...What Makes Countries Rich or Poor? by Jared Diamond |The New York Review of Books. I find the topic extremely fascinating: why do some nations prosper, and improve the life of their citizens, and others fail? Why do some nations have better education, while others are still in endless search of their identity? Some people in modern political economy say that countries succeed because of their natural resources and their control over others. This article brings us to take a closer look in order to answer this question. Idea of the right economic institutions is vital has long been recognized, but what authors want to emphasize is the critical role of politics. At the beginning of the article authors try to show us the differences between the past and the present political institutions of the U.S and of Mexico have a lot to do with the differences in prosperity. The two cities share the same climate, the same geology, pretty much the same ethnicity, and yet the Northern city is a couple of times as wealthy as its Southern companion. Authors argue that an inclusive political system (equal opportunities and respect of property rights) will allow for an inclusive economic system. Furthermore, I think, article leads us to the conclusion that it might be helpful to have natural resources, but it is much more important what the people do with those resources. Authors are trying to point out the failings and inconsistencies with the existing theories (geography hypothesis...
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...In the book War and Change in World Politics, Robert Gilpin presents a rationalist and realistic argument for international relations. The argument is that an international system is created because actors create social, political and economical structures to advance their interests. The structure reflects the interests of those who are most dominant in the system. The structure will inevitably change due to many reasons that are provided throughout the book. Robert Gilpin succeeds in providing support for his main argument by applying his theories to many examples in history. His reasoning in supporting his argument were clear, concise and easy to follow, which made the book a pleasurable read. The book starts out by providing four assumptions, which divides the book into 4 sections. In each section Gilpin provides examples that are heavily rational and applicable. This division made the book easy to follow and helped readers to understand how each assumption supported the argument. Each assumption was used to support the main argument of the book. The first assumption that was used is “An international system is stable if no state believes it profitable to attempt to change the system.” (Gilpin, page 11). Gilpins approach to support this assumption is of a realist approach. Gilpin starts out by supporting his argument through deductive reasoning. These reasons are carried out in an informative manner that can be easily supported by historical events and examples. As he...
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...Intellectual Genocide: An Essay Review of IQ and the Wealth of Nations Girma Berhanu Göteborg University Sweden Lynn, Richard & Vanhanen, Tatu. (2002). IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Westport, CT: Praeger. Citation: Berhanu, Girma. (2007). Black intellectual genocide: An essay review of IQ and the Wealth of Nations. Education Review, 10(6). Retrieved [date] from http://edrev.asu.edu/essays/v10n6index.html. Abstract I review the book IQ and the Wealth of Nations, written by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. I critique the authors’ major assertion that a significant part of the gap between rich and poor countries is due to differences in national intelligence. The authors claim that they have evidence that differences in national IQ account for substantial variation in per capita income and growth of a nation. This essay review debunks their assumptions that intellectual and income differences between nations stem from genetic differences. This critique provides an extended review of the research literature that argues against these assumptions and presents a different picture from that presented by Lynn and Vanhanen about the concept of intelligence, what IQ measures and does not measure. The essay exposes the racist, sexist, and antihuman nature of the research tradition in which the authors anchored their studies and the deep methodological flaws and theoretical assumptions that appear in their book. The low standards of scholarship evident in the book render it largely irrelevant...
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...A Review of Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail by Michele Boldrin, David K. Levine and Salvatore Modica Acemoglu and Robinson’s Why Nations Fail [2012] is a grand history in the style of Diamond [1997] or McNeil [1963]. Like those books, this book is exceptionally fun to read and full of interesting historical examples and provocative ideas. The basic theme of the book is that what matters most in why some nations fail – and others succeed, for the book is as much about success as failure – are not – as earlier authors have argued - economic policies, geography, culture, or value systems – but rather institutions, more precisely the political institutions that determine economic institutions. Acemoglu and Robinson theorize that political institutions can be divided into two kinds - “extractive” institutions in which a “small” group of individuals do their best to exploit - in the sense of Marx - the rest of the population, and “inclusive” institutions in which “many” people are included in the process of governing hence the exploitation process is either attenuated or absent. Needless to say Acemoglu and Robinson’s theory is more subtle than this simple summary. They argue that for any economic success political institutions must be sufficiently centralized to provide basic public services including justice, the enforcement of contracts, and education. Given that these functions are carried out, inclusive institutions enable innovative energies to emerge and lead to continuing...
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...post-war. It explains how they thought concerning the outcome of the war. The idea was that the Civil War for the south was an inevitable defeat from the start. The South never really had a chance to win due to the overwhelming circumstances and advantages of the North, but since the confederates were loyal to the cause they fought a hopeless struggle to preserve their honor. This unfortunately, resulted in a shattering defeat for the South. The question of why this mindset was born brings up more questions like, “Why did the South feel the need give the blame or fault to a different party?” and “Did the South subconsciously know think they were guilty and in the wrong?” This cause idolizes Robert E. Lee as their pure, wholesome southern gentleman that they posed as the poster boy of the southern campaign. A popular belief based off of this is “ War was lost, Reconciliation Won” which could be interpreted as a way of The South to feel better about the loss. Lost Cause mythology is the main point of focus in Gallagher’s book “Causes Won, Lost, and Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know about the Civil War.” He highlights this cause in particular to emphasize how Hollywood and pop culture has illustrated to the public its own version of what The Lost Cause is....
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...one side or the other could bring a decision” (Stewart, 2010, pg. 330). This war did not go according to plan and the outcome of this war did not favor America. Many men were killed in this war and other injured from enemy fire and gases that were used during the war. America lost the fight (war) in Vietnam. Between the Government and the landscape of Vietnam made it difficult for America to win the war. There are many reasons why America did not succeed in Vietnam and lost the war. The effect of the Cold War was the Vietnam War. The war was to stop Vietnam from becoming a communist nation. America was out to stop communist from spreading into other countries. The effect of Vietnam becoming a communist country would not affect anyone in the world except Vietnam itself. As Pagel stated, “The actual value of Vietnam as a territory, economy or political presence on the world stage was insignificant” (Pagel, 2012). As an outcome of the war, Vietnam is still a communist nation. America failed to eliminate communism in the nation and that is one factor why America lost the war. When America arrived in Vietnam, they had little help from the South Vietnamese Army and did not have a clear strategy going into this war. As Stewart said, “The South Vietnamese Army, with a strength of about 150,000, was equipped with standard U.S. Army equipment and given the mission of delaying the...
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...Collapse- book is about a history topic about how societies choose to fail or survive. The main characters are historical people and unknown kings of Mayan cities or Easter Island villages. Jared Diamond tells the story of the Viking explorer Erik the Red, who discovered Greeland and Vinland (Terranova, in Canada). Another character is captain Olafsson, a norse sailor who wrote the last news about Greenland in 1410. Another main character is Christopher Columbus, who arrived at Hispaniola in 1492, but now this island is two countries, the Dominican Republic and the Haiti. Diamond studied the politics of two presidents. the dominican Rafael Trujillo, who protected the enviroment and the dictator François, Papa Doc, Duvalier, who decided on politics of deforestatation of his country, Haiti. The author considered the bad politics of another main character, king George II, who was interested in sending merinosheeps from Spain to Australia, an idea which was succesful from 1820 to 1950 but then the farmers understood their lands lost fertility. Another main character is Tokuwaga Jeayasu, a shogun of Japan in 1600, who prohibited Christianity in 1600 and protected his country againt deforestation. The book takes us to a lot of places around the globe: Mayan cities, Rwanda, Viking colonies of Vinland or Greenland, Haiti and Dominican Republic, Easter Island and Polynesian colonies in Pacific, and the Chaco villages in New Mexico (United States). The time period was from 800 AC, when...
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...world. B. While Western countries such as the US and Russia have expressed their reservations about the objectivity of the station, its audiences has only been growing especially among Arabs. Its stance on popularizing Arabic sentiments may be due to its location and the cultural beliefs of its target audience, reporters and owners. Thesis Statement: Using Al Jazeera and the New York Times as primary cases, this paper explores how the location of a media outlet and culture of its primary employees and target audience can affect the ways in which news items are reported. As it was briefly discussed, Al Jazeera’s primary reporting obligations may possibly be to protect the interests of its region and culture. This paper explains how and why media outlets may, perhaps unwillingly, take stances on many matters just because of their locations and cultures. II. Body Paragraphs A. Al Jazeera and its Arabic, Middle East Possible Bias: i. Qatari, and indeed Middle East’s, most popular satellite television, Al Jazeera has been hailed and criticized in equal measure for its daring, high quality and alleged biased (in the case of critics) news coverage. Its reporting of issues in the Middle East is unrivalled while its coverage of global issues with an Arabic twist is also...
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...others. There have been several arguments on whether abortion is morally right or not. The argument follows the opinions generated from the religious followers who are mostly against abortion. Child abandonment, infanticide, and abortion were allowed under the Roman law during the times of Jesus (Bokenkotter 1990). It is surprising to find that Jesus never addressed the case since for Christians to read. Even if He did, it was never documented. This concern can make a Christian fail to know whether abortion is condemned by God or not. From the Bible, there is no clear evidence on whether abortion is moral or immoral. However, drawing lessons from some of the verses in the bible clearly indicates that the practice of abortion violates the moral obligations. A good example is from the book of Jeremiah in the Bible, in chapter one from verse four to five, which say that before the birth of Jeremiah, the Lord had consecrated him. The Load had already chosen prophet Jeremiah to be a famous prophet to the nations. God Himself new Jeremiah as a human being before birth and considered him to live in order to carry out His mission. God could not have allowed Jeremiah to die. Biblically it is immoral to kill. However, the scientific view on abortion may be different from the biblical view. The scientists have argued that although abortion termed immorally; the criticism is not evidence based. Their view is that, however much a fetus is considered a human being; it may not be true. The reason...
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...others. There have been several arguments on whether abortion is morally right or not. The argument follows the opinions generated from the religious followers who are mostly against abortion. Child abandonment, infanticide, and abortion were allowed under the Roman law during the times of Jesus (Bokenkotter 1990). It is surprising to find that Jesus never addressed the case since for Christians to read. Even if He did, it was never documented. This concern can make a Christian fail to know whether abortion is condemned by God or not. From the Bible, there is no clear evidence on whether abortion is moral or immoral. However, drawing lessons from some of the verses in the bible clearly indicates that the practice of abortion violates the moral obligations. A good example is from the book of Jeremiah in the Bible, in chapter one from verse four to five, which say that before the birth of Jeremiah, the Lord had consecrated him. The Load had already chosen prophet Jeremiah to be a famous prophet to the nations. God Himself new Jeremiah as a human being before birth and considered him to live in order to carry out His mission. God could not have allowed Jeremiah to die. Biblically it is immoral to kill. However, the scientific view on abortion may be different from the biblical view. The scientists have argued that although abortion termed immorally; the criticism is not evidence based. Their view is that, however much a fetus is considered a human being; it may not be true. The reason...
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...Capitalist and Free Trade Name: University: Instructor: Course: Date: Capitalist and Free Trade “The primary reason that nearly 1 billion people have been taken out of extreme poverty in the past 20 years has been capitalism and free trade” This is according to an Economist article “Towards the End of Poverty” (June 1st 2013) which claimed that the global poverty has gone down due to economic growth that has been seen certain nations. Nations like China and India are a good example, their standards of living has developed tremendously as well as the conditions of people in those countries. The article is of the belief that Africa should be the next region to experience growth and good standards of living (Singh, 2009, 874). Nations like Nigeria, and Ghana are examples of countries in Africa with good standards of living which is attributed to trade and investment. Similarly, the countries are putting much effort in doing away with social issues that connected to below par education, health and communications (Gibbs, and Leech, 2009, 186). The article goes on to state that in the year 2050, ‘extreme poverty’ would be something that is non-existent. The article goes to discourage anti-capitalists from complaining regarding the negative issues arising from free trade and markets. They called upon to allow capitalist to grow as it has been noticed as a success in the 21st century. With no regard accorded to the massive contrast of wealth in today’s world, the millions...
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...Adamson University San Marcelino Street, Ermita, Manila Efficient and Effective Ways on How to Pass the CPA Licensure Examination In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in English Communication 2 Presented by: Dela Cruz, Mark Kelvin M. Sumbo, Sherelyn T. Presented to: Prof. Mariedith B. Garcia March 17, 2014 Chapter 1 Introduction CPA board exam is an examination administered to graduates of Accountancy course who wish to become a Certified Public Accountant. Certified Public Accountant is a statutory title given to the qualified accountants and those who have met additional education and experience requirements for certification as CPA. They are also the one who has an adept knowledge in providing public attestation and opinions on financial statements. Every accountant who finished their bachelor’s degree must take the CPA board exam if they want to bring up their profession in another level. The CPA examination is designed to test the entry-level knowledge and skills necessary to protect the public interest. This examination is one of many screening devices to assure the competence of those licensed to perform the attest function and to render professional accounting services. Passing the CPA examination or being a Certified Public Accountant means you are in the forefront of your profession. You are capable enough to render professional service in any of the major fields of work in a business like an auditor, tax consultant, controller and the like. A CPA serves...
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... | |A Requirement for Paul Amerigo Pajo’s IT-Ethic Class | |De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde | Abstract This book is a consolidated collection of opinions on the Ethical Theories, a chapter from a book assigned to the students of IT-Ethic Section O0B, advised by Mr. Paul Amerigo Pajo. Works written by James Rachels, John Arthur, Friedrich Nietzche and the like are studied and analyzed and some are criticized by the author of this book. Dedication I dedicate this book to the following: My dearest family, who always believes in me; My sweetest friends, who never fails to keep me sane in this crazy world; Lastly, I dedicate this book to the Almighty Father, for everything else is nothing without You. Chapter I Egoism and Moral Scepticism James Rachels Amazon Reference: http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Moral-Problems-James-White/dp/0495553204/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1235694270&sr=8-1 Quote: But suppose we were to concede, for the sake of the argument, that all voluntary action is motivated by the agent’s wants, or at least that Smith is so motivated. Even if this were granted, it would not follow that...
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...Upon reading Nina Munk’s assessment of Jeffrey Sachs’ objective to end extreme poverty on a global scale, The Idealist, a few nuances drew my attention. Firstly, Sachs’ deep belief that extreme poverty could be completely eradicated, and his unrelenting motivation to see it through; and secondly, his point-blank illustration that with enough money, anything is possible. He unwaveringly appeals for copious amounts of money that seem unreasonable, but are in fact a trivial amount when considering the wealth within developed nations; he successfully draws our attention to the solution of “our” wealth in addition to the problem of “their” poverty. His suggestions for economic development hold the assumption that developing nations cannot be left to see their own economic result; therefore, charity-centric economic models are his ideal solution to global poverty. Though Sachs’ work successfully illustrates an innate economic interconnectedness between the developed and developing world in regards to the relationship between international organizations, government agencies, donors, and domestic citizens, he does not completely explore the implications of this interconnectedness on the success or failure of foreign development aid. Munk illustrates that Sachs does not adequately prepare for inherent problems such as failing legal devices, political incoherence, and inefficient capital accumulation. Further, Sachs does not sufficiently address the prevailing cultural, social and educational...
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...1. (TCO B) Your company has developed a new educational electronic game. Your target market is 4-6 year old children. What research methods would you use to test this product concept? Choose at least three methods that you believe will provide valuable information, and describe your research strategy. (Points: 22) Our company has developed a new educational electronic game that is targeted to children age 4-6 years old. The following research methods will be used in order to test the product among the targeted consumer market. the company will use a combination of observational research, Internet surveys research and personal interviews. Observational research will be collected in order to see the human component this will show how children will be interacting with the product. The researcher will enter the situation and observe the behavior while recording the data. Several observers will work at the same time to establish inter-observer reliability this will reduce bias as to one point of view. By watching these physical inter-actions, the observer can better understand how the product will be perceived and how consumers will use it. This knowledge will lead designers to improve the product as well as answer a variety of research questions. Internet survey research will be gathered from the parents of children ages 4 to 6 years old, this data will reveal their preferences and beliefs and essentially how they feel about educational electronics games. The survey will...
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