Exploring the Disorder, Tourette Syndrome Essay - 674 Words

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder first described by a French physician named Georges Gilles de la Tourette, in 1885. Tourette syndrome (TS) consists of varies abrupt, rapid, involuntary, and repeated movements or vocal sounds, known as tics. â€Å"Until 1970, TS was frequently misdiagnosed as schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, epilepsy, or nervous habits,† concluding that this mental disorder is extremely rare and has similar characteristics as other mental disorders (Kahn and Fawcett 375). Since there is no specific test that can diagnose TS, doctors have to rely on a person’s behaviors and personal history to identify the disorder. About one person in two thousand people is likely to have TS; additionally males are four†¦show more content†¦Many people often misunderstand TS as rudeness, offensive behavior, and even craziness. Thus, children with TS are often ridiculed or teased by their fellow peers. Due to this, many children avoid so cial gathering and suffer from depression or substance abuse. This is one of the many reasons why children with tics should be informed of their disorder and should receive tremendous amounts of support and love from their friends and families. People with TS are also likely to have other mental problems like depression, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, and self-injurious behaviors. As mentioned above, TS can occur in anyone, even famous people. Some of the famous people that had TS were Jim Eisenreich, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Marc Summers. TS does not disable a person from working efficiently or living a perfectly normal life. People with TS can attend and succeed school just as a normal person can. The disorder does not affect their intelligence or their ability to learn, thus enabling them to live a perfectly normal life. They have the same earning potential, intelligence, and working ability similar to any other person. One of the best ways to cope with TS is to remember that the tic s usually lessen in severity as an individual gets older. Tics usually reach its highest potential during early teens to the middle years of adolescence. If a person with TSShow MoreRelatedEffects Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder In Children1400 Words   |  6 PagesAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children Stephanie Santiago Lehigh Carbon Community College â€Æ' Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Children Pathophysiology Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) refers to developmentally inappropriate degrees of inattention, impulsiveness, and hyperactivity (Hockenberry, Wilson, Rodgers, 2017). ADHD is commonly found in school-aged children. While some children have a problem within one of the three areas, there are others who haveRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Front Of The Class Essay2130 Words   |  9 Pagesmovie; Front of The Class using two of the theories were taught in class. The movie, Front of The Class, is about the journey of a boy named Brad who for many years was living with un-diagnosed Tourette Syndrome, which Brad referred to as his â€Å"constant companion†. Tourette Syndrome is a nervous system disorder which causes the person to suffer from â€Å"tics† which can be described as sudden movements, sounds or twitches that are involuntary and repetitive (CDC, 2015). The movie exhibits the ways in whichRead MoreChildren With Attention Deficits Hyperactivity D isorder ( Adhd ) And Tourette Syndrome1118 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction The short video presented by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) features two families living with children with Attention Deficits Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Tourette syndrome. For the purpose of this paper, Josh and his family’s struggle with ADHD will be reviewed and analyzed using the Calgary Family Assessment Model (CFAM) and Calgary Family Intervention Model (CFIM). CFAM/CFIM enables the health care professionals to focus on psychosocial effects and the linksRead MoreAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ( Adhd )1787 Words   |  8 PagesATTENTION DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER Also known as: ADHD WHAT IS ADHD? ADHD is a behavioral disorder that affects about 10% of school-aged children. Boys are more likely than girls to be diagnosed with it. Children with ADHD act without thinking, are hyperactive, and have trouble focusing. They may understand what is anticipated of them but have trouble following through because they can’t sit still, pay attention or focus on details. All children, act this way at times, particularly when theyRead MoreDescription Of An Example Of A Presentation8050 Words   |  33 Pagesof an assistive technology device. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) – a severe difficulty in focusing and maintaining attention; often leads to learning and behavior problems at home, school, and work; also called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Autism (Autism Society of America Home Page) Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life. The result of neurological disorder that affects the functioning of the brain, autism andRead MoreAttention Hyperactive Impulsive Defecit Disorder2314 Words   |  10 PagesHYPERACTIVE- IMPULSIVE DEFICIT DISORDER INTRODUCTION Attention Hyperactive- impulsive Deficit Disorder, or also known as ADHD, is under the category of IDEA, which is the Other Health Impairments. It is considered as one of the most common childhood mental disorder, affecting more than one in every twenty children (Shaw, 2008). Moreover, this condition can continue through adolescence and adulthood. IDEA defines it as a neurobiological-based developmental disorder in children and adults with a persistentRead MoreOcd - Symptoms, Causes, Treatment131367 Words   |  526 PagesA. Clark. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-10: 1-57230-963-6 ISBN-13: 978-1-57230-963-0 (hardcover: alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-59385-375-0 ISBN-13: 978-1-59385-375-4 (paperback) 1. Cognitive therapy. 2. Obsessive–compulsive disorder. I. Title. RC489.C63C57 2004 616.85†²2270651—dc22 2003020283 To my parents, Albert and Ardith, for their support and encouragement About the Author About the Author David A. Clark, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology

The United States Constitution - 2133 Words

The Constitution The Constitution is the foundation of the United States Government. Each branch of the government relies upon this document to dictate how power is distributed in this democracy and the people rely on the Constitution to protect them from the Federal governments power. Before the Constitution the colonies were divided under the governance of the Articles of Confederation. This first government was adequate through the Revolutionary War but afterwards the people needed union and a strong central government. The need for a government spurred men into action and the Constitutional Convention was called to develop this much needed strong central government. These men were known as the Framers of the constitution. Unfortunately not all was good at the convention. There was much debate about the way the legislative branch between the Virginia plan and the New jersey Plan and the debate was resolved with the Connecticut compromise. There were many more debates over things g reat and small but one of the most important was the debate between the Federalists and anti-Federalists about the ratification of the constitution and including a Bill of Rights which guarantees the peoples rights and protections therein. The combination of these many factors created the Constitution as it is known today, a strong central trunk to the United States tree that will grow new branches over time and let others fall to fit the needs of the people resting under its protectiveShow MoreRelatedThe United States Constitution And The Constitution Essay1491 Words   |  6 PagesThe United States Constitution, this very detailed group of words was written in 1787, but it did not take effect until after it was ratified in 1789, when it replaced the Articles of Confederation. It remains the basic law of the United States then and till the present day of 2016. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware; the last of the original thirteen to ratify was Rhode Island and since only nine were required, this was two years after it went into effect. When the U.S. ConstitutionRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States Constitution Essay1185 Words   |  5 Pages(framers’ of the U.S. Constitution) position on the Presidency: The framers experienced the abuse of the English monarchs and their colonial governors. As a result, the framers were skeptical of the excessive executive authority. Furthermore, they also feared excessive legislative powers. This was something that the Articles of Confederation had given their own state legislatures. The framers of the constitution deliberately fragmented power between the national government, the states, and among the executiveRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States885 Words   |  4 Pages In 1787, our founding fathers came up with a few principles that would establish what we now know as the United States of America. These principles were put on paper to serve as a guideline for how the United States would be operated and structured. This historical piece paper became known as the Constitution of the United States. In the Constitution, a Preamble is implemented at the beginning that essentially tells what the founding fathers set out to do. â€Å"We The People, in order to form a moreRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States894 Words   |  4 Pagesthe substratum for that country. A Constitution can be defined as a document that is the substratum of the country’s principles. Elements in the Constitution may contain sundry information. Which can include: how many terms a leader may serve, what rights the citizens have, how the judicial system works, etc. The United States in no different from those countries. Every constitution is different, no country has the exact constitution as another. The U.S Constitution is a four-page document detailingRead MoreThe United States Constitution Essay1515 Words   |  7 PagesThe United States constitution was written in 1787 by the founding fathers of this country. Now it might be appropriate to question why a document that is the basis of the government for one of the most culturally and racially diverse countries in the world, was written by a group of heterosexual, cisgender, rich, white men. Some might think that a constitution written well over 200 years ago would be outdated and irrelevant to the American society of today but with some research, it is quite theRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States756 Words   |  4 PagesPromulgation and Legislation in the U.S. Constitution: The federal system of government of the United States is based on its constitution. The Constitution grants all authority to the federal government except the power that is delegated to the states. Each state in the United States has its own constitution, local government, statute, and courts. The Constitution of the United States sets the judiciary of the federal government and defines the extent of the federal court’s power. The federalRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1007 Words   |  5 PagesThe United States of America has previously experienced failure every now and then. With trial and error, the country has learned to correct its ways and move toward(s) perfecting itself. Realizing the ineffectiveness of the Articles of Confederation is a prime example of the U.S. learning how to better itself. Subsequent to the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the United States was set as our new and improved framework of government. Possessing knowled ge on how America, although strongRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States951 Words   |  4 Pageshappening again. Unlike the artifacts, The Constitution of the United States has not been forgotten, it is actually still very alive today. Unlike most relics, The Constitution still holds a very heroic and patriotic implication, freedom. With freedom comes self-government, freedom of speech, religious tolerance, etc. With all these things comes the great responsibility to adapt and fit to the wants and needs of the decade. Even though the Constitution was made for the interests of the people ofRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1388 Words   |  6 PagesInterpretation of the Constitution is one of the biggest conflicts within the United States–the highly contentious issue of states’ rights resulted from two different interpretations of what powers should belong to the federal government versus what powers belong to the individual states. No issue has ever caused as much turmoil as the issue of states’ rights–but one side must have more valid arguments. Should the federal government’s power be superior, or should the authority of the individual states be heldRead MoreThe Constitution Of The United States1490 Words   |  6 PagesIn 1787 the four founding fathers of the United States wrote the constitution . The constitution was written to let the people of the U.S know how the states would be governed and also to stop the government from having too mu ch power. The constitution is divided into three branches : the Legislative branch, Executive branch and the Judicial branch. All the branches are based on the idea of separation of power in which each branch has a specific power and responsibility and don’t rely on

Advantages of Credit Cards Free Essays

Throughout history, men invented ingenious ways to solve problems. Some simple, but most will leave a big impact on our future. Men invented trading as means to acquire things that is needed, with another individual who wants what the trader has. We will write a custom essay sample on Advantages of Credit Cards or any similar topic only for you Order Now But sometimes, what we want to trade with is not what the tradee wants. So currency is formed. Currency is accumulatable, powerful and can be used to acquire our wants and needs. Currency had been created in many shapes and sizes. When it was first invented, precious metals such as silver and gold chips are the most widely used. But in our modern era, paper currency reigns dominance. As time goes on, men started craving, craving for thing or material objects that only money can buy. And one might not have the funds to buy such things or if that certain desire costs a lot, bringing a whole load of cash with you to the store might not be such a good idea for many reasons. And so the credit card is invented. This small little piece of plastic will leave a big impact on society. There are repercussions of misusing this object but let’s talk about the advantages for now. So what exactly are the advantages of credit cards? BUY TICKETS OR SHOP ONLINE EASILY In modern society, people have found ingenious ways to make acquiring everyday needs or material objects of desired. Grocery shops were invented so that we don’t need to wake up early and go all the way to farms to get fresh food like vegetables, eggs and meat. But what if we want require specific items, something that is not common but it needed as quick as possible. We might go around asking our friends and relatives to acquire those items. How troublesome would that have been, or had been as people actually did this back then. But then, utilizing the power of the internet, people had discovered that they can acquire things that are unusually rare, but is available. Sometimes from a seller from another country. To buy, means to pay. But how do we pay someone from another country? Mailing a wad of cash in an envelope to the seller might not be such a good idea, as mail do get lost from time to time. And so the credit card plays the role in rectifying this problem. Using the credit card we can pay the seller using borrowed funds from the bank and send it to the seller in the form of digital data in which will then be added to the account of the seller and thus the seller is paid. We can acquire things easily from the internet, and now with the usage of credit card,everything we need can be acquired. If it exists, if it is being sold, it can be acquired. It doesn’t matter if it’s in China, New York or timbuctoo. And lets say if something is on sale or your favorite band is having a concert in your hometown but you don’t have enough cash to buy it and if you wait until your pay check to arrive, your opportunity is long gone. Don’t worry your credit card is here to help. Instant currency with just a swipe of the card or a few presses of some numbers and information on the internet. No longer will you have to wait in line at the airport to buy tickets, you get get them through the internet using your credit card in just a few minutes. Nowadays people would rather stay home and shop through the internet than having to endure a long drive to the local mall especially if during the peak hours where there are traffic jams. Sites such as Lazada. com are common shopping websites that welcomes the usage of credit cards. It’s like a virtual mall in which the items bought need not be carried in accumulative quantities to the car park, but is put in a virtual shopping cart and then sent directly onto your doorsteps after the credit card payment has been made. How to cite Advantages of Credit Cards, Papers

Real Meaning of LIfe Essay Example For Students

Real Meaning of LIfe Essay The primary focus of this essay is on adaptationism and the theory of evolution, which, of course, challenges fundamental religious beliefs. In fact, perhaps as a substitute for religion, some have adopted a distortion of Darwinism to explain the purpose of life: one depiction of human existence is that were actually survival machines programmed to perpetuate our genes, according to selfish gene pursuits. From this POV, the purpose of life is survival for the sake of continued reproduction- each life then is a carrier, a brief repository of gene pool elements. Because of this belief, some Darwinists seek to find adaptationist explanations for all aspects of the human physique and behavior. They do so because they believe that all traits must make rational, selfish gene sense somehow because thats their whole point; because natural selection wouldnt allow it otherwise. Some people even have a bizarre faith in evolution as if life can always be counted on to devise a way somehow (even miraculously) to survive, i.e., life will find a way. The SF writer, Robert A. Heinlein, a Social Darwinist, once wrote, there will always be survivors; he meant only survival of the fittest, of course, with the implication that the non-fit dont deserve to live. Nazism (blatant power fantasy) was an outgrowth of Social Darwinism with the implication that natural order dictates that human society should be patterned on this; that the unfit, weak and inferior should be actively weeded out by society. However, its a fallacy to infer morality from natural law. After all, the law of gravity doesnt mean human society should strive to promote falling down. This essay has been another attempt to dispel these simplistic notions. Natural selection alone doesnt explain all aspects of ourselves: mere statistics (of distribution and variation) alone prevents that as previously explained. Adaptationism is a major factor, of course, but not all traits are the result of direct adaptations- and this is increasingly true with greater complexity. Where does one draw the line between direct adaptation, random drift and peripheral serendipity (unintended consequences)? Again, it cant be emphasized enough that technically, genes have no purpose- nor are they trying to survive or enhance their reproductive success or do anything for that matter. Its just that the gene pool will obviously TEND to consist of genes that have happened to have done so- by default; i.e., the other genes that happened not to have done so will obviously not be around in as great numbers, if at all. Life will continue to perpetuate in the ways that its possible to do so within the laws of nature. The so-called ingenious ways that species devised to survive were often the only feasible options left (no miracle was involved)- by default- given the current environment and the previous genetic lineage and the preexistence of requisite traits. But remember, most species- perhaps, all species- go extinct eventually. Evolution is a constant work in progress; just because a particular species has existed for millions of years doesnt mean that a kind of perfection or optimization has been achieved. Sometimes, a species can exist for millennia IN SPITE of bad adaptations. And past reproductive success doesnt predict future success- just look at the dinosaurs. So theres no preordained destiny to evolution. Evolutionary biology provides a context for understanding HOW current behavior modes mayve developed and why they persist. However, it doesnt directly explain WHY we are as we are. Saying that men seek power and status for sex and are violent to fight over women; and that women seek high status males; or that genes seek to maximize reproductive fitness is a useful model (stereotype)- a teleological explanation- but its certainly not the meaning of life. .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .postImageUrl , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:hover , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:visited , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:active { border:0!important; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 { 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; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:active , .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .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; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7 .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .udc96fe0272d6255631c7355fd758f3a7:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: ENGLISH: TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE EssayThe primary focus of natural selection has always been on the winners (life); but I think evolution can be extended to encompass non-life as well. In semiconductor physics, electrical current can be defined either as negative charge moving, say, in one direction or as positive charge moving in the opposite direction. Likewise, instead of saying that evolution is all about reproductive fitness, one could just as well say its about death and extinction- the other side of the coin. Hell, death is .

The East West link Project

Introduction The intention of the Victorian State Government to undertake the East West Link Project is a good move that will improve the state of infrastructure in the City of Melbourne.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The East West link Project specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The construction of 18 kilometer-road network across Melbourne to link the already existing Western Ring Road to the Eastern Freeway is a very ambitious project. Given that this project is estimated to cost about 8 billion US dollars, it is clear that the project will be very involving and therefore, needs a lot of dedication from the government and all the stakeholders. According to Kloppenborg (2009), it is always important to understand the magnitude of a project before developing its prototype. When developing a prototype, the management should have a deep understanding of the intended goals and objectives that the project seeks to a ccomplish. In this case, the project management must have an understanding of what the Victorian State Government expects from the project. This government intends to spend about 8 billion dollars in this project. It must get what its investment is worth. The project management team has a major task of ensuring that this project yields the needed result. This must start from the planning stage of this project. Heldman (2011) says that a successful project is always seen at the planning stage. Planning of the project involves forecasting what the project team members will be doing, the expected timeline for every activity in the project, the associated costs at every stage, and any other costs and tasks that will be carried out within the project. The planning stage also involves defining the roles of every project member. Project Initiation Tonnquist (2009, p. 118) observes that the first stage in project management process is the initiation stage. At this stage, the financiers and those who own the project identifies the need to undertake the project.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In this project, the Victorian State Government has identified the need to develop a road that would join Western Ring Road to Eastern Freeway as a way of decongesting the City of Melbourne. Having identified the need to be met by project, then the project team members can move to the planning stage. Project Planning Project Objectives According to Meredith (2012), it is not possible for a project to be successful when project members and the stakeholders do not understand the exact objectives of the project. Defining specific project objectives is always important before the onset of the project. In most of the cases, the financier is always responsible for the development of these objectives. This is because the financier knows what should be achieved upon completion of the project. In this project, the Victorian State Government knows why this project is important and what it should achieve when it is finally completed. Developing project objectives is not only meant for the financiers or owners of the project. Every stakeholder has a role to play in this in order to ensure that the objectives developed are smart in nature. The objectives should be specific and implementable within a given timeline. The following are some of the specific objectives that this project should achieve when it is finally completed. This road should be able to link Western Ring Road to Eastern Freeway upon its completion. The infrastructure should be long lasting and able to meet the traffic needs within Melbourne City. The infrastructure should be developed based on the set standards of roads in Australia. The development of this infrastructure should cost this government an amount, which is within the initially set budget. The project should be completed on or befor e the set timeline in order to meet the expectations of the taxpayers. The above are some of the objectives that the project members must work with focus of achieving them. Given that this project will commence in late 2014, it is important for all the stakeholders to ensure that they do everything within their powers to make the project start in the right manner, and that all the needed project deliverables are availed. It is through this that this team will be assured that the project will run smoothly until the day of its completion. The Victorian State Government has a duty to play in ensuring that it avails all the resources that is needed for this project. The project managers also have a role of stipulating the path this project will take, and explaining to the financier all that which is needed to make this project a reality. Justification of the project Meredith and Mantel (2012, p. 71) observes that projects are always costly ventures in terms of the resources needed, and the time that is invested in it. The East West Link Project will cost about 8 billion US dollars. The project will also need about six years to be completed. These are massive resources that this project will consume for it to be completed successfully.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The East West link Project specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The taxpayers will have to meet the costs of this project. It is therefore, important to state clearly to them the importance of the project. They should be made to understand why the project is worth the cost. Making all the stakeholders understand the importance of the project helps in justifying the need to implement the project. In the East West Link Project, the intention is to link Western Ring Road and Eastern Freeway, which already exist. The need to link them emanated from the fact that motorists are forced to spend a lot of time on the road using the existing r outes, thereby creating congestions in the city. The project seeks to ease traffic congestion within the City of Melbourne by creating a new route that will enable motorists to take shorter routes. Upon its completion, the project will ensure that traffic snarl-ups that are always experienced within Melbourne City are eliminated. This will improve efficiency of doing business in this city. It will attract more investors who will consider the city attractive due to improved infrastructure. It will also help in eliminating millions of dollars that is lost every year because of the slow movement of traffic, especially during the peak hours. The residents of Melbourne will have a pleasant experience of moving on roads that are free from traffic jam. The link will be cost effective for road users not only because of the eliminated traffic jam, but also because of the reduced distance motorists will have to cover. Therefore, this viable project can help this city in a great way when it is finally completed in 2019. Project scope When undertaking any given project, hopes are always high from various stakeholders as each individual speculates on what the project shall achieve when it is finally completed. According to Bruce and Langdon (2000, p. 56), it is always important to regulate these expectations by defining what the project scope is, in order to make everyone understand the real intention of the project. Harmonizing the expectations of all the stakeholders is important in ensuring that the outcome of the project is convincing to every individual. It helps in eliminating some unrealistic hopes that some stakeholders may have, and making them know what to expect of the project. It is always the intention of project members to satisfy the needs of all the stakeholders when a project is completed.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Defining the scope of the project makes them understand what to expect from the project, hence increasing chances of the project satisfying the stakeholders upon its completion. This will form part of the success of the project when it is finally brought into completion. In this project, the scope is limited to constructing a road linking Western Ring Rad and Eastern Freeway. This road will be a dual carriageway that will be able to support all types of vehicles. The road will have six lanes. This road is expected to eliminate the need for motorists who are on Western Ring Road to travel to the city center before going to the Eastern Freeway. Those on Eastern Freeway will also not need to travel to the city center before getting on the Western Ring Road. The road under this project will link the two routes directly. This will ease congestion in the city, as it will reduce the number of vehicles travelling to the city center. This project will save time for the road users because it would take a shorter time to use this new road than to go through the city center. It will reduce the cost of fuel for road users because of the shorter distance to cover. The project is limited to developing a standard quality road linking the two highways. Project Execution The Project Management Team The first step in project execution is to identify project team members. In every project, it is important to understand the project members who will participate in various activities within the project. As Nagarajan (2005, p. 27) says, sensitive projects such as those involving infrastructure needs people with necessary skills to undertake various duties. In the development of this infrastructure, there will be a need for civil engineers, designers, among others professionals. There will also be a need to have a lawyer who will constantly ensure that the interests of all the stakeholders in the project are protected. There should be a clear hierarchy among all the project members de fining the role of each project member and their ranks. The following diagram shows the hierarchy of the project members. The above diagram shows the capacities held by different individuals within this project. The project manager heads the project. It is important to note that the Financier of the project, who is the Victorian State Government, occupies a special position within the project. The government falls in a special rank within the project, which allows it to supervise the activities within the project, but neither directing nor being directed by any officer within the project. This means that the financier, who owns this project, will have an opportunity to monitor directly the operations of the project without the feeling that it is interfering with the normal operations of the project. Under the project manager are specialists who are responsible for various tasks within the project. The project team managers will be in charge of specific groups tasked with various du ties in the project. The project members, especially the junior officers will be undertaking various operational tasks within the project. Project team manager will head each group within the project. This team manager must be an individual with the technical knowledge in the area he or she will be heading. This means that most of them will be engineers. Each team will be reporting to the project manager who will then brief the top officials of the Victorian State Government. It is important to note that The Victorian State Government will have its own officials in the project who will carry out various investigative activities within the project and report directly to the top officials of the Victorian State Government. The reports given by the government agents in the project will be compared closely with the report given by the project manager to determine if they agree. It is important to note that the government agents will be working independently to investigate progress of th e project. The quality assurance team will be answerable to two offices about the progress of the project and the quality achieved at each stage. The first office it will be answerable to is the project manager’s office. This must be done twice in every week. The quality assurance team is also answerable to the agents of the Victorian State Government whenever they request for any information. The project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the project members work in line with the overall objective of the project, and in unity. This will help in ensuring that all the intended objectives are achieved successfully and within the desired timeline. Project Costs and Timeline It is important to state project costs and the timeline within which it should be brought to completion. Specifying project costs helps in weighing the benefits against its costs. This way, the client in the project can determine whether another cheaper option can be taken. To the team responsible for implementing the project, it is important to define costs in order to ensure that every item within the project is catered for to avoid disruption. According to Kerzner (2013, p. 45), there are cases where a project fails because there was no precise determination of the costs of the project. In such cases, implementers may come to realize that the amount of money they had set for the project is not enough. It would force them to ask for more funding otherwise the project may be grounded. In order to avoid such failures, defining a comprehensive cost of the project is important in ensuring that the project experiences no financial challenges once it gets underway. In this project, it is expected that the total cost of the project will be about 8 billion US dollars. Project timeline helps in defining project success. Haynes (2002, p. 45) notes that stating the timeline helps in the assessment of the project. The project assessment team will always use the set timeline to determin e if the project is running within the schedule. Every stage in the project must have a clear date on which it should be completed. Any causes of delay that are justifiable should be communicated to the relevant authorities as soon as possible so that they can make a decision on how to handle the issue in time. In this project, it is estimated that it would take about six years for this project to be completed. It will start in late 2014 and completed in 2019 or 2020. The timeline for this project is further stated in the Gantt chart attached. The Gantt chart explains all the activities involved in this project and the estimated time it will take to complete the entire project. Activities to be undertaken in the Project It is at the implementation phase of a project that a lot of attention and concentration is needed. This project is expected to begin officially in 2014. This means that the duration between now and its commencement date will involve a series of planning, and other a pproval activities that will be carried out by various stakeholders. This will need to start by development of a prototype (Field and Keller 1998, p. 89). The prototype will need to be tested to determine its effectiveness and the ability to meet the required standards. The engineers involved in the project will do this. The lawyer will help them by giving advice on relevant laws and government requirements in every stage of planning and project implementation. The lawyer will tell the engineers of the consequences that the project may face when they take a given path. Monitoring and Controlling Process In order to ensure that the needed quality in this project is achieved, a team will monitor the project closely. When a given prototype has been developed, the project manager and the engineers who were responsible for developing the prototype will explain the model to the owners of the project (top officials of the Victorian State Government). These officials will need to approve th e prototype before it can be given green light for full implementation. When these officials reject the prototype, the engineers and all the responsible project members will be forced to go back to the drawing board and develop a new prototype that is acceptable to the project owners. When the prototype is accepted, then the project members will go to the next step of implementing the approved model. When monitoring the progress of the project, the quality assurance team, and Victorian State Government officials will use the prototype that was approved to determine if the project is in line with its objectives as outlined in its plan. Closure This project can be brought to a closure under three circumstances. The first circumstance under which the project can be brought to a closure is upon its completion, which is scheduled in 2020. The project can also be brought to a closure when either of the parties breaches the contract. The third reason for the closure can be when either of t he parties feels frustrated with the project. Conclusion The East West Link Project is very ambitious, and upon its completion, it will help improve the infrastructure within the City of Melbourne. However, the project will cost the Victorian State Government a lot of money to complete. The government will need to spend about eight billion US dollars to bring the project to completion. The project will take about six years, starting from 2014 until 2019 or 2020. For this project to be successful, all the project members must understand the requirements of the project at every stage. All the project members must actively participate in this project. List of References Bruce, A Langdon, K 2000, Project management, Dorling Kindersley, New York. Field, M Keller, L 1998, Project management, International Thomson Business Press, London. Haynes, M 2002, Project management: Practical tools for success, Crisp Learning, Menlo Park. Heldman, K 2011, Project management jumpstart, Wiley, Hobok en. Kerzner, H 2013, Project management: A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling, John Wiley Sons, Hoboken. Kloppenborg, T 2009, Contemporary Project Management, South-Western, New York. Meredith, J 2012, Project management: A managerial approach, Wiley, Hoboken. Meredith, J Mantel, S 2012, Project management, Wiley, Hoboken. Nagarajan, K 2005, Project management, New Age International, New Delhi. Tonnquist, B 2009,Project management: A complete guide, Academica, Aarhus. This report on The East West link Project was written and submitted by user Punisher to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Cinema †More Than a Social Phenomenon. Film History Essay

The Cinema – More Than a Social Phenomenon. Film History Essay Free Online Research Papers The Cinema More Than a Social Phenomenon. Film History Essay Going to cinema is more than a social phenomenon; a simple technology has been able to culminate art forms culturally shaping society. The cinema experience draws upon such a wide intersection of factors it has become a complex subject of extensive and varying fascinations. Personal idiosyncrasies, preferences and appreciations form differing types of allure of the silver screen as discussed in 5 insights into cinema going. Frank O’Hara’s poem â€Å"To the Film Industry in Crisis† , is an ode to not only film, but O’Hara’s love of film. Illustriously and affectionately, O’Hara emphasises particular aspects he loves about cinema, while employing near sarcastic tones to convey a simultaneous sense of ambivalence. In the first stanza of the poem, he establishes a hierarchy of his love for other art forms, â€Å"Not you†¦nor you experimental theatre†¦nor you promenading Grand Opera, obvious as an ear (though you are close to my heart), but you, Motion Picture Industry, it’s you I love† . Interestingly, he ironically shows that despite an appreciation for the ‘high arts’ of theatre and opera, it is the cinema that he ultimately appreciates. The ironic use of the capitalised words of ‘Motion Picture Industry’ is a recognition of it as the antithesis of ‘high arts’ of opera and theatre. This follows and builds up to the second stanza, as he recollects a flurry of classic and favourite film moments and actors, almost like the canon of the cinephile. The style and flow of the poem resembles ranting as O’Hara’s memory unfolds with a flow of cinema knowledge. This is perhaps an insight into the minds of cinephiles in a sense of overcome by moments which are recalled almost as though they were personal experiences. The poem ties up with a mildly sarcastic tone in the ode to the actors â€Å"Long may you illumine space with your marvellous appearances, delays and enunciations, and may the money of the world glitteringly cover you as you rest after a long day under the klieg lights† . With this poem, we gain a sense of the overwhelming sense of pleasure derived from the culture of obsession with the cinema, actors and actresses. It is perhaps so overwhelming that any doubts about its commercialism or authenticity have been accepted, as seen thro ugh O’Hara’s sarcastic tone. Richard Hugo’s â€Å"The Real West Marginal Way† in a chapter titled the White Line, Hugo recollects childhood memories of 1930s of visiting the George Shrigley’s White Center Theatre. Hugo nostalgically describes his theatre, or â€Å"paradise†, in vivid detail where he recalls the beginnings of his fondness for the cinema. There was a white line in the cinema where he and other children were not allowed to cross as not to disturb the adults watching the film. Hugo draws an analogy to his favourite film of all time â€Å"Man On A Tightrope† directed by Elia Kazan, which tells the simple story of a circus led by Cernik to escape their government and cross the border. The border and white line serve as a parallel metaphor as the division between the â€Å"world of imagination† from the â€Å"world of serious organisational adult responsibility† . He applies Cernik’s journey to that of his own circumstance, â€Å"For poets the film should be special. Like Cernik, poets cross that border, often at some risk, to reach the land where usual moral judgements are suspended†. The suspension of judgement is an important freedom on Hugo’s side of the white line where the children are ignored by an overpowering loudspeaker and simply allowed to the freedom to talk. Hugo’s love for this film becomes apparent in his own idiosyncrasies. He describes how people’s reaction to â€Å"Man on A Tightrope† become a factor in his judgement of people’s characters, â€Å"If you don’t like it, chances are I wouldn’t like you† . This makes the suggestion that art, or in this case cinema, is inextricably linked to character and individuals. For one who loves and knows â€Å"Man on A Tightrope†, Hugo describes the strange feeling of still being mystified by how the film unravels despite knowing and being able to recall entire scenes. The strongest and most lasting impression of Hugo’s article is the realisation of how he longs for the feeling of being completely submerged in a film that he once felt as a child behind the white line. It is a feeling he can only appreciate in retrospect as he deals with the growing responsibility of age. In the introduction of Jean-Claude Carriere’s â€Å"The Secret Language of Film† , translated by Jeremy Leggatt, Carriere draws an analogy between modern cinema going and that of the first uses of the technology in Africa by the French colonial administrators. In the early 1920s, film shows were held the purpose of was not only to entertain, but also to â€Å"demonstrate to and subject African populations the unassailable supremacy of the white nations† . Invited to these shows were African notables and religious leaders, who, in despite of their religious beliefs which forbade them to depict the human face and form, attended entire shows with their eyes shut. Carriere draws his crucial parallel, â€Å"Sometimes I think we ourselves are not very different from those African Muslims when we go to see a film†¦Unlike them, we keep our eyes open in the dark, or we think we do† . Carriere is referring to our own set of habits and behaviours which ‘blinds’ us from being fully aware of what we are exposed to. â€Å"We refuse to see, or else we see something else. There is in every film a region of shadow, a stockpile of the not seen.† It is our habitual reception of film that contorts our reception, or perhaps even composition, of films. What is interesting about this is that, unlike other art forms, we are forced to see the same images at the same speed; â€Å"We are travelling on the same train† , so to speak. There is an element that forms appreciation of film in such a wide range of aspects despite being part of the audience entity . Due to the nature of cinema, we have a certain freedom to receive only the aspects of a film that we want, however it is this freedom that allows us to blind ourselves. The Rustle of Language by Roland Barthes , translated by Richard Howard, is an insightful article into the behavioural patterns of the act of ‘cinema going’. Barthes likens the â€Å"cinema situation† to a process of a hypnotic state, as he describes why being at the cinema is by its own character, special. He describes this due to our fascination with cinema in two distinct ways. We experience this hypnotic states through both a narcissistic body, which â€Å"gazes, lost† at the cinema images, and a â€Å"perverse body† , which fascinates itself with the act of going, sitting in, and leaving the cinema. Barthes primarily concerns himself with the latter. Barthes suggests that the conditions of hypnosis, â€Å"vacancy, want of occupation, lethargy† resemble that of the reasons we often go to the cinema â€Å"idleness, leisure, free time†. The cinema situation is â€Å"pre-hypnotic† . The darkness of the cinema acts as a â€Å"twilight reverie† , in which we explore our body’s anonymous freedom in an â€Å"urban dark†. Our state of hypnosis continues as we resonate with the ‘vibrations’ of the projector light’s ‘dancing cone’, which exists both ‘motionless and dancing’. However, the most interesting feature of Barthe’s analogy is his fascination with leaving the cinema. The pleasures of the perverse body as distanced with that of the narcissistic body is what most draws Barthes to the cinema. This â€Å"bliss of discretion† he describes can be interpreted as the surreal feeling of leaving the cinema as if being woken up, due to th e change in physical, environmental and emotional changes. Barthe’s concept ‘blissful discretion’ as we re-enter our own lives, often leaves us wanting for more. In â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† by Greil Marcus , a book dedicated to the analysis of the 1962 film â€Å"The Manchurian Candidate† directed by John Frankenheimer, it explores how the film is immersed in American culture. Marcus delves into the intricacies of the film with an obvious passion, as he anecdotally and nostalgically gives his impressions of his first viewings of the film. This notion of first impression, or rather an impression sufficing the statement â€Å"Greatest movie I ever saw†, for Marcus, is an â€Å"overwhelming† sensation in which â€Å"The momentum of the film† will leave you ignorant of its flaws until viewed in retrospect. The difference between â€Å"Then and now†, particularly because his analytical inquisition into the film, becomes apparent in his opening description of â€Å"this 1962 black and white film made up of†¦HitchcockWellesBody Snatchers† , quite contrary to the â€Å"gift of art† felt during his first impressions. Seeing the film for the second time with his friend, Marcus anecdotally describes the immediate but brief discussion of their impressions of the film â€Å" ‘Greatest Movie I ever saw’ he said flatly, as if he didn’t want to talk about it, and he didn’t. He said what he said stunned with bitterness, as if he shouldn’t have had to see this thing, †¦as if the whole experience had been, somehow, a gift, the gift of art, and also unfair† . This sense of unfairness upon being presented with â€Å"the gift of art†, and just quickly taken away, is a familiar emotion in movie going which Marcus suggests is more than withdrawal symptom. The complex and conflicting feelings of â€Å"stunned with bitterness†, â€Å"both true and false† is a reflection into the meanings of art. As described earlier this first impression is an overwhelming sense of flawlessness, which is an interpretation as to the meaning of art; a certain flawlessness due to its truth to its own existence. This therefore allows for the coexistence of conflict. Perhaps this unfairness derives from the sense that our lives are filled with conflict although hardly resembling the flawlessness of art. The piece is written criticising the film in light of retrospect as seen in the first paragraph. This unfairness, perhaps is the idea that the first impression, or impressions, allows us to view and appreciate films in a way which cannot be recreated upon subsequent cinema experiences. The fascination with film going is often extended far beyond the moving pictures shown in a dark room. It can also be the dark room. It can be the void we feel when we are removed from our state of fascination. Our cinema habits, possibly depending on how, and how much we love cinema, can overflow into our lives. In its own sense, it is an experience almost as wholly as being, which is why it the feeling still astounds us. Research Papers on The Cinema - More Than a Social Phenomenon. Film History EssayWhere Wild and West MeetThe Hockey GameHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionEffects of Television Violence on ChildrenMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductRelationship between Media Coverage and Social andThe Spring and AutumnHip-Hop is ArtThree Concepts of PsychodynamicDefinition of Export Quotas

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 3

No topic - Essay Example The article emphasizes the fact that once Google launches its â€Å"Google Editions†, the online service to sell e-books, it would be in direct competition with another behemoth in the area of digital books, Amazon. The main issue analyzed here is the competition from Amazon and their pricing strategy along with the distribution channels both companies will adopt to market their services since the real winner will be the product that reaches the customer in the most convenient way possible. It is a well known fact that Amazon is the leader in the space for selling books and accessories online. It was one of the first companies to set up a website for selling books and accessories online. The success of the model pioneered by Amazon spurred many companies (Barnes and Noble, Borders etc) to enter the area of selling books online. The article clearly highlights the potential for rivalry between Google (once it launches Google Editions) and Amazon as both the companies are essentially targeting the same market i.e. the consumers of e-books. Further, the article discusses the possibility of a â€Å"price war† where each of the competitors would be going in for a â€Å"race to the bottom† in search of the consumers for their products. The Implications of this strategy would be discussed in due course. This section analyzes the case from the 4P’s of the marketing mix, namely: Price, Product, Place and Promotion. These are the cornerstones of any marketing strategy and the successful execution of these in a combination or individually would determine the success of the venture as is being undertaken by Google. The marketing mix is the â€Å"set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the company blends to produce the response it wants in the target market.† (Kotler, 2009 63) To take the first component of the Marketing mix, the biggest advantage that Google has is its competitive pricing. Since the

Provide a critical review of the current risk management activities of Essay - 1

Provide a critical review of the current risk management activities of any one (large, international) financial institution of y - Essay Example The services of Bank of America are accessed by majority of the US population and also holds considerable market share in the financial markets in different countries. Bank of America is also a popular name in the investment banking services provided to the customers in the finance industry. The growth of the financial services have been largely due to the effective strategies of the bank in investing its funds in the areas that have higher probability of generating returns at the cost of incurred risk. Bank of America provides a wide range of banking and non-banking financial services to its customers in several markets all over the world. The customers of the banks includes the corporate houses, individuals and even the government as they need financial management for managing their wealth as well as their investments. In the initial stages of the year 2012, Bank of America was able to expand their business in the US economy with the spurt in consumer expenditure and business inves tments. However, the investment banking and the wealth management operation of bank of America slowed down due to the end of tax incentives offered to the business as policies of the government. In such a scenario of slowdown in the business in vestments and the crunch of liquidity in the economy, the sustenance of the banking and financial services in almost the scale of growth as achieved earlier was subject to risk. Due to the global financial recession, the European markers of Bank of America slowed down in the face of decreasing demand followed by the decline of consumption expenditure and business investment. In order to manage the risks associated to the business of banking and financial services in the face of economic slowdown, Bank of America have taken active measures to restrict the losses due to funding and liquidity risk, credit risk, foreign exchange risk, interest rate risk, etc. The risk management practices have helped Bank of America to be resilient to the shock o f economic recession in US and also provide best financial services solution to all of their customers. Discussion The appropriateness of their definition of risk appetite The risk appetite of Bank of America has been defined according to the prevailing economic conditions in the several markets in which the bank operates. The global financial turmoil and the varying performances of US, European and Asian markets have led the bank of America to define upper and lower limits of risk appetite. The range of risk appetite has enabled the organization to decide on the extent of risk to be undertaken in funding and liquidity arrangement, credit offered to their global customers and the uncertainties in the fluctuation of interest rate and foreign currencies (Handlechner, 2008, p.84). The definition of risk appetite of the organization also looks at the return on investments and the return on equity of the organizations. A review of the empirical literature shows that the risk-return trade off has been increasingly important for the organization in the financial markets. The higher risk level associated to the investment of funds of the financial service

Soda Tax Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soda Tax - Essay Example In fact, a ten- year research carried on individuals with a regular intake of diet soda revealed a 70% (Picca 35) increase on their waistline in comparison to individuals with a zero tolerance to soda intake. I that believe soda tax serves an effective measure of saving the ignorant American population, who turn a blind eye to dire health complications for continuous soda intake. A tax charge on soft beverages will have a profound reduction of illnesses such as diabetes associated with unhealthy lifestyle. Aside from obesity, public health officials also highlight additional health benefits of a potential soda tax such as improved dental hygiene. In the last 50 years, soft drink consumption has increased by whooping 500% (Brill 46). Interestingly soft drinks like soda consist of massive calories but with zero nutritional value. Even with such scary statistics soft drinks consumption make up 7% percent of energy consumption in adults and with a larger percentage reported in children and adolescents (Brill 47). A tax charge on soda would result into a consumption reduction. Public health officials note that a consumer reduction in soda intake would reduce obesity cases nationwide, hence significant step towards the fight against diseases such as diabetes. The rising cost of soda, would reduce consumer intake, and consequently reduce weight gain of approximately 90 % of the American population (Picca 36). A research carried out by the National Health and Nutrition Examination survey in 2010 revealed that indeed states with higher taxes on soda recorded the lowest consumer consumption on soft drinks (Picca 37). Individuals in such states turned to healthy drinks such as milk and natural juice for calories consumption. Following the success of taxation on tobacco and tobacco products, that led to a signification reduction of health complication associated with regular nicotine intake (Picca 37). Taxation on soda would have the same implications on health

Housing, Economic Growth and Poverty: A Literature Review

Housing, Economic Growth and Poverty: A Literature Review Abstract This paper reviews literature on the relationship between housing finance, economic growth and poverty.   While it is evident that housing construction creates jobs, the review reveals that there is a need for more research to determine the long-term economic benefits of housing and whether housing finance in particular can be an effective tool in eradicating poverty.   The limited evidence is due in part to limits in data and the need to utilize robust econometric techniques to determine the direction of causality in these relationships (i.e. does increased economic growth lead to increased demand for housing and hence housing construction and finance or does housing construction and finance lead to increased economic growth and lower poverty).   Though little direct evidence was found, the financial deepening literature suggests that as housing finance deepens financial markets, it may play a role in poverty alleviation.   This relationship should be investigated further. 1. Introduction While the focus of this review is to summarize empirical evidence regarding the relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty, there is considerable stylized and anecdotal evidence that makes a case for housing as a prescription for poverty.   This literature is extensive although recent books on eradicating poverty in the developing world say very little explicitly about the role of housing.   The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs (2011), states that most would accept that fact that schools, clinics, roads, electricity, ports, soil nutrients, clean drinking water; and the like are the basic necessities for a life of dignity and health, as well as for economic productivity.   Sachs goes on to delineate the strategy for ending extreme poverty by 2025.   While he mentions key investments in people and in infrastructure, he does not explicitly mention housing.   The same can be said of Banerjee and Duflo (2011) and Karlan and Appel (2011).   Perhaps there is an und erlying assumption that housing is necessary.   Perhaps, housing is considered part of the infrastructure that they refer to. Or, perhaps the underlying belief is that economic growth will lead to better housing conditions. At any rate, a specific consideration of the impact of housing on poverty is not given in these recent books on the subject of eradicating poverty in this millennium.   This is representative of what was discovered upon reviewing the empirical literature on this issue. Some authors assert that housing loans and finance are needed but do not provide economic analysis to back this claim.   For example, Bunnarith (2004) in discussing national housing policy in Cambodia asserts that â€Å"housing is needed so that people can have a safe and secure environment.†Ã‚   There is no discussion in his policy paper of the true economic impact of housing construction or finance on economic growth or poverty reduction.   Similarly, Habitat for Humanity specifically acknowledges that housing is necessary to eradicate poverty.   In ‘Consequences of Poverty Housing,’ Habitat for Humanity asserts that the lack of suitable housing creates disadvantages at many levels.   It is seen as interfering with a household’s ability to break out of poverty because so much of the household’s time and money is spent on house maintenance and repairs and not on food, health, education and income generation.   Due to a lack of suitable housing, there is less efficiency arising from illnesses, inability to educate children and an inability to provide a safe and secure environment for economic endeavors.   These are testable implications but little has been done to document these losses empirically, likely due to data limitations.   Some evidence is found and listed in the education section. While there is quite a bit of literature on the interactions between GDP and housing investment, there is surprisingly little evidence documenting the relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty.   One reason for the limited evidence is limitations in quantity of data in developing countries, especially the poorest ones, Hull (2009).   A second reason for the limited evidence is that it is difficult to determine the direction of causality between economic growth and housing.   Ã‚  There is a need to use general equilibrium models which are not easily tested with the available data in the developing countries.   Data limitations are particularly severe when trying to test these relationships in the poorest of the developing countries.   Finally, macroeconomics and housing finance were not studied in depth in economic literature prior to the 1980s, even for the U.S.   Ã‚  When studies were done they typically looked at housing demand as a function of income and growth not the impact of housing on economic growth, see Leung (2004).   Even if where there is analysis of housing finance in developed countries, it may be difficult to make direct inferences about relationships between housing and economic growth in developing countries using those results because so many other factors are at work including financial sector development, government involvement and types of housing. With these limitations in mind, there is some information that may be useful in analyzing the impact of housing finance on economic growth, job creation and poverty.   The impact of housing on economic growth, in developed and some developing markets is highlighted in the next section.   Next, there is a review of the impact of housing on job growth.   The third section reviews what is known about the impact of housing and housing finance on job creation.   Section four reviews the impact of housing finance on poverty.   Some inferences in that section are based on studies of financial market development on poverty.   Section five examines potential social and revenue consequences of housing.   Finally there is a summary of findings in section six. 2. Housing and Economic Impact Housing and Economic Growth: Hongyu, Park and Siqi (2002) recognize the causality dilemma when studying housing investment and economic growth.   They use Granger causality tests to study the case of China from 1981 – 2000.   This study does not address the poverty impact it just studies housing and economic growth.   The authors find that compared to non-housing investment, housing investment has a stronger short-run effect on economic growth.   They also find that housing investment has a long run impact on economic growth but not on non-housing investment.   On the other hand, economic growth has a long run impact on both housing and non-housing investment.   These findings suggest that housing is important in explaining only short-term economic cycles in economic growth. Chen and Zhu (2008) also study the long- and short- run relationship between housing investment and economic growth in China.   The authors look at panel data from 1999 through 2007.   They use robust econometric tests to examine Granger causality of the relationship and find that the relationship is bidirectional in both short – and long- run.   In other words, in China during this period, housing investment impacted economic growth and vice versa.   It will be interesting to see if this result holds over a longer period where more economic cycles are included in the data.   Interestingly, the relationship is different depending on which provinces are analyzed.   The eastern provinces show bidirectional causality like the overall results but results for other provinces indicate that GDP granger causes housing investment but not vice versa. In addition to the empirical analysis of the relationship between housing and economic growth, there are some estimates of multiplier effects associated with construction in developing countries.   For example, Uy (2006) cites that for every 1 peso spent on housing activities in the Philippines, an additional 16.61 pesos is contributed to the GDP.   In Argentina, Freire, et. al (2006) estimate that a 1,000,000 peso investment in construction leads to 1.8 times that amount in demand.   In 1995, a United Nations study indicated that in most developing countries construction of low- income housing is labor intensive and therefore housing construction has a high multiplier effect of between 2 and 3 times the initial investment.   This arises due to the large infrastructure investment (roads, utilities, water, etc.) required in housing development in those countries.   .   In comparison, The National Association of Realtor’s model suggests that the multiplier for home sales in the U.S. is between 1.34 and 1.62. Erbas and Nothaft (2002) study a sample of MENA (Middle Eastern and North African) countries.   Using parameters from the U.S. they simulate the impact that improved home mortgage availability would have on housing markets and economic growth in these countries.   They find that mortgage market reforms would increase housing units built by 10% with a 600 basis point decline in mortgage interest rates.   The impact that the increased mortgage accessibility and housing would have on economic growth is not significant however.   That is because they find, like other studies, that increased investment in housing â€Å"crowds out† investment in other sectors.   The impact on overall growth will be greater if this housing finance helps to improve small business credit. Housing Finance and Affordability Dübel (2007) proposes a model where housing prices are determined by rents, R, growth, g, and the opportunity cost of capital, k, where P = R/(k g).   The role of housing finance in this model is to reduce the cost of capital.   As that cost is lowered, housing prices fall and affordability of housing increases. Housing and Savings Buckley (1996) cites several reasons that mortgage market development can improve household savings.   First, the return to housing will likely provide positive returns especially in light of rapid urbanization in developing countries.   Second, housing provides the most secure collateral against market fluctuations and a positive yield over the long-run.   Third, housing prices are less volatile than other asset prices.   Fourth, the availability of housing improves labor mobility and therefore employment potential.   Finally, the availability of affordable housing finance may lead to increased savings as potential homeowners save to make the required down payment and to maintain their asset.   While many of the work in this area suggests that there should be benefits to overall savings and investment arising from increased access to affordable housing, the literature does not appear to have documented these benefits empirically.   This is an area rich for further exploration. 3. Housing and Job Creation The Case of the United States Wardrip, Williams and Hague (2011) review the literature on the role of affordable housing in particular, in creating jobs and stimulating local economic development in the U.S.   They find that the development of affordable housing increases spending and employment in the surrounding economy.   There are several models used in the housing literature that use â€Å"inputs† such as information on the purchase and production of goods and services for hundreds of U.S. industry sectors, the type and number of businesses in a given community, and a measure of the spending associated with a given program.   Given these inputs, the models â€Å"output† the level of economic activity expected for a given level of housing investment.   For example, the National Association of Home Builders uses a proprietary model to estimate the impact of building 100 new low-income housing tax credit developments for families.   The model predicts that the investment will, on average, lead to the creation of 80 new jobs from the direct and indirect effects of construction and 42 jobs supported by the induced effects of increased spending.   In the long-term, building these units also leads to 30 new jobs that support on-going consumer activity of the new residents.   Market-rate apartment housing will create a similar amount of jobs with just a couple of additional jobs (32) supported by households occupying the new homes.   Of course the models are dependent on the productivity of investment within the community and would likely look very different across countries being considered.   It will depend significantly on the amount of skilled labor available for the construction work since 70% of the jobs created as a direct or indirect result of the new construction, are in fact construction jobs. Rural vs. Urban In support of the findings above, in considering the impact of housing development on a rural community’s economy, the Housing Assistance Council states that housing construction and rehabilitation have a high ratio (62.3%) of value-added to gross outlays.   This means that a large percentage of the outlay for housing construction is available to create wages and salaries, and stimulate job growth in rural economies in the U.S.   The document does not compare the ratio for rural communities with that in urban communities.   This is an important distinction since most of the growth in developing countries centers around urban areas.  Ã‚   Quigley (2008) suggests that results on the relationships between investment and economic growth may be dependent on whether that investment is rural or urban.   The author finds that urbanization promotes productivity due to increases in specialization, centralization of knowledge, complementarities in production and economies of scale and scope.   If this is true, an investment in an urban center may produce greater economic growth than that same investment in a rural area.   This will be an important factor in directing housing policy and finance. Housing and Jobs in Emerging Markets In emerging markets there is some data on job creation as well as the previously cited multiplier effects associated with construction.   For example, in Argentina, Freire, Hassler, et. al (2006) estimate that a 1,000,000 peso investment in construction creates some 40 jobs directly and 20 jobs indirectly from services and related industries.   Tipple (1994) cites numerous studies that find multiplier effects from housing investment.   For example, the National Building Organization in India estimates that a $1,000,000 investment in building construction leads to 600 on-site jobs and 1,000 indirect jobs.   The construction process may stimulate economic growth through backward linkages (e.g. processing building materials) and forward linkages during and after the construction process (e.g. restaurants, repair shops and small scale manufacturing).   However, according to Erbas and Nothaft (2002), housing construction in some developing countries is actually quite capital intensive and reliant on imported materials; as a result only a small percentage of the labor force of these developing countries is employed in construction.   In addition to the construction related jobs, Dübel (2007) finds a positive correlation between financial and real estate related services and the housing to GDP ratio.   Specifically, during the property market upturn in Hong Kong in the 1980s and early 1990s, a doubling of the housing market share of GDP led the share of financial, insurance, real estate and business services to triple from 6.5% to 16.3% of GDP.   Other service sectors, including community, social and personal services also grew, likely as a result of indirect inputs to construction activity as well as increased tax revenues.   4. Housing and Its Impact on Poverty The literature on the relationship between housing and poverty is much smaller than that on housing and economic growth.   Hull (2009) notes there are significant data limitations especially on headcount poverty and labor market outcomes.   These data limitations make testing difficult.   There is a particular need for data in sub-Saharan Africa.   Some findings can be noted and they suggest that all housing investment is not created equal when it comes to addressing poverty.   Some of these studies are highlighted here. Gutierrez et al. (2007) find strong evidence that the sectoral pattern of growth and its employment and productivity-intensities matter for poverty reduction. While employment-intensive growth in the secondary sector (manufacturing, construction, mining and utilities) is correlated with poverty reduction, employment-intensive growth in agriculture is correlated with increases in the poverty headcount.   By extension, if housing creates growth in manufacturing, construction, mining and utilities, it may be effective in reducing poverty.   Similarly, Hull (2009) finds the construction sector is relatively productive but not in all countries.   That is, construction reduces measures of poverty in some but not all countries. Erbas and Nothaft (2002) find that low income housing has a lower import component in production and also higher labor intensity.   This implies that construction of low income housing will lead to greater employment and growth than the construction of middle or high income housing.   Construction of low income housing can effectively improve the living standards of the poorer segments of the population in two ways – by creation of jobs and by creation of suitable housing. Tipple (1994) reviews the literature on the links between employment and housing development and shows that investment in shelter is very effective for promoting employment, especially among lower-income groups; some of the benefits to the economy tend to be inversely proportional to housing cost meaning that low cost housing is more beneficial to the economy.   The informal sector and small-scale enterprises tend to outperform the formal sector and larger enterprises. Housing Policy and Poverty in Developing Countries As housing finance policy is considered, the housing programs and policies of local governments must be accounted for in order to assess the potential effectiveness of housing finance in different countries.   For example, Malpezzi and Sa-Aadu (1996) review contemporary African housing markets and policies.   They find that resource allocation in these countries was quite different than their intended objectives.   These policies have discouraged housing investment and have been both inequitable and distortional.   The authors suggest that privatization of housing investment is more efficient and the African governments need to â€Å"disengage.†Ã‚   Taking the example of the U.S., direct government housing production has been less efficient than private sector tax incentives in developing affordable housing [see Erbas and Nothaft (2002)]. Researchers and policymakers have noted that the housing finance systems in some countries have not been effective in reaching the low income segments of the population.   For example, Moss (2004) states that in South Africa the housing finance system has had little impact on the low-income segment of the population.   Specifically, â€Å"attempts to expand credit into this market through micro-loans have been characterized by initiatives that have yet to demonstrate some form of success.†   The financial sector in South Africa consists of many banks, a number of specialized finance companies and a large number of the so-called alternative lenders.   Future studies should investigate which of these alternatives is likely to have success in reaching the lower income segments of the population.   According to Moss (2004), housing finance has also not been very successful in Nigeria where the gap between income and shelter cost is very wide and has basically eliminated the low income earners from the housing market.   Similarly, Rahman (2009) states that the lack of available and accessible housing finance has been identified by the Government of Bangladesh as one of the important hurdles in improving housing conditions for middle- and lower-income households. Although several potential sources of housing finance for mid- and high-income consumers exist, most of the low-income families’ needs are still unmet. Housing Finance in Developing Markets While there are differences in how housing finance occurs across developing countries, there are some similarities and shared concerns.   The degree to which a country’s banks invest in mortgage lending is relatively low in developing countries when compared to developed countries.   For example, Rahman (2009) cites that in Bangladesh, 4% of banking sector assets are in housing.   In many countries there are state funded and/or sponsored housing finance institutions with government guarantees.   However, there may be allocation problems in that loans are allocated based on politics and not on financials and the granting process can be long and inefficient.   There are not as many types of mortgage instruments and in fact many countries are just beginning to grant fixed-rate mortgages which eliminate interest rate risk for the borrower.   The maturity of mortgage loans tends to be shorter in developing countries – 10 years is the maximum term for some mortgag es in Bangladesh.   In addition to state sponsored financial institutions and banks, home finance is offered by micro finance institutions.   In Bangladesh, one such institution offers these loans for a term of 10 years without collateral.   Although there is no collateral, the borrower must obtain title to the land and must sign a pledge to repay and obtain a group pledge to repay the loan if he or she fails to do so.   These programs tend to rely on a borrowers track record, group pressure and mutual support to control credit risk.   Moss (2004) finds similarities in housing finance in South Africa and to a lesser extent, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.   In most of these countries, anecdotal evidence suggests that the supply of housing finance is much less than the demand and that the institutional structures have not provided sufficient access to housing for the poor. Housing, Financial Deepening and Poverty: One segment of housing finance is the secondary mortgage market and the creation of mortgage instruments or bonds.   While there has not been research on the development of mortgage markets and poverty specifically, the development of those markets can be viewed as part of an overall financial deepening of the capital markets in these developing countries.   Financial deepening has been studied and it may serve as a proxy for the development of secondary mortgage markets to the extent that they occur simultaneously.   At any rate, the development of a secondary mortgage market would be consistent with increasing the breadth and depth of the capital market.   Therefore, a review of the relationship between financial deepening and poverty may tell something about the potential impact of mortgage market development and poverty.   Consistent with this view, Malpezzi (1999) suggests that much of the world is shifting from a housing finance perspective, where special circuits are used to mobilize short-term household deposits for long-term mortgages, to a perspective where housing finance is integrated with broader capital markets. Buckley and Madhusudhan (1984) test a model of the relationship between housing investment and GDP, anticipated inflation, changes in inflation and the extent of capital deepening across several developing and transition countries.   They find that, holding all else constant countries with deeper financial markets invest relatively more in housing.   Singh and Huang (2011) analyze data from sub-Saharan Africa between 1992 and 2006.   They find that financial deepening (as measured in part by credit to the private sector as a percent of GDP) is associated with less poverty and income disparities in SSA countries and that this is most important in early stages of financial development.   Stronger property rights strengthen this relationship.   Finally, Beck, Demirguc-Kunt and Levine (2004) examine a broad cross country sample of 58 developing countries and find that financial development (as measured by the ratio of financial intermediation to the private section to GDP) reduces income inequality by disproportionately raising the incomes of the poor. Impact of Financial Deepening on the Base of the Pyramid and Absolute Poor Singh & Huang (2011) look at different definitions of poverty and examine the impact of financial deepening on them.   The measures of poverty include, the headcount index which measures the percentage of the population living with per capita consumption or income below the poverty line, defined as US$1 a day.   Another measure is the poverty gap which takes into account the distance of the poor from the poverty line.   A third measure is the income of the poorest quintile or average per capita income of the poorest 20 percent of the population.   Using each of these measures of poverty and a sample of SSA countries, the authors find that poverty is inversely related to financial deepening.   The authors also look at the Gini coefficient which is derived from the Lorenz curve.   Larger values of this coefficient indicated greater income inequality.   For this variable the relationship between poverty and financial deepening is insignificant.   In other words, financia l deepening reduces absolute levels of poverty but does not impact income inequality in a significant manner in this sample of SSA countries.   This suggests that various definitions should be examined to gain further insight into the relationship between housing and poverty and to capture the impact on the absolute poor. 5.   Housing Finance and Revenue and Social Consequences Government Revenue Links to Housing Wardrip, Williams and Hauge (2011) itemize revenues from housing development in the U.S.   Some lessons can be learned from this data.   Revenue sources during the construction phase include sales taxes on building materials, corporate taxes on builders’ profits, income taxes on construction workers, and fees for zoning, inspections, and the like.   These estimates presume that the building materials are purchased locally, to the extent the materials are brought in from elsewhere, revenues will of course be lower.   This is something that will impact housing construction in IDA countries.   Revenues in the model depend on local tax structures, construction costs, development fees and whether the local mix of industries is conducive to capturing construction-related activity.   For example, Hangen and Northrup (2010) analyze the effects of developing and rehabilitating 582 affordable homes in Rhode Island in 2007 and 2008 with $25 million in housing bonds.   They estimate that the subsequent income, corporate and sales taxes and fees associated with the total economic activity increased state revenues by roughly $16.7 million during the development period.   In an analysis of a proposed Pennsylvania state housing trust fund, Econsult (2009) finds that for every $1 million in proposed spending, the state stands to gain $82,000 in revenue from the construction of single family homes; these revenues would be higher if the $1 million were spent on affordable multifamily housing. In addition to immediate fiscal benefits, housing construction also provides on-going benefits to the locality.  Ã‚   On-going revenue sources include residential property taxes, property taxes from the businesses supported by the residents, and utility user fees.   A residential development has a net positive fiscal impact only if taxes exceed the cost of providing services to the residents.   The evidence regarding the net effect of affordable housing is inconclusive.   However, there is evidence to suggest that market-rate housing provides net positive fiscal impact (National Association of Home Builders, 2009). Political Stability and Housing There is a presumption that housing improves political stability.   So far, no evidence has been found to indicate that this is true although it is a stylized fact.   Provision of housing is international law.   Sachs (2011) reminds us that it’s a right granted in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights as follows: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care †¦ There may be indirect support to the extent that there has been evidence to indicate that housing improves education and education is believed to improve political stability (see evidence in next section).   The relationship between political stability and housing may go in the other direction.   In other words, political instability can affect the housing market.   According to Tu and Bao (2009), instability may weaken investor’s beliefs in property rights, putting the investors in fear that part of the investment may be lost due to poor protection.   Therefore, investors may pay less for the property rights when facing political uncertainty.   Their study uses 10 years of data from Hong Kong and Singapore where there were differences in political scenarios but similar land lease structures and property cycles.   The empirical evidence supports the idea that political instability lowers property rights premiums. Education and Housing To the extent that housing improves homeowner’s borrowing capacity, housing finance could lead to more investment in human capital.   Since investment in human capital may require an individual to borrow money, and borrowing money is costly, to the extent that housing finance lowers the cost of borrowing, it should lead to larger investments in human capital.   Many authors [starting with Becker (1975) and Atkinson (1975)] studied the link between investment in human capital and wealth distribution.   An implication of these models is that income inequality will decrease as access to finance improves. Some studies have documented a link between housing and education.   To the extent that housing finance improves housing affordability for the poor, housing finance may improve education opportunities for the poor.   Jacoby (1994) finds that lack of access to credit perpetuates poverty in Peru because poor households can’t afford to provide their children with appropriate education.   Jacoby and Skoufias (1997) find that without access to finance, shocks to income cause poor families to discontinue schooling for children.   Housing provides an asset that can be used to smooth shocks to income. If housing indeed improves education opportunities for children of the poor then by extension housing will improve political stability.   Sachs (2011) in explaining why governments should provide education, quotes Adam Smith who said, â€Å"An instructed and intelligent people †¦ are more disposed to examine, and more capable of seeing through, the interested complaints of faction and seditiontherefore, the whole society is at risk when any segment of society is poorly educated.†Ã‚   6. Summary A review of the literature pertaining to housing, economic growth and poverty reveals that much more research is needed in order to determine the true economic benefits of housing and whether housing finance in particular can be an effective tool in eradicating poverty.   The paucity of evidence is due in part to limits in data and the need to utilize robust econometric techniques to test for the direction of the causality in these relationships.   In other words, more research needs to explore whether housing construction leads to economic growth or economic growth leads to increased demand for housing and by extension housing finance.   Although there is little direct documentation that housing finance improves economic standing or living standards of the poor, some inferences can be made from the related literature.   The most promising evidence is found in the financial deepening literature where it has been shown that improvements in financial markets are associated with reducing absolute levels of poverty.   To the extent that financial deepening improves with the development of mortgage markets, then housing finance may also be effective in reducing poverty.   In addition, there appears to be solid evidence that housing construction produces jobs – directly and indirectly through the supporting service industries.   Housing is also shown to improve prospects for education and thus may reduce income inequality.   Evidence indicates that there is no one size fits all relationship between housing, economic growth and poverty.   Although evidence shows that housing investment impacts economic growth, that relationship varies within countries and over time.   While not explored in depth in this review, there are some concerns regarding the impact of housing on economic development and poverty.   For example, due to considerable transactions costs, some suggest that housing may reduce job mobility.   In addition, while housing construction may create construction related jobs, there is a question as to whether that just crowds out investment in other sectors of the economy.   Housing finance while improving access to housing, may also increase opportunities for speculation and may lead to large booms and busts and housing cycles that may negatively impact the economy in the longer run. These and other concerns should be explored further to determine their significance. References Atkinson, A. B., 1974, The Economics of Inequality (Oxford: Clarendon Press). Banerjee, Abhijit and E. Duflo, 2011,   Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, (Public Affairs, New York). Becker, G. S., 1975, Human Capital, NBER and Columbia University Press, New York. Buckley, Robert, 1996, Housing Finance in Developing Countries, (McMillan, London). Buckley, R. and R. Madhusudhan, 1984, The Macroeconomics of Housing’s Role in the Economy: An International Analysis, Presented to the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association. Bunnarith, M., 2004, Between Poverty Reduction Strategy and National Housing Policy, National University of Singapore Working Paper. Chen, J. and A. Zhu, 2008, The Relationship Between Housing Investment and Economic Growth in China: A Panel Analysis Using Quarterly Provincial Data, China National Social Science Foundation Working Paper. Dübel, Hans-Joachim, 2007, Does Housing Finance Promote Economic and Social Development in Emerging Markets?, Housing Finance Impact Study for International Finance Corporation. Econsult Corporation, 2009, Potential Economic and Fiscal Impacts of a Pennsylvania Housing Trust Fund, The Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania. Erbas, S. and F. Nothaft, 2002, The Role of Affordable Mortgages in Improving Living Standards and Stimulating Growth: A Survey of Selected MENA Countries, IMF Working Paper. Freire, Mila, M. Gautier and O. Hassler, 2006, Review of Argentina’s Housing Sector: Options for Affordable Housing Policy, World Bank Working Paper. Guitierrez, C., et. al., 2007, Does Employment Generation Really Matter for Poverty Reduction?, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4432, World Bank, Washington, DC. Habitat for Humanity, Consequences of Poverty Housing. Hangen, Eric, and J. Northrup, 2010, Building Homes Rhode Island: An Analysis of Economic Impacts, Housing Works RI. Hongyu, Liu, Y. Park and Z. Siqi, 2002, The Interaction between Housing Investment and Economic Growth in China, International Real Estate Review, 5: 1, p. 40 – 60. Housing Assistance Council, 1998, The Effects of Housing Development on a Rural Community’s Economy. Hull, Katy, 2009, Understanding the Relationship Between Economic Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction, OECD. Jacoby, Hanan, 1994, Borrowing Constraints and Progress through School: Evidence from Peru, Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 76, 151-160. Jacoby, Hanan and E. Skoufias, 1997, Risk, Financial Markets, and Human Capital, Review of Economic Studies, Vol 64, 311-335. Karlan, Dean and J. Appel, 2011, More Than Good Intentions: How a New Economics is Helping to Solve Global Poverty, (Dutton, New York). Leung, C., 2004, Macroeconomics and Housing: A Review of the Literature, Journal of Housing Economics, 13: p. 249-267. Malpezzi, Stephen, 1999, Economic Analysis of Housing Markets in Developing and Transition Economies, Urbanization in Transforming Economies, p. 1791-1864. Malpezzi, Stephen and J. Sa-Aadu, 1996, What Have African Housing Policies Wrought?, Real Estate Economics, Vol. 24:2, p. 133-160. Moss, Vuyisani, 2004, Preview of Housing Finance Systems in Four Different African Countries: South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania, Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa. National Association of Home Builders, 2009, The Local Impact of Home Building in a Typical Metro Area: Income, Jobs and Taxes Generated. Washington, DC. Quigley, John, 2008, Urbanization, Agglomeration and Economic Development, Commission on Growth and Development, Working Paper No. 19. Rahman, Khandaker, 2009, Development of Housing Finance and its Impact on Socio-Economic Uplift in the Emerging Economy in Bangladesh, IFC Bulletin No. 31. Sachs, Jeffrey, 2005, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, (The Penguin Press, New York). Singh, Raju and Y. Huang, 2011, Financial Deepening and Property Rights: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa, IMF Working Paper No. 11/196. Tipple, A. Graham, 1994, Employment from Housing: A Resource for Rapidly Growing Urban Populations, Cities 11, No. 6, p. 373. Tu, Y. and H. Bao, 2009, Property Rights and Housing Value: The Impacts of Political Instability, Real Estate Economics, 37:2, p. 235 257. United Nations, 1995, Shelter Provision. Uy, Willie, 2006, Medium-Rise Housing: The Philippine Experience, Presentation Paper for the 5th Asian Forum. Wardrip, Keith, L. Williams and S. Hague, 2011, The Role of Affordable Housing in Creating Jobs and Stimulating Local Economic Development: A Review of the Literature, Center for Housing Policy. Is Prostitution a Victimless Crime? Essay Is Prostitution a Victimless Crime? Essay Prostitution, as described by the Merriam-Websters Dictionary (1997), is the selling of sexual favors for money or the devoting of oneself or ones talent to an unworthy cause (p. 589). In another frame of reference, prostitution has been called a victimless crime. What exactly is a victimless crime? Wests Encyclopedia of American defines it as: crime where there is no apparent victim and no apparent pain or injury. This class of crime usually involves only consenting adults in activities such as prostitution, sodomy, and gambling where the acts are not public, no one is harmed, and no one complains of the activities (2008). This classic definition of these types of crime implies there is not any victim of the criminal behavior who experiences harm. From a theoretical perspective, conflict theorists may hold that victimless crimes are established as a type of social control over morality by politically powerful people or groups who find them offensive or undesirable while functional theorists may hold that social needs, not societal power, are the underlying condition of labeling victimless behaviors as criminal (Greek, C.E., 2005). Why are some consensual acts considered illegal while others are not? McWilliams (1996) asserts consensual activities prohibitions and restrictions have their basis in religion while ODonnell (2000) in addressing the price of victimless crime laws, proposes those crime laws are a form of morality control and religious persecution that uphold the opinions of the law-controlling majority with regards to race, ethnicity and political stances. The issue in victimless crimes is that society has created laws to prohibit certain types of conduct considered to be against the public interest and when supposed victims freely consent to be the victim in one of these crimes; the question is whether the state should make an exception from the law for the situation. For the purpose of this paper, prostitution and the issues of concern in the legalization of this victimless crime is explored. Upon examining prostitution as a victimless crime, it seems evident there are victims at some level but most of the harm seems to be self-inflicted. Looking at the puzzle of the involved behaviors, having sex and asking for money, each by themselves are perfectly legal. Having sex with someone, even an unknown person is legal, and asking for money is legal but, when the two behaviors are linked into one single instance, a criminal act results. The two separate legal behaviors cannot constitute an illegal behavior for if no person is harmed, or if harm occurs by informed consent of the willing parties, how can it be considered a criminal act? One arguable stance presented is that consensual acts are not without risk and when adults consent to take part in the acts, why should the resulting action be deemed criminal by legal social rules? What kinds of problems can the law solve and what kind of problems does the law create? Among the many proponents of de-criminalizing victimless crimes the concept of unconstitutionality is consistently cited (Hardaway, 2000; McWilliams, 1998; ODonnell, 2000; National Platform of the Libertarian Party, 2002). A prominent vocal critic of criminalizing these termed victimless crimes, such as prostitution, is Robert Hardaway. Hardaway is a professor of Law at the University of Denvers School of Law who has written and co-written numerous texts and articles on legal and community interest matters. Hardaways 2003 book, No Price Too High: Victimless Crimes and the Ninth Amendment, as cited by Cox in a 2004 review, presents a powerful and strongly-argued perspective which argues the criminalization of victimless crimes violate the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution (2004). Cox notes the criminalization of these crimes as well as amount of money it takes to enforce the laws are unsound policies according to Hardaway. Although, in the case of drugs, crime against property and person are related to drug use, Hardaway, per Cox (2004), attributes the harm of drug use to the laws rather than the use of drugs themselves. According to Cox, Hardaway uses the example of Prohibition to explain the supply and demand concept of the argument stating: crime and violence do not emanate from some physiological effect of the drug, but the drug laws themselves and with the decriminalization of drugs, neighborhood drug dealers would be put out of business effectively breaking the business-end of organized crime (105). Hardaway further posits, according to Cox, legalizing personal vices is justified by a considered weighing of the costs and consequences of criminalization (30), (2004). ProCon.org has a website which addresses the issue of whether or not prostitution should be legalized and many statements were provided on this website of both the pro and con sides of the issue: No persons human or civil rights should be violated on the basis of their trade, occupation, work, calling, or profession [Prostitution Education Network, 1996]; prostitution violates the right to physical and moral integrityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦violates the prohibition of torture and of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.. [Hoffman, C., 1997]; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦prostitution laws areà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a violation of the right of individual privacy because they impose penal sanctions for the private sexual conduct of consenting adultsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [American Civil Liberties Union, 2007]; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦few activities are as brutal and damaging to people as prostitutionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ [U.S. Department of State, 2004] (ProCon, 2009). Of all opposition members, the most prominent is Melissa Farley, a research and clinical psychologist at the San Francisco non-profit organization, Prostitution Research and Education. Farley has written numerous peer-reviewed articles on the subject (Farley, M., 2006). Farleys numerous research articles provide a well-rounded look at the subject matter of prostitution, the sex industry, exploitation of women, as well as the myriad of troubling issues arising from when men purchase women in prostitution. In the 2006 article, Prostitution, Trafficking, and Cultural Amnesia: What We Must Not Know in Order to Keep the Business of Sexual Exploitation Running Smoothly, Farley posits prostitution is sexual violence that results in massive economic profit for some of its perpetrators and is a much like slavery in that it is a lucrative form of oppression (p. 102). Farley goes further to remark on prostitutions legal status (legal, illegal, zoned, or decriminalized) or the location of the ac tivity (strip club, massage parlor, street, and escort/home/hotel) the danger to women is still tremendous (p. 103). Farleys discussion on the peer-reviewed literature which documents the violence so prevalent in prostitution and states: Violence is commonplace in prostitution whether it is legal or illegal (p. 106). Citing a Canadian commission on prostitution and pornography which reported the death rate of women in prostitution as forty times higher than that of the general population and a 2001 Vancouver prostitution research study by Cler-Cunningham and Christensen which reported a thirty-six percent incident of attempted murder, Farley contends prostitution can be lethal (p. 107). Farleys detailed look at legalized and illegal prostitution can impact the perception of the sex industry as a whole. However, within the United States Constitutions first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, are provisions which may present a strong argument for abolishing criminalizing prostitution and other victimless crimes. The First, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments are of particular interest in this dialogue of supporting the decriminalization of prostitution. Although victimless crimes such as prostitution are not specifically addressed in the Constitution there seems to be an arguable position that victimless crime laws violate First Amendment restrictions against laws respecting an establishment of religion especially since religious and moral values seem to provide the foundation for many of the laws. The Fourth Amendments provisions on search and seizure seems to be violated by such devices as warrantless search and seizures which are often utilized to obtain evidence for prosecutorial purposes. The privacy of innocents can be threatened as enforcement of the law requires police and investigators to engage in extensive monitoring, wiretapping, and surveillance of suspects and the public. Some people believe that these warrantless search and seizures and victimless crime laws are a means of political power over selected portions of the population which are unequally enforced against the poor and minorities thereby violating the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment (Kruttscnitt, 1984; McWilliams, 1998; Nussbaum, OConnell, 2000; 1999; Schur, 1971, 1980, 1983). The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution has direct bearing on such modern day constitutional issues such as abortion, gay rights, and the right to die. Farber (2007) considers the Ninth Amendment the key to understanding the liberties Americans were to enjoy under the Constitution as envisioned by the Founding Fathers describes the purpose of the Ninth Amendment and the Founders intent: to protect the rights the Founders assumed but failed to enumerate or specify in the Bill of Rights. Like the rest of the original Bill of Rights, per Farber, the Ninth Amendment only limits federal power rather than state government powers. The Fourteenth Amendment came along later and addressed the state government and within that Amendment the Privileges or Immunities Clause is paired with the Ninth Amendment (Lash, 2004; Farber, 2007). America is in first place in the world for the number of incarcerated individuals as highlighted by a Pew Center report that found 1 in every 100 American adults are behind bars with its prison population having tripled in the last 20 years. Spending on prisons has more than quadrupled and the American taxpayers are slowly crushed by this wasteful spending. At an average cost of over $19,000 per prisoner, taxpayers are facing a bill of over $44 billion per year to keep people locked away (Pew, 2004). Coinciding with this rising prison population is the increase in the number of private prisons which increased from five in 1995 to 100 in 2005. Herivel and Wright ( ) in their book Prison Profiteers-Who Makes Money From Mass Incarceration reports private prison industry has seen increased profits and lobbied extensively for more frequent and longer prison sentences and traces the flow of monies designated for the public good and ends up in the pockets of enterprises dedicated to keeping prison cells filled (From their book jacket). History has shown that criminalizing victimless crimes will drive the practice underground where violence, extortion, and coercion are most likely to thrive. This was particularly noticed when the 18th Amendment and later the Volstead Act, 1919, which made it illegal to manufacture or sell beer, wine, or other intoxicating malt or vinous liquors it was not illegal to possess it for personal use. The prohibition, originally intended to reduce beer consumption in particular, actually a failure and ended up increasing hard liquor consumption and created a new business, bootlegging, defined as the unlawful manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages without registration or payment of taxes which became widespread and a staple of organized crime (Prohibition). Almost every individual has the ability and moral capacity to judge what is helpful or harmful to them and it does not make sense for other people to dictate what choices should be made. When individuals commit acts harmful to themselves, the action should be termed as immoral, not illegal. The criminalization for the act of prostitution should not be determined by social effects of an individuals actions or by the moral or religious views of society. Every person needs freedom to make choices and accept the consequences for without these consequences, growth and experiential development will be hindered. If an adult man-or an adult woman, wants to engage in sexual relations with another adult man or woman who charges a fee for his or her services, they should be able to do so without the fear of being guilty of a crime. It does not mean that prostitution should not be subjected to certain legal requirements such as health laws. Removing prostitution from criminal statutes and providing a designation as a business entity subjected to business requirements, prostitution can be taxed, sex workers can obtain health and safety rights other employees have, and problems of abuse and graft associated with police jurisdiction of such a business can be dealt with more effectively with better protection from violence and abuse for those individuals who work within the industry. In a 2001 article written for the New Zealand Herald, Sue Bradford, MA, Member of New Zealands Parliament says it best: prostitution has been a career option for some people since history began. Nothing any law has done has changed or will change thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I believe we would all be better off to accept the job choice that some adults make as valid and worthy of care and compassion for all our sakes (2001). Work Cited Bradford, S. (2001). Dialogue: Sex workers deserve protection of the law. New Zealand Herald. July 30, 2001. 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