History Of Baseball Essays (1008 words) - Jackie Robinson

History Of Baseball History of Baseball Baseball seems always to have lived more in myth that in history. Children in England and the United States had been playing variants of the game for years such as rounders, one o cat, and base. In 1845, some young men in Manhattan organized themselves into the Knickerbockers BaseBall Club and wrote down the rules of the game they were playing. Twenty years later dozens of baseball clubs in New York and Brooklyn, and their journalist brethren, had made what they called the national pastime more popular than cricket, and the metropolis had become the countrys first baseball powerhouse. As baseball clubs were transformed into entertainment businesses and instruments of civic boosterism, so grew their need for first-rate players who could attract paying crowds. The remarkable undefeatable season of the national touring Cincinnati Red Stockings in 1869 paved the way for baseballs full-blown professionalization in the 1876 formation of the National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. Although distinctions between players and their clubs (now really small businesses) had been hardening for years, the National League formalized the division, which has continued until today. (Leal, 7-27) Baseball soon outdistanced other spectator sports in popularity and contributed to the sports boom of the 1880s and 1890s. Late nineteenth-century baseball resembled the Gilded Age business world. Owners moved the clubs frequently, while rival leagues sprung up and competed for players and spectators. The National League either defeated its opponents outright or incorporated them into a subordinate national structure of minor leagues. Not until 1901 was the National League force to accept the American League, the only other surviving major league. Leagues controlled access to spectators by granting franchises. Owners and leagues controlled the players through labor practices that combined elements of chattel slavery (the infamous reserve rule) and freewheeling industrial capitalism: blacklisting, fines, salary limits, and reductions, even the use of Pinkerton spies. The reserve clause, initiated in 1879 and inserted into every players contract, gave his employer the right to reserve his services for the following year, unless the player was traded, sold, or released from his contract. Players fought the reserve rule, most notably when the Brotherhood of Professional BaseBall Players launched its own Players League in 1890. When the players financial backers sold them out to the National League, baseball owners triumphed and ruled organized baseball virtually unchallenged for eighty-five years. They were aided by a series of bizarre Supreme Court rulings that baseball was not interstate commerce and therefore not bound by federal antitrust law. In 1975 and arbitrator ruled that the reserved clause applied for only one year and players, as free agents, regained their negotiating power; salaries quickly reached unheard-of levels. Owners retaliated in 1981 but were soundly defeated by a players strike. (Smith, 124) Then in the late 1980s they conspired (illegally, an arbitrator held) to limit salary offers to free agents. After a twenty-year period of franchise movement, league expansions, and the creation of divisions within leagues, baseball became organizationally stable again in the late 1970s. Attendance grew dramatically throughout the 1980s, more people attended major league baseball games (over 50 million per year at the end of the decade) than at any other time in the games history. Baseball has been Americas most popular sport for so long mainly because it has successfully straddled some of the nations most important cultural divisions. Though it was born among the respectable working class and sporting middle class, the games cultural antecedents lay in the boisterous street culture of saloon-based volunteer fire companies, militias, theater partisans, street gangs, and political factions. The National League explicitly appealed to more middle-class audiences by requiring its teams t o charge fifty cents, ban the sale of alcohol, and refuse to play Sundays. ( Leal ,44) The rival American Association appealed to immigrant and working class audiences by charging a quarter, selling liquor, and playing Sunday ball. Despite the outrage with which baseball officials and writers treat baseballs occasional betting scandals (in 1865 and 1877 as well as more famously in the 1919 Black Sox scandal and the 1989 banishment of Pete Rose), the game has never been completely free of the sporting underworld of gambling and low life. Even though

Biography of Porfirio Diaz of Mexico, Ruler of Mexico

Biography of Porfirio Diaz of Mexico, Ruler of Mexico Porfirio Dà ­az (September 15, 1830–July 2, 1915,) was a Mexican general, president, politician, and dictator. He ruled Mexico with an iron fist for 35 years, from 1876 to 1911. His period of rule, referred to as the Porfiriato, was marked by great progress and modernization, and the Mexican economy boomed. The benefits were felt by very few, however, as millions of peons labored in virtual slavery. He lost power in 1910–1911 after rigging an election against Francisco Madero, which brought about the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). Fast Facts: Porfirio Diaz Known For: Ruler of Mexico for 35 yearsAlso Known As: Josà © de la Cruz Porfirio Dà ­az MoriBorn: September 15, 1830 in Oaxaca, MexicoParents: Josà © Faustino Dà ­az Orozco, Marà ­a Petrona Mori Cà ³rtà ©sDied: July 2, 1915 in Paris, FranceAwards and Honors: Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, First Class Condecoration of the Imperial Order of the Double Dragon, Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands LionSpouse(s): Delfina Ortega Dà ­az (m.  April 7, 1867–April 8, 1880), Carmen Romero Rubio (m.  November 5, 1881–July 2, 1915)Children: Porfirio Dà ­az Ortega, Luz Victoria Dà ­az  Notable Quote: It was better that a little blood should be shed that much blood should be saved. The blood that was shed was bad blood; the blood that was saved was good blood. Early Military Career Porfirio Dà ­az was born a mestizo, or of mixed Indian-European heritage, in the state of Oaxaca on September 15, 1830. He was born into extreme poverty and never even reached complete literacy. He dabbled in law, but in 1855 he joined a band of liberal guerrillas who were fighting a resurgent Antonio Là ³pez de Santa Anna. He soon found that the military was his true vocation and he stayed in the army, fighting against the French and in the civil wars that wracked Mexico in the mid-to-late 19th century. He found himself aligned with the liberal politician and rising star Benito Jurez, although they were never personally friendly. The Battle of Puebla On May 5, 1862, Mexican forces under General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated a much larger and better-equipped force of invading French outside the city of Puebla. This battle is commemorated every year by Mexicans on Cinco de Mayo. One of the key players in the battle was young general Porfirio Dà ­az, who led a cavalry unit. Although the Battle of Puebla only delayed the inevitable French march into Mexico City, it did make Dà ­az famous and cemented his reputation as one of the best military minds serving under Juarez. Dà ­az and Jurez Dà ­az continued to fight for the liberal side during the brief rule of Maximilian of Austria (1864–1867) and was instrumental in reinstating Juarez as President. Their relationship was still cool, however, and Dà ­az ran against Juarez in 1871. When he lost, Dà ­az rebelled, and it took Juarez four months to put the insurrection down. Amnestied in 1872 after Juarez died suddenly, Dà ­az began plotting his return to power. With the support of the United States and the Catholic Church, he brought an army into Mexico City in 1876, removing President Sebastin Lerdo de Tejada and seizing power in a dubious â€Å"election.† Don Porfirio in Power Don Porfirio would remain in power until 1911. He served as president the entire time except for the period of 1880–1884 when he ruled through his puppet Manuel Gonzlez. After 1884, he dispensed with the farce of ruling through someone else and re-elected himself several times, occasionally needing his hand-picked Congress to amend the Constitution to allow him to do so. He stayed in power through deft manipulation of the powerful elements of Mexican society, giving each just enough of the pie to keep them happy. Only the poor were excluded entirely. The Economy Under Dà ­az Dà ­az created an economic boom by allowing foreign investment to develop Mexicos vast resources. Money flowed in from the United States and Europe, and soon mines, plantations, and factories were built and humming with production. The Americans and British invested heavily in mines and oil, the French had large textile factories, and the Germans controlled the drug and hardware industries. Many Spanish came to Mexico to work as merchants and on the plantations, where they were despised by the poor laborers. The economy boomed and many miles of railway track was laid to connect all of the important cities and ports. The Beginning of the End Cracks began appearing in the Porfiriato in the first years of the 20th century. The economy went into a recession and miners went on strike. Although no voices of dissent were tolerated in Mexico, exiles living abroad, primarily in the southern United States, began organizing newspapers, writing editorials against the powerful and crooked regime. Even many of Dà ­az supporters were growing uneasy because he had picked no heir to his throne. They worried about what would happen if he left or died suddenly. Madero and the 1910 Election In 1910, Dà ­az announced that he would allow fair and free elections. Isolated from reality, he believed he would win any fair contest. Francisco I. Madero, a writer and spiritualist from a wealthy family, decided to run against Dà ­az. Madero didnt really have any great, visionary ideas for Mexico; he just naively felt that the time had come for Dà ­az to step aside, and he was as good as anyone to take his place. Dà ­az had Madero arrested and stole the election when it became apparent that Madero would win. Madero was freed, fled to the United States, declared himself the winner, and called for an armed revolution. Revolution and Death Many heeded Maderos call. In Morelos, Emiliano Zapata had been fighting the powerful landowners for a year or so already and quickly backed Madero. In the north, bandit leaders-turned-warlords Pancho Villa and Pascual Orozco took to the field with their powerful armies. The Mexican army had decent officers, as Dà ­az had paid them well, but the foot soldiers were underpaid, sickly, and poorly trained. Villa and Orozco routed the Federals on several occasions, growing ever closer to Mexico City with Madero in tow. In May 1911, Dà ­az knew he had been defeated and was allowed to go into exile. Diaz died just four years later, on July 2, 1915, in Paris, France. Legacy Porfirio Dà ­az left a mixed legacy in his homeland. His influence is undeniable: with the possible exception of the dashing, brilliant madman Santa Anna, no one has been more important to the history of Mexico since the countrys independence. On the positive side of the Dà ­az ledger must be his accomplishments in the areas of the economy, safety, and stability. When he took over in 1876, Mexico was in ruins after years of disastrous civil and international wars. The treasury was empty, there were a mere 500 miles of train track in the whole nation, and the country was essentially in the hands of a few powerful men who ruled sections of the nation like royalty. Dà ­az unified the country by paying off or crushing these regional warlords, encouraged foreign investment to restart the economy, built thousands of miles of train tracks, and encouraged mining and other industries. His policies were wildly successful and the nation he left in 1911 was completely different from the one he inherited. This success came at a high cost for Mexicos poor, however. Dà ­az did very little for the lower classes: he did not improve education, and health was only improved as a side effect of improved infrastructure primarily meant for business. Dissent was not tolerated and many of Mexicos leading thinkers were forced into exile. Wealthy friends of Dà ­az were given powerful positions in government and were allowed to steal land from Indian villages without any fear of punishment. The poor despised Dà ­az with a passion, which exploded into the Mexican Revolution. The Revolution, too, must be added to Dà ­az balance sheet. His policies and mistakes ignited it, even if his early exit from the fracas can excuse him from some of the later atrocities that took place. Most modern Mexicans view Dà ­az more positively and tend to forget his shortcomings and see the Porfiriato as a time of prosperity and stability, albeit somewhat unenlightened. As the Mexican middle class has grown, it has forgotten the plight of the poor under Dà ­az. Most Mexicans today know the era only through the numerous telenovelas- Mexican soap operas- that use the dramatic time of the Porfiriato and Revolution as a backdrop for their characters. Sources Herring, Hubert. A History of Latin America From the Beginnings to the Present. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962.McLynn, Frank. Villa and Zapata: A History of the Mexican Revolution. New York: Carroll and Graf, 2000.â€Å"Quotes by Porfirio Diaz.†Ã‚  AZ Quotes.

Capstone community health improvement project Assignment

Capstone community health improvement project - Assignment Example Drug abuse is historically a real problem in United States. Drug abuse affects both the individual and the society. In United States, statistics for overall cost of drug abuse in terms of health, productivity and crime related costs rise above $600 billion per annum with alcohol taking a staggering portion of about $235 billion. Unfortunately, these high figures cannot fully describe the far reaching effect of drug abuse in the society in terms of child abuse, loss of employment, family disintegration and general loss of hope in life (national institute of drug abuse, 2009) Statement of the problem The United States population is estimated at 314,904,151. Population of Florida stands at 19,057,516 according to The Bureau of economic and Business research Population Program, 2012. Alcohol abuse is a major issue in Florida with 55,278 arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in 2010. Out of 165 people who died in Florida as a result of road accidents, at least one driver had BAC recorded between 0.01% and 0.07%. In 2010, around 110,203 were arrested for illegal drug trafficking and abuse related cases. (DUI-USA.Drink Driving.org). This year, it is estimated that people driving under influence (DUI’s) will be around 83,557 with 994 deaths occurring due to intoxicated driving. It is also estimated that 1,013 deaths will, occur as a result of illicit drug use. According to Department of Children and Families, the local homeless coalitions reported 57,643 residents of Florida in 2010 as homeless .The federal definition of a homeless person is anyone sleeping in a place that is not initially meant for human habitation, a person living in transitional housing for the homeless or a person who originally came from the streets. Any migratory individual living in a place occupied by the homeless is also classified as homeless. Due to the harsh living conditions, the homeless display high levels of drug abuse either to evade the reality of basically becaus e drug abuse itself lead loss of a decent shelter . Apopka is the largest city in Orange County with a population of 40,406 and a median age of 34.1 years. Apopka city has an unemployment rate of about 10.50% which is a representation of a percentage of productive work forces that is not working (Bureau of Economics and Business Research, University of Florida). This unemployed group is vulnerable to drug abuse as well as drug trafficking. People in midlife age especially men are more vulnerable to drug abuse than the larger population. For this reason, the homeless people in the age bracket 30-50 years will be targeted. Mobilization To kick off the mobilization of this project, a selected team of nurses will meet to appoint possible collaborators. Church leaders and community opinion leaders will also be invited to this important meeting. Partners will be selected on the basis of their expertise, ability and willingness to finance the project and involvement in past health projects in the community. Another meeting will be held where all the stakeholders will be invited. In this meeting objectives, mission and vision of the project will be developed. Different stakeholders will also be allocated different roles depending on their expertise and experience. The role of data collection and analysis, project monitoring and evaluation as well as report writing will be allocated to experts from a local university. Resources will also be

Macroeconomics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Macroeconomics - Essay Example ference to the studies conducted by (Krugman and Wells 254) the differences noted above in terms of growth of the livings standards can be attributed to differences in the level of each country’s physical capital which is mainly determined by a country’s level of savings and investment. Secondly, the differences can be attributed to differences in education levels of each country, the technological progress, government policies and the level of political stability that is experienced in each country. Physical capital such as office space and machineries influence long-run economic growth of aggregate output per capita by increasing the productivity of a worker. Human capital also influence long-run economic growth of aggregate output per capita since a well educated and highly trained employee will offer more competitive advantage and increase the value of labor. Thirdly technology influence long-run economic growth of aggregate output per capita by increasing efficiency and effectiveness of production whilst reducing the operating cost. Lastly, according to (Krugman and Wells 251) natural resources do not necessarily influence the long-run economic growth of aggregate output per capita in today’s World as it did in the past centuries. However, it is of essence to note that natural resources have the potential of increasing a country’s foreign exchange income thus influence the long run economic growth of a country that is endowed with natural resources such as min eral deposit and abundant

Violence in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Violence in Schools - Essay Example Whether public or private, unfortunately, the rate of violence is schools is escalating. "School violence exists along a lengthy continuum, at one end marked by minor incidents involving everyday fighting, name-calling, bullying, and minor property destruction and at the other end marked by extortion, rape, homicide, and mass murder." (Gerler and Gerler, 2004, pg. xxxii) To asses the current problem of violence in schools it is necessary to know how big the problem is. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation the statistics for violence in schools and colleges reveals that "Of the 17,065,074 incidents reported through the NIBRS by law enforcement from 2000 to 2004, 558,219 (3.3 percent) occurred at schools." (Noonan and Vavra, 2007) The most offenders belonged to the 13 to 15 age group and the next highest number of offenders was in the 16 to 18 age group. "By looking at only those offenders for whom the age was known, offenders 18 years of age or younger were 4.5 times more likely to be involved in crime at schools than older offenders." (Noonan and Vavra, 2007) Looking at offenders according to gender it was presented that males were more likely to be offenders than females at a 3.3 ratio. In categorizing according to by race, "white offenders accounted for 71.1 percent (280,178); black offenders, 27.4 percent (107,878); and all other race s combined, less than 2 percent (6,117)." (Noonan and Vavra, 2007) Another factor important in understanding the reason why these crimes exist is to examine 'victim-to-offender relationship'. "By far, the relationship type most often reported for crime in schools was Acquaintance, with 107,533 instances occurring during the 5-year study period." (Noonan and Vavra, 2007) All of these statistics combined give us perspective into the current problem of why school violence takes place. It helps us target middle school and high school going children as the group of people who need most attention in battling this type of violence. It also reveals pertinent facts related to gender, race and relationship issues when violence is inflicted. Recently, the issue of violence in school has been getting a lot of attention from the media. The first big incident related to school violence committed by the generation Y's is Columbine where two students went around on a shooting rampage killing about 13 students and a teacher. The incident kindled a huge debate over the use of guns in America and became the inspiration for director Michael Moore documentary Bowling for Columbine. According to psychologist Arnold Lazarus violence occurs due to several reasons once of which is behavior. This aspect of his theory discusses the fact that certain kinds of behavior receive attention. "Extraordinary misbehavior, for example, often elicits significant attention from peers, from teachers and school administrators, and -in especially noteworthy cases- from the media." (Gerler and Gerler, 2004)On the other side of the coin, accomplishments in academia are sometimes not given as much importance. In other words, although school accomplishmen ts get attention they are

Does Austerity Work?

Does Austerity Work? Critically evaluate claims that austerity is the most effective strategy to counter a recession. Austerity is one of the most controversial economic policies, not only because there is an ongoing debate between academics and policy makers about its effectiveness and consequences, but also because it effects the life of millions and have caused many political and social turmoil when implemented. The advocate of this policy argues that it is the most effective and even more; it is the solution regardless of the structure of the economy and the cause of the economic downturn or recession. I will argue that this is not true, and that there are other policy designs that proved effective and delivered good results with less social cost in term of unemployment, social disturbances and welfare reduction. Austerity measures were recommended by policy makers in advanced economies as well as international organizations such as the IMF and the Word Bank. They were prescribed as a remedy in many economics situations and contexts in the developing countries, for example: Latin America sovereign debt crisis and the Asian crisis, furthermore in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007 and the great rescission that followed austerity policies were implemented or advocated in developed economies like UK, USA and part of the debt troubled EU countries referred to as PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) (Blyth, 2013). But it is important to first define what is meant by austerity and what is the underlying economic theory behind it. Usually when economists or policy makers refer to austerity they generally mean the reduction in the structural deficit in the government budget regardless of its effect on the business cycle, and it is also refers to the policy of reducing the size of the public sector in general (Room, 2015). This can be done through lowering the government expenditure (like social and welfare benefits, spending on infrastructure and healthcare, lowering wages, etc.). The underlying economic reasoning behind austerity policy is that high level of public debt is a burden on the future generations because any debt should be paid in the future from budget surpluses raised form tax payers. It also cause higher level of interest rate (due to higher demand by government) which in turn discourage private investment. Accordingly austerity policy by reducing the government expenditure will re duce the public debt, consequently increase confidence in the economy, reduce interest rates and consequently stimulate private investment spending and the economy. A common theme in austerity policy is the believe that government intervention itself through fiscal policy is the source of economic imbalances and it associate crisis with bad public finance management and reckless spending behavior (Wren-Lewis, 2016). The advocate of austerity say that the national economy cannot grow out of debt. Some scholars argue that if the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) is reach 90% for advanced economies, or 60% for emerging economies, the debt will slow down economic growth (Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). In this situation, the economy can easily experience financial crises because the investor confidence will fall, and this will make foreign direct investment become less (Konzelmann, 2014; Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). Another connected idea is that high level of debt means that the government needs to take capital resources from the community to pay for it, and this will also slow the growth of the economy. The national economies with high debt therefore likely to raise interest rates to encourage demand for government bonds, and this will make it more expensive for the public to borrow money. The result of this expense is low consumption and growth, so the economy will steadily decline (Boccia , 2013). The high interest rates also make the currency become more valuable, which means that exports slow down because they become more expensive for international market, and this will also slow down the economy (Patillo et al., 2002). The advocate of austerity therefore argue that high levels of debt will cause the economy to slow down, and say that cutting debt, which austerity does, is the best way to help countries with high debt to achieve growth (Blyth, 2013). There are ample of evidence contradicting the argument that the austerity is always a solution to recession. An analysis of the performance and consequences of such policies suggest that austerity policy in practice led in many instances to worsening the recession and budget deficit mainly due to its blind application and its tendency to ignore the different economic structure for each country, in fact it worsen the symptoms that it designed to cure (Haltom and Lubik, 2013). Lets look at the experience of Spain with austerity. Before the 2007 financial crisis Spain had enjoyed robust economy with long period of growth led by the real estate sector, the budget was actually in surplus at around 2.5% of the GDP. When the crisis of 2007 hit Spain economic vulnerabilities; mainly uncompetitive private sector and the over reliance on real estate sector and excessive borrowing by the private sector. The crisis resulted in lower demand and hence lower tax collection and budget deficit. Furth ermore deterioration in bank assets quality and solvency problem surfaced (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In 2010 Spain like many other troubled EU countries implemented the austerity formula i.e. cut spending. This solution was based on misinterpretation of the crisis cause in Spain (and southern Europe in general) that the crisis is caused by the mismanaged public finances, so not surprisingly was the result, instead of the expansionary austerity Spain got stuck of a vicious circle of lower demand (driven by lower government spending), lower tax collection (revenues), higher unemployment and further deterioration of the financial sector health (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In fact this was the situation of all the EU countries that implemented austerities, as we can show from the economic performance of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) since 2008. For all these countries, austerity made their debt increase, not decline, and economic activity slowed down (Blyth, 2013). In Greece, the ration of debt to GDP grew from 106% to 170% from 2007 to 2012, even though there w as much austerity cuts. The same case happened on Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. The economist Paul Krugman pointed out that the idea of austerity collapsed under the empirical results of the policy of austerity, and he refers to the academic and research body that supported austerity did not stand scrutiny and turned out to be based on dubious statistical methods and sometimes outright mistakes (Krugman, 2015). In similar way, Simon Wren-Lewis (2016) observed that the austerity in Europe was unnecessary outcome of the fiscal contraction. In other words, the European countries could have successfully run a gradual fiscal consolidation accompanied with expansionary monetary policy by the ECB to offset the contractionary effect of the fiscal policy. However in case of Europe in 2010 the interest rates was already at zero and there was no room for expansionary monetary policy (a situation also referred to as liquidity trap), so postponing fiscal consolidation would not just delay austerity but avoid it all together (Wren-Lewis, 2016). It is therefore very clear that austerity cannot be a solution for recessions, but the question is then what can be the cure. If we go back in the recent history of the economic theory and policy we can establish that there have been examples of an alternative economic policy to austerity that has successfully dealt with recessions and restored the economic activity to the growth path. This policy was the Keynesian economic that prevailed for a period of 30 years from the world war II till late 1970s. Keynes model of how the economy works are based on the idea that when there is economic downturn and since business expectation in the recession are low because of the uncertainty only the government has can restore confidence to the economy and the policy recommendation is to increase government spending (expansionary fiscal policy) to boost he general level of economic activity, increase demand and compensate for the lower private demand (Burton, 2016). This is the very opposite of th e idea of austerity, and many economists now argue the same thing. Paul Krugman (2012) is a famous example of this argument. Krugman rejects the idea of austerity, and argues that to help the economy come out of the recession it is necessary for the government to increase debt. The foundation of this argument is the nature of debt. Krugman (2012) says that the economist must consider public debt and private debt as two separate things, rather than just the same. His reason for this idea is that, first, private debt needs to be recompensed, but this is not the issue with government debt. For the governments, it is just necessary to make sure that there is enough tax to cover debts. Another difference is that in private debt the money is owed to someone else, but government debt is money that the government owes to itself and to the country, such as pensions and other requirements (Krugman 2012). If these differences are considered, it becomes clear that in a situation of high personal debt, a good solution is for the government to take on higher debt to help boost the economic activity (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012). Krugman and Eggertsson (2012) argue that fiscal expenditure must be used to maintain employment, productivity and earnings at the time that private debt is decreased, because this will keep the tax earnings up and permit the government to decrease its own debt when the recession is over. Beside, increased financial expansion will work better in a situation where interest rates are lower, because there will be lower crowding out of private business (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012: 1490). In such situations, financial stimulus will therefore boost economic activity and give good growth to GDP, while decreases in public spending will have the opposite effect, slowing growth and bringing GDP down (Holland and Portes, 2012). In this essay, I have shown the foundation of the idea of austerity and explained why the economists who believe it say that it is the solution for the situation of a recession. The advocate of austerity argues that high public debt makes it more expensive to obtain a loan, and this causes the economy to slow. Furthermore, it also causes currency inflation, which causes exports to become more expensive and slows economic activity. FDI also slows down, and all these factors together mean that the economy cannot achieve any development. The solution of austerity is therefore to cut public spending to bring down the public debt. However, the empirical evidence of the effects of austerity measures show that it is not a useful policy to achieve these ends. In countries such as Greece, Spain and others where austerity has been used, austerity has caused the opposite of these results: ratio of debt to GDP gets higher and higher, unemployment rises, economic growth slows, and the recession b ecomes worse. The reason for this fail of austerity to solve the problem is because the advocate of austerity does not differentiate between public debt and private debt, as Krugman (2012) argues. In the recession, if the government takes on more debt through implementing fiscal stimulus, it can stimulate economic activity by allowing people to spend and take loans. This will increase the circulation of capital, which will have many positive effects in bringing about growth. Then, when the private debt level is high and the economy is more active, the government can reduce its financial stimulus to bring down its debt. In both theoretically and empirically, it is clear that austerity cannot solve the problems that cause recession, and it therefore necessary to consider the alternatives. References Dauderstà ¤dt, M. ed., 2013. Alternatives to Austerity: Progressive Growth Strategies for Europe. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Krugman, P., 2015. The austerity delusion. The Guardian, 29. Room, G., 2015. Alternatives to Austerity. Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath. (IPR Spotlight) Haltom, R.C. and Lubik, T.A., 2013. Is Fiscal Austerity Good for the Economy?. Richmond Fed Economic Brief, (Sept), pp.1-5. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_dialogue/@actrav/documents/publication/wcms_158927.pdf Wren-Lewis, S., 2016. A general theory of austerity. BSG Working Paper Series, University of Oxford. Blyth, M., 2013. Austerity: The history of a dangerous idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dellepiane Avellaneda, Sebastian and Hardiman, Niamh (2012) The New Politics of Austerity : Fiscal Responses to Crisis in Ireland and Spain. Working paper. UCD Geary Institute, Dublin. Burton, M., 2016. Is Austerity Necessary?. In The Politics of Austerity (pp. 189-204). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Reinhart, Carmen and Kenneth Rogoff. 2010. Growth in a time of debt. The American Economic Review100(2): 573-578. Konzelmann, Suzanne J. 2014. The Political Economics of Austerity. Cambridge Journal of Economics38(4): 701-741. Boccia, Romina. 2013. How the United States High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans. Backgrounder 2768: 1-8. Pattillo, C.A., Poirson, H. and Ricci, L.A., 2002. External debt and growth (No. 2002-2069). International Monetary Fund. Krugman, Paul. 2012. Nobody Understands Debt. The New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Accessed 28 October 2014. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html?_r=1 Krugman, Paul and Gauti Eggertsson. 2012, Debt, Deleveraging, and the Liquidity Trap: a Fisher-Minsky-Koo approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127(3): 1469-1518. Holland, Dawn and Jonathan Portes. 2012. Self-Defeating Austerity? National Institute Economic Review 222(222): 4-10.

Summary of Project Feasibility

Summary of Project Feasibility Assessing the feasibility of Expanding Services (Revenue Increase), Frequent Shopper Program (Revenue Increase), and Increasing Efficiency enhancements are important for Kudler Fine Foods that will determine the success for the project. A â€Å"feasibility study focuses on helping answer the essential question of should we proceed with the proposed project idea? † (Hofstrand & Holz – Clause, 2009). Operational, technical, and economic feasibilities are what specify the project feasibility analysis. Operationally, the Expanding Services will increase the loyalty and profitability of consumers by providing contest, and cooking classes. This program should integrate into the existing workflow without possessing to make any type of tremendous problems to the operations. The extra advertising should help Kudler Fine Foods revenue to increase by drawing in more consumers. The Frequent Shopper Program would only require little user training therefore, no major issues of computer illiteracy should occur. Frequent Shopper Program will provide high value incentives through a partnership with loyalty points program (Virtual Organization, Kudler Fine Foods, Sales and Marketing). This will enhance the attitudes at the point of sales. Kutler Fine Foods already use a POS server that would be a staging ground for the Frequent Shopper database. Kudler’s operations are to increase efficiency by benchmarking Nordstrom department stores. Employee training programs and integration of new software system will facilitate the effort. Increasing efficiency has developed supplier relations program and has solicited the help of marketing to help roll out the program. The various types of proposed requirements that should be taken into consideration are the hardware and software. Hardware relates to the development of the system and software is for the information database and tracking. TPS/Transaction processing system will capture and record information about the transactions that take place at Kudler’s. MIS/Management information systems will produce reports that management needs for planning. Executive information systems will provide the executives information that will be used for monitoring the competitive environment. Centralize management system hardware, front end web server, loyalty card and store server hardware will help assist the â€Å"Frequent Shopper Program. Economic feasibility is the cost/benefit analysis or CBA. CBA helps to give the project team/management in determining whether or not the proposed program is beneficial to the organization. Because the programs are not going to cause a dramatic increase in cost the company will benefit and be very successful. Reference Hofstrand, d. & Holz – Clause, M. (2009,). What is Feasibility Study? Retrieved April, 2010, from extension. iastate. edu