International Trade and Finance Speech Essay Example for Free

International Trade and Finance Speech Essay One may try to understand what exactly a foreign exchange rate is. To help understand, let’s view a foreign exchange rate as exchanging one dollar at a department store for a product. If one were to go into a department store and purchase a pair of socks in a three pack for one dollar, or each for 33 cents, one would be able to relate that the dollar-to-socks exchange rate is three socks because one exchanged a single dollar for three pairs of socks. Similarly, the sock-to-dollar exchange rate would be one-third of a dollar, meaning 33 cents. This is because if one decides to sell a single pair of socks, one would get 33 cents in exchange. Moffatt) The same principle hold true for foreign currency. On May 9, 2013 the U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate was . 767 EUR, meaning that for one U. S. dollar, one could purchase . 767 Euros. In order to determine the amount that one could exchange one Euro to the dollar, one could use this simple formula: Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate. Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / 3767 = 1. 303. This equation shows that one Euro would be exchange for 1. 303 U. S. dollars. (Moffatt) Now that what have an understanding of what a foreign exchange rate is, let discuss how these rates are determined. Using the two previously discussed currencies, each of their rate are determined in a foreign exchange market that is open to a very large range of various sellers and buyers. Each country incorporates mechanisms that will in turn aid in managing the value of their currency. These mechanisms help in determining the, either pegged and fixed, or free-floating. A peg system is when a country tries to keep their currency at a fixed exchange rate, as the Chinese have done between 1994 and 2005. Doing this sometime devalue or over-value their currencies, which can result in either a trade deficit or surplus. Free-floating is when the currency’s exchange rate is allowed to vary against currencies of other countries, allowing supply and demand in the market forces to determine its exchange rate; exchange rates for these currencies are determined around the works by banks and are quoted through the financial markets. (Mayer) International Trade The effects of international trade means lower prices for goods and services; competition for the domestic markets and less of a choice for employment for University of phoenix students after graduation. When the country invests more in international trade that local business and companies; the Gross domestic product may start to suffer and business may start to go out of business due to loss in business. International trade takes away from local farmers and business owner’s success. If the country is constantly making international trades, eventually the United States would no longer have a need for local farmers. The local farmers would have surplus that may spoil due to not being sold. This could cause the farmer to become bankrupt. International trades mean less cost for products and services for the consumer, (Investopedia, n. ). So in return that means less business for the local farmers and business owners as mentioned before. The effect of international trade effects University of Phoenix student mainly after graduation. If all of the jobs are being outsources or traded overseas; what opportunities does that leave the new potential employees? The students would not have a job of choice, depending on the degree they have pursued. It would be unfortunate for a student to complete a program and not be able to use their degree effectively due to their job of choice being outsourced overseas. International trade is not all that bad as it is made out to be. Without international trade, we would not be able to experience different types of foods from other countries that cannot be produced in our country, (Investopedia, n. d). Tariffs and Quotas International relations and trade can be affected by the choices governments choose to fallow. First, what are tariffs and quotes? Tariffs or sometimes known as custom duties also, they are a certain amount of tax value placed by governments on international trade goods and are typically on imported goods. Quotas are limits placed on the importers, which gives them a certain amount of time they may import their goods. Quotas generally favor the importer, because they tend to drive the cost of goods up, which in turn gains revenue for the importing companies. Tariffs do the opposite, they generally will bring revenue to the government, because they are a tax and the government will gain in revenue. Although tariffs and quotas bring revenue to the companies and the government, they can also have a negative affect if the tax is too high or if the quotas are so small. Price of the goods will sky rocket and problems in the international trading world will arise. One example, which according to Colander (2010) stated,â€Å" Probably the most infamous tariff in U. S. istory is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, which raised tariffs on imported goods to an average of 60 percent. It was passed at the height of the Great Depression in the United States in the hope of protecting American jobs. It didn’t work. Other countries responded with similar tariffs. As a result of these trade wars, international trade plummeted from $60 billion in 1928 to $25 billion in 1938, unemployment worsened, and the international depression deepened. † (Colander, 2010, p. 458). Import of Goods If the U. S. restricted all goods coming in from China then the U. S. would lose a significant amount of comparative advantage with China. What this means is that goods manufactured in China, India and other Asian countries are creating demand for advertising, management, and distribution, and are therefore creating jobs and income in the United States† (Colander, 2010, p. 453). Currently the U. S. is now a debtor nation and China plus India are creating jobs and helping the U. S. economy. The U. S. could not afford to restrict China because this could cause problems internationally with the two countries and the U. S. economy would suffer from bad relations. Why cannot the U. S. just minimize the amount of imports coming in from all other countries? The U. S. annot minimize the amount of imports coming in from other countries because this would hurt the U. S. economy as a whole. Minimizing the amount of imports could also hurt the reputation of the U. S. on the international trade level and the U. S. could end up losing trading partners with other countries. The U. S. is consuming more imports then selling of exports so minimizing the amount of imports would also be very difficult. Again this could make the U. S. economy crash from the loss of imports. â€Å"International trade, and changing comparative advantages, will become more and more important for the United States in the coming decades† Colander, 2010, p. 470). Surplus A surplus of imports that is brought into the United States is when imports exceed exports, meaning that the demand for U. S. goods or services is in the negative. A negative export affects the economy’s income and output, the employment rate, prices of goods and services, and the rate of inflation. An example of a product with an import surplus, and the impact that it had on the U. S. businesses and consumers is the motor-vehicle manufacturing sector. â€Å"The motor-vehicle manufacturing sector is the second-largest employer among all U. S. anufacturing industries, and auto parts and tires contribute the most direct jobs (nearly two-thirds or more) to the motor-vehicle sector. † (Scott, 2012) Since the United States Government helped with the restructuring of General Motors, there has been a strong turnaround in U. S. auto sales, but this still does not stop the massive import and surplus of automotive parts available on the U. S. market. Chinese exports to the United States have increase by 900 percent in the last decade, thus affecting the employment rate of those that would be working in the United States auto-parts industry.

Macbeth 11 :: essays research papers

Macbeth Show how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own natures in order to kill Duncan. Each character in Macbeth has to either fight or give in to the evil. Because evil is contrary to human nature, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to go against their own conscience in order to murder Duncan. When the witches predict that Macbeth will become Thane of Cawdor and later, King of Scotland, he is stunned to silence by their prophecies. When murder enters Macbeths mind he is frightened by his thoughts. He tries to reject his impulse, declaring that he will leave everything to chance: ?If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me Without my stir.? Very soon he begins to confess a ‘suggestion?of ‘horrible imaginings? Soon after, he admits to possessing ‘black and deep desires?but he is afraid to speak about them openly, even to himself. Later on he indites a letter to Lady Macbeth containing conjecture about the prophecies of the three witches. She im mediately wants to take fate into her own hands. She begs the evil spirits to tear all human feelings from her, for she knows that she will have to urge her husband, Macbeth, to become King by murdering Duncan. She will have to give up all the gentle, tender qualities of a woman, so that she can become a sexless, pitiless demon. She has to make her husband ignore his own conscience. She declares: ?Thou wouldst be great, Art not without ambition, but without The illness should attend it.? By ‘illness?she means ‘evil? Macbeth seizes evil, as one might catch a disease. When Macbeth has the opportunity to think about his wife’s suggestions and about his desires to become King, he becomes aware of the duty that he owes to Duncan, his loyal King. Following a great battle with himself, Macbeth decides not to go through with the murder. He states to Lady Macbeth: ?We will proceed no further in this business.? Macbeth is not prepared for all her wrath and abuse. She calls h im a coward. When in reality it is not cowardice that restrains Macbeth, it is his conscience. She also insults his masculinity, and declares that she would have murdered her child while it was feeding at her breast, rather than break such a promise as Macbeth had done. Persuaded by her conviction, he yields to her, and in order to prove himself a man in her eyes, goes against his own nature and agrees to the murder of King Duncan.

Enders Game Essay

â€Å"The basic tool for the manipulation of reality is the manipulation of words. If you can control the meaning of words, you can control the people who must use the words. â€Å" -Philip K. Dick In the novel Enders Game the author Orson Scott Card shows us a complete different world than we are used to. Set into the future, the world has just recovered from a devastation alien war that was won by a fluke of luck by our soldiers. Although this time we will strike back, in preparation for the upcoming â€Å"Bugger† war the worlds smartest children get drafted to join the battle school program set in space to learn combat form an early age. One of these kids happened to be Andrew â€Å"Ender† Wiggin, the six year old was stripped of his childhood, taken away from his family and sent to battle school. All his life Ender has extreme pressure on him because six year old Ender was meant to save the world. Throughout the novel Orson Scott Card blurs the thin line between appearance and reality, through the concept of â€Å"games† two different examples of this are Enders stays at Battle School and then again at Command School, throughout both Ender was constantl y played and manipulated for the â€Å"greater good†. While at Battle School Ender was objected to isolation, due to the jealousy of the other children. Ender grew accustomed to the hostility and tried to not let it bother him as much as he could. In the private study time given to the child soldiers they were free to do what they wished. Not having many friends and not finding the studies overly challenging Ender would play the games on the Battles School’s program. Ender quickly became engorged in a role play game called the Giants Drink. This game was deemed impossible but Ender became obsessed with it and reached levels no one had ever seen before. Ender could not stand to lose at anything so he went to any extreme needed to further him in the game. Ender was to always remember the details of this game, because to complete the level time and time again Ender had to play maliciously and evilly, he had to play as a murderer and a cheater all the qualities reminding him of his brother, Peter who Ender despised and wished to never turn into. Later on into the novel Ender is told to search for new planets to colonize. While on his mission to find new planets to inhabit Ender stumbles upon a plant that seemed to feel a little too  familiar having an uncanny resemblance to the landscape and structure of the plant of his childhood pass time game, The Giants Drink. Only to discover this planet was created for him as a means of communication by the â€Å"Buggers†. â€Å"He had played here too many times as a child not to know this place. But it was not possible. The computer in the Battle School could not have possibly seen this place† A game form his past, what he though was mere mush of pixels and graphics turned out to become a reality. Orson Scott Card made us believe throughout the novel that The Giants Drink was just a game. Whereas it was actually always a secret place only Ender had ever visited, making it perfect to use as a secret means of communication. Orson Scott Card pushed us beyond what we thought was quite insignificant and made it more or less one of the most important event to take place in the novel. By not sticking to convention and going above and beyond making us think more about how what was just a game turned into reality. Furthermore while at Battle School all the solider had to participate in â€Å"Battles† again each other. These Battles were often the highlights of these children’s days, when Ender became a commander and got his own army to train for these pretend Battles. He quickly learned that he was never going to be treated fair and that all odd will always be stacked against him always trying to defeat him. Time and time again Ender won the Battles he took part it, having a perfect win streak. This infuriated many and Ender made many enemies, even the teachers seemed to be against Ender give him multiple battles a day and also giving him two armies as opponents instead of the usual one. All his life Ender was isolated and treated unfairly so none of this was new to Ender. Whatever situation was thrown at him Ender came out at top because of his intelligence, natural born leadership and yearning to win. Although these battles seemed to be just a game to tear apart the children the skills learned in this game could be the difference between life and death, once again confusing us about what is the illusion in it all. Ender graduated through the Battle School program faster than anyone and got transferred to the next step, Command School. The first little while in Command School was spent in complete isolation, it was more terrible than Battle School which Ender thought was not possible once again only being left with the companionship of the games they offered. After a year of complete seclusion Ender meet with his mentor, teacher, friend and enemy Mazer Rackmen, the man who was responsible for saving the human race from the second â€Å"Bugger† invasion. Mazer was the only person Ender ever got a chance to be with. Together they went through anything and everything that could possibly be an aid to Ender when the â€Å"Buggers† attack. Mazer got Ender to play the simulator games again but now in a complete different way, it was no longer a one man game, Ender verses The Computer but now it was Ender Commanding different squadron leaders. The leaders which turned out to be the small group of friends Ender had accumulated over his stay at the Battle School. Together they worked amazingly, using Enders intelligence and great leadership skills. With Enders desperation to always win they always came out of battles victorious, he may have lost his friends in the process of becoming this amazing leader but he gained their complete admiration and respect. Closer to the end of this novel, Mazer gives Ender his final examination, being sick of it all Ender just wanted to end it as soon as he could. Not into it at all Ender plays half-heartedly in the bigining, when being faced with his challenge Ender steps it up knowing he was once again set for failure. Not wanting the teachers to have the satisfaction of One Upping Ender he plays in a way he hates, as a cheat but it seems to once again be the only way to succeed in these games. After beating his final examiniation Ender finds out all of the simulations he played with his squadron leaders were not games but they were they actual â€Å"Bugger† war which Ender had fought and won without even knowing what her was doing. â€Å"You made the hard choice, boy, All or nothing. End them or end is. But heaven knows there was no other way you could have doing it. Congratulations. You beat them, and it’s all over.† â€Å"Real. Not a game. Enders mind was too tired to cope with it all.† Absent mindedly Ender has annihilated a whole species, making him a murderer. Thinking he was playing a game Ender had fought a galactic war. Once again Orson Scott Card hazes the thin line between your appearances and your realities. What Ender thought was a game was a life or death situation. If Ender would have listened to his heart and lose the last game, he could have saved an intelligent species, but we never know our outcomes until our decisions have been played out and it is too late to change our mind. Orson Scott Card highlighted the fact that every little thing in someone’s life makes a huge impact. As insignificant as it may seem everything has a purpose. If Ender had not played these games to win the â€Å"Buggers† could very well be alive and not knowing their intentions, letting them live was too big a risk. All throughout his life Ender had been played with, an object of constant manipulation and mind games. Battle and Command School were no different than Earth in this aspect. On Earth Ender was bullied and manipulate into doing what he wants by Enders evil older brother Peter, while at Battle School, Colonel Graff the head administrator never failed to lie to Ender, only tell him half the truth and additionally manipulate him, When Ender got to his last training program Command School Ender was manipulated and lied to in a way he could not even begin to imagine â€Å"Of course we tricked you into it. That’s the whole point.† At the end Colonel Graff even admits that all the manipulation, lies and hostility towards Ender was a part of his and Mazer Rackmens plan. Ender having been lied to and brought back to his murderous side, the part of him he hated the most. Ender was furious and could not bear to look at anyone and went back to his room. Orson Scott Cards showed us that it’s better to not trust anyone. What you think is really happening might just not really be happening and that you should always keep a check on your reality verses your illusions. Throughout the novel Orson Scott Card blurs the thin line between appearance and reality, through the concept of â€Å"games†. At times it is quite difficult to grasp your appearances verses your realities because you get too caught up in the little things that you forget to stop and look at the bigger picture. Only if you look at your life from a neutral perspective will you be able to tell what is really happening and what is a fragment of your  imagination. Orson Scott Card illustrated this point amazingly throughout this novel.

Cultural Values And The Dominant Culture - 1883 Words

When looking to understand one’s culture in comparison to the dominant culture it is important to take into consideration a variety of cultural values. In comparing myself to the dominant culture in the United States I have found both similarities as well as differences between my worldviews and the majority worldview. In order to fully assess how I have come to acquire my worldviews it is important to look into contextual and circumstantial factors that have shaped me as an individual. American culture values individualism where putting yourself first is seen as the norm. In comparison, Hispanic cultures value the family, or a group dynamic, rather than each person as an individual entity (Kirst-Ashman, 2013, p. 457). I am close with my family and value the family dynamic we have as a group; however, I believe that I must first take care of myself in order to be able to help out others. In addition, competition is valued by dominant American culture. In America winning is everything (Scott, 2015). Although I value individualism, I am the least competitive person I know. I believe that this stems from placing value on myself for myself (and well-being) rather than for others or in comparison to others. When focusing on the individual it is easy to place high importance upon one’s status within society. American culture places high value upon credentials, titles, roles, and material possessions that create each person’s power status. It would be absurd for me to say that myShow MoreRelatedUnderstanding the Globalization Phenomenon1492 Words   |  6 PagesIs it possible to understand the nature of globalisation? This is a question that has led to fervent debates, and has confounded sociologists in their pursuit to explain the mechanics of globalisation (Machida 2012). Globalisation is the most dominant social phenomenon that has shaped social interactions around the world in the modern age (Ritzer Ryan 2002). 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