Journalism, Mass Media and Communacation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Journalism, Mass Media and Communacation - Essay Example Examples of entertainment media that have attracted audiences from numerous countries and cultures include television shows such as who wants to be a millionaire, video games such the fighter and sports games and novels such as the Harry Porter series (Schmid and Klimmt,pg.253). These forms of entertainment media have become media artifacts due to there influence and command of audience from different cultures globally. The emergence of J.K Rowling alias Harry Porter novels and movies has brought phenomenal changes and influence in the current print and electronic media. This paper examines the use communication theory in understanding the relationship between media artifacts and global audiences. In order to achieve the above objective, the paper explores the works of Harry Porter that have become a global media artifact. The international penetration and proliferation of entertainment media has impacted and influenced various cultures in different parts of the world and has contrib uted to the transformation and evolution of transcultural global audience. Million copies of Harry Porter book series and films have been distributed and sold worldwide and people continue to be entertained by the book and film series. In mass communication, numerous attempts have been to understand the influence of entertainment media on people and cultures. ... Communication theories can play a significant role in the inquiry and evaluation of entertainment media from Harry Porter and more understanding of the ways in which they contribute to global media artifact database. The audience appreciation of Harry Porter has the key character has been the foundation and key to the success of Harry Porter novels and films. Parasocial interaction theory is one of the communication theories that can help explain the reason why Harry Porter’s book series and films have become a media artifact and a form of global entertainment media. Since time immemorial when television was invented, viewers have reported emotional bonding with media personalities. Parasocial interaction theory is based on the immediate psychological responses of media users to media characters in relation to exposure moments or periods (Griffin,pg.157). Parasocial interaction is exhibited when people respond to a media figure as though he or she or it were a real person. Par asocial interactions definition was originally confined to mean the quasi-social interactions that were exhibited during the duration of the viewing experience but the definition was later expanded to include the long term relationships that are formed between viewers and media figures which is later discussed in this paper under Parasocial relationships (Tuchakinsky,pg.72). Media figures can present themselves in different shapes and forms and they may include newsreaders that we may know or fictional characters whose identity can be ambiguous or difficult to determine. Parasocial interaction seeks to answer the question as whether we are responding to the media

Short Visual Storytelling for the Web Term Paper

Short Visual Storytelling for the Web - Term Paper Example In the day to day life other visuals include variety of things from, the award winning films, the super bowl advertisements, business models and many other visual things. They all involve the commonness of someone trying to express themselves in a way. According to the phenomenon of perception, it can be said that the way the short visuals are illustrated accounts for their effectiveness or ineffectiveness in their way to be expressive (Klanten & Losowsky, 2001). To be able to appreciate the aspect of the short visual stories that are expressed in the day to day life, one has to be able to appreciate the works of people such as the great philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty in his book the phenomenon of perception. In his book Maurice expresses the realization that the way that the humans perceive is structured in a way that the body at the first instance perceives phenomena then reacts by reflecting on the particular phenomena through the mediation of perception. In his, book; The Phen omenon of Perception, Ponty appreciates the principles of the Cartesian dualism of the mind. The Cartesian dualism simply expresses that the mind and the body are the two fundamental substances that forms the universe and that the mental substance occupy a different realm. There is a relation that can be established from the Cartesian dualism and the visual story telling concepts that are established. The connection of the Cartesian dualism is the special relationship it awards to the visual literacy aspect. Visual literacy is the ability that one has and enables him to be able to engage his mind and read a picture, visual literacy therefore can be taken as an aspect whereby on is able to interpret the visual material and therefore interpreting and giving meaning to the forms of images that are presented to him or her (Gordon & Tamari, 2004 ). From the formulations of the visual story telling aspects, the devisors tend to make them in such a way that they are appealing to the viewer s they are meant for. Visual story telling are devised according to what they are meant to achieve, in a story that is meant to persuade someone to buy a product , the message is made in such an appealing way that it is able to draw the sought audience to go and get the product that the advertisement is about( Caputo, 2004). In the advertisement aspect, the appreciation of the phenomenology of perception, one mediates on the phenomena he perceives after he perceives. So according to Ponty, in advertisement is ones perception of the news that the product advertises is good and appeals to his needs, in most situation he will make a good deal of effort as to be able to acquire the product. In his book, Maurice Ponty indicated that all that one perceives in the world is gained from one’s own particular point of view; in this case this can be translated in the situation of the short visual story telling phenomena. From the perspective that one initializes corporation of thoughts i n his work, he is able to pass a certain message by the use of incorporation of though provoking elements. Through these elements, when the video gets to the general audience, the audience gets to perceive them however they deem the message is intended by the creator. The effectiveness of a visual story

Life of Pi write-up Essay Example for Free

Life of Pi write-up Essay Life of Pi shows that we are entering a virtual age as Pi, a selfish murderer, is portrayed as a hero throughout the movie. In the beginning of the movie, Pi is portrayed as a smart, virtuous man – there is an emphasis on his strong faith in God, his love for his family and his knowledge of animals. However, later in the movie, Pi brutally murders a hyena after his family’s ship sank and manipulates the tiger that he was left with to do whatever he pleases. Although Pi faced anxiety because he was alone on a lifeboat with a tiger and with despair from thinking that he would die, these circumstances are not to blame for Pi’s awful behavior. Pi has the freedom to make his own decisions and is able to express his emotions in whichever way he wants, making him fully responsible for the course of his actions. Once Pi is rescued, the whole world starts to see him as a hero for his survival, however they do not process all of his wrongdoings. To make matters worse, the journalists that Pi spoke with after he was rescued do not even use the first story that he shares with them – the one involving human beings – because they claimed it was too gruesome, bringing Pi to replace human beings with animals in his second story. This also represents a virtual age because it sends the idea that wrongful actions are okay when they are presented using animals rather than human beings – truly showing the selfishness and carelessness of society. In conclusion, Pi’s inhumane actions are not acknowledged by the public, and furthermore Pi is being rewarded for his wrongdoings. In Life of Pi, storyteller Pi Patel explains the firsthand account of his adventures. When his family’s zoo business fails in India, they embark on a sea voyage to begin a new life – however, one night aboard their ship in the middle of the ocean, a deadly storm hits, leaving Pi trapped in a lifeboat with several zoo animals. After several brutal incidents, including Pi murdering a hyena, Pi is then left to fend for himself in the company of a Bengal tiger. At the end of the movie, when Pi is rescued and questioned by journalists, he tells them two different stories about his journey: one involving human beings and one involving animals, leaving the journalists to publish the story involving animals. Kierkegaard’s philosophy relates to this story because even though Pi is very religious, he is aware that he is free to put his wellbeing before God. While being stuck on a lifeboat with vicious animals, Pi does whatever he can in order to survive – even if that involves taking part in murder and manipulation. Pi chooses to murder a hyena because this animal killed his mother and would eventually kill him, as well as Pi chooses to hunt fish in order for the tiger to survive and to save himself from being eaten. Pi also had to state dominance and mark his territory in the lifeboat, in order to prevent the tiger from hurting him. Pi is therefore the perfect example of putting the individual before God in Kierkegaard’s philosophy because he believes in God, yet he continues to live his own life with freedom as he makes rational decisions. Pi is also aware of the aggressiveness in his decisions, and continuously apologizes to God for all that he has done. By doing this, Pi gains strength and heals through God, as this is also a part of Kierkegaard’s philosophy.

Who are the Mongols and what did they do?

Who are the Mongols and what did they do? Who are the Mongols? They are a tribe that has variety of groups, nowadays they spread into China, Mongolia, and Russia. In the past they were great invaders that controlled Europe and Asia. The name Mongol appeared in Tang Dynasty in the 8th century as an invading tribe They became more powerful after the fall of Liao Dynasty (1125). Later the Tatars and Jin Dynasty weakened them. Where did the Mongols live? It is the dwelling place for the Mongolians and Turkic, it is similar to tents, but has thick wall. It is not stable, however, it can be assembled again transported easily, such as transported by camels to be rebuilt in other places. The Founder of the Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan He was the founder of the Mongol Empire in 1206 and invaded Europe and Asia. He improved writing system, brought religion, and made a unified empire. Before he died, he split his empire for his sons and grandsons. Mongol Conquest The Mongols conquest was throughout the early 13th Century, throughout Europe and Asia. They might began their conquest because less people traded with them and began to trade with Jin and Xia Dynasty. Another reason is that Genghis Khan believed that it was Gods mission. Central Asia After the unification, Genghis Khan started to expand his empire starting from the Khwarezmid Empire or Iran. The population in Islamic Central Asia and northern Iran was decreased because each Mongolian soldier was required to kill a certain number of person, such as 24. Europe The Mongols started the invasion in Rus, the Battle of the Kalka River in 1223 between the scouts. Over 1237-1240, they destroyed all the cities in Europe except Novgorod and Pskov. The evidence was the journey wrote by the Giovanni de Plano Carpini, the envoy of the Pope. Middle East They invaded Iran, Iraq, Syria, and parts of Turkey, later they also went to Gaza into Palestine in 1260-1300. The Battle of Baghdad and the Battle of Ain Jalut occurred and the Muslims were the first ones to be able to stop the Mongol force at Ain Jalut. East Asia They invaded China, which later they set the Yuan Dynasty, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. When they invaded Korea, Korea was forced to be the vassal and becoming an ally of Yuan Dynasty in the future. The Founder of the Yuan Dynasty: Kublai Khan He was the 5th great khan of the Mongol Empire and grandson of Genghis Khan. He found Yuan Dynasty in 1271 and the Mongols ruled China since then. He died at the age of 72 due to his conflicts and sadness in the empire. Marco Polo and Kublai Khan Marco Polo met Kublai Khan and became a confidant for him from 1214-1294, as well as official. Kublai Khan liked him, he requested Marco to tell him about the world. As a reward, he gave Marco and his brother the gerege (the golden tablet) to protect them. Yuan Dynasty, the End of the Mongol Empire It was in between the Song and Ming Dynasty (1271-1368) Kublai Khan maintained the Chinese government during this dynasty, or absolute monarchy. Later the dynasty had a famine and conflicts between people, and the Chinese overthrown them and became the Ming Dynasty. Use of 3-4 Horses Each soldier will have 3-4 horses because they can travel for a long period of time without resting of the horse. They would switch horses throughout their traveling. Using this advantage, each soldier can scout easily and observe the routes. Cavalry Archers 60% of the Mongols were archers that ride horses, they were very light and could maneuver. Mongolian horses were used, they were strong and sturdy. The Mongols also used stirrups to make the archers shoot arrows in any directions. Breaking Tribal Connection In the past, many tribes were fighting each other such as Naimans, Merkits, Tatars, and Keraites and they often causes blood feuds. When Genghis Khan had new soldiers that came from those tribes, he set leaders to divide them and cut the heritage connections to prevent conflicts. Biological Warfare Infected Mongolians were thrown using catapults over the Crimean walls. The plague spread inside Crimea and spread to Sicily, North Africa, Southern Italy, and Europe in 1348, or the famous Black Death. They thought that the stench killed them, but it was actually the plague. Mongol Bow It was constructed by many types of material, or Composite bow. This type of bow was used during Genghis Khans reign and could shoot in a far distance with great accuracy. Range of the Bow In Siberia, there is a stone that was inscribed says that in the time after Genghis Khans conquest of East Turkestan, Genghis Khans nephew shot a target at 536 meters. In a novel Khà ¶kh Sudar, it describes 5 Mongolian soldiers hitting the target for 3 times using the bow at about 500 meters. The Kharash When a city surrender to the Mongols, the Mongols would gather the people in the city out and force them to be human shields. They would push them in front of the army and let them take arrows and other attacks. This tactic can also feared the other enemies of the Mongols. Flanking The Mongols would set leaders and let them split the army into groups, about 10 10,000 troops per group. They would flank their enemy from the sides using the groups of troops, such as 500 to right side and 500 to left side. Encirclement This tactic was used to prevent the escaping of the people in the city theyre fighting with. Basically, they would surround the city from both side, and support each other. If they fail, they would flee, choosing to save the soldiers, and study the opponent for the next times attack. Feigned Retreat The Mongols would pretend to retreat and lure the enemy into the position where they have advantage. If they used this tactic once, they would wait for days or weeks to trick the enemy that they were really defeated, then they would attack the enemy later. Impact of Innovation on Consumer Behavior: Google Impact of Innovation on Consumer Behavior: Google Introduction As innovation is becoming a competitive necessity for marketers, and it is having an important role on modern organizations; all the companies worldwide are promoting it on their business operations. In this paper I will explain what marketing strategy organizations use to make changes in order to survive in this high competitive environment. My intention on this topic is to see how a specific marketing strategy, like innovation, influences on consumers behaviour. Innovation is one of the main tools that organizations use in order to positively influence consumers buying behaviour and attract more customers. To better understand innovation and the role that it has on a company I will first define it and then bring a real example from a well-known company and explain the ways that this company uses in order to promote innovation. The company I choose to analyze is Google since it is consider as being both a successful and innovative company in a short period of time. By many researche s and surveys conducted the worlds most innovative companies today are considered to be Apple Computer, Google, Toyota Motor, and Microsoft with Apple the top leader. (James P. Andrew, 2006, p.4) Brief Description of the Topic and the Position I have taken Nowadays organizations are operating in a strong economic crisis. Competition is becoming intense from day to day and companies are hardly trying to attract new customers and also retain the existing once. Economic crisis leads to uncertainty of the employees and employers and in this situation the companies are requiring a high resistance of change in order to survive. The marketing department and consumers are the main tools in the process of organizational change, collaborating with customers will be the key for their success. According to Peter and Olson 2010, understanding consumers is a critical element in developing successful marketing strategies. (p.13) The position that I take in this paper is supporting the use of innovation in companies. I think that innovation influences positively to consumers, and I am in favor of promoting innovation in companies as it will have a strong influence on consumers buying behavior. Innovation will make the products more attractive for consumers, and they will be more curious to try them. According to James P. Andrew, 2006, innovation today remains the top strategic focus for many companies where 72% of the executives have ranked it as the top-three strategic priority in the company importance for influencing consumers behaviour. The same percentage of executives said that they will increase spending on innovation in the coming years as they perceive it as the most important tool for surviving in this turbulent business environment that is created today. Promotion of innovation in a company should be developed in a way that it supports marketing strategies and consumers needs and wants. Innovation as a Marketing Strategy Traditionally innovation is defined as the creation of new products and services for new customers or also for existing once, it also refers to the improvement of existing products in order to achieve cost reduction. In his article for innovation, Buxton, 2005, explains that the levels of innovation and creativity in a company can be improved with the appropriate management and organization as they are not born with people but are developed through the work experience that people make. For Buxton innovation in a company is far more about prospecting, mining, refining and adding value to gold than it is about alchemy. Rather than focusing on the invention of the brand new, one might better strive for creative insights on how to combine, develop and leverage what is already out there, but hidden, or not understood. (William Buxton, 2005, p.1) Rogers, 1998, p.6 explains that the highly innovative firms would be expected to have higher percentage of sales compared with firms that make ne w or improve products. It is very important that executives in a company have innovative ideas and explain to others how important innovation is to the future of the company. The complexity and crisis of todays business needs a strong focus on innovation and also in the way of thinking differently in order for companies to be different from others and try to survive on the market by attracting new customers. As a company innovator Buxton says that it is not enough to simply have great ideas. If you wanted the ideas to come to fruition, you had to spend as much time directing your innovation and creativity to fostering a culture of creativity and receptiveness to innovation within the company, as you spend on the ideas themselves. (William Buxton, 2005, p.2) So, we can say that innovative activity requires a strong collaboration from all the elements of the firm. In order to promote innovation for a company it is very important the use of new technology, which allows the company to be more competitive in the market and respond in a faster way to the market needs. Defence of my Position: Why Companies Should Invest on Innovation? As it is explained on James P. Andrew article 2006, and as we have learned on MBA courses, companies all over the world practice innovation with a main and primary objective which is a fast growth and success in the industry. Other companies say that investing on innovation is the best practice to eliminate the risk of the company. There is no single best organizational structure for innovation. Indeed, almost any company, regardless of size, shape, culture, or hierarchical structure, can be innovative. (James P. Andrew, 2006, p.22) There are different marketing tactics that marketers can influence consumer behavior and increase their probability of purchase. According to Peter and Olson (2010) the first tactic used by marketers is obtaining information on consumers affect, cognition, and behavior relative to the product, service, store, brand or model of concern through consumer research. (pg.232) Based on the information received from the consumer research data marketers design different marketing mix stimuli, one of which is innovation. Research and Development is considered as the most important innovative tool for companies, and most of the companies all over the world are spending most of their moneys on RD as they believe that it is the best way on helping the companies on cost savings and enhances their ability to develop products and services which will be attractive for customers. (James P. Andrew, 2006, p.3) Product design and idea generation are very important in maintaining customer loyalty and havi ng higher sales than when companies are focusing only on the financial side. I support the investment on innovation because from the articles I read on this topic, the top innovative companies mentioned above, which have highly invested on innovation; have gained customer trust, better quality, a better organizational culture, and a long-term customer relationship. These features that the companies gain from the innovation strategy are the most important once for the positive influence on consumer behaviour and for the economic growth of the company. According to Muller et. al. 2004, today investment in innovation projects is more than ever important because it helps the companies to develop new businesses, create new customers and maintain the old once, creates new market entrants, shortens product life cycle and helps the companies to maintain competitive advantage. So, even if companies spend some money on promoting the innovation, for them should not be considered as a problem because they will gain this money in a short period of time, and beside this th ey will also gain a good reputation which is considered as the most important asset that a company can have. How Google Promotes Innovation Googles mission is to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful. (Iyer, 2008, p.3) Google is considered to be a company which is very successful and at the same time is ranked the second company after Apple on the worlds most innovative companies. But how does this leader company in its industry promote innovation as the key of its success? Iyer 2008, on his article has considered Google as being an innovation machine as it has been considered as the creator of new approaches to business and management innovation by using the best technology and investing a huge amount of money, a strategy that allowed the company to develop innovation in a short period of time. What mostly matters for this company, are the new ideas and new products that Google announces every day and not the financial profits that it makes. Iyer, 2008, further explains that this innovation strategy that Google has used allowed it to have a rapid growth in the market, a huge produ ct development, to be more satisfied and motivated and also to have better customer relationships. The key success for the companys innovation strategy are its creators, independent software vendors, Google engineers and open source community who by collaborating together make up a diverse product development network, develop new offerings that keep consumers engage, generate revenue and extend value of Googles tools and technology. (Iyer, 2008, p.5) The strategy on innovation promotion has worked perfectly on Google, and it has produced many new products and features that have positively influenced on consumer behaviour. Another strategy that Google has used on promoting innovation is the estimation on time of market changes and the offer of the new products and services quickly than other firms. So, we can see that Googles strategies to innovation are unique, and they have allowed the company to attract the most talented employees and engineers and a lot of satisfied consumers. So, looking how consumers respond to innovation from the above examples, I strongly defend my position on using innovation as a positive marketing strategy. The Other Side of the Coin: People who dont Accept Investing in Innovation Different companies will use different methods and tools to promote innovation, and with the passing of time all companies improve their methods of innovating as new things come out very quickly. But not all companies accept innovation as a marketing strategy to attract more customers. Some think that it is costly while other dont have the right resources to promote it. As we can see on the article of Muller et. al. 2004, some companies that cannot innovate by themselves have invested more by buying innovation in order to survive, Coca-Cola acquired Mad River Traders, which is a market of alternative beverage, but this is a strategy that costs more to the companies than when innovating alone, and they dont prefer using it. For a company it is very important to have money and to invest in order to promote innovation. Rogerss article explains that investment in new machines, marketing expenditures, investment in training and the purchase of new technology are considered as the most imp ortant field of investment which help the company to promote innovation. Many companies dont have the money, and many others dont have the right employees to push the company promote innovation. Muller et. al explains that the most important things that promote innovation in a company are the amount of capital invested on it, the talent which are the employees, and the time that is dedicated to innovation strategies. May companies dont support the investment on innovation because of the lack of capital. In order to succeed in an innovation project it is very important that executives and employees of the company should make a training and research in innovation. They should be able to estimate the potential market for the new idea, what innovation tools are needed for an innovation strategy and what methodologies should be available to the employees. Especially in todays economic crisis, most of the companies dont spend money on training and RD for innovation; they prefer to spend them in other fields. Other challenges that companies face when they try to become innovative are, globalization, organizational issues (such as metrics and measurement, structure, and people), and leadership remain three of the biggest challenges facing companies that are seeking to become more innovative. (James P. Andrew, 2006:4) But, based on the data and example I gave above I think that their position on this topic is not good. Comparing the positive and negative sides of innovation it has more posit ive once as it satisfies more its customers and positively influences on their buying behaviour. Conclusions Concluding my paper I can say that based on what I researched on innovation, and the knowledges I had on Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy lessons, I have learned that innovation and its promotion in a company improves a lot business processes by giving to the company cost advantages, quality advantages, and consumer satisfaction which are the key performance objectives that allow a good operation strategy in any organization. Today all the companies are taking advantage from the new technologies and innovation in order to be the leaders of the market and to gain the highest market share by attracting more customers. So, as the result of this intensive business climate and high availability of information system, the company should frequently redesign and innovate in order to achieve improvement for their future operations and to be at top levels in the market where it operates. Before starting to implement an efficient innovation promotion in a company it is very important for people who will guide it to consider it from the financial point of view, users view and also from opportunities that the innovation system will give for development in the future. I have also learned that after the implementation of the innovation system for further succeeds it is very important for the firm to make continuous control and improvements of it and also to have a higher collaboration between the innovation promotion and all other departments of the company where innovation will be promoted. A good customer relationship is also very important for the implementation of the best marketing strategy, as customers are the once whose need will be satisfied with the creation of the product. When developing innovation a firm should start by analyzing the behavior of its consumers and designing the best marketing strategies that fits their needs. As explained by Peter and Olson (2010) marketers have to analyze and understand not only consumers of their products and brands but also consumers of competitive offerings and the reason they purchase competitive products. (p.13) Through consumer research, marketers obtain information on consumers affect, cognition and behavior based on the product or service they are going to produce. Understanding consumers help in developing successful marketing strategies, while the implementation of the right marketing strategies makes possible the increase of chances that consumers will have positive feelings about the product or service, and will repeatedly purchase them.

Insider Trading Essay -- Business, Investment, Trading

It can fairly be said that an Investor considering an investment decision (whether to purchase, sell or hold stock) in publicly traded company acts on the basis of extensive information which is available by corporation to him until the last moment of his investing decision and try to determine the fair price of corporate stock. In the light of continuous creation of a particular impression of corporate affairs by the corporation, new information by corporate can vanish the importance of previous available information to investor. In the scenario only one kind of investors can get advantage over others, who is either very close to corporate operation (corporate officers) or can access nonpublic price-sensitive information to corporation (large shareholder). These investors are known as insider. To ensure fair platform of trading to all investor, the law of insider trading is one of the vehicles which is used by society to allocate the property right to information generated by firm and it can be ensured that by virtue of being insider, director or company’s officer cannot explore private information in trading of his or her company’s stock but many studies (e.g., Jaffe, 1974; Finnerty, 1976a,b; Seyhun, 1986, 1988a,b; Rozeff and Zaman, 1988; Lin and Howe, 1990) conclude that Insiders like to buy (sell) their own company stock before price-favorable (unfavorable) information disseminates in public and take the advantage of nonpublic information. For example, Jaffe (1974a) find the insiders are able to make abnormal return by taking position in their own stock but insiders’ short-term prediction power is greater than long-term predication. Several aspects of insider trading activity are debatable. Like is insider trading is... ...ces in compensation package to their executives between two groups. Graver and Graver (1995) find that intangible assets of a firm are important factor to determine the executives’ compensation and a large portion of their compensation derives from long term incentive compensation like stock option grants. When executive receivers a large portion of compensation in stocks, then his investment portfolio is subject to more idiosyncratic risk than any diversity investment portfolio or to survive, for example to pay home rent, he needs liquidity, which in turn, either to achieve diversify investment portfolio or to achieve liquidity, he sells his a part of his stake in open market even his stock in undervalued (Meulbroek, 2000). We assume that insiders selling of intangible assets’ firms are less likely to convey information to public than tangible assists’ firms.

Escaping the Chains of Slavery Essay -- Slavery Essays

In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Written by Himself, Douglass writes about his life in slavery. Douglass portrays how he overcame being separated from his mother, of witnessing a slave being whipped for the first time and enduring his servitude for multiple masters. However, his major triumphs in life were moving to Baltimore, overcoming illiteracy and gaining his freedom. Douglass was between the age of seven or eight when he was sent to live in Baltimore, a move that would forever change his life. He was introduced to a different way of living for a slave. For example, on the plantation slaves were subject to merciless beatings, hunger, and cold. Clothing was provided, but if slaves did not sustain them throughout the year, they were forced to walk around half-naked. However, in Baltimore slaves were permitted to walk in the street as free men and women; they were properly dressed and well fed. Furthermore, it was considered an embarrassment to the slaveholder if their neighbors noticed they were not feeding their slaves adequately. Baltimore was of great importance since this is where he was sent to live with his new mistress, who forever changed his life. At the beginning of his stay in Baltimore, his new mistress, Sophia Auld teaches Douglass his A, B, C's. However, when her husband find out what was going on, he put a stop to it. Mr. Auld said, "If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It w...

Financial crisis in Kazakhstan

Introduction The purpose of this paper is to describe 2007-2009 global financial crisis reasons and define its consequences for Kazakhstan economy. From the very beginning of year 2007 global economies faced series major economic and financial problems. Many economists consider events started in 2007 as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s and the latest phase of the evolution of financial markets under the radical financial deregulation process that began in the late 1970s.Since the Great Depression in 1930s almost everyone believed that financial arkets need to be regulated to be stable, avoid fraud and manipulation. The strict financial regulatory system was created by US government to protect the country from mentioned dangers. It worked effectively through the 1960s. Economic and financial turbulence in the 1970s and early 1980s led to both a paradigm and a policy regime shift.Efficient financial market theory and new classical macro theory replaced the existing system of tight financial regulation. Such developments facilitated the transition to a new globally-integrated deregulated neoliberal capitalism. As a result the world faced the threat of total collapse of large financial institutions, the bailout of banks by national governments, and downturns in stock markets around the world. In many areas, the housing market also suffered, resulting in evictions, foreclosures and prolonged unemployment.The crisis played a significant role in the failure of key businesses, declines in consumer wealth estimated in trillions of US dollars, and a downturn in economic activity leading to the 2008-2012 global recession and contributing to the European sovereign-debt crisis. 2. Reasons Attempting to identify the factors that caused the global financial crisis is a discussion which has been raging over the last few years, with some people pointing to one area, and others looking at other guilty ones for what has been one of the most devas tating and groundbreaking events of the economy in recent memory.The global financial crisis might seems to be that it hasn't affected ordinary people, but this certainly isn't the case, as regular workers in some of the massive companies that have been bankrupted have become unemployed, and cities and towns across he United States have been decimated if a major employer in the area has gone out of business. There are a number of factors which are generally pointed to when looking at the reasons that triggered the global financial crisis.One of the main reasons which is often pointed to as one of the main triggers of the global financial crisis are the mortgage derivative products, where risky mortgages were packaged with more traditionally secure mortgages and sold to corporate investors and other banks as secure investment products. This packaging of mortgages is generally ccepted to have masked the real risks that were linked with such a product, which gradually grew as lending c riteria were loosened in the first five or six years of the twenty first century. Between 1997 and 2006, the price of the typical American house increased by 124%.During the two decades ending in 2001, the national median home price ranged from 2. 9 to 3. 1 times median household income. This ratio rose to 4. 0 in 2004, and 4. 6 in 2006. This housing bubble resulted in quite a few homeowners refinancing their homes at lower interest rates, or financing consumer spending by aking out second mortgages secured by the price appreciation. By September 2008, average U. S. housing prices had declined by over 20% from their mid-2006 peak. Easy credit, and a belief that house prices would continue to appreciate, had encouraged many subprime borrowers to obtain adjustable-rate mortgages.