Cultural Tourism in Nigeria

INDIVIDUAL ESSAY Essay Title: Cultural tourism festivals and events in Nigeria Name: Deborah Vincentsdaughter TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents INTRODUCTION3 Cultural tourism3 LITERATURE REVIEW4 Festivals and events4 Cultural festivals in Nigeria5 Festivals and impacts6 Igue festival6 New yam Festival (Iri ji Ohuru/iwa ji7 Gbagyi Gbodogun8 CRITICAL ANALYSIS11 CONCLUSION11 REFERENCES12 INTRODUCTION Tourism generally has to do a lot with social activities. A typical example is the adventure tourism which is a type of tourism that provides an opportunity for people to challenge nature and everything about it.This type of tourism provides opportunities for activities such as: Hand gliding and Para sailing which are grouped under hard adventure; while hot sports and wild life are grouped under soft adventure. The chambers dictionary has defined tourism as the events of tourists and those who make it available for them. Tourism as defined in a book says that it is the study of how good human bein gs can cope when they are away from their normal habitats, of the industry that meet his needs and lastly of the impacts that both he and the industry have on the host’s in such ways; sociocultural, economic and physical environments. Jafari 1977) Getting information from another book about tourism, differences in the definitions of tourism could be traced to the following approaches; Economic, technical and holistic. 1. Economic definitions emphasizes on the business area of tourism, but if it were to be criticized by leiper(1979) that it fails to even discuss about the tourist and his motivations or limitations in travelling. 2. Technical approach to the definition of tourism aims at mainly the governments and the tourism industry organizations that want to monitor the size and other important issues about tourists markets. . In 1942 holistic type defined tourism as â€Å"the sum of the phenomena and relationships arising from the travel and stay of non-residents, in so fa r as they don’t lead to permanent residence are not connected to any earning activity. Cultural tourism Cultural tourism is a part of tourism. This part of tourism is an activity in which a particular group of people in a definite area present their heritage or cultural assets for tourists to see and appreaciate.The UNWTO(united nations world tourism organization) produced two definitions based on two approaches which are; * The narrow definition-derived from the professional, product-based approach to defining cultural tourism. This definition includes ‘movement of persons for basically cultural motivations such as; study tours, performing arts, cultural tours, travel to festivals and so many other cultural events, visits to sites, travel to study nature, folklore and pilgrimages(Richards 1996:22) * The wide definition-is based on conceptual, process-based approach.Has to do with the migration of persons because they satisfy the human need for diversity, tending to rai se the cultural level of the individual and giving rise to new knowledge, experience and encounters(Richards 1996:22) Cultural tourism involves four elements according to my research and they are as follows; * Tourism * Use of cultural heritage assets * Consumption of experiences and products * The tourist(cultural tourists) According to ICOMOS (International council on monuments and sites) observed that â€Å"cultural tourism means many things to many people and herein it’s strengths and weaknesses†.This part of tourism is also known as a form of special tourism where culture plays the role of either attracting tourists or motivating people to travel (McIntosh and Goeldner 1992: Zeppel 1992; Ap 1992). LITERATURE REVIEW Festivals and events In this section, festivals and events in Nigeria will be discussed fully and their impacts analysed. It will be wise to discuss what festivals are all about first before going on to other things.Festivals are an important expression of human activity that contribute much to our social and cultural life and that they are also increasingly linked to generating business activity and providing income for their host communities(Ellen et all 2002). In some cases festivals are not observed with the motive of attracting tourists, their nature,destination,range of performers and productions in one place over a short period of time ,commonly in the summer months, encourages viewers(people) far and near/all over to come. They can take many forms, eg. music-rock, pop, jazz and folk types of music.There are also wine and cultural festivals. EVENTS INDUSTRY-this is an industry where festivals are grouped under. Cultural festivals in Nigeria Nigeria has so many festivals that have been in existence since the time of our ancestors, until the arrival of different religions as we have today but still yet festivals are taken as important occasion. Local festivals in Nigeria have a lot to do with different events such as; harvest festivals, betrothal festivals, crowning of a new chief and funerals. Today the western world and system has influenced our local festivals eg. ances that were performed by members of each village have now been transferred unknowingly to proffesionals. This country is rich in divers festivals which includes; * Egungun festival celebrated in Ijebu ode town of ogun state in May. * Odum festival celebrated by the ijaws of okirika in Benue state. Normally done in the month of April. * Barakau normally celebrated with animal sacrifices by the Fika people of Potiskun in yobe state. Done in July. * Nduku festival is known to be celebrated by the people of Ogume in Ndokwa local government area of Delta state. It is a November festival. * Igue estival this one is celebrated by the benis of Edo state in the month December. * New yam festival is done generally by the Ibo’s in Nigeria in the month of August. * Gbagyi gbodogun takes place in Gadabuke village and celebrated by the agadabu keyi’s (natives of the village) in toto local government area in Nasarawa state. Often observed at the end of the year November/December. * Oro festival is a tradional annual Yoruba event usually observed in the month of July. Among all these festivals listed out and summarized briefly, only three of them will be discussed and their impact as well in the next section.The local festivals are; 1. The Igue festival 2. New yam festival(Iri ji ohuru/iwa ji) 3. Gbagyi Gbodogun Festivals and impacts Igue festival; is the one am going to be discussing about first. It is done in the ancient city of the Benin kingdom, Benin located in Edo state in the southern part of Nigeria and takes place in the month of December. It marks the anniversary of the death of the past obas in Bini Kingdom. Igue festival usually goes on for seven days, and then on the seventh day, the conclusion is now celebrated. Sacrifices and offerings are made to the gods, songs are also sung along during the period.T he sacrifices offered are primarily used to cleanse the land, so that it becomes clean enough for the gods to be appealed. The people involved are the oba (king) of the Benin kingdom, his chiefs, subjects and the Benis of Benin, Edo state. In the past, their practices used to be sacrificing human beings for cleansing of the land to the gods until the present Oba Erediauwa came into power and stopped it. Presently such things don’t take place in the festival again, though sacrifices are being made, humans are no longer sacrificed, rather with animals for example goat.Apart from these, the Benis practice so many other things while celebrating the Igue festival which includes; the chiefs dressing in their finest traditional attires, joining the oba in songs and dances, by name Ugie Ewere. They do this with the Eben Emblem. Masquerades also perform the local dances to entertain the audience. While the festival is still on, all the Ihogbe presents symbolic Ewere leaves to the Oba. As the festival is celebrated yearly, the Oba celebrates Ugie Ewere (the anniversary of his marriage to Ewere some years back).The Bini people also use the festival as an opportunity for offering thanks to the gods for sparing their lives and request for more blessings. Public holidays are always given, and people are told not to move for that period of time. Impacts of igue festival The igue festival leaves its impacts in the lives of the Benin Edo people in these ways; * Economically; there are more activities in the area. For example a lot of people engage themselves in buying and selling in preparation of the event. * Socially; the festival creates a good publicity and image for the area. Eg. he people who come for the festival may want to re-visit the place, not just for a particular reason but to have a feeling of the environment. * Geographically; as people come from other tribes to witness the event, it gives the community an opportunity to be developed and supports environ mental enhancement. New yam Festival (Iri ji Ohuru/iwa ji); to eat a new yam/to break a new yam, that is what the words written in another language called Ibo means. Most times it depends on the village, but it is normally celebrated in the market place, where the god of the community/village is kept.The Iwa ji festival (new yam festival) is celebrated in the month of August. This festival, is all about celebrating a new yam(which is one of the most important food and first crop to be harvested in the eastern region) Old yams are brought out and discarded/consumed and the breaking of the new yam follows, it is usually done by the Igwe(king) or the chief priest depending on the destination, The people involved are the members of the village, chiefs or elders of the village, chief priest and the Igwe.In order for the festival to be a successful one, so many practices are involved which includes; sacrifices are made to the gods, to appease and thank them for fruitfulness, before the fe stival begins this is usually done by the chief priest(it is believed that their positions bestows the privilege of being intermediaries between the gods and their community),they come with the biggest sized yam for the festival, because it shows the amount of abundant fruitfulness including dishes served.Old yams are discarded or consumed in order to pave way for the new ones, Masquerades are invited to perform and entertain people, traditional gunshots announces the opening of the ceremony at times, children are being cleansed with rituals (ima cha ahu-to clean the body) because they belief that before a person takes in anything new, it is important to cleanse the body. This belief is popular among the Easterners. Most times the yam dishes are shared between friends and well-wishers in order to enjoy and celebrate with them.Sons and daughters of the Ibo community come back home from wherever they are in the world. Late Dim chukwuebuka Odumegwu Ojukwu described the events as  "the most igbo of Igbo events†, because it clearly shows the culture of the Ibos. Impacts of the new yam festival This festival impacts on lives of the locals of the eastern region in Nigeria, and they are; Positive impacts * Culturally; it strengthens the bond of the Igbos (the relationship). it reminds people of how love and unity existed and reigned among them before the civil war in the east. Socially; so many people feel happy during and after the event, because it brings their loved ones (sons and daughters) from far and near. For example Grandparents will be happy to see their children and grandchildren. * Economically; it yields the locals so much money, after they are done buying and selling. A good example for this is-people who were present at the occasion taste the yam, and would want to buy more maybe to take home or for many other reasons. Negative impacts * Culturally; sometimes people are being used for sacrifices to the gods all in the name of tradition or pre serving the culture.In addition, so many individuals get initiated into cults or fraternities which they never planned for. These initiations could be traced to the cleansing and sacrifices to the gods. Also People are being initiated into so many things. This happens because of the cleansing, sacrifices and others not mentioned. Gbagyi Gbodogun;the event takes place in northern part of Nigeria. it is being observed by the agadabukeyi’s or the Gwari people of Gadabuke village in toto local government area,in Nasarawa state. It is celebrated annually at he end of the year November/December. The festival is all about cultural values and tradition all showcasing with little sacrifices because religion has dominated tradition today. It helps to make the young ones get to know more about their customs and traditions. The people involved are the king, chiefs, governors, advocates and the villagers. Traditional dances, masquerades also display-the dance called Dawiya(the native name ),their local or cultural food is being displayed and served as well by name Zhepo.Martial arts, like the traditional martial arts are being done also,magics such as; pounding a tuber of yam on a person, and it is not painful(odi e shi-which means it is not painful in a language called Igbo),cutting an individual with a very sharp knife and it doesn’t hurt, eating razor blade and it doesn’t cut the persons mouth, pouring water into a basket and it does not lick. They normally drink palm wine, and the local food Zhepo with something to go with it. for example, garden egg soup and ponded yam.Ceremonial cleansing is being done also before the festival, traditional wears are being worn and they are called Ajesinda. This is the local food called Zhepo The Zhepo and garden egg soup mixed together Impacts of Gbagyi gbodogun Positive impacts The festival effects the locals in so many ways, a few of them are; * Socially; it is exciting for example when people watch the masquera des dance and the magicians act, it is pleasing to the eye and heart at times. Fun; people get to enjoy themselves while celebrating the festival. eg. he people acting as masquerades find it interesting scaring people (when they run, because of fear), the traditional dancers also have fun while performing at the festival. * Culturally; it awakens the gbagyi people about their culture for them to remember, to preserve, conserve and leave the culture Authentic just the way it has always been from the first days, if not because of science and technology or the 21st century age that came in and has really impacted into it. Negative impacts * Socially; the festival reunites the Gwari people. For example Gbagyi eople come together from far and near to celebrate, and through this, people get to meet new individuals. * Culturally; youths try stupid things. Eg. they go home and practice what they have seen the magicians do at the festival just to know if it true or not. At times they aspire to be magicians and have magical powers to do whatever they wished to do. CRITICAL ANALYSIS A. Is it fair for human beings to be killed all in the name of preserving culture? For example in the Igue festival human beings were being sacrificed to appease the gods.I personally believe that, no human being should be killed except the person has committed any crime punishable according to law and order. B. Can a festival be authentic, even after the foreign tourist’s impacts on them? Most at times, when foreigners grace these local events, they tend to introduce the western system to the locals who accept it and put it into practice. It takes a person who is properly educated and learned to know how to preserve their culture despite the influence of the foreign tourists. CONCLUSIONIn a nutshell, Even if Nigeria is rich in cultural festivals, there are some practices that are not supposed to be sustained anymore and there are some that are meant to be preserved and maintained. For example, sacrificing of human beings. On the other hand, it is good for foreign tourists to come for the events and educate the locals more about festivals, but the locals also need to be educated on how to preserve their culture. REFERENCES http://emeagwali. com/nigeria/cuisine/igbo-new-yam-festival. html Robertico Rosendo croes. (2000), Anatomy of demand in international tourism, a case study of Aruba, Van Gorcum. ihttp://www. nasarawastatetourism. com/events/GbagyiGbogun. html Bob Mckercher, Hilary du cros. (2002), cultural tourism the partnership between tourism and cultural heritage management, U. S. A. the Haworth hospitality press. http://nigerianartatoyasaf. blogspot. com/2012/02/in-benin-igue-festival-2011-c elebrates. html Peter Robinson, Sine hietmann, peter Dieke. (2011), Research themes for tourism, UK, CAB international. http://www. onlinenigeria. com/festivals/? blurb=471 Milena Ivanovic. (2008), Cultural tourism, Cape Town, South Africa, Juta & company. ltd. ICOMOS AND UNWTO.

The 2007 to 2011 Financial Crisis Causes, Effects and Lessons The WritePass Journal

The 2007 to 2011 Financial Crisis Causes, Effects and Lessons Abstract The 2007 to 2011 Financial Crisis Causes, Effects and Lessons – and discuss the conclusions that can be drawn accordingly. 1. Regulation destabilized the financial system Regulation of US banks by the Fed, SEC, and FDIC,[3] as well as other regulatory agencies, contributed significantly to the erosion of financial system stability (Barth, Caprio and Levine, 2012, p.86). For example, in 1996, the Fed legitimized the use of Credit Default Swaps (CDS) as risk-hedging instruments (Levine 2010, p. 202, Appendix 1) and as a result many banks developed massive exposures (Figure 1) – AIG held over $500 billion in 2007 – while others were able to reduce their capital reserves by up to half in percentage terms (Barth, Caprio and Levine, 2012, p.92). Figure 1: CDS market volume Q1 2001 to Q2 2007, trillion US$   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (International Securities and Derivatives Association cited in Baily, Litan and Johnson, 2008) Another example is the SECs use of the â€Å"NRSRO† designation,[4] which led to a serious misalignment of credit rating agencies business incentives and resulted in inflationary provisions of investment-grade ratings for risky securities. This further deteriorated the viability of banks balance sheets (see Appendix 2). 1.1 Residential mortgage boom and bust Simultaneously, the US residential real estate bubble (inspired by the assumption that housing prices would only go up) fueled excessive issuance of home mortgages (Figure 2). In turn, unsound lending practices, especially in sub-prime mortgage lending, bolstered housing prices by pushing demand, while filling institutions’ balance sheets with unrecognized risk (Barth 2009, p.92). The attractiveness of mortgages as â€Å"fail-safe† investments prompted many banks to shift their business model from â€Å"originate-to-hold† to â€Å"originate-to-sell†; instead of buying mortgages as an investment that generated a steady cash flow, banks securitized and sold them (Barth 2009, p.22). This effectively removed any incentive to analyze and control risk. However, this â€Å"out-of-sight-out-of-mind† mentality did not account for the fact that banks that securitized mortgages and invested in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) were often identical. Thus, risk w as absent from balance sheets, but implicitly present in securities holdings (Appendix 3). Figure 2: SP-Shiller housing prices index (monthly), January 2001 to August 2012 (Standard Poors Financial Services LLC, 2012) The convoluted system of securitization faltered when housing prices started to decline and mortgage borrowers defaulted (Figure 3). This dried up the cash flow of mortgage-backed securities and made them virtually worthless; banks that relied on them to meet their obligations encountered trouble. Moreover, complex securitization practices made the extent of any one institutions exposure anyone’s guess. Since, no one could be certain which banks would live to see another day, interbank lending froze. In short, not only did financial institutions possess worthless assets, but they were also unable to bridge shortages in cash (Figure 4).[5] In addition, mass defaults activated billions of dollars in CDS obligations and bankrupted all who were over-exposed. Figure 3: Increase of delinquency rates (percent) of subprime loans between 2003 and 2007 (Arentsen, Mauer, Rosenlund, Zhang and Zhao, 2012, p.39) Figure 4: Increase of the Federal Funds rate (percent, monthly) indicates interbank lending crisis (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012) 2. Financial collapse and economic downturn The immediate effects of the crisis are well known. Banks previously considered untouchable filed for bankruptcy (e.g. Lehmann Brothers), while others were acquired (Merrill Lynch by Bank of America), bailed-out, or taken over by the government (AIG and the GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). Soon, the credit freeze affected the remaining economy as financing investments and borrowing became increasingly difficult. For example, between 2007 and 2009, approximately 8.8 million American jobs disappeared, U.S. GDP fell by more than five percent from its pre-recession peak (Treasury 2012), and the SP 500 lost about 57 percent of its value (Lleo and Ziemba, 2011). Perhaps most famously, without governmental assistance, American automobile manufacturers GM and Chrysler would have become insolvent (Stewart 2012). Yet another legacy cost is the enormous government debt that resulted from rescues and other economic resuscitation programs (Barth 2009). The crisis spread internationally (and most damagingly to Europe) because substantial loan derivatives were sold abroad. This does not imply that the U.S. is to blame for the crisis; every government had access to the same information as Fed, SEC, and FDIC, yet nearly all failed to recognize and address the systemic problem (Cox, Faucette and Lickstein, 2010). 4. Lessons Mostly importantly, the crisis exposed the colossal failure of bank regulators,[6] and prompted a fundamental restructuring of banking regulation (such as the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act). In addition, the excessive complexity and behemoth size of the financial system have come under intense scrutiny. An important question has emerged from this examination, which asks, considering TARP[7], are some financial institutions â€Å"too big to fail?† (Greeley 2012). Moreover, the crisis has spawned a reexamination of the desirability of â€Å"laissez-faire† within the financial markets – that is, to what degree can market forces be relied upon to avert crises (Barth, Caprio and Levine, 2012, p.90)? Conclusion The financial crisis that began in 2007 still troubles us today. While some financial institutions have collapsed, those that remain have had to fundamentally rethink their role as credit providers. Governments were left with tremendous financial commitments, tasked with deconstructing the moral hazard of bank bailouts, and with regulating and supervising the financial system more efficiently. History has shown us that financial crises are a cyclical occurrence. Thus the question must be, can the cycle be broken, or is the next crisis waiting in the wings? Bibliography Arentsen, E., Mauer, D.C., Rosenlund, B., Zhang, H.H., Zhao, F., 2012. Subprime Mortgage Defaults and Credit Default Swaps. [pdf] University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business. Available at: http://finance.sauder.ubc.ca/conferences/summer2012/files/papers/Mauer_CDSMS_Jan_1_2012.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Baily, M.N., Litan, R.E. and Johnson, M.S., 2008. The Origins of the Financial Crisis. [online] Brookings Institution. Available at: brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2008/11/origin%20crisis%20baily%20litan/11_origins_crisis_baily_litan [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Bank of International Settlement (BIS), 2012. Detailed tables on semiannual OTC derivatives statistics at end-June 2012. [online] Available at: bis.org/statistics/derdetailed.htm [Accessed 26 November 2012]. Barth J.R., 2009. The Rise and Fall of the U.S. Mortgage and Credit Market. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Barth, J.R., Caprio, G. and Levine, R., 2012. Guardians of Finance, making regulators work for us. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press. Barth, J.R., Caprio, G. and Levine, R., 2012. Rethinking Bank Regulation, till angels govern. New York, New York: Cambridge University Press. Congressional Budget Office, 2012. Report on the Troubled Asset Relief Program- October 2012. [pdf]. Available at: cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/TARP10-2012_0.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Cox, J., Faucette, J. and Lickstein, C.V., 2010. Why Did the Credit Crisis Spread to Global Markets? [pdf] The University of Iowa Center for International Finance and Development. Available at: http://blogs.law.uiowa.edu/ebook/uicifd-ebook/part-5-ii-why-did-credit-crisis-spread-global-markets [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, 2012. Effective Federal Funds Rate (FEDFUNDS). [online] Available at: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/FEDFUNDS/downloaddata?cid=118 [Accessed 26 November 2012]. Greeley, B., 2012. The Price of Too Big Too Fail. Bloomberg Businessweek, [online] Available at: businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-05/the-price-of-too-big-to-fail [Accessed 26 November 2012]. Jickling, M., 2009. Causes of the Financial Crisis. [online] Congressional Research Service. Available at: http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/key_workplace/600/ [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Kohn D.L., 2010. The Federal Reserves Policy Actions during the Financial Crisis and Lessons for the Future. [online] Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Available at: federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kohn20100513a.htm [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Levine, R., 2010. An autopsy of the US ï ¬ nancial system: accident, suicide, or negligent homicide, Journal of Financial Economic Policy. [online] Available at: econ.brown.edu/fac/Ross_Levine/other%20files/Autopsy-4-13.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Lleo, S. and Ziemba, W.T., 2011. Stock Market Crashes in 2007-2009: Were We Able to Predict Them? [pdf] Available through Social Sciences Research Network website http://ssrn.com/abstract=1884081 [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Pagliari, S. and Young, K.L., 2012. Leveraged Interests: Financial Industry Power and the Role of Private Sector Coalitions. [pdf] Available at: princeton.edu/politics/about/file-repository/public/Leveraged-Interests-November-2011.pdf [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Standard Poors Financial Services LLC, 2012. SP Dow Jones Indices. [online] Available at: standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff%E2%80%94p-us- [Accessed 25 November 2012]. Stewart, J.B., 2012. When Debating the Auto Bailout, Consider Lehman’s Fate. The New York Times, [online] 9 March. Available at: nytimes.com/2012/03/10/business/when-debating-the-auto-bailout-consider-lehmans-fate.html?pagewanted=all [Accessed 25 November 2012]. U.S. Department of the Treasury, 2012. The Financial Crisis Response In Charts [pdf] Available at: treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/Documents/20120413_FinancialCrisisResponse.pdf [Accessed 26 November 2012].   Appendex Appendix 1 A CDS is a derivative that enables the buyer to claim compensation from the seller if the underlying asset (such as a Mortgage Backed Securities or MBS) defaults. While useful for hedging purposes and as assessment tool for credit risk (a rising CDS premium indicates increasing risk for the underlying asset), it can be misused for speculative investing, as it does not require the buyer (or the seller) to actually hold the underlying asset. Appendix 2 The SEC required every issuer of a new security to acquire a risk rating from a NRSRO in order to enable potential buyers to assess its risk and allow regulators to determine capital requirements (which were based on risk-adjusted assets). Those credit rating agencies privileged enough to have received NRSRO designation (namely the big three, SP, Moodys, and Fitch) slowly realigned their business models to accommodate issuers needs to purchase ratings by incentivizing employees to issue AAA ratings in order to grow the customer base. As a result, 56 percent of MBS issued between 2005 and 2007 and rated by SP were eventually downgraded (Barth 2009, p.156). Appendix 3 A common practice in the precursor to the crisis was to package mortgage loans into asset-backed securities (ABS, most notoriously, collateralized debt obligations or CDOs) and other securities according to tranches. These tranches were associated with different degrees of risk in order to cater to different investors. Oftentimes, ABS were re-packaged into CDOs squared and cubed. The common misconception prevailed that this would reduce risk by spreading it. In the wake of the crisis, with default rates skyrocketing, it became apparent that this system had become too complex for anyone to unravel, thus making any exposure assessment impossib [1]  Ã‚  Ã‚   Rapid economic growth in BRIC countries, and the resulting flood of rent-seeking financial assets, mishaps in bank regulation and supervision, immoral business conduct of key-stakeholders, or the general failure to recognize the emergence of a bubble all conditioned each other and shaped the environment that resulted in the most severe meltdown since the Great Depression. [2]  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though the financial crisis was markedly a global phenomenon, the United States were at the epicenter in terms of both causes and effects (Jickling 2009). [3]  Ã‚  Ã‚   Federal Reserve Bank, Securities Exchange Commission, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, respectively all regulate and supervise different (but sometimes overlapping) aspects of the US banking system (Barth, Caprio and Levine, 2012). [4]  Ã‚  Ã‚   NRSRO – Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. [5]  Ã‚  Ã‚   To put the extent of the liquidity crunch into perspective, the Federal Reserve reacted by purchasing approximately US$1.25 trillion worth of securities (including Treasuries) between 2007 and 2010, compared to US$15 billion over the years prior (Kohn, 2010). [6]  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is not to put blame solely on government agencies: Regulators and supervisors were heavily influenced by financial services lobbies (Pagliari and Young, 2012). [7]  Ã‚  Ã‚   The Troubled Assets Relieve Program (TARP) is a government program that disbursed approximately US$431 billion to save financial institutions and other business from bankruptcy (CBO 2012, p.1).

Irregular Verb Forms

Irregular Verb Forms Irregular Verb Forms Irregular Verb Forms By Mark Nichol An irregular verb is one that does not follow the standard progression for various forms. Regular verbs are treated as shown below: Simple present: talk (I talk.) Simple past: talked (I talked.) Present participle: talking (I am talking.) Past participle: talked (I had talked.) Infinitive: to talk (I like to talk.) Irregular verbs take the same form in three of these categories, but their simple-past and past-participle forms are irregular, and there lies the difficulty. However, notice a common feature among verbs with the long i sound: Simple present: ride, drive, write Simple past: rode, drove, wrote Past participle: had ridden, had driven, had written In the simple past, the vowel changes to a long o sound, while the vowel becomes a short i sound in the past-participle form. Therefore, you can extrapolate for the progression from simple present to simple past to past participle for other words, as with rise, rose, had risen. For many verbs with vowels that sound like a long e or a short i, the progression is as follows: Simple present: drink, sink, sing Simple past: drank, sank, sang Past participle: had drunk, had sunk, had sung From this pattern you can deduce that shrink will change to shrank or had shrunk, while begin progresses to began and had begun and swim changes to swam and had swum. Of course, there are many exceptions: Bind progresses to bound, not bond, and to had bound, rather than had binden. Likewise, the progression from blow to blew to had blown is not matched by show, showed, and had shown. When in doubt, search online for a list of irregular verbs to note the correct forms for your problem verb. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Talking"Latter," not "Ladder"Conversational Email

Mark Twain Quotes About Death

Mark Twain Quotes About Death Mark Twain  died on April 21, 1910, but he had plenty to say on the subject while he was still alive. Death may be a morbid topic for many. However, Mark Twain chose to make light of the subject. He often joked about how dreadful the world would be if we were to continue to live forever.   Mark Twain Quotes About Death You can develop a new perspective on death through Mark Twains death quotes. Here, you will find Mark Twain embracing the concept of death with his famous wry sense of humor. We never become really and genuinely our entire and honest selves until we are dead and not then until we have been dead years and years. People ought to start dead and then they would be honest so much earlier.Let us endeavor to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.We owe a deep debt of gratitude to Adam, the first great benefactor of the human race: he brought death into the world.All say, How hard it is that we have to die a strange complaint to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered either by themselves or by others.Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.

Scurity Policy Framework Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Scurity Policy Framework Outline - Essay Example Agencies must in a position to share intelligence (personal data included) self-assuredly knowing it is dependable (Siponen, 2000), comprehensible and safeguarded to contracted standards irrespective of the format or the transmission mechanism. 1. This is the first of five Security Policies inside the ASWERA Security Policy Framework; delineating the obligatory security necessities and organizational provisions and measures to which all Branches and Agencies ought to adhere to (Gaggis, 2005). 2. Governance provisions for security highly depend on the conglomerate amid the midpoint of Administration, Branches, and Agencies (Siponen, 2000), persons employed in the security group, their distribution partners, and eventually all employed staff on behalf of ASWERA. 3. The Official Committee on Security is accountable for articulating the security policy and organizing its solicitation across management. Official Committee on Security is responsible for dealing with international societies (Keukeleire & Macnaughtan, 2008). Cabinet Office Government Security Secretariat specifies the secretariat for the Official Committee on Security and is accountable for initializing and collaborating this outline (Siponen, 2000), guaranteeing acquiescence with the least necessities, associate Departments and organizing an annual report to the Official Committee on Security on the state of security across Management (Keukeleire & Macnaughtan, 2008). Cabinet Office Government Security Secretariat performs its duties closely with the security and information society in evolving and reconsidering the security policies (Siponen, 2000). 4. Whilst security is a mutual concern for all the staff and the contractors, ultimate concern for security respites with Accounting Officers and their corresponding Management Panels, which ought to include a Senior Information Risk Owner (Siponen, 2000). The efficient use embracing the sharing and security of intelligence is a fundamental significance

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS - Research Paper Example It helped in the flow of the populace and provides reinforcement against incursion. The concepts were exported to the New World, as William Penn, the founder of Philadelphia city came up with gridiron plan in outlining the streets and a major portion of land flexible to quick change in land utilization. This resulted in contemporary planning of the cities so as to suit the needs of the inhabitants. After the first war that happens in the world, the country was destroyed resulting in finances channeled to retrofitting the American towns towards the launch of the automobile business. These required finances as the cost of expenses were high. In the year 1920, the country underwent a great depression and the worst hit trade was the building industry. This led to stagnation of buildings across the towns. The recent changing trends play a major role in influencing modern urban designs. The changes sweeping the planning profession have come up with an ideology about urban design as a profession away from the normal concept that entails societal issues and guiding principle. It is important for the contemporary designers to come up with varied knowledgeable designs that suit the urban environment. Public realm proposal is another aspect that should be taken into account when planning the modern cities. Spaces between the constructions should be considered when building houses. The spaces are linked to culture, the people’s behavior, security, accessibility and commerce. Consequently public realm is a vital aspect in urban designs. A high-quality development initiative should consider energy effectiveness and biodiversity. Conservative development preparation forms the basis for environmental policies hence the need for the implementation. Designers should encourage the development of ecological improvement together with the urban design doctrines. The movement advocated for striking cities as it believed that a nice city is conducive for the

Apple Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Apple - Case Study Example The consumers of Apple all over the world are highly gadget friendly in nature and they loves to explore the latest innovative features, that are provided by Apple products, even if that means availing the product at a high price. Answer 2 In the first case the company is required to develop or enhance its communication strategy with the consumers. Strategies to develop marketing communication happen to alter from company to company depending on differences in marketing and budget objectives. Different tools related to enhanced marketing communications related to advertising, conducting public relations campaigning, marketing through internet medium and also in rendering sales promotions in the form of discounts and rebates as displayed under would contribute in attracting and sustaining the consumers (Belch and Belch, 2003, p.16). Figure 1 (Belch and Belch, 2003, p.16) The second theoretical model relates to the mode of enhancement of relationships with the consumer force. Building of effective relationship with the consumers through addressing queries both before and after sales and rendering proper services happens to enhance the psychological and emotional involvement of the consumer to the brand. This sense of gratitude to the favour obtained reciprocates the consumer’s intention to repurchase and thereby develops a long term relationship as reflected below (Palmatier, 2008, p.27). Figure 2 (Palmatier, 2008, p.27) Answer 3 Product: The product offering of the company comprises of a highly diversified product portfolio comprising of Apple Mac, IPod, I phones, I pads etc. Talking in these lines, it can be said that the company also offers an array of services that are complementing in nature to the products of the company [Apple, 2012, p.2]. Place: The products of the company are highly distributed in multiple markets around the world because of the global customer base of Apple. Promotion: Since, Apple is a widely popular brand in the market, it can be said that the products of the company is sold on the demand created by its brand value. The promotion efforts of the company mainly comprises of the factors of providing online promotions through the company’s website as well as YouTube awareness videos. The company also uses the traditional marketing channels to communicate the values and features of its products to consumers around the globe. Price: The products of Apple are high on quality and innovative features. As a matter of fact, it can be said that the company products are labeled at a premium price, in an effort to cover up the high costs of innovations that are necessary in technology products for the purpose of gaining competitive advantage. Answer 4 The 2001 period was considered critical enough for Apple Inc owing to the emergence of global recession. The sales of the company had drastically fallen from $8 billion a year earlier to only $5.7 billion. Moreover the company had also incurred a huge loss of $344 million with sales and gross margins collapsing drastically in many regions. The company was required to revamp its product architecture through the mode of extensive product development and expansion activities along its different portfolios to return to the growth stage of the product cycle. Secondly the company was also required to enhance its market penetration activities through the use of discounts and promotions to attract the consumers. Answer 5 The risk of new entrants: It is not easy for the new entrants to gain market share. The consumers in this industry like to stick with the existing brands even if the prices of the products are a touched