Historiography and History Research Methods Essay

Historiography and History Research Methods - Essay Example The 20th century saw historians place less attention on narratives of epic nationalists and focus more on the complex and more objective study of intellectual and social forces. History was treated less like an art and regarded more as a social science, though there were still some historians who felt otherwise. Several other ways of studying history have since come up ever since with Postmodernists in the recent times questioning the need to study history on the basis of personal interpretation of sources. This paper is aimed at providing a historiographical analysis of the Berlin war. The Berlin wall attracted numerous different views from historians, depending on whether they viewed it from the West’s of East’s perspective. Both sides though, seemed to be at first seeking reasons to justify its construction before finally agreeing that the wall is a barrier (Ladd, 1998). The view of those supporting the East, according to Marxist theories, was that the Proletariat was using the wall as a defence against the influential bourgeoisie. Particularly, the East felt threatened by fascism which they saw as against socialist progress as noted by Beattie (2008). They seemed to imply that the neighbouring West Germany still possessed some Nazism. The West however, termed the wall shameful for the way it restricted movement between the two sides. Historians supporting the West, of course, differed with this view. According to them, the wall came up due to the two system’s historical discrepancy. They have, in many instances, viewed the period of the wall’s existence as totalitarian. Liberal historians, like the Marxists, however reported the war to have been a progressive development. From the East German’s point of view, the wall was some sort of a political embarrassment and a place to be avoided but the Western powers like Britain, US and West Germany held a different view about the wall. If fact, the

Commanding heights episode Essay Example for Free

Commanding heights episode Essay Commanding heights: The New Rules is the third film in the series and is about the 21st century economy. PBS sponsored the film under the direction of Michael Sullivan to inform the public about the economic situation. They speak about how the economy adapted to what is today. How the world nationalized third world countries allowing exchange and investment. Episode 3 addresses the current and future problems of a globalized world. Thats the structure of the film. The film clearly, thoroughly, and excitingly explains this through historic facts and stories told by citizens who lived during the changes. This is not an economics lesson but rather a high dramatic event that impacts peoples lives. Commanding Heights shows that it is people who create the ideas, it is people who accept or reject them, it is people who profit or suffer by them. The series travels to the locations where events happened, and in many cases, interviews the people who made them happen, from Bill Clinton to Milton Friedman to workers in various countries. Episode three encompasses that along with globalization and an open free market and period of peace and advancement of technologies and ideological views will happen. A global economy ill introduce a path to peace and prosperity for rich and poor nation alike. The New Rules of the Gamin 1992, things looked bad for the U. S. economy: Western Europe was assembling into a powerful economic alliance (the European Union) to compete with America, Japans economy was unstoppable, and the U. S. was in the worst recession in decades. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was a trade agreement between the U. S. , Canada and Mexico that lowered, but did not eliminate, many trade barriers between the three countries. In large part, Bush wanted to get NAFTA approved to strengthen the U. S. economy against Japan and Europe. The negotiations for NAFTA began under his term. NAFTA became an issue during the 1992 elections. Bush wanted NAFTA 100%, Perot wanted it cancelled, and Clinton wanted NAFTA, but with important amendments added to force Mexico to raise labor and pollution standards so they would have to compete on more even footing with American workers. Clinton won, and his plan was put into action. The labor unions gave Bill Clinton the support he needed to win. NAFTA led to a huge increase in the amount of trade between the three countries. Likewise, each country ad significant GDP growth that was directly attributable to the freer trade. The biggest growth was in Mexico, in wealth and employment. The impact on the U. S. was that 400,000 American Jobs were lost to more competitive workers and factories south of the border, American unions sustained major and lasting damage to their political influence and membership, and the gap between rich and poor Americans grew wider. As in previous cases, deregulation and freer trade benefitted a whole economy in aggregate while severely hurting a small percentage of people and massively benefitting some companies that are able to take advantage of the new rade policies. In the global economy, annual trade in tangible goods and services is worth $8 trillion while trade in currencies is worth $288 trillion. U. S. workers in both public and private sectors have trillions of dollars invested in work-related retirement portion of American workers pensions is invested overseas. Thus, most American workers are significantly invested in the global economy. After NAFTA, Clinton pursued other important trade liberalization policies across the world. One of his major accomplishments was strengthening the global free market in the aftermath of Communisms collapse. In 1994, Mexico faced political and economic crisis, and the country came to the brink of defaulting omits foreign debt. There was real fear that the country, left to its own devices, could fall into chaos, and millions of refugees would head north into the U. S. Clinton had crisis meetings with his advisors over the issue and decided to give Mexico a $50 billion loan. It worked to stabilize the country, Mexico repaid the money ahead of schedule, and the U. S. looked like a benevolent actor to the world. However, many critics considered Clintons actions to be a prime example of moral hazard: By bailing out the Mexican government, the U. S. was in essence bailing out thousands of private investors who had put money into the country without properly weighing the risks. The bailout signaled the private sector that it could make similarly bad future investment choices without fear since the U. S. would again rescue them. Critics feared this would make sovereign debt crises more likely. Globalization is defined as the free flow of goods, services, capital, and labor across national borders. China has a number of Free Trade Zones, which are small geographic areas in which companies can build factories to build and export nything with very few restrictions. The Zones are exempt from Chinas otherwise strict business and export laws. Seaports and airports are usually located very close tour within Free Trade Zones. At long last, Japans economic bubble burst in the 1990s and the country slid into a major recession that it never really recovered from. American fears of Japan someday taking over the world economically were quickly and permanently dispelled. In the beginning America was behind Japan and Europe in trading and economic growth, thus NAFTA was created to allow trading between North America. The United States were now able to trade freely with Canada and Mexico, providing great economic growth for all three countries in North America. When trading borders opened up Tijuana became a massive manufacturer of televisions for the United States, Northern Mexico was able to open up many Jobs giving opportunities to Southern Mexicans. This created an economic boom in North America leading to a surge that would be able to compete with other Countries, because this would allow us to buy cheaper goods. In the end although it hurt American Jobs because Mexicos goods were cheaper, Both Bush and Clinton wanted NAFTA to succeed in order to put labor and pollution laws into effect in all the countries involved.

Causes, Impact and Management of Tsunamis :: Papers

Causes, Impact and Management of Tsunamis Introduction On the 26th of December at 06:48 Sri Lankan time(11:48) whilst most of the population were just going to sleep after a long Christmas day, one of the worlds largest recorded earthquake struck generating a tsunami which left the Indian ocean countries with more than 162,000 people dead and $675 million(U.S)of damages. The earthquake hit countries that were already troubled with poverty and debt leaving them in need of urgent help. World wide, people responded to help overcome this horrific disaster donating $450million and the British government donated a pledge of $96million. The word ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese word with the English translation, "harbor wave." Represented by two characters, the top character, "tsu," means harbor, while the bottom character, "nami," means "wave." In the past, tsunamis were sometimes referred to as "tidal waves" by the general public though they are not actually related to tides. Causes The devastating tsunami was caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale and was estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The epicentre of the earthquake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The violent movement of sections of the Earth's crust, known as tectonic plates, displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock waves in every direction. The earthquake was caused by the sliding of the India plate under the section called the Burma plate which is called a destructive plate boundary. The movement has been going on for a thousand years, one plate pushing against the other until something has to give. The result of this build up of pressure happened on December 26 was a rupture in the earths crust which was estimated more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometres) long, displacing the seafloor above Diagram showing the processes involved in a tsunami approaching a coastlineby 10 meters horizontally and several meters vertically. This small dislodge caused trillions of tons of rock to move along hundreds of Causes, Impact and Management of Tsunamis :: Papers Causes, Impact and Management of Tsunamis Introduction On the 26th of December at 06:48 Sri Lankan time(11:48) whilst most of the population were just going to sleep after a long Christmas day, one of the worlds largest recorded earthquake struck generating a tsunami which left the Indian ocean countries with more than 162,000 people dead and $675 million(U.S)of damages. The earthquake hit countries that were already troubled with poverty and debt leaving them in need of urgent help. World wide, people responded to help overcome this horrific disaster donating $450million and the British government donated a pledge of $96million. The word ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese word with the English translation, "harbor wave." Represented by two characters, the top character, "tsu," means harbor, while the bottom character, "nami," means "wave." In the past, tsunamis were sometimes referred to as "tidal waves" by the general public though they are not actually related to tides. Causes The devastating tsunami was caused by an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale and was estimated to have released the energy of 23,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs. The epicentre of the earthquake was under the Indian Ocean near the west coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The violent movement of sections of the Earth's crust, known as tectonic plates, displaced an enormous amount of water, sending powerful shock waves in every direction. The earthquake was caused by the sliding of the India plate under the section called the Burma plate which is called a destructive plate boundary. The movement has been going on for a thousand years, one plate pushing against the other until something has to give. The result of this build up of pressure happened on December 26 was a rupture in the earths crust which was estimated more than 600 miles (1,000 kilometres) long, displacing the seafloor above Diagram showing the processes involved in a tsunami approaching a coastlineby 10 meters horizontally and several meters vertically. This small dislodge caused trillions of tons of rock to move along hundreds of

Immanuel Kant: Duty and Reason Essay

The action of an individual is said to depend on lots of factors. The value of these actions is weighed based on the different point of views of humans. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher, classifies the moral worth of an action through the use of two concepts; duty and reason. Acting based on duty and reason can be better understand by looking at these cases from Kant’s point of view and by means of thoroughly analyzing the arguments presented to consider an acts moral worth. Considering the case that a husband loves his wife because he loves her such that he has an inclination to be faithful to her, Kant’s view for this example will be that this case has no moral worth. For Kant, the foundation of morality is duty. The factor that causes human to be moral beings is their duty and the factor to be considered in determining the moral of an act is the persons will to follow his duty. (www. ipf. edu, n. d. ) On the other hand, a husband’s act to remain loyal to his wife as a matter of duty, although he finds it decidedly unpleasant will be considered by Kant to have a moral worth. A moral action has a moral worth not because of the effect of the action itself but because of the value that the action done according to duty that was set by the society. (Abbott, 1907) For Kant, the fact that the action is done only for duty alone is in itself makes the action to contain a moral worth. (Herman, 1981) It refers mainly to duty being implemented through the law that makes an action of moral worth. (www. philosophypages. com, n. d. ) The moral worth of both cases can be better understood through differentiating acting in accordance with duty and acting from duty. Acting in accordance with duty has no moral worth since it is just an act that conforms to duty as guided by self-interest. Acting from duty, on the other hand, is an act that is done because the duty is requiring it. It means that actions will only have a moral worth if they are performed from duty while those actions that are taken as caused by self-interest that accords with duty for whatever reason, have no moral worth. In the example of a husband that loves his wife due to two reasons, we can say that the first case, which is loving the wife because the husband has an inclination to love her is considered by Kant to be of no moral worth since the husband does not love his wife from duty. He just loves the wife because it is his self-interest that motivates him to love her. In that way, he loves according to self-interest that just so happen to be in accord with loving from duty. Thus, he is loving his wife in accordance with duty and is thus it has no moral worth. For the second example of loving which is loving his wife because it is his duty as a husband even if he finds it unpleasant, this act has moral worth for Kant because the act is done out of the need to follow duty. The husband loves his wife because it should be his action towards his wife as it is set by the laws and rule of the society. Even if he will not gain self-pleasure from it, he is still doing it because it is his duty as husband to love his wife. Thus, he is acting from duty and his act contains moral worth for Kant. Upon understanding Kant’s philosophy, I can say that he has a good point on why he believed that the moral worth of an act is based on the duty that forces a person to commit such act. The good thing about his account of moral worth is that an act can be considered to have a moral worth if that is done without self-interest but is done only as dictated by duty. His philosophy is good in a sense because it can assess the moral worth of a person in terms of the responsibility that he should carry and not only acting as a result of his own decision in order to gain pleasure from it. However, I disagree with him. I believe that if an act is done whether for the sake of following your duty or the laws implemented by the society as based from their reasoning, an act can still have a moral worth depending also on its effect on the society. For me, I think that what Kant is trying to say is that the moral worth in different cases that we have to make a decision or an act lies on the will to follow the duty itself. It only means that the one of moral worth is the ability to follow duties or the rules and not the act itself. If we are doing something even if we can just derived pleasure or get something out of it, as long as we don’t step on the rights of others and can contribute to our society, our acts can still have moral worth. In line with this, I can say that acting from duty is morally right as well as acting according to duty as long as our interests do not conflict with the violation of the rights of another people. I think that pursuing self-interest that will lead to the good of other people, as in the case of Mother Teresa, is morally worth. The self-interest in that sense does not conflict with the violation of the rights of others, but instead, it leads to the good of the needy. Hence, it still has its moral worth. For example, a lifeguard is saving the lives of drowning people, even if he doesn’t want too and what he is doing is just a burden for him has a moral worth. Also, a lifeguard that is saving the lives of drowning people and expecting in return that he will receive a word of thank you from the people that he saved still has a moral worth. This is because, I think, that no matter what motivates you to do an act as long as it can help others and does not bypass human rights, that act has a moral worth. In the case of a lifeguard, saving people as caused by duty and saving people as caused by an expectation to receive a word of thanks are both morally correct. It is because the fact that the lifeguard has saved a life no matter what is the reason that makes me considered it to have a moral worth. I also believe that morality is subjective depending on a person’s bringing up, culture, experiences and way of thinking. One act can be of moral value to a person but for some, may be the same act has little or no moral worth at all. That is, morality lies on each one of us and that the effect that it can make to ourselves and especially to our society will greatly dictates its moral worth. Different societies may evaluate the same act to have a different moral worth. A way to explain this is by looking at the case of Eskimos. For Eskimos, offering their wives to have sex with a guest is a polite action as a way of entertaining a visitor. In their way, their act has a moral worth because they are acting from duty. However, if a wife from other country will ask his husband that she wants to have sex with their guest as a way of entertaining the guest, the action is resulting from self-interest and not from duty that is dictated by the culture. Thus, it does not have a moral worth. This explains that the value of moral worth is subjective to culture, and to the specific society itself. Thus, in conclusion, I can say that the first case of loving a wife that was mentioned, which is loving as motivated by inclination, has moral worth because he is still doing his responsibility or duty even if he really wants to do it as directed by his emotion. The second case, which is loving because that is dictated by duty, also contains a moral value, although lesser than the first one. For me, it’s moral worth is less than the first because he is not loving his wife whole heartedly but only loving her because he is required by his duty. I think that in general, Kant’s theory is good but is lacking in a certain aspect that greatly affects the action of human, which is emotions. This is because aside from intellectual reasoning, we also have emotions and that these emotions can also dictate us on how we are going to act. Whether we act from duty or we act in accordance with duty as directed by self-interest which is controlled by emotions, our action can both have moral worth. Thus, in summary Kant had contributed a view about the reason for one’s act in terms of the assessment of the action. However, it is limited and there must be other factors to be considered in assessing the moral value of one’s act, in which his theory must contain. Works Cited Abbott, T. K. (1907). Immanuel Kant Duty Is Prior to Happiness. Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals. Retrieved November 22, 2007 from http://books. google. com/books? id=Y2oIobRXrWIC&pg=PA92&ots=lqnR0qrkHw&dq= On+the+Va lue+of+Acting+from+the+Motive+of+Duty,&ei=wT9FR63gI4KktAPBgYXbBg&sig=Z8 QYGzRw_L9lc eC8Xkj1_JOZjKA Herman, Barbara, (1981). On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty. The Philosophical Review. Volume 90, No. 3 pp 359-382. Retrieved November 22, 2007 from http://links. jstor. org/sici? sici=0031- 8108(198107)90%3A3%3C359%3AOTVOAF%3E2. 0. CO%3B2- B www. ipfw. edu. (n. d. ). Retrieved November 22, 2007 from http://209. 85. 173. 104/search? q=cache:_3cincyqJb0J:www. ipfw. edu/phil/faculty/Esteve z/Kant. ppt+Duty+and+Reason-+immanuel+Kant&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us www. philosophypages. com. (n. d. ). Kant: The Moral Order. Retrieved November 22, 2007 from http://www. philosophypages. com/hy/5i. htm.

Externalities, Pollution and Global Warming

Topic 4: Externalities, Pollution and Global Warming ECON 1210B Economics and Society 1 Introduction Recall: Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity In the absence of market failures, the market outcome is efficient, maximizes total surplus One major type of market failure: externalities Externality: the uncompensated impact of one person’s actions on the well-being of a bystander 2 Externalities and EfficiencyIn the presence of externality, market equilibrium is no longer efficient Individual’s estimates of resources value (or cost) are not correct (from the society’s point of view) Traditional belief: Government to step in to ensure efficient resource allocation And to protect the interest of bystanders as well 3 Negative Externality Negative Externality: the effect on bystanders is adverse Example: the neighbor’s barking dog talking on cell phone while driving makes the roads less safe for others health risk to others from second-ha nd smoke noise pollution from construction projects 4 Pollution: A Negative ExternalityFirms burn huge quantities of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, oil) that cause acid rain and global warming Firms dump toxic waste into rivers, lakes, and oceans These environmental issues are simultaneously everybody’s problem and nobody’s problem 5 Pollution: A Negative Externality Example of negative externality: Air pollution from factory Firm does not bear the full cost of its production, so will produce more than the socially efficient quantity How govt may improve the market outcome: Impose a corrective tax on the firm equal to the external cost of the pollution it generates 6 Recap of Welfare EconomicsP $5 4 3 $2. 50 2 1 0 The market for gasoline The market eqm maximizes consumer + producer surplus. Supply curve shows private cost, the costs directly incurred by sellers Demand curve shows private value, the value to buyers (the prices they are willing to pay) 0 10 20 25 30 Q (gallons) 7 Analysis of a Negative Externality Key: distinguish private and social costs Private costs and social costs diverge in the presence of externality Producer concerns private cost, which neglect the external cost (pollution cost) Social cost represents the resource cost to a society social cost = private cost + external cost 8Analysis of a Negative Externality P $5 4 3 2 1 0 The market for gasoline Social cost =private+ external cost external cost 0 External cost = value of the negative impact on bystanders = $1 per gallon (value of harm Supply (private cost) from smog, greenhouse gases) 10 20 30 Q (gallons) 9 Analysis of a Negative Externality P $5 4 3 2 D 1 0 The market for gasoline Social cost S The socially The socially optimal quantity optimal quantity is 20 gallons. is 20 gallons.At any Q < 20, At any Q < 20, value of additional gas value of additional gas exceeds social cost exceeds social cost At any Q > 20, At any Q > 20, social cost of the social cost of the last gallon is last gallon is greater than its value greater than its value 10 0 10 20 25 30 Q (gallons) Analysis of a Negative Externality P $5 4 3 2 D 1 0 The market for gasoline Mkt eqm (Q = 25) Social cost is greater than social optimum S (Q = 20) overproduction resulted in DWL (red triangle) One solution: impose a corrective tax of $1/gallon on sellers, shift supply curve up $1 11 0 10 20 25 30 Q (gallons) Internalizing the ExternalityInternalizing the externality: altering incentives so that people take account of the external effects of their actions previous example: $1/gallon tax on sellers makes sellers’ costs equal to social costs When market participants must pay social costs, the market eqm matches the social optimum. Imposing the tax on buyers would achieve the same outcome: market Q will equal optimal Q 12 Summary For Pollution: A Negative Externality With negative externality, QMarket >QSocial Optium firms over-produce (DWL exist) Remedy: The government can intern alize the externality by imposing corrective tax Price tax S’ SQ = Qmarket = initial eqm Q’ = QSocial Optium = eqm after tax D Q’ Q Quantity 13 Externality in Consumption Consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and gasoline (private driving) all create negative externality to the society Got impose a heavy corrective tax on these goods to alter the incentives of customers, in order to mitigate of negative externality 14 Corrective Tax Rate (Levy / Charges) in HK Alcohol: 100% tax rate for alcohol with strength of more than 30% by volume Cigarettes: $1. 7 / each cigarette, tax for a pack of 20-stick cigarettes = $34 70% of the selling price of $50 / pack Leaded petrol: $6. 823/ litre, unleaded petrol: $6. 6/ litre About 40% of the selling price of each litre of gasoline 15 Example: Gasoline Tax Targets 3 Negative Externalities Congestion: the more you drive, the more you contribute to congestion Accidents: larger vehicles cause more damage in an accident Pollution: burn ing fossil fuels produces greenhouse gases 16 Case Study: Environmental Levy on Plastic Shopping Bags in HK Survey indicates that some 8 billion (8,000,000,000) plastic shopping bags are disposed of at landfills every year in HK This translates into more than 3 plastic shopping bags per person per day, which apparently go beyond our needs 7 Case Study: Environmental Levy on Plastic Shopping Bags in HK Address the problem of abuse, gov introduced an levy of $0. 5 HKD on each plastic shopping bag at the retail level Estimated negative externality of each plastic bag = ? 18 Positive Externality Positive Externality: the effect on bystanders is beneficial Example: When you get a flu vaccination, everyone you come into contact with benefits Research and Development (R&D) creates knowledge others can use Renovating your house increases neighboring property values Restores of historical building 19 Positive Externalities from EducationA more educated population benefits society: lower crim e rates: educated people have more opportunities, so less likely to rob and steal better government: educated people make better-informed voters People do not consider these external benefits when deciding how much education to â€Å"purchase† 20 Positive Externalities from Education Result: market eqm Q of education too low How govt may improve the market outcome: subsidize cost of education In the presence of a positive externality, the social value of a good includes private value: the direct value to buyers external benefit: the value of the positive impact on bystanders 21Analysis of a positive externality P The market for flu shots $50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 S D External benefit = $10/shot Draw the social value curve. Find the socially optimal Q. What policy would internalize this externality? Q 22 Analysis of a positive externality P The market for flu shots $50 40 30 20 10 0 0 10 20 25 30 external benefit S Mkt eqm Q = 20 Social optimal Q = 25 underproduction result ed in DWL (red triangle) Social value = private value + external benefit D To internalize the externality, use Q subsidy = $10/shot. 23Case Study: Innovation and Technology Policy in HK Should government subsidize high tech companies? Pros: Spillover effects International competitiveness Cons: Potential misallocation of public resource Potential problems of unfairness & corruption 24 Case Study: Innovation and Technology Policy in HK Eg: Cyberport IT project? 25 Summary: Corrective Tax and Subsidy to Deal With Externalities If negative externality market produces a larger quantity than is socially desirable If positive externality market produces a smaller quantity than is socially desirable 6 Summary: Corrective Tax and Subsidy to Deal With Externalities remedy the problem: â€Å"internalize the externality† tax goods with negative externalities ideal corrective tax = external cost subsidize goods with positive externalities ideal corrective subsidy = external benefit 27 Pri vate Solutions to Externalities? Government intervention is always controversial Major concerns of government intervention include fairness and efficiency The market does develop some possible solutions to externality over time 28 Private Solutions to Externalities?Social norms / moral codes Eg: littering Mergers Eg: MTR as a property developer Contracts between market participants and the affected bystanders However: If an externality affects many people, contract negotiation is virtually impossible 29 Public Policies Toward Negative Externalities Market-based policies provide incentives so that private decisionmakers will choose to solve the problem on their own Corrective Tax Tradable Pollution Permits 30 Public Policies Toward Negative Externalities Command-and-control policies: Regulation regulate behavior directly.Examples: limits on quantity of pollution emitted requirements that firms adopt a particular technology to reduce emissions 31 Policy Option: Example â€Å"Ace Elec tric† and â€Å"Billy Power† both are running coal-burning power plants Each emits 40 tons of sulfur dioxide per month SO2 causes acid rain & other health issues Policy goal: reducing SO2 emissions 25% to 60 tons/month 32 Policy Option: Regulation Vs Corrective Tax Policy options 1. regulation: require each plant to cut emissions by 25% 2. corrective tax: make each plant pay a tax on each ton of SO2 emissions. Set tax at level that achieves goal. 33Policy Option: Regulation Vs Corrective Tax Under Policy option 1, regulation, firms have no incentive to reduce emissions beyond the 25% target Suppose cost of reducing emissions is lower for â€Å"Ace Electric† than for â€Å"Billy Power† Socially efficient outcome: â€Å"Ace Electric† reduces emissions more than â€Å"Billy Power† 34 Policy Option: Regulation Vs Corrective Tax Corrective tax is a price on the right to pollute Under policy option 2, tax on emissions gives firms incentive to conti nue reducing emissions as long as cost of doing so is less than the tax If a cleaner technology available, tax gives firms incentive to adopt it Tax payment is money!So, corrective taxes enhance efficiency by aligning private with social incentives 35 Policy Option: Tradable Pollution Permits Recall: â€Å"Ace Electric† and â€Å"Billy Power† each emit 40 tons SO2, total of 80 tons. Goal: reduce 25% emissions to 60 tons/month Policy option 3: Tradable Pollution Permits issue 60 permits, each allows its holder to emit one ton of SO2 give 30 permits to each firm establish market for trading permits 36 Policy Option: Tradable Pollution PermitsEach firm can choose among these options: emit 30 tons of SO2, using all its permits emit < 30 tons, sell unused permits buy additional permits so it can emit > 30 tons 37 Policy Option: Tradable Pollution Permits A system of tradable pollution permits achieves goal at lower cost than regulation Firms with low cost of reducing pollut ion (Ace Electric) sell whatever permits they can Firms with high cost of reducing pollution (Billy Power) buy permits Result: incentive to reduce pollution: permit = money 38Tradable Pollution Permits in the Real World Emission of greenhouse gases causes the global warming The primary greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is the emission of carbon dioxide Carbon emissions trading is a form of emissions trading that specifically targets carbon dioxide 39 Tradable Pollution Permits in the Real World Carbon emissions permits traded in Europe since January 1, 2005 Recall: permit = money Firms will have strong incentive to reduce carbon emissions 40

Yellow Journalism essays

War of Deception/ Yellow Journalism essays Newspapers are a major influence on the way people perceive the world. It is a source which connects readers to many different topics of interest. Newspapers have also become a competitive business. With a desire to increase circulation and obtain more advertising revenue, a different type of journalism was developed in the late 1900s. The press industry began to evolve into a media that had not been seen before. Critics were labeling this new style of publishing all types names such as jingoism, sensationalism, and as it is wildly known today, yellow journalism. Many battles between publishers to get the first scope of a story created a market that would become almost fictional and have serious consequences on the stability of society. The first most notable incident was the Spanish-American War, known as the Newspaper War. With the use of sensationalism and yellow journalism the newspaper industry exploited the American population and government to instigate a declaration of war on Spain. In the mid-1890s, Joseph Pulitzer (New York World) and William Hearst (San Francisco Examiner) transformed newspapers with sensational and scandalous news coverage. This turned the high drama of life into a cheap melodrama and led to stories being twisted into the forms best suited for sales by the hollering newsboy at the corner of every New York intersection. The main event in the press was the growing controversy in Cuba. Cuba and Puerto Rico were the only remnants of Spain's once vast empire in the New World (Brenan 211). The Spanish government was using unconventional and sometimes brutal methods to control the uprising in Cuba. Stories about the Cuban rebellion sold papers, and continued to appear. Every little bit of Cuban turmoil drew public attention. Newspapers started reporting atrocities and many mass executions of prisoners and sympathizers in detention camps. Although some of the reported e...

The Disuniting of America essays

The Disuniting of America essays Those who want to join America must be received and welcomed by those who already thnk they own America. ... Not only must they want assimiliation and integration; we must want assimilation and integration too. With the complacent majority than with the beleaguered minorities. (pg24) Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Who Schlesinger was referring to by they are the minorities and the new immigrants to the United States of America. And when he said we he was referring to the people who consider themselves Americans. We do have the power to make this a just land for all but, the question is will we ever do that? The Constitution has rights for everyone supposedly. The constitution was initially written for the rich white man and this will never change unless the people do something about it. Yes, I agree with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. that we must except everyone and strive to be one people. How can we say that we are moving in the direction of becoming one people when there is still segregation going on. I am not saying that segregation is going on like it was after the African Americans were freed from slavery, it is going on in other forms that are not very easy to see. For example if it is a rich area they will have the best schools and education. Those people will get further in life and the people that live in a rundown neighborhood will get a very low form of education and will not succeed they will always stay at the bottom. How can all the schools in Oakland in the rundown areas, where the majority of the students are African Americans, do not have good schools. Why is there a difference between the schools in Oakland and lets say Pleasanton, which is a dominant white area. These are all public schools so why are the standards so different. When you walk in to a school in Oakland it will be mostly minoritie ...