Raise The Minimum Wage - 2088 Words

Raise The Minimum Wage When there are millions of Americans living at or below poverty lines, something has to be done. Billion dollar companies and businesses that employ workers, paying them low wages is hurting the economy. The reality is, unless the minimum wage is raised, the cycle will only continue. With higher minimum wages in place, the entire country does better and, therefore, should be raised. There needs to be laws put place to raise the minimum wage. Doing so would boost the economy with all of the money that Americans would put into it. With higher minimum wages, millions of Americans can get out of poverty, not having to rely on the government for assistance such as food stamps, public housing, child care, and health care needs. They can afford better housing options in which they want to live. Communities would see less crimes in neighborhoods creating a safer environment. Aside from that, Americans can afford a good education, health care, as well as healthier eating and exercising habits . The minimum wage of today is not enough for Americans to live off. Nevertheless, obtaining two and three jobs to survive occurs to often and should not be consider a way to live in the United States. Workers of today making minimum wage simply do not earn enough to live off. As a result, they depend on the government to stay afloat. They apply for food stamps in order to buy food each month. Most or on some kind of public housing assistance, because they areShow MoreRelatedIf Minimum Wage Raise Up945 Words   |  4 PagesIf Minimum Wage Raise up In many cases in the U.S. people are suffering from the very low hourly wages. According to David Cooper: â€Å"As wages go down, the percentage of workers relying on public assistance gets higher: 60 percent of workers earning less than $7.42—only slightly higher than the $7.25 federal minimum wage—receive some form of means-tested public assistance.† Because the minimum wage is so low, many people are forced into programs, such as Medicaid, food stamps and the Earned IncomeRead MoreMinimum Wage Raise in Seattle800 Words   |  4 PagesMinimum Wage Raise in Seattle After the protest in New York City, the issue of raising the minimum wage has come up once again. Seattle is spearheading this cause with a proposal of raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. This will help minimum wage workers a great deal by increasing their income. However, there are concern that this move could hurt certain businesses, which can lead to higher unemployment and contraction of the economy. The ethical issue surfaced as this will benefit some atRead More We Should NOT Raise the Minimum Wage1171 Words   |  5 Pages What would be so bad about raising minimum wage? Before other states jump on the $15 minimum-wage bandwagon, they might want to look at whats happening in Massachusetts — one of two states with a $10-an-hour minimum wage. Massachusetts increased the minimum wage from $8 to $9 at the start of 2015 and to $10 on the first day of 2016. The state is now mired in its longest stretch of net job losses since the recession in both the retail and the leisure and hospitality sectors, Labor DepartmentRead MoreShould Congress Raise The Minimum Wage?721 Words   |  3 PagesSomers Econ 201 10 February 2017 Article Summary 1 Should Congress Raise the Minimum Wage Many states, including Oregon, has been considering a raise in the minimum wage. A raise of the minimum wage can cause job cuts or raise in product prices, but a rising number of economist have come to the conclusion that there is quite a considerable room of raise that cities can do without affecting the unemployment rate. Raising the minimum wage can ease the lives of many people. It can even cause an economicRead MoreWe Need to Raise Minimum Wage Essay541 Words   |  3 PagesA bill increasing the current minimum wage is greatly needed, and our government officials should demand a raise due to the increase in the cost of living, as it’s no longer realistic. We need higher paying wages for all, middle and lower class income levels. Without some sort of help and support from our government the economy will only get worse. Students will not be able to afford the cost of school and living. Single family households will not be able to support their selves. Some argueRead MoreCongress Should Raise The Federal Minimum Wage1042 Words   |  5 PagesMany Americans agree that Congress should raise the federal minimum wage, but do individuals truly know the effects of increasing the minimum wage to $15? Some people only look at the comprehensive view of seeking a higher salary, but the increase can cause many negative, as well as positive, effects. Several economists from across the country have done extensive research over the topic of the minimum wage increase, and many differing opinions have formed. The effects can vary from person to personRead MoreWhy The Government Should Raise The Minimum Wage1699 Words   |  7 Pagesshould raise the minimum wage has been challenged for many years and it is crucial to deliberate the ethical facets of such a conundrum. Research and economic texts have reported over many years that it is perhaps very difficult to The belief that a company should hire and compensate people situated on their worth is not only good for business, but also for the employee, since being able to freely trade value for value is in the best interest of an employee. In an economy where minimum wage is notRead MoreWhy we should raise the minimum wage1202 Words   |  5 Pagesthe majority of Americans. Many Americans who have worked on minimum wages are struggling to live on a salary that is below the poverty threshold. In 2012, the U.S census posted that in a family of three; their income is 18,552, (U.S Census). In most case, one member of the family is working on a minimum wage salary which is below 18,552, (U.S. Dept. of Labor). It has been almost a five years since congress has raised the minimum wage (Huff Post). Throughout my argument, I will share my thoughtsRead MoreEssay Should Congress Raise Minimum Wage?614 Words   |  3 PagesShould Congress Raise Minimum Wage? As our federal government debates the idea to raise the minimum wage, there are several interesting questions that occur. Most importantly, should we raise the minimum wage? I believe it is a bad idea to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 per hour up to $10.10 or more in a short period of time. I will explain why raising minimum wage radically would kill jobs and hurt our economy. The main reason raising the minimum wage radically would kill the economy is theRead MoreEssay on We Must Raise the Minimum Wage1615 Words   |  7 Pages Minimum wage is the lowest wage an employer can pay their employees. There is a Federal minimum wage and in some cases a State Minimum wage. The current Federal minimum wage is $7.25. An employee who makes $7.25 an hour and works 40 hours a week, will earn about $14,000 per year. The Federal government deemed that the poverty line is anyone who makes less than $17,000 a year (â€Å"Federal Minimum†). Therefore anyone that makes minimum wage lives below the poverty line. As president Obama

Puritanism In My Dear Loving Husband, By Anne Dudley...

Anne Dudley Bradstreet is one of the most widely recognized North American poets. She was the first in the British colonies to have poetry published and the first puritan figure in America. Although Anne Dudley Bradstreet did not attend school, she received an excellent education from her father. She became cultured in several languages, and was said to spend many hours reading by herself. At 16 she married her childhood sweetheart Simon Bradstreet. Anne and Simon both migrated to America where they had eight children. The demanding responsibilities of raising all her children and her relationship with her husband resulted in writing that reflected the religious and emotional conflicts she experienced as a puritan women. Anne Bradstreet†¦show more content†¦In the puritan era, a husband was treated like a king and not to be taken lightly. She also spoke highly of her husband â€Å"prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, or all the riches that the East†. Purita nism is defined in the line †The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray...Then while we live, in love let’s so persevere, that when we live no more, we may live ever.† Bradstreet (page.121) She believes that while her and her husband are living on earth they should love each other as much as possible so that when they see the lord in heaven there love will be eternal. In puritan society marriage was a main component and couples needed to meet the expectation that marriage should be for life. This poem is simple yet represents a robust meaning between a puritan husband and wife. This narration shows Anne’s feeling toward her relationship as being full of love and still following puritan values and beliefs. In the poem (Before the birth of her children) Anne uses a very straightforward style in which she seems to think that perhaps she will die during labor. Women often faced the dangers of pregnancy and childbirth in the puritanism culture. A married woman in the colonial era could expect to be pregnant every two years until her death or menopause. â€Å"Women died so often during childbirth during the colonial that it was either anticipated or expected.†(http://anthropology.si.edu/writteninbone/difficult_births.html). The poem starts offShow MoreRelatedDiffering Views Of Puritanism : Bradstreet Vs. Taylor2044 Words   |  9 PagesFedor 1 Differing Views of Puritanism: Bradstreet vs. Taylor When the Puritans came to America in the 1600s, they brought many aspects of their lives with them, including their beliefs in modesty, hard work, and religious devotion. Their strong values in religion were a constant part of their everyday life and were a big feature of their society. Even though they were urged to suppress their feelings and fully devote themselves to God, some Puritans had struggles with this, and used poetry to

My Scholarship Free Essays

Learning is never confined within the four walls of a classroom. However, it is through the four portals of the academe wherein the appreciation of learning begins. It is a domain wherein Ideas and theories clash, different views and perspectives are expressed and the onward steps to civilization are witnessed. We will write a custom essay sample on My Scholarship or any similar topic only for you Order Now Indeed, the education system is one of the most potent instruments of every country. It establishes the foundation of a strong and every state. Anyone who receives good training is armed with confidence, stature and grace. Education acts as an efficient shield against any adversities that are encountered in the real world. An educated individual enjoys the privileges of encountering different chances and opportunities that can improve his or her life and therefore contribute to the whole community. For every parent, seeing their child attain a degree is something that they can be proud of. All the years of struggles and hardships has finally come to an end since education is indeed, one of the best gifts that any parent can provide. Likewise, this scenario has also created a great impact and change in my life. It has been quite some time when I received my high school diploma. Looking back, the ephemeral and nostalgic moments bring back a hodge-podge of bitter-sweet memories. But I guess, none can be sweeter when I was admitted in the College of Technology. The institution offers two year courses to bachelor degrees in computer-related courses such as programming, network administration etc. The institution is known for drafting students who have the potential to pursue a bachelor degree. For two and a half years, I have survived all the storms that came along my way. It was indeed a great battle, but I managed to pull it off. All the blood, sweat and tears that I have rendered are worth the wait since I was able to finish my two year course. However, this did not prevent me from achieving one of my most precious dreams—and that is to attain a bachelor degree. Fueled with motivation and desire, I started to work so that I can support myself. Afterwards, I gathered all my guts and applied for a degree in the college. Unfortunately, my hopes and dreams seemed to disappear into thin air. My GBA did not qualify. The college requires a grade of more than three and a half. I must admit that at some point I felt discouraged. It seemed that hope has finally betrayed me. But then again, the warrior in me refused to give up.   I know that rough seas make a skillful sailor. I continued working for three long years. I consider it as a blessing when I was immediately hired right after I graduated. Those opportunities do not usually come to other individuals. Others have to wait for months before they can finally get a decent job. Mostly of my previous work were on a temporary basis. Yet in a short span of time that I have stayed in a particular company, I have gained a lot. The experiences I have encountered exposed me to different situations wherein my decision making skills were continuously challenged. Those were the times when I seized the opportunity to develop more of my talents and skills. I knew that in the future, I would surely benefit from it. During those moments, each day is a lesson learned mistakes to correct and small steps to the fulfillment of my long term goals and dreams. As I overcome the challenges that I encountered I am gaining more experiences that are related to my course. The jobs that I have entered served as a good training ground and inspiration for me to pursue my dreams. As I continue with my life, the awaited opportunity came and knocked me off by surprise. The minister of high education announced that the government is now opening its doors to individuals who want to pursue their degrees in the United States. Scholarships were offered to those who are highly interested. At first, I have no idea that such situation would occur. This is most especially true when the 9/11 attacks took place. Before the tragic event, the ministry of the higher education used to launch scholarship programs to different countries. These include the United States and the United Kingdom. However, when the attacks occurred, scholarship programs in the United States were suspended until 2004. By the time 2004 came, the king of Saudi Arabia negotiated with the American government. The two parties decided to open the scholarship program once again. At first I was having doubts on whether I should seize such opportunity—to a certain extent that the mere thought of applying for the scholarship program sent shiver to my spine. Finally I gathered all my guts and fill out the online application. Hesitations, anxieties and nervousness accompanied me as I answered every question. Will I be accepted? Will I be rejected? These are the questions that entered my mind. Deep inside of me, I know that I have the smallest chances of being accepted. I know that there are other individuals who are better than me and competition is indeed very fierce and stiff. Yet, ten minutes after, a shocking revelation engulfed my soul. I received an email stating that I was chosen as one of the scholarship program’s candidates. At first, I cannot believe my eyes. It seemed like I was trapped in a beautiful dream wherein waking up translates to a sorrowful requiem. Honestly, I found it hard to convince myself that I was among the chosen few. There are many aspirants and I am included in the crà ¨me of the crop. A miracle was happening and I could not believe my eyes. All the memories that I had three years ago flash back. During those times I was heavily preoccupied in processing my application for a university in Saudi Arabia and several minutes later, the last thing I knew was that I was already a candidate for the United State’s scholarship program. I wasted no time and immediately processed all my papers and necessary documents. I now have the chance and the opportunity that I have been waiting for such a long time. Now that it was already within my grasp, I never wanted it to vanish in an instant. Upon the completion of the requirements, I submitted it to the ministry of higher education. Afterwards, I got my schedule for the initial interview. Armed with courage and bravery I faced the scrutinizing eyes and critical minds of the panelists. The panel was comprised of respectable members of the academe. Doctors and professors who are working in Saudi Arabia universities are chosen to be among the panelists and they know whether the applicants or students were serious via asking certain questions like: why are you going there? and why did they choose such majors? Through answering those questions, the panel determined whether the applicant is indeed serious about the scholarship program. I was hoping that I would pass the interview and my instincts never failed me. I saw my name in the list. A month later, I was required to take yet another test. It is similar to SAT which seems to be its counterpart in Arabic. The exam concentrated on math, physics and chemistry. When I was told that I passed the exam, I could not feel anything but joy and excitement. I was aware that I was already on the final step. I had another interview in the United States’ embassy in Saudi Arabia. This time, the interview is for my visa. An American guy asked me questions that are related to my degree of specialization, the reason behind choosing it, the state where I came from and how long will I stay in the country. I gathered all my confidence and answered all the questions with honesty. After that I was told that I will get my visa after a week. Within the week, I was filled with joy and enthusiasm as I received my passport and student’s visa. The long wait is over, my destiny’s already fulfilled.    How to cite My Scholarship, Essay examples

Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society

Question: Task: You have recently been employed as the Director of Informatics for the Metro Hospital in Brisbane. The Metro Hospital is a 363 bed facility on the Northside of Brisbane. The services include general surgical, general medical, oncology, vascular, ear, nose and throat, palliative care, ophthalmology and maternity and childrens services. It has good links with the Division of General Practitioners in the local area. Answer: Overview: HIMSS or Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society is a non-profit making organization. The goal of this organization is to develop a data interpretation regarding healthcare information and management systems. Therefore, using its Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model, HIMSS marks the hospitals on the basis of a scale of 0 to 7 (Campbell et al., 2013). When any hospital scores HIMSS Level 7, it refers to the utilization of highest degree of electronic health implementation. It also implies to the fact that the hospital does not use paper on a large basis. HIMSS interferes with the utilization of Information technology and optimal management systems to make human life better. EMR or Electronic Medical Records is also known as Electronic Health Records. These records are certain digital records that are followed by other facilities, insurance companies or doctors in the need of better medical services. This EMR system is utilized to keep the track record of a patients general health and medical history through computerized and electronic format (Brender et al., 2013). So, it is very necessary for the Metro Hospital to achieve HIMSS level 7 by 2025. It will help to modify the hospital in retrieving the patients records easily and navigating the patient through health care system in much safer and easy way. This health report will be written based on improvement services in Metro Hospital to achieve HIMSS Level 7 model by 2025. Vision for the Electronic Medical Records: Previously in the Metro Hospital, whole works were conducted in manual way. So, the vision of the author will be to improve the organization in such a way that it can achieve the HIMSS EMR Adoption Model by 2025. Through adapting this model, the employment cost will be cut down as the manual work will be reduced. The official work will be carried out in more efficient and prompt way (Archer, 2014). In order to reach this level, the main aim of the hospital will be to make sure that the hospital participants should have received EMRAM score in the Annual HIMSS Analytics Study. The establishment of the electronic environment in the hospital will offer effective and efficient services to their customers. It will also increase the customer service level of that organization in the area. The EMR system will collect and preserve the health information regarding individual patients and populations in a systematic and electric method. Later this information will be shared under this system among various healthcare departments inside the hospital through a wide network (Kannry Fridsma, 2016). This system has positive impact on the hospital. This system will be designed in such a way that all the users will be provided with integrated clinical information. This will help the care givers to understand the health conditions of the patients in respect to their medical histories. Anybody like, general ancillary staff, clinicians and physicians can access this system. This system will include all range of data in comprehensive and summary format consisting of the personal data of the patients like, immunization status, laboratory tests, radiology images, vital signs, demographics, medical history, allergies and medications, billing information, age, weight etc. with others. T his system has records about patients encounters that permit for easy streamlining and automation of health information to increase the safety via evidence based decision making, outcomes reporting and quality management. This adopted system will enhance the ability of the hospital for revenue cycle, as it has the ability to supply the easily accessible data and medical information from those electronic records (Herland et al., 2014). This implemented system will make a room for upgraded applications. It will support complete and accurate charge by offering improved data. The coding and automation of the system will speed up the billing process. The medical care will be improved due to this system. As a result of that, the patients will not suffer which used to be seen previously due to poor prevalence and quality. The integrated information technology in this system reduces the administration cost, which will save more money and time in patients acre. The implementation of EHR will reduce the medical errors through supplying the decision supports in easy proliferation (Coiera, 2015). The healthcare industry will be improved through contemporary practices in medical literature and medicine. The EMR system presents onscreen ordered and layered presentations that offer relevant information and coding concepts related to medical procedures through onscreen browser capabilities. This system is advantageous because it is connected to the patients in the area. The patients, who are willing to seek for appointments, treatment, or clinical plans, can be communicated easily due to this system. Recently, Metro Hospital has made good contact with the General Practitioners Division in the area. So, these implementations will represent the hospital in global medical environment and the international patients will be associated with this organization (Eisenhaber, 2013). EMR is a paperless, computerized and digital system which will be utilized by the Metro Hospital to maintain the health information of the patients. It will increase the integrated process efficiency by reducing the documentation errors. This system has made the hospital totally paperless by sharing the clinical information and data through standard electronic transactions like state mandated electronic transactions, CCR, CCD among all entities and departments inside the health information networks (Kappen, 2015). Therefore, the Metro Hospital will be able to share health and wellness information between children, vascular, ophthalmology, maternity, surgical, oncology, general medical departments within the organization. The important technical factors are also included to make the implementation of electronic record successful. In this way, the management, implementation, and planning of the health information will be moved towards an automated electronic environment from overburdened environment (MacKellar et al., 2013). Staffs, technologies and work processes should be well adapted to provide the original information despite of increased expectations and scarce capital resources. Certain technical factors which will be considered in establishing electronic health records are implementation of new systems, renovation of physical environment, staff capacity development, realigning of processes that support the new strategic plan (Lorenzi Riley, 2013). Staff capacity development is crucial in the hospital. It will help to govern the cultural needs which will meet and emerge departments future needs by supplying opportunities and education. The goal of this is career development. Staff capacity building is important as it helps in the measurement of staff and customer satisfaction. This preparation of electronic health records also need the development of committed and qualified team in the hospital (Lombardo Buckeridge, 2012). The process realignment is important in the hospital because it helps the hospital to execute and plan efficiently the improved process methodologies and sustainable process changes. The realignment is also crucial because it measures the changes in the new system. This redesigning will help to align the departmental renovations and workflows for the best practice of the process. In order to make an optimal workflow, physical environment renovation through physical environment remodeling and decommissioning of the satellite area is very important. It will reduce the time in completing medical charts and upgrading them (Patel et al., 2014). The adequate place will be there, that can accommodate the completing of the charts quickly and accurately. Patients security will be taken care of in this system, as various third parties, hospital staffs and physicians have access to the information. This is also a part of renovation process. Analysis of Current Situation: To analyze the current health informatics in the Metro Hospital, the present operational system in serving the general hospital operations and clients will be discussed. At present, the advancement of technology and quality of healthcare is poor due to previous healthcare systems. The hospital is overloaded with an inefficient preparation environment, which makes very difficult for the people to serve a huge number of patients. The medical services in the Metro Hospital are completely based on paper charts. For example, lot of paper works is involved in collecting, monitoring and modifying the medical information (Nelson Staggers, 2013). This work does not involve only papers, it also involves manual effort. Due to these both manual and paper work, these works are facing lots of errors. These are hindering the health conditions of the patients. This situation is facilitating to implement the Electronic Medical records in the hospital. At present, the hospital is not using the operat ional functionality under guidance of effective, safe and efficient health care as the operations are conducted manually. To analyze the contemporary status of Informatics in Metro Hospital, it is necessary to determine and evaluate the cost of reaching the budget of Electronic Health Records system embellishment. This cost will be compensated by the employment cost. The employment cost will be reduced as EHR will reduce the manual effort (Marceglia et al., 2015). The current status of the hospitals short term needs, understanding the corporate goals and component deploying are very poor, which can be improved through this implementation. At present, the organization has made good communication with the General Practitioners Division in the local area. But they are not connected electronically. This is affecting their operational updating. So, the EMR will be placed to connect these practitioners and physicians with the electronic records of the hospitals. Previously providing the m edical facilities to the patients used to take a lot of time. This used to happen due to searching and updating the records manually. This delay is expected to be reduced through electronic data. In the current situation, another aspect is time consuming facility (Stephens Hussey, 2013). It takes a lot of time to perform the treatment manually while the patient is in emergency. This fact will be taken care of after implementation of this strategy. Critical aspects to support an EMR: Certain technical factors which will be considered in establishing electronic health records are implementation of new systems, renovation of physical environment, staff capacity development, realigning of processes that support the new strategic plan. Staff capacity development is crucial in the hospital. It will help to organize the cultural needs which will meet and emerge the future needs of the departments by supplying opportunities and education (Shortliffe Cimino, 2013). The goal of this is career development. Staff capacity building is important as it helps in the measurement of staff and customer satisfaction. This preparation of electronic health records also need the development of committed and qualified team in the hospital. The process realignment is important in the hospital because it helps the hospital to execute and plan efficiently the improved process methodologies and sustainable process changes. The realignment is also crucial because it measures the changes in the new system. This redesigning will help to align the departmental renovations and workflows for the best practice of the process. In order to make an optimal workflow, physical environment renovation through physical environment remodeling and decommissioning of the satellite area is very important. It will reduce the time in completing medical charts and upgrading them. The adequate place will be there, that can accommodate the completing of the charts quickly and accurately (Savel Foldy, 2012). Patients security will be taken care of in this system, as various third parties, hospital staffs and physicians have access to the information. This is also a part of renovation process. The management staffs in the hospital will always be informed with efficient function of the electronic record. The staffs will be aware of new strategy related requirements, regulations and regulatory authorities. Regulatory authorities decide the existing regulations and guidelines about destructing, reading, maintaining, and creating the traditional paper records. So, these EMR and EHR are important. Privacy legislation related to use, collection and disclosure of the medical information of patients should be respected and upheld. The critical functions of this electronic transition have to be taken into consideration (Wang et al., 2013). This manual to electronic transition has five key principles that include maintenance of private information of the patients and securing the information of the patients. These health records should be sustained and kept through integrity which should be supported and maintained. Roadmap to achieve HIMSS level 7 by 2025: HIMSS level 7 implementation is not only a project but also a journey with a series of initiatives. This implementation plan involves impacts, solutions and challenges related to the clinical process. The objective of this plan will be to make digital status in the hospital. The evaluations of the medication processes will follow the assessment and intake process. Medical documentation and support will be followed though the E-communication among portals and patient providers (Wac, 2013). The implementation of electronic records in Metro Hospital will make legal health records by 2025. Previously this hospital was not digitalized. The need of information technology and automation will improve the provided care towards patients. In order to reach the timelines and specific achievement goals of a fully digital status in Metro Hospital, by 2025, a strategic plan, consensus and a vision must be set up at the executive level or board to deliver care through executives. A governance structure will be built to upgrade the management, prioritization, accountability and decision making. It includes user-focused comprehensive plan which will help the people to deal with the changes (Valdez et al., 2014). Along with the implementation plan, the disaster business or recovery will be made for this hospital. Achievements, measurements and changes of the technology will be managed on a day to day basis. The business processes will be measured and stretched in such a way so that the goals will be achieved by 2025. Timelines (Zhang et al., 2013): Executive Engagement can take approximate 3 years. Process measurement can take approximate 2 years. IT Infrastructure can take approximate 2 years. Governance can take approximate 4 years. System selection can take approx. 1 year. Implementation Plan: The implementation plan will have management and system overview and purpose, which will include security, set up, system security features, privacy, security, implementation schedule, the major tasks, the contact points and the implementation description during implementation process. Apart from this, this implementation plan will also involve requirements staffing and training of the implemented staffs (Xue et al., 2012). These plans will overview on configuration management, implementation impact, performance monitoring interface. Additionally, this plan also involves the implementation requirements through site requirement details. Many Resources are required in implementing the project. In order to implement this project the main resource will be Citrix technology. It will utilize the remote access from the home and the office through hardware, qualified personnel and wireless infrastructure. In this way, carts touch screens, desktops, tablets and laptops will be involved. The financial resources of this project are allocations of departmental and administered funds with other budgetary allocations (Were et al., 2015). In this project relevant resources will be implemented under possible savings or overspending and spending criteria. This will keep the track of expenditure. So, both instrumental and financial resources will be included in the resources. Governance: In the implementation plan of the HIMSS EMR Adoption Model, governance is a crucial part. The uncertain governance plans can move the hospitals at big risks while implementation of other features. The governance for Metro Hospital is responsible for two committees that will supervise the HIMSS implementation. In between these two committees, one committee will be IT (Zheng et al., 2014). Other committee will be clinical and operational departments which are influenced by EHR-EMR. In the management process of the hospital many people are associated together with their respective responsibilities and they are accountable for the progress of the hospital. The rulers and producers will b involved in decision making. All the agency lines of the reporting and accountability associated with agency boards and relevant executives will be applied throughout the governance and project arrangements. The plan should be governed in such a way that it involves all the services that are meant to be supplied as a result of adopting electronic records. The Physicians and Clinical Staffs of Metro Hospital should conduct an analytical performance to make sure that implemented EMR-EHR system will provide as an actual decision making guide for the care providers (Kannry Fridsma, 2016). To make successful implementation of the plan, the governing bodies of the hospital have to work together. This committee will discuss the emerging issues at the time of their meeting and will upgrade with the latest information. Alignment to state and national eHealth programs: The process realignment is important in the hospital because it helps the hospital to execute and plan efficiently the improved process methodologies and sustainable process changes. The realignment is also crucial because it measures the changes in the new system. This redesigning will help to align the departmental renovations and workflows for the best practice of the process. In order to make an optimal workflow, physical environment renovation through physical environment remodeling and decommissioning of the satellite area is very important (Lorenzi Riley, 2013). It will reduce the time in completing medical charts and upgrading them. The adequate place will be there, that can accommodate the completing of the charts quickly and accurately. Patients security will be taken care of in this system, as various third parties, hospital staffs and physicians have access to the information. This is also a part of renovation process. This system has records about patients encounters that permit for easy streamlining and automation of health information to increase the safety via evidence based decision making, outcomes reporting and quality management. This adopted system will enhance the ability of the hospital for revenue cycle, as it has the ability to supply the easily accessible data and medical information from those electronic records. This implemented system will make a room for upgraded applications (Lombardo Buckeridge, 2012). It will support complete and accurate charge by offering improved data. At present, the hospital has made good connection with the Division of General Practitioners in the local area. But they are not connected electronically. This is affecting their operational updating (Nelson Staggers, 2013). So, the EMR will be placed to connect these practitioners and physicians with the electronic records of the hospitals. Previously providing the medical facilities to the patients used to take a lot of time. This used to happen due to searching and updating the records manually. This delay is expected to be reduced through electronic data. In the current situation, another aspect is time consuming facility. It takes a lot of time to perform the treatment manually while the patient is in emergency. This fact will be taken care of after implementation of this strategy. To integrate the new strategy with national and state based plans, the government personals have to come together with the hospital staffs. They have to give the support both financially and physically to implement this plan successfully (Stephens Hussey, 2013). In national level, to make it more popular, the management team of the hospital can take the help of social media. Within a fraction of second, the people from different states will come to know about the plan and its operational strategy. This advertisement will make the hospital popular in national and state level. The plan should be governed in such a way that it involves all the services that are meant to be supplied as a result of adopting electronic records. The Physicians and Clinical Staffs of Metro Hospital should conduct an analytical performance to make sure that implemented EMR-EHR system will provide as an actual decision making guide for the care providers. To make successful implementation of the plan, the gov erning bodies of the hospital have to work together. This committee will discuss the emerging issues at the time of their meeting and will upgrade with the latest information (Shortliffe Cimino, 2013). At present, the hospital has made good connection with the Division of General Practitioners in the local area. But they are not connected electronically. This is affecting their operational updating. So, the EMR will be placed to connect these practitioners and physicians with the electronic records of the hospitals. Previously providing the medical facilities to the patients used to take a lot of time. This used to happen due to searching and updating the records manually. This delay is expected to be reduced through electronic data. In the current situation, another aspect is time consuming facility. It takes a lot of time to perform the treatment manually while the patient is in emergency (Savel Foldy, 2012). This fact will be taken care of after implementation of this strategy. Likelihood of Success and identification of risk: As the Director of Informatics for the Metro Hospital, the author is optimistic in achieving HIMSS level 7 Adoption Model by 2025 due to the understanding and supportive Metro Hospital Staff. The main concern in this the Metro hospital related practitioners are working hard to meet these proposed rules. In this health information technology will be used meaningfully for reaching the goal of quality reporting requirements (Kannry Fridsma, 2016). After implementation and completion of electronic records in the Metro Hospital, certain occurred risks are hostile misuse and weak or incomplete or lack of enough policy awareness by the internal members. These health records will be revealed to external attacks through electronic mail phishing, website defacement and social engineering. Many important medical reports get lost in social engineering phone calls. Metro hospital should be concerned about weak disaster recovery plans and weak incidental responsive recovery policies (Nelson Stag gers, 2013). Benchmarks: In order to set up a team, it is important to utilize the benchmark metrics to provide more comparative information. In each task or scenario, the benchmark matrices will be developed to measure the proper clinical environment of clinical members. To set up a good target score, the clinician panels will compare the received ideal performance of the users against the proper good performances (Stephens Hussey, 2013). Unlike the present condition of the Electronic Medical Records performance the actual needs of the users will be reflected from this comparison. Advantages for gaining HIMSS level 7 by 2025 for Metro Hospital will also need that the advantages are quantifiable. The whole executive team should always be responsible for achieving the goals. The business value for these advantages should always outweigh implementation costs and IT increasing operational expenses (Stephens Hussey, 2013). Metro Hospital should plan in utilizing the EMR in demonstrating data agility during the whole implementation process. In order to avoid situations where the stakeholders of Metro Hospital might get disengaged before the whole project is rolled out, incremental benefits arising from the use of EMR data entry must be seen. In general, the roadmap for achievement of the HIMSS level for level 7 by 2025 for Metro Hospital will involve the following goals and timelines. Measurement of the business processes will need to stretch the goals and need to be balanced so as to embark on this long journey of achieving level 7 by 2025 for Metro Hospital. Conclusions/ Recommendations: In conclusion to make a successful adoption of HIMSS level 7 for Metro Hospital by 2025, it is very necessary to observe the risks, barriers and benefits of adoption and which was already done. After evaluation, a significant relationship was found among the barriers and benefits of this adoption. The movement of the Metro Hospital from manual operations to medical records is significant and it will move the hospital one-step further towards clinical improvement. For the hospital, the changes of medical paper records into electronic data, will give the opportunity to begin these practitioner changes not only at population levels but also at individual levels. For Metro Hospital, the success of the EHR-EMR will majorly depend on the inputs that will be procured from various departments of the hospital. Then they will utilize the system to improve the quality of the care provided to patients in increasing productivity. In this implementation project, the committees who are dealing with the government people should never be misguided. It helps the other stakeholders to provide suggestions, advice, ideas and criticism. To ensure the proper implementation of EHR-EMR system in the hospital to provide regulatory practices and improved healthcare, various types of relevant approaches will be addressed. This adoption of HIMSS level 7 will build up the reputation of Metro Hospital in the market. References: Archer, E. J. (2014). Health Informatics. Brender, J., Talmon, J., de Keizer, N., Nyknen, P., Rigby, M., Ammenwerth, E. (2013). STARE-HIstatement on reporting of evaluation studies in health informatics.Applied clinical informatics,4(3), 331-358. Campbell, J. R., Brear, H., Scichilone, R., White, S., Giannangelo, K., Carlsen, B., ... Fung, K. W. (2013). Semantic interoperation and electronic health records. In14th World Congress on Medical and Health Informatics, MEDINFO 2013. Coiera, E. (2015).Guide to health informatics. CRC Press. Herland, M., Khoshgoftaar, T. M., Wald, R. (2014). A review of data mining using big data in health informatics.Journal of Big Data,1(1), 1-35. Kannry, J., Fridsma, D. (2016). The Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO).Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association,23(2), 435-435. Kappen, B. (2015). SP0043 Learning and Reasoning in Health Informatics.Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases,74(Suppl 2), 12-12. Kuznetsov, V., Lee, H. K., Maurer-Stroh, S., Molnr, M. J., Pongor, S., Eisenhaber, B., Eisenhaber, F. (2013). How bioinformatics influences health informatics: usage of biomolecular sequences, expression profiles and automated microscopic image analyses for clinical needs and public health.Health Information Science and Systems,1(1), 1-18.

Article -New York Times Essays - Pornography Law,

Article -New York Times The New York Times Hearings End in Online Pornography Case By PAMELA MENDELS PHILADELPHIA -- A federal online pornography law will either unconstitutionally chill free speech on a variety of commercial Web sites or spur the creation of sensible screens between children and sites that exist to sell pornography. Those were the opposing views expressed Wednesday during the final day of hearings in United States District Court here to decide whether the new law, the Child Online Protection Act, should be blocked by a preliminary injunction. Judge Lowell A. Reed Jr. had asked both sides to be prepared to respond to a list of 19 questions he had regarding the case. And in their answers, lawyers continued to try to build their cases for or against the law. Ann Beeson, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is fighting the law, said that the statute would require free Web sites containing certain sexually explicit material either to eliminate that content or risk driving viewers away through registration or age-verification mechanisms. Therefore, she said, the law creates a very strong financial disincentive to create or publish work, adding that there is a risk of a chilling effect on free speech. But Justice Department lawyers, defending the law, argued that its language is clear enough to apply only to sites that exist to promote pornography. Furthermore, said one of the lawyers, Rupa Bhattacharyya, The First Amendment allows you to speak freely; it does not necessarily guarantee you a profit to speak. The law requires operators of commercial Web sites to bar those under 17 years of age from any sexually explicit material defined as harmful to minors. Violators face penalties of up to 6 months in prison and $50,000 in fines. Judge Reed is expected to issue a decision sometime Monday before the midnight expiration of a temporary restraining order that has blocked the law from being enforced. The law was signed last October by President Clinton, but it has never gone into effect. In response to one of the judge's questions, Christopher A. Hansen, another lawyer for the ACLU, which is challenging the law with 16 other groups and businesses, indicated that the statute's wording could put at risk all kinds of businesses not engaged in selling pornography. The Justice Department has said that only sites that produce material harmful to minors in the regular course of business would be subject to the law. But Hansen argued that this phrase could apply to any work produced by a Web publisher regardless of whether it is a common endeavor for the site. The point is significant because many of the plaintiffs in the case are online news operations, booksellers, art galleries or other sites that do not exist to post sexually explicit materials but, on occasion, might. A gallery, for example, could well post an image of a nude or a news organization may have posted the report by the Whitewater independent counsel, Kenneth Starr, with its sexually graphic passages. We believe it [the regular course of business] refers to a record made as part of the business, Hansen said. Karen Y. Stewart, a Justice Department lawyer, insisted, however, that the term applied to businesses that regularly produce material harmful to minors. The character of its business is defined by communications of that sort, she said. The lawyers also disagreed about a number of other fine points. Hansen, for example, argued that the law could apply to links and not just content or images on Web sites; Bhattacharyya disputed this. The judge, whose measured tone throughout the six days of hearings has betrayed little indication of which way he might be leaning, also wondered why the words educational and medical were omitted from the definition of harmful to minors. Under the law, sexually explicit material is considered harmful to minors if it meets all parts of a three-part test. The third part is that the content must lack scientific, literary, artistic, or political value for minors. Is sexually explicit educational or medical information that is not scientific, literary, artistic, or political similarly excluded? Judge Reed wrote in his questions to the lawyers. Hansen said that the omission is significant, because many state harmful to minors statutes pointedly include the two extra words. Bhattacharyya insisted, on the contrary, that educational and medical material would be protected under the broader meaning of scientific, literary, artistic, or political content. The hearings, originally scheduled to last

Some Perennial Grammar Questions

Some Perennial Grammar Questions Some Perennial Grammar Questions Some Perennial Grammar Questions By Maeve Maddox The DWT team appreciate the great feedback to Daniels question What topics do you want to see covered in the blog? and are busily responding. Questions of grammar and usage are never out of date. Doubtless well be writing new posts on topics that have been dealt with in the past. Preposition usage, for example, could fill a book. Here are some of the recent suggestions, together with links to archived posts that may have already addressed them. Verbs used intransitively and transitively†¦ English grammar 101 introduction to the English verb †¦if you could address who/whom it would be great Beware of whom the difference between principle and principal Principle or principal the difference between assume and presume. Is there a difference between assume and presume? I’d like to know when (or if) it became acceptable to refer to an individual in the military as a troop, i.e. â€Å"Three troops were injured today.† Soldiers or Troops? Plural possessives? The possessive apostrophe When to form a plural with an apostrophe give a list of ALL the parts of speech†¦ English grammar 101 parts of speech use of the subjunctive subjunctive if I was The subjunctive mood I wish I were Do you have an archive so I could catch up on topics already covered? Archives Please do a blog on the difference between lie (recline) and lay and their conjugations. Lay/lie moribund but not dead yet Mixing up lay and lie the difference and usage of ‘passed’ and ‘past’ Passed vs past Confusing passed with past Taking another pass-at â€Å"passed† I recall an experience from my days of classroom teaching. Id just given a lesson on the use of the apostrophe to form the possessive. The students had been attentive and I was certain that my explanations and illustrations had been especially inspired. Still glowing as I passed a senior teacher, I shared my feeling that Id settled the apostrophe problem for that group of students once and for all. I can still see the kind, but pitying expression that flitted across her face. Common errors are common for a reason. At some level, the error makes sense to us. Once an error is habitual, effort and repetition are required to rid ourselves of the habit. And the first explanation is not necessarily the one that will prove effective in clarifying the matter. Keep those suggestions coming. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with HeartComma Before ButHow often is "bimonthly"?

Classification of Classical Criminology Term Paper

Classification of Classical Criminology - Term Paper Example Statistics reveal the grim situation prevalent in political, social, economical, educational, entertainment, and even familial circles. The controversy on treating criminology as an academic stream exists and it is difficult to argue either in favor of it or oppose it. For instance, the issue of capital punishment is raging currently with the proponents and opponents engaged in a war of words in print and electronic media. In this cacophony and confusion, the Human Rights' Commission and their supporters claim that: the death sentence amounts to state or judiciary-sponsored murder, that it does not serve the purpose as a deterrent to potential killers, it does not take into account the basic rights of the dependants of the condemned man for a decent livelihood, and finally, that the state should rather reform the convicts so that they learn to lead a better life in society and atone for his wrongdoing by engaging in social services under the state's dictum. Every civilized society in the world has penal codes and most contain the capital punishments. The civilized society's contention is that obliteration of capital punishment from the statute book will only prod lawbreakers to commit their wanton acts with impunity. The eye-for-eye and tooth-for-tooth kind of justice prevalent in some countries like Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries have succeeded in maintaining a healthy sense of fear of the law among its citizens. So, on the one hand, justice has to be done to the perpetrator of the crime in a way that metes out punishment for the crime and at the same time also leaves him enough scope to transform. Also, the ordinary citizens longing for an orderly peaceful society has the assurance at all times that their security concerns are not compromised while dispensing justice to the criminal. (Criminology). Crime can be broadly classified into two groups of categories.     

How does Harold's article on The Sopranos either complicate or further Essay

How does Harold's article on The Sopranos either complicate or further the arguments put forth in Garrett's text about TV Anti-Heroes and what they represent in our society - Essay Example This argument has been furthered by â€Å"A Man Never Never Land†, this is because the article postulated that the heroes of today have colossal psychological flaw; this is because they have a self-serving lies. They are normally filled with self-pity, venality, sloth, and lust. They are regarded to be self-deceiving and morally blind. Additionally, they are deemed obnoxious, unfaithful, and brash. This is supplements the argument of Garrett which that â€Å"We live in Post-World War II era†. According to Tony Soprano, the issue of morality was white and black; it was compared to Nazis vs. us. The Nazis were rated as bad people. However, in the war of today, the wrangles and conflict are ambiguous, including using torture. â€Å"A moral Never Never Land: Identifying with Tony Soprano† argued that people now have to employ morally unacceptable mechanism of fighting terrorists and the moral ambiguity is engraved in the upcoming anti-hero. Harold further explains that to add to the heroes that were heavily flawed, there are pressure from the prison system, big business, bureaucracy, and the structure of power that is full of bribe in conforming to forces that are not good. Rather they have rebelled against themselves, even if using the trickery a nd dishonesty could be portrayed as heroic. â€Å"A moral Never Never Land: Identifying with Tony Soprano† further argues that there is confidence crisis in the democratic leaders and processes that created a surrounding of nihilistic, disaffected, and cynical hero. This turning point during the Morally Deformed Hero Regime, happened with â€Å"A moral Never Never Land: Identifying with Tony Soprano†, when millions of people loved him. The ruthless sociopath and businessperson became close that the moral boundaries blurred in the regime of the hyper-competitive Darwinism. In the docket, both Nazis and Us failed in effecting the change in

In your opinion, would having different times for different ages to Essay

In your opinion, would having different times for different ages to Trick-or-Treat be a good idea, why or why not - Essay Example However, the fear, anxiety and to the extreme trauma caused by these images to the young children has raised recent discussions on the means of reducing their impact on these children. Arguments raised in objection of the treat-or-treat these images may be very disturbing to the children, as they exposes the children to all types of horrific characters. As a suggestion therefore, some people propose age and time restr4ictions to these events. The argument hold that the young should go on the door to door trick-or-treat visit early in the day, while the juveniles wait until later in the night to seek their treat. Personally, I do not think this will solve any problem due to a number of reasons, as expressed in this essay. The argument appears to disobey the very meaning of the event, â€Å"Halloween†. Additionally, the children, whether indoors or outdoors, cannot avoid the images of Halloween as they can see them anyway. Finally, It is not the treat associated with Halloween t hat is the biggest fun, and largely, some children do not need the treat anyway. In fact, most the teenagers who take part hope to miss the candy and the goodies, for them to do their trick. As such, it is the fun, the eerie feeling presented by the horrific images, and the fear that teenagers instil on other people with their dressing that is the greatest fun. What is the main reason for dressing in such attire if not to create fear and anxiety? Some of the costumes that children put on cost a fortune, one that the candy and the goodies cannot repay. Choosing to dress in the scariest and horrifying costumes, the children hope to have as much fun as they can. After all, this is an annual festival. Therefore, a policy that seeks to separate children and teenagers into different groups would spoil the much fun that Halloween offers. The children choose their most convenient time to go for the treat-or-trick event. When they feel ready to go, they alert their parents, who tag along and take care of them, especially by providing security. Therefore, Halloween is an optional event only the interested people take part in. They stay indoors, protecting their children from the trauma and the anxiety created by the images. By being not a mandatory festival, most of the parents who wish not to take part in the Halloween leave their goodies and candy at their gate or doorstep, where the Halloween children would find them and leave without any tricks or showing their Halloween costumes. Those who feel that the event causes too much fear, anxiety, and trauma to their children should adopt this method of protecting their children, instead of spoiling the entire event. Further, such parents can, if their children want to take part in the event, decide to let them take part early in the day, and by evening let them in to avoid the images caused by Halloween. Children, whether indoors or outdoors cannot avoid the Halloween images completely. Being indoors, other children seeki ng for a treat have to visit their homes. Children, with their curiosity can peep through the windows to see the Halloween costumes that other children have put on. This way, they can see them, therefore creating the fear and anxiety in them. Outdoors, there are countless billboards and posters, as well as live advertisements of Halloween parties in

Most Appropriate Ethics System For The Accounting Profession Philosophy Essay

Most Appropriate Ethics System For The Accounting Profession Philosophy Essay I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do (Brown, 2008, p. 1). The world we live in comes in diverse and multifaceted societies. The United States is considered to have violent societies in the industrialized world. One set of apprehensions has to do with crime and destructive behavior rioting, shooting or mugging. However, concerns for the moral improvement of professionals deal with different issues. Professionals, by virtue of having made it through years of schooling and supervised work, usually have average impulse control, self-discipline, self-regulation abilities, ego strength, and social skills (Rest Narvaez, 1994). The United States has a long tradition of creation of wealth through stakeholders. For more than a decade, however, the public has shown a rising sensitivity to unethical behavior due to the pursuit of power and money. Public trust in the services offered by professional accountants has declined in recent years due to occurrences of unethical behavior in the profession (Spiceland, Sepe, and Tomassini, 2004). The unethical behavior of managers is an issue that is likely to stay in the public eye for quite some time. A 1987 popular movie portrayed the dishonest dealings of people involved in securities trading based on nonpublic information. The primary character was portrayed by actor Michael Douglas, who, in a dramatic scene says, Greed is good! The connotation is that greed is an acceptable motivation and that people in business will do anything to make money, which includes engagement to unethical behavior. Accountants have significant role in the public eye. In performing their task they are asked to take certain roles. They accept at the same time the resulting obligations and moral responsibilities by accepting certain roles. Accountants can be found performing daily tasks in situations governed by a complex set of rules, principles, and practices (Riahi-Belkaoui, 2004). In performing their roles, accountants face formal or legal rules of behavior, but also moral elements created by specific situations. According to Theodore Roosevelt, To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society. The societies are governed with values by which people live. The system of values is referred to as philosophy. The principles and rules people use to decide what is right or wrong are referred to as moral philosophy. Ethics is the study that is concerned with the nature of ultimate value, and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong (Rainbow, 2002). Society has higher expectations ethically of professionals and, as a consequence, the law holds them to a higher standard of due care. One of the characteristics that differentiate a profession from an occupation is the code of ethics that guides the profession. It is true that ethical standards cannot be codified to cover every situation. However, if professionals desire to strive for the higher levels of ethical behavior, there needs to be a more effective understanding and application of clear and uniform standards of right and wrong. Various accounting organizations promote high standards of ethical behavior. One of which is the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), which is a professional organization that serves certified public accountants who work for public accounting firms or other organizations. The code of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) emphasizes the obligations of the certified public accountants to serve the public interest, and their responsibility to act with integrity, objectivity, independence and in professional care. Specific responsibilities of the accounting profession are expressed in the various codes of ethics promulgated. According to Zucker (1986), the basis upon which the accounting profession was founded and continues to exist is public trust, which is the degree to which the public has confidence in the services provided by the accounting profession. There are various categories of ethical perspectives or models of ethical thinking that are applicable to accounting. Two well-known frameworks of ethical system theories are utilitarian and the deontological. Accountants can best understand these ethical views by comparing and contrasting the fundamental moral principles of each ethical theory, and determining which ethics system is most appropriate for the accounting profession. Utilitarian Ethics Utilitarianism is an ethical system that is most often attributed to philosophers such as John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. Utilitarianism is the ethical principle that considers an action to be morally right or wrong based solely on the consequences that result from performing it. The right action is the one that brings the best consequences or the greatest amount of utility. It advocated the rule and goal of the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Maximizing the happiness within the society is believed to be the most ethical thing to do. It is thus frequently considered as consequentialism since it believes that outcomes can be predicted and because it judges actions based on their outcomes. John Stuart Mill says: Utility, or the Greatest Happiness Principles, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, and wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness. Happiness is intended to be pleasure, the absence of pain, and the privation of pleasure. Utilitarianism is an ethical theory of conduct where, under any given circumstances, an action is objectively right, if it will generally produce the greatest amount of happiness, taking into account all whose happiness is affected by the conduct. Under this system, the merits of an action are evaluated by considering the total benefits and the total cost created by the action for human society (Darwall, 2003). The rules ensure the greatest good for the most people and speed-up the decision-making process. The rules do not guarantee a positive outcome all the time, but generally following the rules generates positive outcomes. One of the major problems of utilitarianism is the ambiguity of the statement, The greatest good for the greatest number of people. For example, there are ten units of pleasures to be distributed to ten people. The easiest way to give them out is giving each a unit of pleasure. But suppose four people passionately love the units of pleasure and the other six do not care about the units of pleasure. Then would it make sense if two units of pleasure will be given to the four people who passionately love them, and none to the five or six people who do not care? So the problem of fairness is present, as well as the problem of how things should be distributed. Ultimately, when goods are maximize, some people get much and the others get a few or nothing at all. For example, an accountant takes a companys money for a few days and deposits it in his own account before putting it in the account of the company, thereby personally gaining the interest on the businesss money. It might be in his best interest, but in the best interest of the greater number of people. It is an unethical action since it will clearly harm more people more that it will help; the action is unjustified since it can harm others. Another example is the act of bribery, which is generally wrong. Bribery could be considered a general guideline by the utilitarian ethical system. If paying a bribe generated a contract which would keep a firm in business and people gainfully employed, a utilitarian may conclude that bribery is justified. The utilitarianism recognizes this subjection, and assumes it for the foundation of that system, the object of which is to rear the fabric of felicity by the hands of reason and of law. Ethical systems which attempt to question this way of livi ng, deal in sounds instead of sense, on impulse instead of reason, in darkness instead of light (Alexander, 2007, p. 1). Furthermore, in utilitarianism, the decision of which things should be counted as good is also dilemma. The system assumes that what people prefer is what is good, thus the good can only be judged by demand. Utilitarianism asserts that one should always act so as to produce the greatest ratio of good to evil for everyone (Tsalikis and Fritzsche, 1989). An act will be considered ethical if it produces a greater balance of good over evil in any given situation; the question then lies with whose good is trying to be promoted. Therefore, some will argue that this system supports egoism, because most likely a person will promote the good of the individual. The ultimate goal, though, was not the happiness of the individual, but the happiness of society (Rossouw, 1998). Deontological Ethics Deontological ethics is the ethics of duty and obligations. One of the most significant insinuations of deontology is that a behavior of the person can be wrong even if it results in the best possible outcome, and an act can be considered righteous even if it results in a negative outcome. According to Reindenbach, Robin, and Dawson (1991), deontologists have a duty to satisfy legitimate claims. These claims are determined by applying logic to an ethical principle, bearing in mind that one owes many diverse duties to others. Deontology is referred to as non-consequentialism, ethical formalism, or ethics of respect-for-persons (Ferrell Fraedrich, 1997). The deontology principle states that decisions should be judged on the circumstances in which they are made, rather than by their consequences. It means, specifically, ethics based on duty in spite of consequences. There are many variations of deontology. The most significant attempt to construct a deontological approach to ethics is found in Immanuel Kants Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. He begins this work by observing that only a good will is unconditionally good. For Kant, it is impossible to conceive anything in the world, or even out of it, which can be taken as good without qualification, except a good will. So what about intellectual qualities such as intelligence or good judgment or qualities of character, such as perseverance or courage? Kants answer has no basis for these good qualifications. Although such qualities are considered good in many situations, they can also be used for evil purposes as well. Deontologists hold that some choices cannot be justified by their effects; no matter how morally good their consequences, some choices are morally prohibited. On deontological accounts of ethics, one cannot make certain wrongful choices, even if by doing so the number of wrongful choices will be minimized-others will be prevented from engaging in similar wrongful choices. Deontologists believe that what makes a choice right is its conformity with a moral norm. Such norms are to be simply obeyed by each moral agent; such norm-keepings are not to be maximized by each agent. In this sense, for deontologists, the right has priority over the good. If an act is not in accord with the right, it may not be undertaken, no matter the good that it might produce-this includes even a good consisting of acts in accordance with the right. Correct decisions include all choices where the voluntary actions of any one person can be harmonized in reality with the voluntary actions of every other person (Kant, 1965, p. 1). Kant explains that this idea is according to the universal law of freedom. The formality of this approach may be considered a weakness, but it is, in fact, strength; it permits for considering all possible conditions. Furthermore, it is transformation into positive law is the core of the art of legislation. Ultimately, deontology promotes a duty of making the best moral decision. Kant gives several formulas to help decide what makes-up this duty. For Kant, all practical judgments are imperatives. The qualified ones are referred to as the hypothetical imperatives and the unqualified oaths are referred to as categorical imperatives. What determines the goodness or badness is whether the decisions accomplish the goal. For example, a person is situated in the fourth floor of the building and desires to go to the cafeteria that is situated in the next building. So what can he do now? One choice is to could jump out of the window. Of course he or she could probably break a leg; such action would be imprudent. So the prudent thing to do is to take an elevator down or walk down the stairs in order to transfer to the next building to the cafeteria. The deontological theory states that people should adhere to their obligations and duties when analyzing an ethical dilemma. This means that a person will follow his obligations to another individual or society because upholding his duty is what is considered ethically correct. For instance, a deontologist will, all the time, keep his promises to a friend, as well as follow the law. A person who follows this theory will produce very sound decisions that are consistent, since they will be based on the individuals set duties (Rainbow, 2002). AICPA Code of Ethics The AICPA Code of Professional Conduct consists of two main parts: Principles and Rules. The Principles provide the framework for the rules. The Rules provide specific guidance in the performance of professional services of AICPA members. The Principles are set out in six Articles and a Preamble. The Preamble articulates the role that the Principles play. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Guide members in the performance of their professional responsibilities and express the basic tenets of ethical and professional conduct. The Principles call for an unswerving commitment to honorable behavior, even at the sacrifice of personal advantage (AICPA, 2008, Preamble). Article I consist of the responsibilities of the AICPA member. It admonishes members as a group to carry out special responsibility of self governance. Article II states that the accounting profession has a duty to serve the publics interest. The public to be served consists of clients, credit grantors, governments, employers, investors, the business and financial community, and others who rely on the objectivity and integrity of certified public accountants to maintain the orderly functioning of commerce. Since the public relies on accountants, the accountant has a reciprocal obligation to be dedicated to professional excellence. Article III calls for an accountant to act with integrity. This requires the accountant to be completely honest and without deception. The honesty exhibited by a person acting with integrity can never compromise that obligation of client confidentiality. However, personal gain can never be put ahead of public interest. Persons acting with integrity will nev er be deceitful. Article II measures integrity in terms of what is right and just. Article IV specifically addresses the two traits of objectivity and independence-the hallmark of an accountant. Objectivity requires a freedom from conflicts of interest, honesty and impartiality. Independence requires freedom that may compromise objectivity. Article V sets out the standards for the services rendered as due care. Each person is expected to evaluate his or her own competence and to obtain the advice of others when necessary. Diligence means that the person will be prompt, thorough, careful and timely. Appropriate planning and supervision will be done by one who is diligent. Finally, Article VI states that each person will consider all the ethical principles when deciding to accept or reject a request for services. Last, the second section of the Code of Professional Conduct consists of a series of rules related to each of the above stated principles. The rules are very specific in thei r application. Rules are thought of as should nots. Conclusion The Code of Professional Conduct sets the standards and rules for professional accountants, regarding their moral and professional obligations toward one another, their clients, and society as a whole. Accountants must obey this code. Having canvassed the two main frameworks of ethical systems, it is not difficult to assess which of the two ethical systems is generally best for the accounting profession. On one hand, the utilitarian perspective about ethics claims that humans are supposed to take those actions that lead to the greatest balance of good consequences versus bad consequences. The utilitarian ethical system is plagued by an indirect and direct paradox. Indirectly, why follow the rules when not doing so produces better consequences? This, however, directly collapses into: do not follow the rules whenever better consequences can thereby be produced. Utilitarians will depart from the rules mistakenly, believing better consequences will result. On the other hand, the deontological perspective is about categorical imperative, moral obligation and duty. It leaves space for agents to give special concern to their friends, families and projects. It places a cap on that dutys demands. Deontological morality, therefore, avoids the overly demanding and alienating aspects of utilitarianism and accords more with conventional notions of our moral duties. The acts for a deontological system are not morally wrong. Furthermore, deontological system can account for strong, cross-cultural moral intuitions better than utilitarian system. With a comprehensive set of rules, the AICPA yearns is for its members to follow them. Almost everyone believes that the law or rules has a very important function morally. Not all accounting decisions will turnout the best results, but working towards a good decision with a good result should be goal of all accountants, as well as all people. Thus, deontological ethics is the best choice for the accounting professions, and matches-up with the AICPAs code of conduct.

Causes of World War 1 :: essays research papers

Causes of World War 1 The Causes of World War I The murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife on the 28th of June caused the lead up to World War I. The Archduke heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne was assassinated in his car during a drive in Sarajevo. The assassination was the work of a terrorist group known as the Black Hand. This caused Austria-Hungary to call on Germany as an ally and discuss how far Germany would support them. The result of this meeting was the `Blank Cheque' which gave Austria Germany's full support. Austria sent an ultimatum to Serbia asking for `complete surrender' on 23rd July and Serbia agreed 99%. Austria declared war on Serbia on the 28th of July, which created a war that would split Europe in two. War plans and war strategies a crucial to win a war so they must be planned to perfection with no flaws. In World War I Germany believed they had a perfect war plan were as if Russia mobilizes then Germany would have forty days to destroy and invade France (Russia's Ally) this flawless plan was known as the Schlieffen. The Schlieffen plan was created by Count Alfred von Schlieffen and was created to protect Germany from fighting a war on two fronts. After Schlieffen died his successor was a man named Helmuth von Moltke and he modified the plan slightly by not invading so much neutral territory. During the war the plan was an absolute failure and Germany had to fight a war on two fronts and lost. The plan was a failure because it had to many flaws e.g. Britain was not brought into the equation, France was stronger than expected. In this war plan trains with strict timetables were used to create an army of 4,000,000 to march into Paris. Once Germany mobilizes the trains would not stop or change route for anybody. When the Kaiser asked Moltke to stop the trains going to France, Moltke's reply was: "That we can't do! The whole army would be thrown into confusion. We would lose any chance of victory." Moltke This proves that the Kaiser was not in control after mobilization has started. It also proves that the trains could not be stopped by anyone after they have started without complete chaos occurring and defeat enviable. The alliances in Europe created a tension, which would snap, and a major war would occur that would split Europe in two.

Role of Money Market in Economic Development of Nigeria

Discount Houses Operations, the Money Market and the Nigerian Economy: A Preliminary Investigation C. B. Ezirim and F. E. Enefaa Abstract This paper investigates the relationships subsisting between the operations of discount houses and the performance indices of the money market and the general economy. The method used involved the estimation of regression models and subsequent analysis of results using conventional statistics. The findings indicate that positive and significant relationships existed between the indicators of discount houses and those of the money market and the macro economy.Thus, the operations of these houses reserve the potentials to boost the performances of the money market and the economy considerably. This calls for policy options that would favor the encouragement of existing houses and licensing of new ones to adequately carter for the needs of the overall economy. Introduction It has been underscored that discount houses play very important roles in stimu lating investments in the economy and in boosting the general operations of the money market.Not only do they serve as catalyst in the market, they are, on their own, large-scale investors in the money market as well. Their role in facilitating profitable open market operations is worth stressing (CBN, 2004; Ezirim, 2005). Notwithstanding these and other roles performed by discount houses in a typical economy, the Nigerian money market operations are said to be sub-optimal in terms of engineering desired growth in the economy. The observed sub-optimality of the Nigerian money market is blamed, in part, on the poor performance of discount houses and other money market institutions.Discount houses, from the onset of their operations in the country, were expected to cause the Nigerian money market to operate optimally. Since the money market is yet to achieve this objective, can we then say that the discount houses have failed in their expected duties? It is the burden of this study to ravel the true position by x-raying the relationships between relevant variables representing the operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Furthermore, the entire activity of the discount houses is expected to directly or indirectly boost aggregate domestic investment, output, and income. The levels of these macro magnitudes, even with the advent of discount houses, have left much to be desired. Does this suggest that these institutions, alongside others, have failed in their critical duty to the economy? The need to investigate the relationship between the 94 operations of these financial institutions and relevant macro indicators is only rife.It is, therefore, main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performance of the money market and the macro economy. Theoretical Framework and Review Concept and Roles of Discount Houses Discount houses are recent but novel develo pments that are meant to further the catalytic processes in the economic advancement of the less developed countries (LDCs) like Nigeria, especially in the money market sub-sector.By definition, discount houses are financial institutions devoted to trading in money market securities in the secondary market. As in Ezirim (2005), discount houses (DHs) were established to serve as financial intermediaries between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), licensed banks, and other financial institutions. DHs mobilize funds for investments in securities by providing discounting/rediscounting facilities in government short-term securities.According to Central Bank of Nigeria (2004: 1) Revised Guidelines for discount houses in Nigeria, â€Å"a discount house means any person in Nigeria who transacts a discount house business which in the main consists of trading in and holding of treasury bills, commercial bills and other securities and whose operations are in the opinion of the CBN those of a d iscount house†. Local Banks and other financial institutions including insurance companies, with or without the participation of international finance institutions acceptable to the CBN, can subscribe to the shares of a iscount house business. However the maximum permissible equity holding for any single investor in a discount house is 40%. Kakawa Discount House Ltd. (2005) provided a distinct approach to understanding the discount house phenomenon. To them, a discount house is a specialist financial institution, which intermediates in the money market by accepting short-term monies for onward investment in short-term financial securities from commercial, universal, investment and development banks, building societies, other financial institutions and high net worth individuals.They are credited with playing a vital role in the Nigerian Monetary System by sitting at the centre of the money market, and offering the safest avenues available for investment in Nigeria today. They invest mainly in government treasury bills and to a lesser extent in commercial bills issued by blue chip companies, and accepted by creditworthy bank. Their principal specialization is in providing primary liquidity in the Nigerian financial sector through the buying and selling of security in huge volumes for very short period of time.A discount house in Nigeria is a specialist financial institution that acts as an agent for facilitating the Open Market Operation (OMO) allocations; and as a market marker in Nigeria money market. Ajie and Ezi (2001) maintained that the establishment of discount house in Nigeria has been an important development that led to an increased level of activity, fund flows and growth of the money market. 95 Establishment and Raison d’etre of Discount Houses in Nigeria Discount Houses were set up by the provisions of Section 28, of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Decree No. 4 of 1991 and sections 61 of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFID) Decree No. 25 of 1991 as amended. Three discount houses commenced operations in 1993 while two others joined between 1995 and 1996. Discount Houses were primarily created in Nigeria to carry out the following functions: (a)Promotion of rapid growth and efficiency in the money market; (b) Acting as an intermediary between the CBN and licensed banks in Open Market Operations (OMO) transactions and other eligible transactions; (c ) Facilitating the issuance and sale of short termGovernment securities, (d) Providing discount/re-discount facilities for Treasury Bills, Government Securities and other eligible financial instruments; (e) Accepting short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors; and (f) Providing short term financial accommodation to banks. The CBN injects or withdraws funds from the money market through the Discount Houses, whose operations will enable them serve as a mirror with which the CBN gauges the liquidity position in the market. Discount Houses help banks to adjust their books on a daily basis, resulting in the stimulation of the money market and paving the way for healthy growth, efficiency and professionalism. Following the recent CBN 2004 Guidelines, the functions of a Discount House were expanded to include: (a) Providing portfolio and funds management services, (b) Providing financial and business solutions, and (c ) Other functions that may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time (CBN, 2004).Regulation and Control of Discount Houses in Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulate and control the activities of the Discount Houses. In a bid to keep Discount Houses secure, the CBN strictly regulates them through daily, weekly, monthly, semi-annual and annual reporting of their statement of affairs while relevant quarterly reports are sent to SEC. This keeps the regulatory agencies continuously informed of the situation prevailing in the Discount H ouses on a daily basis ( Kakawa, 2005).In terms of prudential requirements, the CBN (2004) required that every discount house shall: (a) transfer to the statutory reserve a minimum of 15 percent of profit after tax if the reserve fund is less than the paid-up capital and a minimum of 10% if the reserve fund is equal to or more than the paid-up capital; (b) maintain capital funds to risk assets ratio of 1:13 and cash asset ratio (CAR) of 10% or as may be prescribed by the CBN from time to time; (c ) not exceed a maximum ratio of 50:1 between its total borrowing and capital plus reserves without the prior approval of the CBN; (d) not grant to any bank, facility of more than 75% of its shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses without the prior approval of the CBN; (e) (i)at all times maintain not less than 60% of total borrowing in government securities; (ii) Any discount house which fails to maintain the 60% of borrowings in government securities is guilty of offence and liable to fine as stipulated in Section 15(4)(b) of BOFIA as amended. (f) shall classify and make provision for its risk assets in line with prudential guidelines for banks; (g) maintain proper books of accounts; (h) every discount house shall display its daily rates or interest in a conspicuous position in all its offices; (i) 96 hanges in the discount house’s top management and Board of Directors shall be subject to the prior approval of CBN; (j) every discount house shall appoint an auditor approved by the CBN whose duties shall be to make to the shareholders a report of their annual balance sheet and profit and loss account. The qualifications, duties, powers and responsibilities of the approved auditors shall conform to the provisions of Section 29 of BOFIA 1991, as amended; and (k) all repurchase transactions (Repos) by discount houses shall be reported on the balance sheet if the securities used are owned by the discount houses with the affected assets remaining in the books of the sellers (discounting houses), while the cash received by them shall be recognized as a liability (CBN, 2004). Services and Financing of Discount Houses Discount Houses offer a wide range of financial products to Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and the general public.The main services include: (a) Securities trading which includes buying and selling of: Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Government Bonds, and Commercial Bills; (b) Accepting short-term investments from banks and providing short-term accommodation to banks; (c) Short-term financial intermediation through the acceptance of funds and simultaneous investment of the funds in: Commercial Papers, Bankers Acceptances, Government Securities; (d) Providing personalized wealth management to high net-worth individuals through a network of investment managers, financial consultants and other specialists; (e) Effective portfolio management on both discretionary and non-discretionary basis through the provision of medium to long term investment management services to: Pension funds, Private clients, Employee Schemes, Trustees of family settlements and charities; and (f) Providing Business Solutions in: Financial Arrangement and Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Privatization, Business Assessment, Business Structuring, and Data Resource and Management (kakawa Discount House Ltd. , 2005) The Sources of funds for discount houses in Nigeria included: (a) Equity – Paid- up Capital and Reserves. (b) Call money and short-term borrowings of not more than three years maturity. (C) Call money placed by banks with discount houses shall form part of the specified liquid assets of the respective banks for the purpose of the liquidity ratio requirement. d) A discount house that is short of funds may: (i) obtain from the CBN an overnight advance against acceptable collateral. However such an advance shall not exceed 20 percent of the total assets of the discount house and shall not in any event be gran ted if the discount house has exceeded the borrowing limit as prescribed by CBN; (ii) sell short-term bills and/or other securities to the CBN. The CBN shall provide rediscounting facilities for treasury and other eligible securities; and (iii) enter into Repurchase transactions with the CBN using eligible securities. The short-term nature of the liabilities of a discount house requires that its assets be substantially liquid.The assets of a discount house shall consist of the following: a) Treasury Bills; b) Treasury Certificates; c) Negotiable Certificates of Deposit (NCDs); d) Bankers’ Acceptances; e) Commercial Papers (eligible); f) Asset-Backed Securities (of not more than three years to maturity); g) Federal Government Development 97 Stocks (development stocks not exceeding five years); h) Eligible State Bonds (bonds with not more than five years to maturity); i) Promissory Notes issued by State Governments; and j) Any other securities that may from time to time be appr oved by the CBN. Discount Houses, Open Market Operations, and the Money Market Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply.It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market. In Nigeria, the money market instrument used for OMO auctions is the Treasury Bills. Discount houses are the exclusive agents, in the conduct of OMO in Nigeria. OMO auction are held on a weekly basis. Presently, the notice is put out on Wednesday. Banks and other participants forward their bids to the discount houses on Thursday whilst the results are released the following day, Friday. The Discount House submits bids from authorized dealers, including its needs for OMO instruments, to the Central bank and facilitates the payments and settlement of the transactions.The money market is a wholesale market for low risk, highly liquid, short-term debt instruments. Shortterm refers to a tenor of less than one year. In Nigeria, the instruments traded in the main are Treasury Bills, Bankers Acceptances and Commercial Paper. The heart of activity in the money market occurs in the dealing rooms of discount houses and banks. Each day, billion of Naira is traded between operators in the money markets (CBN, 2004; Kakawa, 2005). Performance of Discount Houses in Nigeria Since inception, the discount houses have especially increased the level of activity in the secondary market for government securities. This is apparent from the volume of treasury bills currently held by banks. This increased from N5,181. million in 1992 to N38,286. 8 million in 1994. This is very remarkable when we consider that the treasury bills issued by the CBN had shown a downward slide from N81152. 1 million in 1992 to N30633. 2 million in 1994 and N20247. 7 million in 1996. As at 2002, there were 5 discount houses operating in Nigeria. Relative to their performance in 2001, they recorded significant growth in 2002. The total assets of the 5 operating Houses amounted to N57. 3 billion at December 2002 and N67. 3B as at the end of 2004 ( See Table 1 below). Total funds available amounted to N28. 7 billion compared with N9. 7 billion in 2001. The funds were sourced mainly from money-at-call (N13. billion), other amounts owed to bank and non-bank customers (N11. 7 billion), accretion to capital and reserves (N1. 6 billion), and reduction in cash and balances with banks (N1. 5 billion). 98 Table 1: Selected Indicators of Discount Houses, Money Market and Nigerian Economy Discount Houses Shareholders’ Funds (DHSF) NM 1993 436. 0 1994 565. 7 1995 865. 6 1996 1251. 7 1997 1430. 5 1998 1710. 3 1999 2136. 5 2000 3730. 7 2001 4948. 6 2002 6511. 0 2003 7679. 0 2004 9924. 5 Source: CBN Annual Reports, various years. Year Discount Houses Assets (DHASS) NM 4,461. 8 9,583. 2 3,431. 9 1,178. 4 6,996. 1 7,842. 6 15,049. 6 30,260. 8 32,353. 7 57,282. 52,731. 2 67,346. 2 The funds were largely utilized for investmen ts in government securities (N19. 7 billion), settlement of claims to banks (N2. 4 billion), and acquisition of other assets (N2. 4 billion) among other uses (CBN, 2002: 42, 43). The Central Bank (2004a) reported that the level of activities of discount houses recorded relatively improved performance in 2004 relative to compared with what obtained in 2003. The total assets/liabilities rose from N52. 7 billion in 2003 to N67. 3 billion in 2004, representing an increase of N14. 6 billion or 27. 7 per cent, while the total funds sourced amounted to N22. 6 million, compared with N15. billion in the preceding year See Table 1). The funds were sourced mainly from non-bank customers (N8. 1 billion), reduction on claims by banks (N5. 7 billion), and an increase in reserves (N2. 2 billion). The funds were utilized mainly in the purchase of Federal Government securities of less than 91-days maturity (N16. 2 billion). Discount houses’ investment in Federal Government securities of less than 91 days maturity amounted to N38. 1 billion at end-December 2004, representing 80. 1 percent of their total deposits liabilities. This was 20. 1 percentage points higher than the prescribed minimum of 60. 0 per cent for fiscal 2004 (CBN, 2004a).These show how important the impact of the discount houses has largely been felt in the level of activity and nature of holding of government debts instruments. Research Methodology Design of the study and Data: The study investigates the effect of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. For the purpose of this study, the research design used was the investigative research method which is mainly biased to inferential statistical analysis (Baridam, 2005). This study was intended to cover the entire discount houses operating in Nigeria.Accordingly, time series annual data 99 covering the period of 1993 through 2004 were obtain ed and analyzed. The Annual Report and Statement of Account of the CBN for various years constituted the sources of the time series data for the estimations. Operational Measure of the Variables: The dependent variables in this study are the operational performance indices of the money market and the entire economy, namely the total value of operations of the money market and the real GDP respectively. The independent variables are the operational performance indices of the discount houses, namely the discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and discount houses assets (DHAS).Data Analysis Techniques: Besides the desk research method which informs an extensive review of the theoretical underpinnings related to this topic, the study involved the estimation of conventional regression models as earlier mentioned which assisted in analyzing the data. The ordinary least square (OLS) technique was also adopted using the SPSS software for the estimation of the variables. The tand F- tests were used to test for significance of the results obtained. Hypotheses, Estimation Results, and Analysis Two hypotheses were formulated to the intent of finding the nature and magnitude of relationship existing between discount houses operations, on one part, and the money market operations and the general economic activity of the country, on the other. The resultant linear regression models were estimated and analyzed below. Relation between Discount Houses’ and Money Market Operations The first ypothesis states that: there is no significant relationship between the country’s money market operational performance and the operations of discount houses in the country. As expected the regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software programme. The indicator of the money market, namely money operations from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicator of discount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yields two subhypotheses: one relating money market operations (MMOP) with discount houses shareholders’ fund (DHSF) and the other linking MMOP with discount houses assets (DHAS).The results of the computations are summarized on Table 2 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the MMOP remained the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the independent variables. As shown by the Table, for the MMOP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 995, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 978 for the MMOP-DHAS relation. 100 This suggested that the degree of association between the money market performance and the discount houses’ operations was very high, being at least 97%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determinat ion (r2) of 0. 91 and 0. 957 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 95. 7% of the variations in money market operations can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operation, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. Table 2: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses and Money Market Operations Independent Variables Statistics DHSF DHAS Coefficient of Regression (R) . 995 . 978 Coefficient of Determination (r2) . 991 . 957 Adjusted R Square . 990 . 952 F-Ratio 1050. 12 220. 522 Significance Level of F . 000 . 000 Regression Coefficient (beta) . 995 . 978 t-Statistics 32. 406 14. 85 Significance level of t . 000 . 00 * Dependent variable is MMOP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 99. 1%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable to the models, thus, was between 95% and 99%. After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of ob servations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were 0. 99 for DHSF and 0. 952 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 95% and 99%.The F-ratios of 1050. 12 for DHSF variable and 220. 522 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between MMOP and DHSF and DHMS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 32. 406 for DHSF and t=14. 85 for DHAS; P= . 000 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between operations of the money market and those of the discount houses.Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Relationship between Aggregate Economic Performance and Discount Houses Operations The second hypothesis attempts to know whether or not the general economy has been significantly impacted by the discount houses’ operations in the country. This hypothesis stated in the null is as 101 follows: There is no significant relationship between the aggregate economic performance represented by the GDP and the operations of discount houses in Nigeria.Table 3: Regression Results Showing Relationship between Discount Houses’ Operations and Real DGP Independent Variables Statistics Coefficient of Regression (R) Coefficient of Determination (r2) Adjusted R Square F-Ratio Significance Level of F Regression Coefficient (beta) t-Statistics Sign ificance level of t DHSF . 971 . 943 . 937 163. 97 . 000 . 971 12. 805 . 000 DHAS . 947 . 898 . 887 87. 705 . 000 . 947 9. 365 . 000 * Dependent variable is real GDP. Source: Computer Printout (SPSS) The regression statistics were calculated using the SPSS computer software program. The indicator of the economy namely Real GDP from 1993 through 2004 were regressed against the indicators of iscount houses, namely, the total capital injections (shareholders fund – DHSF) of discount houses on one part, and total assets of discount houses (DHAS) on the other. This procedure yielded two subhypotheses: one relating Real GDP (RGDP) with discount houses shareholders funds (DHSF) and the other linking RGDP with discount houses assets (DHAS). The results of the computations are summarized on Table 3 which depicts the regression results of relations between the above variables. In each case, the RGDP was treated as the dependent or explained variable, while the DHSF and DHAS were the in dependent variables. As shown by the Table, for the RGDP-DHSF relation, the observed coefficient of regression was 0. 971, while the same statistic was observed as 0. 947 for the RGDP-DHAS relation.This suggested that the degree of association between the aggregate economic performance and the discount houses’ operations was very relatively high, being at least 94%. The observed high degree of relationship was confirmed by each of the coefficient of determination (r2) of 0. 943 and 0. 898 respectively. The results of the r2 showed that at least 89% of the variations in aggregate economic activities can be attributed to the effects of discount houses’ operations, when the explanatory variable was DHAS. The level of explained variation when the explanatory variable was DHSF was 93. 7%. The range of the degree of explained variation attributable by the models thus was between 89% and 94%. 102After adjusting for the effects of small sample size (number of observations) and number of independent variable (which remained constant however in each case implying that only sample size was adjusted), the adjusted coefficient of determination, r2, were . 937 for DHSF and . 887 for DHAS. By implications after the necessary adjustments, the proportion of explained variation remained at between 88% and 93%. The F-ratios of 163. 97 for DHSF variable and 87. 7 for DHAS variable are all significant at 1% level or less (P = . 000 in each case). This implies that the relationships between RGDP and DHSF and DHAS are statistically significant at the conventional levels. The relative effects of each independent variable as denoted by the t-statistics are equally computed to be statistically significant as expected (t = 12. 8 for DHSF and t = 9. 4 for DHAS; P= . 00 in each case) at 1% level of significance. Given these, we cannot accept a null hypothesis of no significant relationship between aggregate economic activities of Nigeria and operations of the discount houses . Thus, there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly. Concluding Remarks It was thus the main purpose of this study to analyze the operational performance of discount houses in a bid to see how they relate with the general performances of the money market and with the macro economy.Put simply, the study investigated the effects of the operational Performance of the discount houses on the Nigerian money market and the economy. The method employed included the estimation and analysis of regression models. The results indicated that: there is a statistically significant relationship between discount houses operations and money market performance in Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian money market both positively and significantly. Furthermore, there is a statistically significant rel ationship between discount houses operations and economic performance of Nigeria. Discount houses operating in Nigeria affect the Nigerian economy both positively and significantly.The results suggest that the establishment of discount houses has been shown to be one of the potent measures that have tremendous potentials to strengthen and cause real growth to the money market and the economy. In keeping with the above, the Government and the Central Bank should endeavor to license more discount houses since their operations are beneficial to the country. The five discount houses currently operating are too few to satisfy the requirements of a vast country like Nigeria. The opearational Houses and the authorities should also endeavor to awake the consciousness of the investing and the business public to proper usage of the facilities and services provided by discount houses.Candid awareness should be provided and information made available to the investor public to know which discoun t house is performing better and good for patronage. The management of the operating discount house should endeavor to improve in their service offerings to their customers especially in the area of making their discount charges to be reasonably competitive. This could also improve the clientele level of the 103 operating discount houses in the economy. It is important that discount houses’ management, investors and government critically analyze and understand the effect of under-utilization of services or facilities provided by discount houses.It is the humbly suggestion of the authors that further empirical works be carried out on the identified relationships using more powerful and sophisticated tools and larger number of observations such as in the cases of monthly and quarterly data. Comparisons between the Nigerian experiment and the experiences of other developing countries should also be made. These would assist the general understanding of the unique roles of discoun t houses in the less developed countries. 104 References: Ajie, H. A. and Ezi, C. T. (2001) Financial Institutions and Markets, Paragraphics Publishers, Enugu. Baridam, D. M. (2005) Research Methods in Administrative Sciences. NTA Road, Port Harcourt. Sherbrooke Associates. Central Bank of Nigeria (2002) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Abuja: CBN Press. Central Bank of Nigeria (2004) Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses. CBN Press.Central Bank of Nigeria (2004a) Annual Report and Statement of Accounts. Abuja: CBN Press. Ekezie, E. S. (1990) Elements of Banking. Ibadan: University of Ibadan Press. Ezirim (2005) Finance Dynamics: Principles, Techniques, and Applications. Port Harcourt: Markowitz. Federal Government of Nigeria (1991) Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFID) Decree No. 25 of 1991. Lagos: Government Press. Federal Government of Nigeria (1991) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Decree No. 24 of 1991. Lagos: Government Press. Kakawa Discount House Limited (2005 ) Discount Houses in Nigeria. www. Google. com, Accessed October 2005. Layi Afolabi (1992) Law and Practice of Banking. Lagos: Lagos University Press. 105