, and a Big Financial Crisis. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons. Viral , A. V., Richardson, M. (2009). Restoring Financial Stability: How to Repair a Failed System. John Wiley Sons.