Saturday, December 28, 2019

To what extent was the Cold War inevitable after the end of World War 2 - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2450 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category History Essay Type Analytical essay Topics: World War 2 Essay Did you like this example? Unless you believe in predeterminism, nothing is inevitable in history. However, some things have a higher probability of happening than others, and this is what this study addresses. It looks at possibilities other than the outcome which occurred and explores why these scenarios did not prevail. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "To what extent was the Cold War inevitable after the end of World War 2?" essay for you Create order It then looks at the actual unfolding of events and the deeper history which led to the Cold War emerging between 1945 and 1947/48. It analyses the factors which inclined the world towards ideological polarisation and evaluates what was the most significant. Several outcomes other than an armed, hostile stand-off could have emerged at the end of World War II. There might have been a hot war, with the vast armies of the Soviet Union pitched against the equally powerful armed might of the Western Allies. Alternatively, there could have been electoral successes and popular uprisings by communist and other radical left-wing movements across Western Europe leading to the coming to power of regimes less willing to take a hostile stance towards the USSR. Thirdly, elections in Eastern Europe might have resulted in Soviet influence stopping at her own borders and hence no Iron Curtain stretching from Stettin to Trieste (Thomas, 1988, 703). Finally, a more cooperative, consensual and less s uspicious approach to diplomacy would possibly have achieved a mutually acceptable rapprochement. Apart from some hot-headed, dyed-in-the-wool anti-communists, such as General George Patton, there was little desire to start up another war against erstwhile allies. For the politicians of the democracies, initiating a new war would have been political suicide. For Stalin, there was little to be gained since he was in control of sufficient east European territory to create a series of buffer states to protect the Soviet Union (Leffler, 1986). Additionally, the USA had developed and demonstrated the use of the atomic bomb, something which the Russians had not yet mastered. Equally significantly, despite Churchills extreme wariness about Soviet post-war intentions in Europe, President Roosevelt was less concerned with ideas of Russian expansionism and he was by far the senior Western partner. He was willing to treat with Stalin, seeing the winning of the war as much more important tha n manoeuvring for later anti-communist geostrategic advantage (Offner, 1999). Despite his death a month before victory in Europe, his cooperative legacy prevailed long enough to make a shooting war with the USSR a non-starter (van Alstein, 2009). The prospect of a much more left-leaning political Europe was a genuine possibility. In Britain, the Labour Party won an overwhelming victory in the 1945 election, while in Italy there was a very real possibility of the Communist Party at the least being a participant in Italys first post-war government. Determined that Italy must remain in the Western camp, President Truman authorised the covert transfer of vast amounts of cash to the anti-communist Christian Democrat Party which proved significant in overcoming the initial broad support for the anti-fascist parties of the left (Mistry, 2014). Even more decisive was the decision to finance and arm the right-wing government in Greece during the civil war which began in 1946. Trumans supp ort came at a crucial moment when it looked like communist forces might prevail. Significantly Stalin chose not to back the insurgents, honouring the agreements reached at Moscow in 1944 and the Yalta Conference of 1945 over spheres of influence in Europe. Similar US aid was extended to Turkey to prevent her entering into any agreement with Russia over defence and access to the Mediterranean. Had things turned out differently in those countries, it might well have strengthened the already powerful communist movements in France and Belgium (Gaddis, 2005; Edwards, 1989). The scenario of elections in the eastern European nations occupied by Soviet forces at the end of the war producing non-communist governments was not impossible, although neither was it likely. Western historians have largely seen the Russians imposing puppet communist governments upon unwilling populaces, but in each country there were strong indigenous communist movements (Theoharis, 1976; Joll, 1973). Once in po wer, however, each regime refused to submit itself for re-election. This was not wholly because of Russian force of arms, but also because these regimes knew that their hold upon power depended on remaining within the Soviet bloc and thus they acquiesced in becoming client states. For Stalin they provided a buffer against what he still saw as a threat from the West to their very existence (Starobin, 1969). After experiencing foreign intervention in the 1917-22 civil war, international ostracism in the subsequent interwar years, and a brutal, genocidal invasion by Germany, it is not altogether surprising that Stalin was somewhat wary. It has been argued by numerous revisionist historians that, in the immediate post-war years, Stalin was seeking rapprochement with the West (Zubok Pleshakov, 1996; Roberts, 1994; Starobin, 1969). This seems persuasive since the Soviet Union was in desperate need of a period of retrenchment after the terrible depredations of the life-or-death struggl e against Nazi invasion which it had just endured. There was a shield-wall of buffer states in place, Stalin was both unwilling and unable to expand any further, no attempt was made to incorporate Finland or Austria into the communist orbit despite having ample opportunity to do so, both the Western Allies and the USSR had demobilised the great bulk of their armed forces by 1948, and the West had been given free rein to impose its preferred political set-up in Italy, Greece and Turkey (Hobsbawm, 1994). Why then did there not emerge a period of international tensionless coexistence? There seems to be two principal reasons for this: the presidency of Harry Truman, and Western (especially American) ideological intransigence. Truman was a truculent, belligerent individual who had little experience of foreign affairs when he became president upon Roosevelts death. He had a very black-and-white, us-and-them view of the world, and despite his lack of knowledge of political belief-system s beyond the USA, was viscerally anti-communist (Costigliola, 2010). Alan Offner described him as a parochial nationalist who lacked the leadership to move America away from conflict and towards dÃÆ' ©tente (1999, 150), seeing his aggressive posturing towards the USSR as a major factor causing Stalin to adopt more hard-line, domineering policies in the Russian zone of influence in eastern Europe. It was during his speech announcing US aid to Turkey and Greece that Truman first enunciated his Policy of Containment towards the Soviet Union. [T]otalitarian regimes imposed upon free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the security of the United Statesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures. (Edwards, 1989, 131) Truman was setting up the USA as the worlds policeman, and in the process was creating the basis of American policy towards the USSR for the next forty years. The Soviet Union was to be treated as an implacable foe, as the ideological antithesis of what America believed it stood for, and as a state intent on undermining democracy and Western civilisation (Roberts, 1991). As such it was an existential threat which must be opposed and contained everywhere and at all times. Some historians have argued that Containment was the wrong term for American/Western aims during the Cold War à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" the goal was in fact the collapse and destruction of the Soviet state and system and its displacement by liberal democratic institutions, whatever the rhetoric about co-existence. (Kimball, 2001, 352) Truman began this policy, marking a distinct break with the consensual approach of his predecessor (Costigliola, 2010). Obsessive anti-communism so permeated successive high-level American thinking that almost all foreign policy was seen in terms of defeating the Ru ssians and their evil doctrines. Joseph Siracusa described the USA developing an increasingly rigid ideological view of the world à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" anti-communist, anti-socialist, anti-leftist à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" that came to rival that of communism. (Siracusa, 2001, 154) The roots of this preoccupation can be traced to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, not so much the events or even the consequences for Russia, but rather the self-proclaimed global mission of fomenting world insurrection against the established order, the propertied classes and liberal capitalism. However, during the interwar years, the USSR was not viewed as a dangerously powerful state, and when Stalin promulgated the policy of socialism in one country there was even less reason to be proactively hostile. Ideological animosity was still intense, but action was confined to trade embargoes and a refusal to recognise the Soviet Union. It was only in 1933 that Roosevelt extended recognition when the threat of fascism appeared much greater than that of communism (Roberts, 1991). As well as the personality and worldview of Truman, events between 1945 and 1948 progressively and cumulatively increased the polarisation and ratcheted up hostility. Among these were the abandonment by Britain and the USA of their commitment to making the Germans pay substantial reparations, something which had been agreed at Yalta and was seen as important and necessary by Russia which had suffered far worse infrastructural and economic damage than the Western Allies. Choosing the option of rehabilitation over repression (Thomas, 1988), the British and Americans merged their occupations areas into the Bizone, then created the Trizone by adding the French sector, introducing a single currency for the whole area. This established a framework for an integrated administrative economic area in the Western sectors, a development advanced greatly in 1947 by the Marshall Plan (Lewkowicz, 2008). The Marshall Plan was not the simple gesture of a generous United States unselfishly seeking to help a debilitated Europe recover. The aim was to create an Open-Door policy within a free-trade Europe where the USA could freely sell its surplus production and invest its huge capital reserves. Money which was offered as aid came with strings attached. What could be bought and from whom was carefully prescribed, the greater part being American-made goods, while the supra-national decision-making body administering the Plan was dominated by the Americans (Roberts, 1994). The Russians, initially welcoming the Plan, quickly recognised its underlying economic and political disadvantages. They saw it creating a design for Europe which would work to the benefit of the USA within an ideologically unacceptable framework, and declined to participate. The creation of the Trizone and its further binding together with Marshall Aid was only one step away from the implementation of political integration. Following the Berlin Blockade, this duly happened in May 1949 with the declaration of the Federal Republic of Germany. Five months later the German Democratic Republic was established (Lewkowicz, 2008; Roberts, 1994). The crystallisation of a bipolar Europe was mirrored in the Far East. As part of a deal struck with Stalin, the Americans were given free rein to restructure both Japan and the Philippines which they turned into compliant pro-American, pro-capitalist states. Korea was divided between the two blocs, while Vietnam was prevented from unifying as one nation under Ho Chi Minh and his nationalist-communist liberation movement by the Americans. Against all the anti-imperial promises of Roosevelt, Truman encouraged the French to return as colonial masters in the South rather than let the country be united under a left-wing regime (Theoharis, 1976; Herring, 1986). Effectively, the USA was engaging in an economic, ideological and military-backed expansionist policy while accusing the USSR of tha t self-same activity. Post-war international relations were always going to tend towards the development of two rival camps, but that is not sufficient to explain the intense hostility which emerged. In early 1945, cooperation was still the dominant paradigm among the Allies, not just to defeat the Axis, but for reasons of future security and peace. Ideological differences were seen more as domestic matters than major shapers of international relations. Soviet expansionism and her claim to zones of influence were regarded largely as conventional Russian nationalist ambitions, and were matched by the Western Allies own zones of influence. However, coinciding with the advent of Truman, suspicions and misreadings of the other sides intentions emerged. Fearing the worst, both began acting upon their misconceived views of the other and started behaving in ways that confirmed their opponents preconceptions, creating self-fulfilling prophecies about what the other would do (van Alstein, 2009). It is not surprising that Stalin acted out of paranoia and suspicion as his domestic record in the late 1920s and 1930s testifies, but Truman was his ideological counterpart in his misreading of Russian intentions and his doggedly anti-communist certainty. William Fulbright summed up the emerging ideological mind-set which would dominate US foreign-policy thinking for four decades and which was the most important factor in creating the reality of the Cold War: Like medieval theologians we had a philosophy that explained everything to us in advance, and everything that did not fit could be readily identified as a fraud or a lie or an illusionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The perniciousness of the anti-Communist ideology arises not from any patent falsehood but from its distortion and simplification of reality, from its universalization and its elevation to the status of a revealed truth. (Fulbright, 1972, 43) It was not inevitability which led to the Cold War, but inflexibility. Bibliography Costigliola, Frank. After Roosevelts Death: Dangerous Emotions, Divisive Discourses, and the Abandoned Alliance. Diplomatic History 34, no. 1 (2010): 1-24. Edwards, Lee. Congress and the Origins of the Cold War: The Truman Doctrine. World Affairs 151, no. 3 (1989): 131-141. Fulbright, J. William. Reflections: In Thrall to Fear. The New Yorker, January 1972: 41-43. Gaddis, John Lewis. The Cold War . London: Penguin, 2005. Herring, George C. Americas Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975. 2nd edition. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986. Hobsbawm, Eric. Age of Extremes. London: Penguin, 1994. Joll, James. Europe Since 1870: An International History. London: Pelican, 1973. Kimball, Warren F. The Incredible Shrinking War: The Second World War, Not (Just) the Origins of the Cold War. Diplomatic History 25, no. 3 (2001): 347-365. Leffler, Melvyn P. Adherence to Agreements: Yalta and the Experiences of the Early Cold War. International Security 11, no. 1 (1986): 88-123. Lewkowicz, Nicolas. The German Question and the Origins of the Cold War. Milan: IPOC di Pietro Condemi, 2008. Mistry, Kaeten. The United States, Italy and the Origins of Cold War: Waging Political Warfare, 1945-1950. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Offner, Arnold A. Another such victory: President Truman, American foreign policy, and the Cold War. Diplomatic History 23, no. 2 (1999): 127-155. Roberts, Geoffrey. Moscow and the Marshall Plan: Politics, ideology and the onset of the Cold War, 1947. Europe-Asia Studies 46, no. 8 (1994): 1371-1386. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ . The Soviet Union in World Politics: Coexistence, Revolution and Cold War, 1945-1991. London: Routledge, 1999. Siracusa, Joseph M. The New Cold War History and the Origins of the Cold War. Australian Journal of Politics and History 47, no. 1 (2001): 149-155. Starobin, Joseph R. Origins of the Cold War: The Communist Dimension. Foreign Affairs 47, no. 4 (1969): 681-696. T heoharis, Atan. The origins of the Cold War: A revisionist interpretation. Foreign Affairs 4, no. 1 (1976): 3-11. Thomas, Hugh. Armed Truce. Sevenoaks: Hodder and Stoughton, 1988. van Alstein, Maarten. The meaning of hostile bipolarization: Interpreting the origins of the Cold War. Cold War History 9, no. 3 (2009): 301-319. Zubok, Vladislav, and Constantine Pleshakov. Inside the Kremlins Cold War: From Stalin to Khrushchev. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.

Thursday, December 26, 2019

How Leadership Style Can Affect Coaching - 2088 Words

Coaching competencies are needed in the growing industry around the world, especially for leadership development. According to Zenger and Stinnett (2006), about 70% of formal leadership development programs in organizations have some different forms of coaching. This reveals that coaching is becoming a World Wide phenomenon. As a result of this popularity, many coaching competencies, models, tools and training have appeared. For instance, effective coaching requires the coach to have good communication skill, client motivation, self-management, and technical skill. These skills enable the coaching session come up with positive success. However, a major variable in the success of any coaching process is what training and practices†¦show more content†¦There is a need to consider the personal credibility of the coach, education, professional background, experience, and expertise. To encourage a professional service, the coach should ensure that all business materials such as c ards send a strong consistent message to their potential clients. This professionalism should also be extended to the dress code of the coach. For the organization, the selection process of the coaches should involve stringent quality criteria. Involvement of the coach: The coach should have the ability to develop an atmosphere of trust in the coaching sessions. Coaches need to ensure that they have an intrinsic strong motivation for the coaching work. In my opinion, a genuine interest in the client is significant to building a good coaching relationship. For the organizations, coaches should be made to attend an interview process prior to any coaching assignments. The interview gives the opportunity for both sides to learn about each other and decide whether a working relationship can develop. Clarity and goals: The process and conduct of a coaching program are important to the positive outcome. It involves roles, methods, and actions during the coaching process (Schmidt, 2003). Th e coaches need to invest time at the beginning of any coaching assignment in order to establish good working relationship with the client. The coach needs to be

Friday, December 20, 2019

Review of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Essay - 1515 Words

Review of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein Frankenstein was written by Mary Shelley and published in 1818. The story tells the tale of Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature out of different body parts. Somehow, the creature, who was created to be beautiful, turns out to be hideous. In fear, Frankenstein runs away and the creation escapes. Once escaped, the creation and Frankenstein both seek vengeance upon each other. The story is written in 1st person narrative†¦show more content†¦Therefore they must read on to find out what has occurred. Mystery is introduced into the novel, by the fact that the ship the Captain is writing from is nearly surrounded by ice, which closed in the ship on all sides. This sets the scene and is a typical Gothic setting, as many Gothic Horror novels are set in an isolated place, as this is. The Captains ship is also surrounded by a very thick fog which further enhances the sense of isolation, typical of Gothic novel settings. Mary Shelley uses words such as surrounded, dangerous and closed in to enable the reader to understand the situation the Captain and his men are in. The reader knows that something is going to happen, but doesnt know what. This adds to the mystery and tension that the novel has already placed upon the reader. A sense of anticipation of possible disaster is introduced. The plains of ice described could represent the colour of death, as when people die the colour fades from their skin, leaving them a white-grey colour - thus suggesting an impending death. When the Captain sees a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, it leaves doubt in the readersShow MoreRelated Comparing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Kenneth Branaghs Frankenstein1212 Words   |  5 PagesComparing Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Kenneth Branaghs Frankenstein Most Americans have some idea of who Frankenstein is, as a result of the many Frankenstein movies. 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Yet, the story of Victor Frankenstein’s creature is not one strictly of science, or of a caution against it, or of a vendetta against the popular Calvinist belief of predestination. What Victor Frankenstein, and Mary Shelley, created for the world was a story of how far a man dared go with the forbidden flame – greater natural knowledge – that was spreadingRead MoreMary Shelley s Heart At A Very Young Age1318 Words   |  6 PagesMary Wollstonecraft Godwin as she was born, was born August 30th, 1797 in London, England. Mary Shelley’s mother died exactly ten days after her birth so Shelley had a rather burdensome life. Her father was emotionally distant from her while her step-mother treated her cruelly as a result of what little relationship Mary did maintain with her father. Mary spoke three languages, English her primary language, French her second language of choice and Italian being the third. 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However, once Frankenstein applies this new science, the science becomes a detriment to society, never to be attempted again. Frankenstein ignored the social implications of the science of

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

The Battle at the Alamo Essay - 1730 Words

The battle at the Alamo is one of the most significant events in the Texas Revolution, as well as in both Mexican and American history. For Mexican President and General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, it was a tale of determination and holding to the principles of a strong, central government. For Americans living in Texas, the Alamo was a venture of small scale Revolutionary ideals; a people should be able to democratically express how they feel their homeland to be governed. As we know, both countries experienced the extreme opposites of their desired outcomes, if only initially. The tales of this specific point in time are many, though some certainly contain many varying details from the next. However, most can hardly be proven, as†¦show more content†¦Prior to the Texas Revolution, a time of peace and cohabitation occurred that was mutually beneficial both to the Mexican people and the American who had immigrated to Texas for various reasons. Mexico would can settlers who were willing to settle and work the land in order to develop it, thus making it less likely that ever-expanding America would consume its vast plains. For many Americans moving to Mexico, it was a chance for a new beginning. Drunkards who couldn’t make it anywhere else, shoemakers who had fallen on hard times, educated lawyers, those evading law enforcement, and even those who simply were drawn by the promise of land all came with hopes and dreams of beginning anew. After all, it would be hard to ignore the call of 4,428 acres of land for thirty dollars and an extra 160 acres for every child. The only thing asked in return was that each immigrant take the Mexican oath of allegiance and proclaim to the Catholic faith, even if in name only. Inscribing â€Å"G.T.T† (Gone to Texas) on a slip of paper or etching it into their cabin door, regardless of circumstance, meant one thing: a fresh start. This scenario would appear to be working out smashingly for both sides from 1824 to 1831. However, the snowball’s origin that would lead to the decline of Mexican-American relations can be traced back to this point surrounding this time period. In 1830, the Mexican government passed a series of laws to halt AmericanShow MoreRelatedThe Battle Of The Alamo1129 Words   |  5 PagesMexico, but was not going to transpire without a fight. â€Å"Remember the Alamo,† (1836) was a quote used by Texians following the Battle of the Alamo to inspire soldiers as they led their attack on the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Battle of the Alamo was a turning point during the Texas Revolution and forever will be remembered as so in Texas’ and the United States history (New World Encyclopedia). The Alamo, which means â€Å"cottonwood†, was initially built by the Spaniards for accommodatingRead MoreThe Battle Of The Alamo1799 Words   |  8 Pages Abstract The Battle of the Alamo was more than the name simply implies. It was more than a battle between two opposing forces during the Texas Revolution. It was a battle of competing political issues between the Mexican government and the interests of the United States of America. It is difficult to truly understand the significance of the Battle of the Alamo without describing the events that occurred before. Before the actual Battle of the Alamo, the Mexican Army conducted a 13 day siegeRead MoreThe Battle Of The Alamo1465 Words   |  6 PagesThe Battle of the Alamo is probably the most famous battle to take place in the history of, and in the state of, Texas. The battle has given Texans the will to persevere against tough odds and the courage to endure through seemingly impossible situations for many generations. Many a Texan would draw inspiration during the fights following the defeat at the Alamo. This inspiration eventually led them to victory during the Texas Revolution followin g the Battle of San Jacinto. Had the Texas militaryRead MoreThe Battle Of The Alamo1410 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Few battles have had such an affect on the American experience as the battle of the Alamo. This battle is the subject of heroism, sacrifice, and valor. Would American history be the same if this historical battle had never taken place? What would the implications be if the defenders of the Alamo never sacrificed themselves for Texas independence? Although poor decisions and misuse of available intelligence directly contributed to the devastating loss, the defeat at the Alamo was the catalystRead MoreThe Battle Of The Alamo3666 Words   |  15 PagesKeren Lee Mr. Lewis AP US History 1 2 December 2014 The Battle of the Alamo The Battle of the Alamo was a devastating battle between the Texan and Mexican Army that occurred in the midst of the Texas Revolution and had an everlasting effect on the country and then state of Texas. The Alamo wasn’t built with the intention of being a fort. The Event- The Alamo In the early 1700s the Spanish set up a mission in Texas to house local Native Americans and convert individuals to Catholicism. The missionRead MoreThe Battle Of The Alamo1634 Words   |  7 PagesThe battle of the Alamo has been one of the most significant events in not only the Texas Revolution, but American and Mexican history as well. The battle of the Alamo started in February of 1836 and ended in March of 1836, lasting less than two weeks’ total. The battle was between the Mexican army and the rebelling Texans. The Mexican army was led by the Mexican President and General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, while the rebelling Texans were led by Lt. Colonel William Travis, Jim Bowie, and DavidRead MoreBattle of the Alamo Essay2125 Words   |  9 PagesIntroduction The siege, fall and ensuing massacre of nearly two hundred Alamo defenders at the hands of Mexican General, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna y Perez de Lebron’s army of over five thousand was a defining moment in both Texan, and American history. For 13 days against insurmountable odds, a small, but very determined Texan garrison force fended off an equally determined Mexican Army ordered to capture it. I’ll discuss the events and political climate leading up to the siege, key historicRead MoreSilent Film, Martyrs of the Alamo, Loosely Depicts the Battle of the Alamo625 Words   |  3 PagesMartyrs of the Alamo is a silent film that not only loosely depicts the historical event of the Battle at the Alamo but it perpetuates ethnic stereotypes of Mexicans to build a sense of nationalism in the early 1900’s. Researchers Ford and Harawa argue in their academic journal that ethnicity can be broken down into two dimensions, relational and attributional. The relation al dimension pertains to the relationship dynamics between an ethnic group and the society they live in. These relationshipsRead MoreDo Not Use The Library And / Or Research Databases?1200 Words   |  5 Pagessources. You are required to cite/quote your two sources below and include the reference info. You are to complete this section, and the remaining sections, individually. Artist Name: Touchstone Pictures Imagine Entertainment Title of Work: The Alamo (2004)- Artistic Medium: 35 mm Year of Completion: 2004 Style of Work: Drama, History, War Location of Work: In Texas. During the Texas Revolution Discuss the content of this work. In other words, what is depicted in this work of art? What do you seeRead MoreThe State Of Texas Gained Its Independence1089 Words   |  5 Pagesimmigrants. This action of his branched off throughout the years into countless battles for the Lonestar state to become individualistic. The first battle of the Revolution was the Battle of Gonzales, ending with only two casualties and the victory of the Texas soldiers. The Alamo is one of the most memorable engagements within this period of time, where the legendary cry, ‘’Remember the Alamo!’’ originated from. The Alamo still stands tall today and is visited by many each year, and represents the

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Accounting and Financial Management Capital Structure

Question: Write about theAccounting and Financial Managementfor Capital Structure. Answer: Differences Between Financial and Capital Structure Capital structure is deemed mixture of debt sources and long-term capital. There are three major sources of capital structure, which includes equity share, preference share and debenture. Fund from such sources are gathered and employed for acquiring the short and long-term assets. It can be said that total fund for the capital structure will be can be financed from debt and share capital (Elsas and Florysiak 2015). Financial structure is deemed balance sheet structure that includes sources of acquiring both fixed and current assets. The liability side of balance sheet is the financial structure. In financial structure, the long and short-term liabilities will be included. All the fixed and current assets are considered within long and short term liabilities. Funds are basic requirement for a company to address long term as well as requirement of working capital. Companys raises funds from long and short-term fund sources and for such reasons financial and capital structure are used. Capital structure deals with the long-term fund source and on the other hand, financial structure focuses on the manner in which the company can be financed (Baghai, Servaes and Tamayo 2014). This represents the overall liability aspect of the position statement that includes balance sheet that encompass long as well as short term debt as well as current liabilities. Difference can be realised based on capital structure. Financial structure can be understood as the base of capital structure, while, capital structure is an aspect of financial structure (Allen, Carletti and Marquez 2015). On the other hand, basis of financial structure is different as there are lots of financial structure basis. It can also be said that the factor that affects the financial structure. Nature and type of business, investment needs, long term along with working capital requirement, cost of capital, cash flow capability of an organization along with advantage are the vital factors that affect it. Decisions related to financing assets of a company are extremely important in all the businesses and the finance manager remains in the dilemma of the proper proportion of debt and equity (Serfling 2016). Being a general rule there must be a suitable mix of equity and debt capital for financing the assets of a company. For such reasons, capital structure must be designed effectively that can serve the equity shareholders interest. Sound capital structure is deemed important for a company to take effective organizational decisions for this might result in increase of company, use of accessible funds, return maximization cost of capital maximization along with maintaining solvency or liquidity position. A sound capital structure of a company helps in increasing shareholders wealth by means of maximization of total cost of capital (Rampini and Viswanathan 2013). This can also be attained through including long-term debt capital within capital structure for the reason that debt capital i s decreased than cot of equity or preference share capital as debt interest is tax deductible. Management Accounting System Focus on Tight Cost Controls and Minimization Within management accounting system, cost control is also known as cost management that must focus on tight cost control through employing certain cost counting and management techniques with the intention of enhancing business cost-effectiveness through decreasing costs of restricting the growth rate (Kahle and Stulz 2013). Tight cost controls must be ensured for evaluating, monitoring along with improving effectiveness of particular areas like departments, product lines and divisions in the business operations. Cost control and minimization can be understood as the efforts of the effective use of management accounting system to monitor, analyse and decrease expenditure. Such efforts might be aspect of formal, organization-wide program that can be informal and restricted to a particular department or person (Farre-Mensa and Ljungqvist 2015). Cost control and minimization process must be tight that begins with the yearly budget. With the progress of the fiscal year the accounting con trols and budget process, effective use of management accounting system facilitates dealing with decreasing costs of the company that determines particular objectives for designing standards and procedures in order to evaluate the cost minimization approach effectives of a company. Management accounting system facilitates in cost minimization as a variety of techniques that can be used to cut costs for small businesses (Johansson and Siverbo 2014). A technique of cost minimisation can include hiring an external analyst. Certain likely benefits of employing a consultant encompass saving time for owner of the company along with raising awareness regard cost minimization within the organization. One of the major concerns of a company is to maximise the profit that is possible by means of reducing the cost of production. Tight focus of management accounting on cost control will ensure that a technique is maintained that offers vital information to the management regarding whether actual costs are associated with budgeted costs or not (Bedford 2015). Cost minimization can serve as a technique that can be used to decrease a products unit cost devoid of compromising its quality. Cost minimization is considered vital aspect in order to maintain and increase profitability. The management accounting system of an organization to decrease the business expenses and increase profits that initiates with the process of budgeting must consider outsourcing process. For instance, corporate payroll can be outsourced due to the reason that payroll tax laws constantly changes and the employee turnover needs constant changes for payroll records (Auzair and Auzair 2015). Cost control can serve as a process in which the actual results are compared against standard so that cost can be measured and suitable action must be considered for decreasing operational expenses. Cost control can be done through employing several effective management accounting techniques. This can be conducted through a process that centres on controlling costs by means of competitive analysis. It is a practice that is effective in order to maintain actual cost in alignment with the established norms. Ti ght cost control can be maintained through making sure that cost experienced in a business operation is not moving beyond the previously determined cost. Reference List Allen, F., Carletti, E. and Marquez, R., 2015. Deposits and bank capital structure.Journal of Financial Economics,118(3), pp.601-619. Auzair, S.M. and Auzair, S.M., 2015. A configuration approach to management control systems design in service organizations.Journal of Accounting Organizational Change,11(1), pp.47-72. Baghai, R.P., Servaes, H. and Tamayo, A., 2014. Have rating agencies become more conservative? Implications for capital structure and debt pricing.The Journal of Finance,69(5), pp.1961-2005. Bedford, D.S., 2015. Management control systems across different modes of innovation: Implications for firm performance.Management Accounting Research,28, pp.12-30. Elsas, R. and Florysiak, D., 2015. Dynamic capital structure adjustment and the impact of fractional dependent variables.Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis,50(05), pp.1105-1133. Farre-Mensa, J. and Ljungqvist, A., 2015. Do measures of financial constraints measure financial constraints?.Review of Financial Studies, p.hhv052. Johansson, T. and Siverbo, S., 2014. The appropriateness of tight budget control in public sector organizations facing budget turbulence.Management Accounting Research,25(4), pp.271-283. Kahle, K.M. and Stulz, R.M., 2013. Access to capital, investment, and the financial crisis.Journal of Financial Economics,110(2), pp.280-299. Rampini, A.A. and Viswanathan, S., 2013. Collateral and capital structure.Journal of Financial Economics,109(2), pp.466-492. Serfling, M., 2016. Firing costs and capital structure decisions.The Journal of Finance.

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Online Trading Essay Example For Students

Online Trading Essay TOPIC- CUSTOMER PREFERENSE TOWORDS ONLINE SHARE TRADING WITH SPECIAL REFERENSE TO ANAND RATHI SECURITIES IN BHILAI DURG REGION INTRODUCTION ONLINE TRADING Today is world of technology. So, the person who adopt it, get the success. So, online trading means trading through electronic means. Online trading is the trading in which the investors who are familiar with the use of computer and Internet they directly trade in stock market. They trade any time at any place when the stock market is open. The cost of transaction is also reduce with time. The investors have a large range of option for the trading. It is a paperless transaction so it reduces the cost of company. There was a facility of live streaming quotes, which give exact price of share which prevailing in the market at that time. Discount online brokers allow you to trade via Internet at reduced rates. Some provide quality research, other don’t. Full service online brokerage is linked to existing brokerage. These brokers allow their client to place online orders with the option of talking/chatting to brokers if advice is needed. Brokerage rates here are higher. Online trading is still in its infancy stage in India. Online trading involves investment activity which takes place over the Internet and it does not require physical inclusion of the broker. An investor has to register with an online trading portal like ICICIdirect. com, motilaloswal. com and sharekhan. com and many companies like that and investor gets into an agreement with the firm to trade in different securities according to the terms and conditions given on the agreement. As the servers of the online trading portal are connected all the time to the stock exchanges and designated banks the order processing is done in real time and investors can also have updates on the trading. They can also check the status of their orders either through e-mail or through the interface that it cannot be accessed by a third party. Some options are usually given to users such as to link their bank account, Demat accounts and brokerage accounts into a single interface. A single window is also there for all exchanges and a single screen is there for the complete order routing mechanism. The hardware used comprises of Web and application servers, switches, routers, firewalls and security devices, and specialized appliances. There are two broad model inplay in the online brokrege space 1. Bank-backed firms 2. Entrepreneur-floated firms Bank-backed brokerages such as ICICIdirect and HDFC Securities have expanded on the basis of their brand name and the trust of investors in them. The integrated 3-in-1 accounts offered by these bank-backed brokerages help their parent bank by giving it accounts along with float income In second case i. e Entrepreneur-backed companies like Sharekhan, Indiabulls, Religare and Indiainfoline have expanded by offering customers a mix of online and offline accounts, higher margin finance amounts and lower brokerage rates. Though the bank based has performed better but the latter have not lagged too far behind. The reason why online trading has developed over conventional offline brokerage firms is that this conventional method struggled with unfavorable economies. Staff cost is just one example of it. As the markets opens for 330 minutes a day one dealer can at best execute 500 trades in a day while online company like ICICI direct executes 150,000-200,000 trades a day on the National Stock Exchange alone accounting for 3-4% of NSE trades of 5 million a day. It would require a large amount of dealers to service this demand. Besides the salary costs it would also demand huge expenses in real estate and support systems. Ex The offline model has got a downfall in the form of lower bandwidth and IT costs and the cost of bandwidth has fallen to one-eighth of what it was in 2000 giving online broking an advantage especially in the case of lower-volume retail investors. Today 30% of volumes on the NSE comes from this and it may go up to 50% in three-four years providing explosive growth for online broking in India To be a successful trading portal it will definitely depend on bouquet of services provided by it for an end-user. Most of the portals charge a small registration fee and brokerage based on various conditions but its important for the organization to keep focussed on customer-centric services and delivery models to actually enjoy the most attention Emmergence of online trading in india The Indian trader is being fancied by the democratized world of online trading or also known as e-broking. The regular and attractive advertisements in the print media and electronic media have added to this fancy world . But as we compare to the Western countries, in India online rading has not still grasped the market, but has done a veried amount of progress in the past years and the future of online trading is bright. That is why many new companies are coming into this form of business structure and the existing companies are changing to this new format besides offline and other traditional forms of business. With only a mere share of 10% online trading a combined gross turnover of around Rs. 9000-10,000 crores handled by the BSE and NSE together there is a much greater scope for online trading. At present some of the dominant players in the online trading market of share market are 1. Sharekhan. com 2. Icicidirect. com 3. Unicon 4. 5paisa. com 5. Indiabulls 6. KotakSecurities 7. MotilalOswal 8. Geojit Securities 9. Angel Trade 10. RelianceMoney 11. Religare 12. Karvy 13. IL Earlier the share market was not safe enough to invest but some of the changes in the past ten years in the Indian share market have created the interest of trading in the shares by the people. Broadly we can classify three important factors which have contributed to the development of online trading in India- Firstly the major step was taken by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in the year 1994 which allowed the electronic trading and seeing to this various other stock exchanges in India followed soon. This helped in making the fast . accurate and transparent transactions saving a lot of time then the traditional method of trading. The investors were also saved by the clutches of the fraud brokers at the times when the clients were not aware of the true prices of the shares. Secondly, in the year 1996 the dematerialization of the shares came (also known as DEMAT) which avoided the online presence of shares in an electronic form avoiding them from theft, pilferage or from other losses like counterfeiting and frauds regarding share transfer. The third reason was the rapid growth of computer education and learning of internet by the people. With the evolving of internet the online trading became a hit and the investors became confident in investing just with a click of a mouse. With the happening of such events the ratio of trading has improved a lot. As it takes less time people praise this technology for trading purposes. Some people who traded rarely now even trades 2-3 times every day as it provides edge of researching about companies on the internet. The number of small investors is increasing on the daily basis that trades on the internet. If a person invests or trades in equities, derivatives, commodities etc through the use Internet it is known as online trading enabling the investor to connect electronically to buy or sell stocks,derivatives etc with the other investors. This can be done with the help of online service providers like Sharekhan. com, ICICI Direct. com etc. A person can access a stockbrokers website through an PC connected to Internet and can place his orders. The benefits are- * A person can see the latest market movement through streaming quotes. * Reduces time lag due to self-execution and instant confirmation. * Empowers traders to have a complete control over their trading decisions. * A person can access his accounts and related information on the Website. Provides greater convenience of trade as a person can trade from home or other convenient location. * It is cheap in terms of cost associated and offers reduction in overheads * A trader can view the historical charts on his computer. The Internet revolution has changed the way to communicate and the way to do business in today’s society bringing us closer and closer to vital sources of information. It provides us with means to directly interact with service-oriented com puter systems tailored to our specific needs; therefore we can serve ourselves better by making our own decisions. This new access by the online trading customers to low-cost transactions and cutting-edge, real- time market information that formerly belonged only to brokers has opened up extraordinary new investment opportunities as well as a crucial need for state-of-the-art information Today the investors use the Internet Client-Server technology to buy and sell the securities at an instant at any point of time. People investing online have reached the proportions. Online trading follows an investor to buy and sell shares on the exchange through Internet and helps in the direct control of his investments ONLINE TRADING IN INDIA Online trading started in India in February 2000 when a couple of brokers started offering an online trading platform for their customers. In the past, investors had no option but to contact their broker to get real time access to market data. The Net brings data to the investor on line and net broking enables him to trade on a click. Now information has become easily accessible to both retail as well as big investors. The development of broking in India can be categorized in 3 phases: * Stock brokers offering on their sites features such as live portfolio manager, live quotes, market research and news to attract more investors. * Brokers (now e-brokers) will offer value management or services such as initial public offerings on line, asset allocation, portfolio management, financial planning, and tax planning, insurance services and enable the investors to take better and well-considered decisions. * Brokers offering on line broking and relationship management by providing and offer ing analysis and information to investors during broking and non-broking hours based on their profile and needs, that is, customized services. DEMATERIALISATION OF SHARES The term Demat, in India, refers to a dematerialised account. For individual Indian citizens to trade in listed stocks or debentures. The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) requires the investor to maintain a Demat account. Dematerialization is the process wherein shares certificates or other securities held in physical form are converted into electronic form and credited to demat account of an investor opened with a depository participant A Demat Account is opened by the investor while registering with an investment broker (or sub broker). The Demat account number which is quoted for all transactions to enable electronic settlements of trades to take place.. SEBI has made compulsory trading of shares of all the companies listed in stock exchanges in demat form with effect from 2nd January 2002. The procedure of opening a demat account with DP is similar to opening an account with a bank. Advantages of Demat 1. The demat account reduces brokerage charges. 2. Demat makes pledging/hypothecation of shares easier. 3. Demat enables quick ownership of securities on settlement resulting in increased liquidity. 4. It provides easy receipt of public issue allotments. 5. It helps avoids confusion in the ownership title of securities. 6. It also helps you avoid bad deliveries caused by signature mismatch. . It also help in avoiding postal delays and loss of certificates in transit. 8. It eliminates risks associated with forgery, counterfeiting and loss due to fire, theft or mutilation. 9. Demat account holders can also avoid stamp duty (as against 0. 5 per cent payable on physical shares. Disadvantages of Demat 1. Trading in securities may become un controlled in case of dematerialized securities. 2. It is incumbent upon the capital market regulator to keep a close watch on the trading in dematerialized securities and see to it that trading does not act as a detriment to investors. . The role of key market players in case of dematerialized securities, such as stock-brokers, needs to be supervised as they have the capability of manipulating the market. 4. Multiple regulatory frameworks have to be confirmed to, including the Depositories Act, Regulations and the various By-Laws of various depositories. 5. Additionally, agreements are entered at various levels in the process of dematerialization. These may cause anxiety to the investor desirous of simplicity in terms of transactions in dematerialized securities. However, the advantages of dematerialization outweigh its disadvantages and the changes ushered in by SEBI and the Central Government in terms of compulsory dematerialization of securities is important for developing the securities market to a degree of advancement. Freely traded securities are an essential component of such an advanced market and dematerialization addresses such issues and is a step towards the advancement of the market. DEPOSITORY SYSTEM Depository is an organization which holds of the securities of the investors in the electronic form same as bank hold money. Further, depository transfer securities with out physical handling. Now a days most of the bank are also DPs so any one can contact to DP with their identity proof and pan card for opening demat account for a prescribe fee by the DP. Depository offers various services to the investors through its depository participants such as maintenance of investors beneficial holding in electronic form ,dematerialization and rematerialisation of securities ,facilitation of settlement of trade in electronic form and electronic trading in case of IPO and corporate action such as rights, bonus. TWO TYPES OF DEPOSITORIES * National securities depositories Ltd. ( NSDL) * Central depository services (INDIA)Ltd. (CDSL) NSDL was the first depository organisation promoted by UTI,IDBI AND NSE. Nsdl was set up to provide electronis depository facilities for securities being traded in capital market . the depository oridence was promulgated by the government of indiain September ,1995 The SEBI issued a guidelines for depositories in May, 1996, The bill was passed by the parliament in July 1996, where as NSDL was registered by SEBI on June 7,1996. NSDL has minimum net worth of Rs. 100crore . NSDL deals with shares in dematerialized form with DPs who are agent of investors bankers stock banks and financial institution DPs can be a public financial institution , bank, custodian, registered stock broker or no banking financial companies subject to the approval from the depository companies and the SEBI. As per RBI guideline, institutional investors/bank having a minimum portfolio of securities of RS 10crore have to settle all transaction through depositories. DPs participants has to pay a admission fees of Rs. 25000 to NSDL and deposit Rs 10lakh as a security with NSDL. CDSL CDSL commenced its operation during February, 1999. It was promoted by Bombay stock exchange in association with leading banks such as SBI Bank Of India, Bank Of Baroda , HDFC Bank, Standard Charted Bank , Union Bank Of India And Centurion Bank CDSL was set up with the objective of providing convenient, dependable and secure depository services at affordable cost to all market participants . ll leading stock exchanges like the NSE, Calcutta stock exchange, Delhi stock exchange, Ahmadabad stock exchange etc. Have established connectivity with CDSL. As at the end of March 2002 over 4,300 issuer have their securities (equity, bond, debenture commercial papers), units of mutual fund, certificate of deposits etc. in to the CDSL system . thus an investors can hold almost all his securities in one account with CDSL . REMATERILISATION OF SHARES Rematerialization is the proces s of conversion of electronic holdings of securities into physical certificate form. For rematerilisation of scrips, the investor has to fill up a remat request form (RRF) and submit it to the DP. The DP forwards the request to depository after verifying the investor’s balances. Depository in turn initiates the registrars and transfer agent or the issuer company. RTA/ Company prints the certificates and dispatches the same to the investor. OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT REPORT https://tin. tin. nsdl. com/pan/index. html * To understand the attitude of the on-line share traders in Durg-Bhilai city . To measure the effectiveness of broking sites in Durg-Bhilai. * To conduct an enquiry among the share trading public in Durg-Bhilai about their experience with broking sites. * To suggest some improvements in these sites if needed. * To understand the depth up to which the on-line share traders are clear and aware of on-line share trading. * To know the procedure of online trading Anand Rathi set up in 1994, is one of India’s fastest growing full-service securities fi rm with a presence in more than 300 locations across India and has offices in Dubai Bangkok. Anand Rathi provides wealth management services, investment banking, and brokerage distribution services in the areas of equities, commodities, mutual funds and insurance. The group caters to the financial needs of diversified group of clients, which include the well-reputed Corporate Groups, Institutions, Foreign Investors, Individuals as well as wealthy families and was recently ranked by an Asia Money 2006 poll amongst South Asia’s top 5 wealth managers for the ultra rich. Anand Rathi today has a pan India presence as well as an international presence through offices in Dubai and Bangkok. Anand Rathi provides a breadth of financial and advisory services including wealth management, investment banking, corporate advisory, brokerage distribution of equities, commodities, mutual funds and insurance all of which are supported by powerful research teams. The firms philosophy is entirely client centric, with a clear focus on providing long term value addition to clients, while maintaining the highest standards of excellence, ethics and professionalism. The entire firm activities are divided across distinct client groups: Individuals, Private Clients, Corporates and Institutions. In year 2007 Citigroup Venture Capital International joined the group as a financial partner and 19. 9% stake held by Citigroup Venture Capital International (CVC) THE VISION TEAM Anand Rathi | Founder Chairman Pradeep Gupta | Co-founder Vice chairman Amit Rathi | Managing Director P G Kak odkar | Director Dr. S A Dave | Director C D Arha | Director Ajit Bhushan | Director SERVICES’ PROFILE OF â€Å"Anand WEALTH MANAGEMENT Centers located Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. Dealing with: * INSTITUTIONS * PRIVATE CLIENTS * PRIORITY CLIENTS * NON RESIDENT CLIENTS INVESTMENT BANKING AND CORPORATE FINANCE Centers located at Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmadabad dealings in: * Equity Capital Market – IPOs / FPO Real estate/ Private Equity / Advisory * M * Debt Raising, Syndication and Restructuring BROKERAGE AND DISTRIBUTION Present at 400 locations across India Dealings in: * EQUITIES * ? DERIVATIVES * BONDS * MUTUAL FUNDS * COMMODITIES * ? LIFE AND GENERAL INSURANCE AWARDS AND ACCOLADES * Ranked #1 Pvt bank Domestic and # 2 Private Bank –Overall by Asiamoney polls 2009. * They are consistently amongst the top 3 brokers in commodity and currency segments on MCX, NSE and MCX-SX. * They are amongst the top 10 brokers on DGCX. First to introdu ce structured p roducts in commodities. MAIN CUSTOMERS OF â€Å"Anand Rathi† * INDUSTRIAL GROUPS * ? BIRLA’s – Birla Sunlife Insurance, Grasim Industries, Hindalco, Indal, Indian Rayon, Indo Gulf, Transworks * VENDATA’s – Balco Industries, Hindustan Zinc Limited, Sterlite Industries, Vendata * TATA’s – Tata Investments, Tata Steel, Tata Motors Limited, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited * MULTINATIONALS – Bayer, Clariant, Godfrey Philips, Goodlass Nerolac, Hindustan Lever Limited, Nestle, Thomas Cook Travels and many more BANKS – Andhra Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank, General and Life Insurance Corp, Punjab National Bank and many more * 12 CORPORATES – ACC Cement, Berger Paints, Boots Piramal, Century Textiles, CRISIL, Crompton Greaves, Dabur, DCM, Emami, General Electrics Shipping, Globus, Godrej, Gujarat Ambuja, ICICI Ventures, HCL, Infosys, Indian Tobacco Company, Jet Airways, Jindal Steel, Larsen Tubro , Mahindra Mahindra, Radico Khaitan, Raymonds, Wipro, Varun Shipping and many more. AR Core Strengths Client-centric philosophy, with focus on providing long term value addition to clients, maintaining highest standards of excellence, ethics and professionalism * We always strive to develop strong relationships with our clients nurtured by personal attention of senior management * We approach our clients holistically with the goal of balancing their strategic and financial objectives * Proficiency in rendering consistent high quality value added services * A senior product team of retail specialists who provide hands on support to Personal Investment Advisors for all products Why Anand Rathi? Both domestic and International platform * Dedicated Corporate Setup * Regional penetration * Research capability * Offering tailor made solutions for specific exposure COMPETITORS OF Anand Rathi REMOTE COMPETITORS INDIAN BANKS:- * Kotak Bank * Housing Development and Finance Corporation Bank * Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India Bank * State Bank of India * 13 Bank of Baroda * Canara Bank * ING Vysya INDIAN ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANIES * Cholamandalam * Lotus India * Principal * Optimix * Sahara FOREIGN BANKS and ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANIES * ABN Amro Bank * Deustche Bank Hongkong Shanghai Bank Corporation * Franklin Templeton * DSP Merill Lynch * BNP Paribas * Quantum IMMEDIATE COMPETITORS RELIGARE ENTERPRISES 14 Religare Enterprises Limited group comprises of Religare Securities Limited, Religare Commodities . Limited and Religare Finvest Limited which deals in equity, commodity and financial services business. Religare Securities Limited is one of the leading broking houses of India and is dealing into Equity Broking, Depository Services, Portfolio Management Services, Institutional Equity Brokerage Research, Investment Banking and Corporate Finance. Art Program EssayRolling Settlement Cycle in a rolling settlement, each trading day is considered as a trading period and trades executed during the day are settled based on the net obligations for the day. At NSE and BSE, trades in rolling settlement are settled on a T+2 basis i. e. on the 2nd working day. For arriving at the settlement day all intervening holidays, which include bank holidays, NSE/BSE holidays, Saturdays and Sundays are excluded. Typically trades taking place on Monday are settled on Wednesday, Tuesdays trades settled on Thursday and so on. Concept Of Buying Limit Suppose you have sold some shares on NSE and are trying to figure out that if you can use the money to buy shares on NSE in a different settlement cycle or say on BSE. To simplify things for ICICI Direct customers, we have introduced the concept of Buying Limit (BL). Buying Limit simply tells the customer what is his limit for a given settlement for the desired exchange. Assume that you have enrolled for a ICICI Direct account, which requires 100% of the money required to fund the purchase, be available. Suppose you have Rs 1,00,000 in your Bank A/C and you set aside Rs 50,000 for which you would like to make some purchase. Your Buying Limit is Rs 50,000. Assume that you sell shares worth Rs 1,00,000 on the NSE on Monday. The BL therefore for the NSE at that point of time goes upto Rs 1,50,000. This means you can buy shares upto Rs 1,50,000 on NSE or BSE. If you buy shares worth Rs 75,000 on Tuesday on NSE your BL will naturally reduce to Rs75,000. Hence your BL is simply the amount set aside by you from your bank account and the amount realized from the sale of any shares you have made less any purchases you have made. Your BL of Rs 50,000, which is the amount set aside by you from your Bank account for purchase is available for BSE and NSE. As you have made the sale of shares on NSE for Rs. 100000, the BL for NSE BSE rises to 1,50,000. The amount from sale of shares in NSE will also be available for purchase on BSE. ICICI Direct SUCCESS FACTORS FOR ONLINE TRADING There are three key success factors for e-broking, (i) Scalability and robustness of the trading system: The fundamental difference between the Internet as a transaction medium and the conventional closed user group network is that the Net is a universal platform providing concurrent access to infinite users at any given point in time. Consequently, it becomes imperative for any Net-based application to have a proven capability for scalability and robustness which ensures the ability to handle and process requests from multiple users at any given point in time. (ii) Bandwidth optimization: In the Indian context where availability of a sufficient bandwidth is limited, the application software should demonstrate intelligence in optimizing the available bandwidth by deploying advanced technologies such as streaming. (iii) Integration with third party systems: On the Net, with information feeds available from multiple points, it is prudent to deploy applications that are built on open architecture methodology for interfacing with third party systems in the new Net age. CHALLENGES IN INTERNET TRADING For Internet trading to succeed, it is imperative to have both – 1. A robust business model and 2. Comprehensive technology strategy. Some of the challenges are discussed: Transaction fulfillmentIn the Net-based economy, it is both prudent and essential for a broker/intermediary to offer total solution to the clients at a single point. Total solutions would essentially mean offering interfaces with banks, depositories, information feeds, etc. for efficiency in trade completion and reducing duplication of client information. The service providers will have to go beyond the stage of mere order execution and emerge as informediaries rather than intermediaries. This will not only ensure lower trading costs in terms of offering cross services but will also help in maximizing ROIs. A true Internet trading system should deliver cost effective transaction fulfillment at a single point. System Requirements For online trading client computer should have at least the following configuration: * Pentium 3 PC, Minimum 128 MB RAM * Windows 2000/XP * Internet Connection * Internet Explorer 6. 0 * Java enabled in IE * VM java(Download) FUTURE OF INTERNET TRADING International marketplaces are already witnessing re-alignments and changes with the emergence of electronic communication networks (ECNs) such as INSTINET and ISLAND, which are already contributing substantial business volumes to mainline exchanges such as NASDAQ and the NYSE. Concurrently, exchanges worldwide are looking at striking strategic alliances such as the Global Equity Market (GEM). With Net trading in securities and rapid consolidation between multiple stock exchanges, the international securities marketplace is fast becoming a global village through the creation of a universal virtual equity market. Therefore the challenge for the technology providers is to develop and deploy advanced e-trading tools and applications using electronic straight through processing technologies. OFFLINE TRADING Nevertheless, with all the convenience of online trading there are still investors who prefer the old fashion way of offline trading. Offline trading has lost some popularity but it is still the main form of investing. Offline trading offers many benefits as well. Benefits of offline trading: 1. The one benefit that an investor appreciates the most is that they are not alone when making investment decisions. 2. There are experienced and professional brokerage companies that handle their investments for them. 3. Investors are not faced with the challenge of making these vital investment decisions; especially, if they do not have the experience necessary to make the appropriate investments. 4. Also, there is someone there to answer any questions that may cause concerns. Not to mention, with offline trading mistakes are less likely to take place. No one wants to throw their money away or stand by and watch someone else throw their money away. It may be wise to hire a professional to assist you in making the correct investment decisions if you feel you lack the knowledge necessary. Points of difference between online trading and ofline trading are as follows: 1. Online trading is very expensive as compare to manual trading or offline trading. 2. Online trading consumes less time as compare to manual trading. 3. Online trading has very helpful to finding the records easily but offline trading takes more time to finding the records. 4. In the help of online trading, there is no chance of any errors while doing the trading. in offline trading there are some errors exist like barriers of communication . . With the help of online trading, we know the international market rate of share very easily. ONLINE TRADING INFRASTRUCTURE The emergence of online exchanges has facilitated faster transactions by providing online trading portals and brokerage houses ease and flexibility. The Internet has indeed opened up new opportunities for conducting the business. The worldwide stock exchanges has made a major shift from the traditional method of trading and now conduct a bulk of its business online through its brokers and partners. In the developed countries majorly all the exchange transactions are conducted online. The trend took off slowly in India and the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) two of the largest exchanges in India have been conducting online trading for some times ONLINE TRADING BY NSE BSE The central computer located at the Exchange is connected to the workstations of the Brokers through satellite using Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs). Orders placed at the Brokers workstations reach the central computer and are matched by the computer based on price and time priority. Both the exchanges have switched over from the open outcry trading system to a fully automated computerized mode of trading known as BOLT (BSE On Line Trading) and NEAT (National Exchange Automated Trading) System. It facilitates more efficient processing, automatic order matching, faster execution of trades and transparency. The scrips traded on the BSE have been classified into A, B1, B2, C, F and Z groups. The A group shares represent those, which are in the carry forward system (Badla). The F group represents the debt market (fixed income securities) segment. The Z group scrips are the blacklisted companies. The C group covers the odd lot securities in A, B1 B2 groups and Rights renunciations. Key regulator governing Stock Exchanges, Brokers, Depositories, Depository participants, Mutual Funds, FIIs and other participants in Indian secondary and primary market is the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Ltd. The NSE and BSE are among the largest exchanges in the country handling very large daily trading volumes, support large amounts of data traffic, and have a very large nationwide network. The trading volume in year 2000 was huge with the average daily turnover in the capital markets segment at NSE is around Rs 2300 crore and in the derivatives segment, around Rs 1300 crore. The market has grown in scope and scale in a way that could not have been imagined at the time. Average daily trading volumes have jumped from Rs. 17 crore in 1994-95 when NSE started its Cash Market segment to Rs. 11,325 crore in 2008-09. Similarly, market capitalization of listed Indian firms went up from Rs. 363,350 crore at the end of March1995 to Rs. ,896,194 crore at end March 2009. Indian equity markets are today amongthe most deep and vibrant markets in the world. The average daily traffic volume was around one million trades per day in the capital markets segment and around 50,000 trades per day in the derivatives segment and there were around 13,000 registered users in both segments and an average of around 9500 users is logged in at a time. At BSE the average daily turnover in 2001-2002 (April-March) was Rs 1244. 10 crore and the number of average daily trade was 5. 17 lakh. WHY ONLINE TRADING ENTERED LATE IN INDIA The Indian exchanges and brokering houses have been very slow in moving their transactions online and the major reason has been the lot government regulations. The initial delay was due to laying down the specifications for creating Closed User Groups (CUGs). This issue was resolved between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Finance Ministry around 1998 and after that soon came the online trading portals like ICICIDirect. com, motilaloswal. com, sharekhan. com and smartjones. com. Connectivity related issue was perhaps the most important technological factor. Traditionally the cost of leased lines and VSAT links has been very high and the reliability of the links was very low. To commission the links it took a long time as one had to make an application and wait for a few weeks for the link to be up and running. Many other issues like security, backup and recovery procedural costs also acted as deterrents in the process. Now with the resolution of regulatory issues India no longer have any pressing connectivity and bandwidth issues. The entry of private players into the broadband scenario and the government opening up the telecom sector these issues have become almost non-existent. Security solutions and services available in the market have matured and it doesnt cost a pretty packet anymore to put a simple back up solution inplace Through online trading everyday large volumes of data is being transacted. At BSE the average daily turnover in 2001-2002 (April-March) was Rs 1244. 10 crore and the number of averagedaily trades was Rs 5. 17 lakh. To control Online Trading RBI made regulations making it mandatory for companies to store at least 7 years of transactional and financial data. 1. Design needs to be always-on, secure, redundant, and have adequate backup and recovery Processes. 2. For such high amounts of critical data its natural to deploy network-based storage like NAS or SAN. 3. Security is a vital and integral part of the design architecture. The hardware and software elements should be built around layered security architecture and should be held in place with a well-documented security policy. 4. Ideally online exchanges should have five-nines availability. 5. Its difficult to deploy out-of-the-box applications at exchanges as each has a unique architecture based on factors like operations flow, trading volumes, number of members, number of users, and number of locations. 6. NSE has deployed NIBIS (NSEs Internet Based Information System) for real-time dissemination of trading information over the Internet and NEAT a client-server-based application to help its operations. 7. BSE has deployed an OnLine Trading system (BOLT) on a Tandem platform which has a two-tier architecture. It claims to be able to support up to 2 million trades a day THE NETWORK DESIGN Any online exchange should always be-on, safe, secure, redundant and should have adequate backup recovery processes. The Vice President of NSE-IT G. M Shenoy tells that the basic design objective of NSE was to provide fair, equal and transparent access across all NSE nationwide locations and to provide connectivity to the trading members as soon as possible. The telecom sector is fairly liberal nowadays but way back in 1993 the technology was maturing and was very costly. The cost of lease lines was almost ten times as much as it is today. Satellite technology was a boon since it allowed quicker deployment than leased lines. Today NSE has the countrys largest VSAT network with over 3000 VSATs and expects to grow to more than 4000 V sats very soon NETWORK ELEMENTS When there are massive trading volumes and traffic bulk it makes one tensed even to think of the expected losses in case of a ten minute downtime when daily trade crosses Rs 3000 crore. Network elements like security, storage, backup and recovery processes, availability and other different applications are to be planned carefully and commissioned. Also the RBI regulations to store at least 7 years of transactional and financial data has to be followed and to store such high amounts of critical data its natural to deploy network-based storage like NAS or SAN. NSE is implementing a SAN as it feels that its data volumes have grown widely. Security is a vital and integral part of the design architecture and the hardware and software elements should be built with layered security architecture around and it should also be held in place with a well-documented security policy. According to Shenoy the security is the most crucial element in the network and at NSE all applications have been built with a conscious approach towards security. All the security policies are tightly integrated and regularly scrutinized thus not providing any room to compromise with Also all the applications and OSs are hardened time to time for safety The Backup and recovery has emerged as one of the most important and vital aspects of business continuity. When online exchanges were designed earlier a lot of emphasis was perhaps not placed on this aspect as it is done nowadays. However its not difficult to add continuity processes to a programme which is existing. Shenoy said that a terrestrial-based trading network was deployed as a backup to NSE VSAT network in the middle of 2000 and it have more than 850 leased lines connecting to different locations in India. NSE is the only stock exchange in the country which has a fully-redundant business continuity site in Chennai Availability: Ideally online exchanges should have five-nines availability. Exchanges usually likes to host its infrastructure in-house and not use the services of an external or other data center. NSE claims to achieve uptime greater than 99. 9% which is mostly due to internally formulated procedures and continuous review of SLAs with hardware vendors Applications: It is tough to deploy out-of-the-box applications at exchanges as each has a unique architecture based on factors like operations flow, number of members, trading volumes number of users and number of locations. The applications like trading, surveillance, index computation,listing, membership, clearing, risk-management and accounts may be developed in-house or by external software developers. There are two popular types of architectures- . NSE architecture 2. BSE architecture These both exchanges keep on updating and upgrading their technology systems to keep delivering according to commitments and promises made to its members, partners and customer NEAT-THE NSE ARCHITECTURE NSE has deployed NIBIS (NSEs Internet Based Information System) for real-time dissemination it of trading information over the Internet and NE AT a client-server-based application to help its operations. All the trading information is stored in NEAT an in-memory database at the server end for achieving minimum response time and maximum system availability for users. The trading server software runs on a fault-tolerant STRATUS mainframe and the client software runs on Windows PCs. The telecommunications network uses the X. 25 protocol and is the backbone of the automated trading system. Each trading member trades on the NSE with other members through a PC located in the trading members office. The trading members on the Wholesale Debt Market segment are linked to the central computer at the NSE through dedicated 64 Kbps leased lines and VSAT terminals. These leased lines are multiplexed using dedicated 2 MB optical-fiber links. The WDM participants connect to the trading system through dial-up links. The exchange uses RISC- based Unix servers from Digital and HP for backoffice processing. Applications like Oracle 7 and SQL/Oracle Forms 4. 5 front ends are used for the exchange functions BOLT-THE BSE ARCHITECTURE BSE has deployed an OnLine Trading system (BOLT) on March 14, 1995. It works on a Tandem S74016 platform running on 16 CPUs. The Tandem Himalaya S74016 machines act as the backend to more than 8000 Trader Workstations networked on Ethernet, VSAT and Managed Leased Data Network (MLDN). The systems claim to handle up to two million trades a day. BOLT has a two- tier architecture. The trader workstations are connected directly to the backend server which acts as a communication server and a Central Trading Engine (CTE). Other services like information dissemination, index computation, and position monitoring are also provided by the system. A transaction monitoring facility in the Tandem architecture helps keep data integrity through non- stop SQL. With the help of MTNL, BSE has setup a MLDN Network comprising 300 2 Mbps lines and 1500 64 Kbps lines which connect all regional stock exchanges and offices in Mumbai. Access to market related information through the trader workstations is essential for the market participants to act on real-time basis and take instantaneous decisions. BOLT has been interfaced with various information vendors like Bloomberg, Bridge, and Reuters. Market information is fed to news agencies in real time. The exchange plans to enhance the capabilities further to have an integrated two way information flow RECOMMENDATIONS OF SEBI The SEBI has also played an important role in the issue of the guidelines regarding online trading so that the chances of fraud and misrepresentation are minimized. The some of recommendations are asfollows: The stock brokers which are being registered with Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will have to apply to stock exchanges for a formal permission. The following conditions must be fulfilled- 1. The online trading company must have a minimum net worth of Rs 50 lakh 2. The encryption technology should be there in the system used by the brokers to ensure the provision for confidentiality ,security ,justifiability and reliability of data . The user id, first level and second level password, automatic expiry of passwords at the end of a reasonable period,secured socket level security for server access through Internet, suitable firewalls between the trading set-up directly connected to an exchange trading system and the Internet tradingset-up,microprocessor-based Smartcards,dynamic password, 64 bit/128- bit encryption are the basic minimum security standards. 3. The brokers must maintain adequate back-up systems and data storage capacity which must be checked by the stock exchanges. 4. The minimum qualification must be laid down by the stock exchange to ensure that the persons hired by the brokers must have the proper qualification regarding trading so as to guide the clients and he can communicate regarding trading instructions 5.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

None Provided1 Essay Paper Example For Students

None Provided1 Essay Paper Through out history the world has seen some generations that have made an impact more than all of its predecessors. The decade from 1960 to 1970 was definitely one of those eras. The people didnt follow the teachings of its elders, but rejected them for an alternative culture which was their very own(Harris 14). Made up of the younger population of the time this new culture was such a radical society that they were given their own name which is still used today. They came to be called the Hippies. The Hippie movement started in San Francisco, California and spread across the United States, through Canada, and into parts of Europe (World Book). But it had its greatest influence in America. During the 1960s a radical group called the Hippies shocked America with their alternative lifestyle and radical beliefs. Hippies came from many different places and had many different backgrounds. All Hippies were young, from the ages of 15 to 25(Worldbook). They left their families and did it for many different reasons. Some rejected their parents ideas, some just wanted to get away, and others simply were outcasts, who could only fit in with the Hippie population. Under 25 became a magical age, and young people all over the world were united by this bond (Harris 15). This bond was of Non-conformity and it was the Creed of the Young (Harris 15). Most Hippies came from wealthy middle class families. Some people said that they were spoiled and wasting their lives away. But to Hippies themselves this was a way of life and no one was going to get in the Hippies flocked to a certain area of San Francisco on the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, where the world got their first view of this unique group. This place came to be known as the Haight Ashbury District. There were tours of the district and it was said that the tour was the only foreign tour within the continental limits of the United States (Stern 147). The Hippies were so different that the conservative middle class could not relate to them and saw them as aliens. The Haight Ashbury district lies in the very center of San Francisco. In the years of 1965 and 1966 the Hippies took over the Haight Ashbury district(Cavan 49). There they lived and spread their psychedelic theme through out the whole area. In the Haight Ashbury district there were two parks that that all Hippies knew well. The most famous of the two was the Golden Gate Park(Cavan 43). The single most important event that put the Hippies on the map was held at the Golden Gate Park. It was called the Trips Festival. The Trips Festival was a week long festival designed to celebrate the LSD experience(Stern 148). Besides this festival dozens of other events took place at Golden Gate Park, some of which were free concerts by The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane and Anti-War rallies held by Hippie political leaders. The other park is called the Buena Vista park and is known for housing hippies at night and for socializing during the day. As the 1960s progressed, the youth in America united. In 1969 400,000 young people materialized for three dizzying days to listen to rock and blues music, to wear funny clothing or no clothes at all, to talk, sing, dance, clap hands, to drink beer or smoke pot and make love-but mostly to marvel again and again that they were all there together (This Fabulous Century 64). This festival was held in a small town in up-state New York and came to be called Woodstock, after the town it was held in. Also in Greenwich Village, New York Hippies had a place. The Village on every Sunday was known to have hordes of singers with banjos and drums celebrating their youth together(Stern 103). One of the basic foundations of the Hippie movement was the flagrant use of illegal drugs. There were many drugs that the Hippies used but none was more used then marijuana. From 1960 to 1970 the number of Americans who had tried marijuana had increased from a few hundred thousand to 8,000,000. The ma jority .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .postImageUrl , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:hover , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:visited , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:active { border:0!important; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:active , .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27 .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufa2467d657b24e44ff395513b3788b27:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Much Ado About Nothing - Do Men In The Play Hate Or Love The Women? 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Monday, December 2, 2019

Pluralism vs. Elitism free essay sample

The term lobbying conjures up visions of a cigar-chomping interest group representative, his arm around the shoulder of an important senator or representative, advising him how he ought to vote on some obscure provision of the Tax Code and slipping an envelope, fat with currency, into his jacket pocket. Or it conjures up images of favors given: paid vacations to exotic locations, honorarium payments for brief speeches at association meetings, and other exchanges verging on bribery. These images both reveal and confuse. These things surely happened in the past, some continue to happen today, and some will surely happen in the future? (Greenberg Page 192). But what these images don’t help us understand are the intricacies of the inside game that do not involve bribes but are more the politics of insiders and the old boy network. In the United States, There are two basic theories regarding political decision-making within the government. We will write a custom essay sample on Pluralism vs. Elitism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page They are called the Pluralist Elitist theories. The Pluralist Theory, also known as the Interest Group Theory, suggests that political decision making is the result of the interaction, conflict, and bargaining of a diversity of interest groups both large and small. The Elitist Theory on the other hand claims that political decisions are influenced by a small group of individuals within government; individuals being defined as big business, military and academia. Academia meaning think tanks, research institutes etc. egardless of which theory you may identify with, you must never discount the very special place of business within the government. They are by far the wealthiest lobbyists and thus wield much influence. Mark Green’s article entitled, â€Å"The Evil of Access†, not only highlights this very point but also brings to light the fact that money has direct correlation to political appointment. According to Mr. Green, the candidate with the most money wins? And how does a candidate get his money? Political coffers are mainly filled via the donations acquired from big business such as Enron’s 1/2 million dollar contribution to George W. Bush’s presidential campaign. Some people point to President Bush’s inaction to protect Enron from its implosion as proof positive of the division between business and politics. These same people fail to recognize the indirect assistance that was given to Enron through legislation such as the opposition to price caps on electricity. These price caps allowed Enron to gouge hundreds of millions of dollars from California’s consumers. Parry, 2002) Another facet of Green’s argument is that the daunting task of raising the finances needed to seeking election discourages worthy candidates from competing. This marks the point that if it is the donations from business that fatten coffers, and it is fat coffers that dictate success, it is not a far stretch to see how donations from business have a direct impact upon th e success of gaining office. And once in office, in order to remain in office, you must continue to attract those same donations. As Mr. Green put it, incumbency attracts money and money entrenches incumbency. This may also be argued as the underpinning to George Pillsbury’s article entitled, â€Å"Laws for Sale? † (Green, 2002) Since we do not enjoy a true direct democracy in the Athenian sense but live under a republican form of government, a government where we rule only indirectly through representation, the pluralist theory seems to be the perfect form of representation for our citizenry. Practice is rarely, if ever, the same as theory. In my opinion, Elitism seems to prevail. As Mr. Green wrote, â€Å"Ever wonder why polls show that so many Americans strongly favor higher minimum wages, prescription drug benefits for Medicare, quality daycare, publicly financed Congressional campaigns and stronger environmental protection, even at the cost of higher taxes, yet the political system can’t produce any of these. † The pay-to-play system is a circuit breaker between popular will and public policy. (Green, 2002) The elite theory points out that all systems are dominated by elites. Some say the number is 15-25 thousand, others say 150,000- 250,000, but whatever the number, a small number of people, because of their positions (their jobs), have a tremendous impact on government and society. This circuit breaker that Green mentions is of course the political body that leans toward the wishes of business and not the people. With closer inspection though, we can see that this same political body is comprised more and more of the business people themselves. We all already know the intimate relationship between business and government at the highest levels of government, but have not considered the impact of people at the local levels. More and more wealthy people are entering the ranks of government and in so doing, it is argued, are losing sight of the priorities of the average citizen. Representatives that create policy no longer represen t the average citizen but the wealthy class or better said the class that does not need government services. Fairness in access to the public used to be guaranteed through legislation such as the Equal Time Provision of the 1934 Communications act. This act required that except for news programs, stations that granted (or sold) air time to any one candidate for public office had to grant (or sell) other candidates equal time? (Greenberg Page 175). With today’s revenue hovering at approximately 1 billion dollars for political commercials, as in the 2000 elections, it is highly doubtful that the media, if I were on the ballot, would donate to me equal air time. They would go bankrupt. Money again prevails. Public financing of candidates, expenditure ceilings, and free TV are three reforms that are offered to circumvent our current situation. But it must be remembered that reforms must pass through government. Again, as stated by Green, â€Å"535 campaign finance experts in Congress do not want to change the rules that got them there and have kept them there; and there are hundreds of large interests who invest thousands [in campaign finance] and reap billions [through legislation], and who like things as they are. Green, 2002) The current situation of government seems to be a win-win situation for business at the expense of the average citizen. Although the average citizen may argue that he or she is doing fine, proof of which may be found in the number of new pairs of Nikes they may own, the reality is that wages and the standard of living have not substantially risen as compared to the financial gains of the wealthy class. The rich are g etting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Green also writes that the history of America shows a â€Å"capacity for self-correction. † If I am correct, America self-corrected her independence through rebellion against the powers that were internal disagreements between the North and South was self-corrected with bloodshed and the injustice of racial inequality was self-corrected via revolution. If we maintain this train of thought, we the working class of America, the waged people, should unite, as is our unalienable right, and self-correct our government? In closing, pluralism defines two key factors that ensure representation of all interest groups as competing political parties providing a choice of government policies and pressure groups influencing political decisions. Pluralists view the state as necessary to maintain democracy by promoting political liberty. For example, freedom of speech and holding regular free elections provides everyone in society with the opportunity to express their opinion on political issues. Dye, 2002) Many major sociological theories are concerned with the distribution of power in society and view those with power as controlling the society; this ideal is based on the examination of the way pluralism and elitism view the distribution of power in society. Pluralists believe that direct democracy is impractical in modern, complex societies and that representative democracy is the best way to ensure all interest is represented. Therefore, pluralism can never exist in its purest form, when discussed with r eference to elitism.