Sunday, October 13, 2019
Custom Essay: Shakespeares Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude
Hamlet and the Character of Gertrude     Bryan N. S. Gooch in "Review of The Shapes of Revenge: Victimization, Vengeance, and Vindictiveness in Shakespeare," presents as a victim Gertrude’s closest woman friend in Shakespeare’s Hamlet:  Harry Keyishian rightly recognizes that distinction between various manifestations of revenge is crucial in coming to terms not only with many of Shakespeare’s characters -- and some were notable and clearly nasty avengers of perceived yet unsubstantiated wrong -- but also with his social and moral milieu. . . . Moreover, the author clearly presents in Chapter I, "Victimization and Revenge: Renaissance Voices," a useful survey of the problem, drawing from books on the passions and moving on to consider not only the power of the revenger but the powerlessness of victims, e.g., the Duchess of Gloucester, Ophelia. . . . (1).  If Ophelia is a victim, certainly Gertrude is likewise, having died from imbibing the poisonous drink intended for Hamlet by Claudius and Laertes. This essay intends to explore this aspect and many other aspects of the character of Gertrude.  At the outset of the tragedy Hamlet appears dressed in solemn black. His mother, Gertrude, is apparently disturbed by this and requests of him:      Good Hamlet, cast thy nighted colour off,     And let thine eye look like a friend on Denmark.     Do not for ever with thy vailed lids     Seek for thy noble father in the dust:     Thou know'st 'tis common; all that lives must die,     Passing through nature to eternity. (1.2)  The queen obviously considers her son’s dejection to result from his father’s demise. Angela Pitt considers Gertrude â€Å"a kindly, slow-w... ...Psychoanalysis Into' Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet." Early Modern Literary Studies 6.1 (May, 2000): 2.1-24  http://purl.oclc.org/emls/06-1/lehmhaml.htm Pitt, Angela. â€Å"Women in Shakespeare’s Tragedies.†Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Rpt from Shakespeare’s Women. N.p.: n.p., 1981. Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1995. http://www.chemicool.com/Shakespeare/hamlet/full.html Smith, Rebecca. â€Å"Gertrude: Scheming Adulteress or Loving Mother?†Readings on Hamlet. Ed. Don Nardo. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1999. Rpt. from Hamlet: A User’s Guide. New York: Limelight Editions, 1996. Wilkie, Brian and James Hurt. â€Å"Shakespeare.†Literature of the Western World. Ed. Brian Wilkie and James Hurt. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992.
Saturday, October 12, 2019
Nuala NàDhomhnaill’s The Astrakhan Cloak Essay -- Astrakhan Cloak
Nuala Nà Dhomhnaill’s The Astrakhan Cloak The Astrakhan Cloak, published in 1992, is a collection of poems by Nuala Nà Dhomhnaill. Several aspects of the book deserve notice from the reader, including structural and thematic elements that work to develop an overall sense of mystery, wonder, and loss. A significant theme of the poems in the collection is the dichotomy of the supernatural and civilized worlds, and the sense that there are forces in the world just beyond our perception and understanding. In general the poems presented are short, but the final inclusion is a longer poem divided into sections, each somewhat able stand on its own. Read as a whole the final poem underscores the central themes presented in the book. Nà Dhomhnaill wrote the collection in Irish, but translations are provided on the facing pages. It is important to consider why the book was published in both languages. At the simplest level, the poet wanted people to read her work, and the market for poetry in English is larger than that in Irish. However, there are other considerations to keep in mind. First, the decision to print poems in both Irish and English brings to the mind of the reader some of the mystery inherent in other languages, especially the supernatural connotations of Celtic language. Viewing the poems in Irish reinforces the idea that some things are outside the realm of human understanding. Reading a translation is not the same as reading an original work; the reader cannot help but wonder what meaning the foreign words might carry that is lost in translation. That constant reminder throughout the collection enhances the sense of there being something just beyond perception that is beautiful and mysterious. Many of the poem... ...section of The Voyage, Two Men, tells of an encounter with the "Isle of Enchantment", Hy-Breasil. When the sailors in the poem encounter the island, they are caught up in "the relative merits of coal or clod", symbolizing the obsession with the everyday world, while "the island itself was covered by a blanket of cloud/and completely disappeared from view." (103) Finally, the island, and all the supernatural wonder it represents is lost, outside the reach of humanity.  Works Cited Ellmann, Richard and O'Clair, Robert, ed. The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, Second Edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988. Nà Dhomhnaill, Nuala. The Astrakhan Cloak. Trans. Paul Muldoon. Loughcrew: The Gallery Press, 1992 "astrakhan." Encyclopedia Britanicca Online Dictionary [Accessed 11 November 2004].
Friday, October 11, 2019
Effect of Globalization on Media Essay
The globalization since it took over the whole world in its vintage has given new dimensions and shape to varying aspects of Media in its whole vicissitude. As transnational in character, media has crossed all the cultural and political boundaries to reach the world audience with depth in dimensions in the shape, style and pattern of various programs. These intercontinental and transnational media outlets have posed challenges to the boundaries, questioned the territorial integrity and given shape to the media spaces. When many of the media markets all over the world got saturated, the media companies began to look at the global market place to earn revenues for their own firms and industries and global audiences are kept in mind while generating media content. As the accounting and regulatory structures differ in different countries and there is no reliable global financial data, it presented challenge before the media economic researchers. The companies are competing in the global as well as in the domestic market to gain a maximum share of audience and advertisers revenue. The whole gamut of programs seems to be seen as the representation of commercial interests of the bureaucratic elite and rich at the expense of public opinion and democracy. Views and opinions of the people to create their influence on the masses diminish when large media players do not hold themselves accountable to the state regulations. In other words, globalization has become an issue of privatization. Big market players are using the media to gain their commercial endeavors in the form of advertisements. In his Preface to â€Å"The Codes of Advertising†Sut Jhally said, â€Å"The symbolic dimensions of needing and culture and the economic dynamic of capital accumulation are symbiotically intertwined in the new communication age of advanced capitalism. †(1990) Here the advertisements act as the modern mediators between the end consumers and big conglomerates. Shoemaker and Mayfield (1987), for instance, underlined the view that â€Å"Sources of finance like advertisers are generally strongly influential on all aspects of News production and that a funder’s ideology is likely to have an ultimate effect on editorial’s decisions relevant to this ideology. †(McQual 1992: 113) Most of the media content also depends on the advertisers will, their commercial propositions and their market position. The advertisers offer the contents, which are friendly to the audiences and cater to their taste and liking. For e. g. Television soap operas function as advertisements aiming at attracting audiences to stay in tune. The scriptwriters in soaps use the strategies in their writing to keep the viewers on hold. An advertising industry has come under heavy criticism among groups such as Adbursters who accused industry of becoming a powered engine of most complex economic production system. Suggestions are being forwarded by many public interest groups to tax advertisers for their continuous intrusion in the mental space of audiences. The advertisers too are indirectly dependent on the changes in the demographical set up and society in its various shape and magnitude creating tremendous impact on the way media industries capture the moods of the their audiences. â€Å"They have an insatiable appetite for media related content and services and as people live longer and obtain more discretionary income, spending on media will likely rise. These shifts in audience composition and makeup will present new pressures on media firms to develop content that will appeal to these unique and differing audiences. †(Downing, McQuail, Wartella & Schlesinger 2004: 299) Graham Murdock treats advertising more as a cultural and social phenomenon rather than economical. (Jhally, 1990: 3). But the social influence is only a smaller stroke in a big game of Media players. For the New York Times and other companies associated with Media, as said by Naom Chowsky, the products are audiences, and customers as corporate advertisers. The product of New York Times is the paper itself audiences buy and it becomes an information for advertisers and therefore for them, the audiences that buy the products themselves become products for advertisers and it is the advertisers that bring in revenue for the companies. (Shah 2008: online). It would be most appropriate to mention that advertising is a â€Å"Superstructural facade†(Jenks 2004: 299) as they just not only are the expressions of capitalism but also produces and reproduces it. Advertising has reduced the concept of public opinion to cherish the desire of acquiring capital rather than fulfillment of personal desire. In the words of Marx, â€Å"In bourgeois society the commodity-form of the product of labor – or the value-form of the commodity – is the economic cell-form. †(Jenks 2004: 299) Audiences too reciprocate the same way. A certain kind of close relationship is developed between audiences and advertisers. Advertisers have created an image a global way making social relation, as a form of commodity yet creating an incredible influence on the ideological perception of individualism and consumerism. And in this atmosphere, political economy too is opening only a new door on the old platform- a typical characteristic of capitalistic society, whereas the content of media is being modified to keep to the capitalist standard. There is a whole new concept of audience ratings, used by the media companies to make the plans of their programs schedule and for studying the success rate of programs and media products. Government agencies, Government authorities and public service media organizations act as basis for making adequate economic decisions, endorsing regulations, and controlling the mass communications. Audience ratings are merged with research and also used by advertisers as tools to identify their target audience and prepare media plan accordingly. But these rating systems are being criticized on the ground as said by Liina Puustinen in her working paper on â€Å"The Age of Consumer audience†that â€Å"they do not give an adequate image of the consumers and audiences, and they objectify people into numbers and faceless masses†. (Puustinen 2006: Online edition). Number of theories, like audience receptive theories have been propounded to reflect the attitude and perceiving nature of mass audiences, which are contradictory to the rating systems. The rating system only give information of how many people have watched any particular program or advertisement but not how they perceived the program and what value they give to it, therefore the theories rightly said that the rating systems do not accurately represent audience satisfaction. Hypodermic Needle Model states that the media players make the contents of any program, idea or information enter into the consciousness of the people. In other words, audiences are manipulated to the ideologies and thinking of the creator of media product. Hans Robert Jauss and Wolfgang Iser developed the Reception theory by studying the people’s attitude and their receptive tendencies toward programs. The theory delves on the way people adapt to various programs and play their role in actual analyzing of the text. Another theory Culmination theory too deepens down the audience approach on the sensitivity of the programs. If they watch too much of the violence, they would in the years to come make you less sensitive towards violence in the same way if violence towards women are watched on year to year basis then it would make you ultimately less insensitive towards the issue. The audience receptive theory deepens down to the study of the psychological patterns of the audiences and how they reciprocate and adopt the programs and how the media players mould the sensitivity of the audiences to receive what they show. Some critics state that these theories are only based on their preconceived notions and assumptions. For example in 1930’s one of the advertising executive said about radio audiences: â€Å"The typical listening audience for a radio program is a tired, bored, middle-aged man and woman whose lives are empty and who have exhausted their sources of outside amusement when they have taken a quick look at an evening paper†¦. Radio provides a vast source of delight and entertainment for the barren lives of the millions. †(Media studies: Online) It is not just about radio audiences, but we can hear about it for several soap operas or quiz shows. Every human being has his tastes, liking and his own way of perceiving the things. Some may be critical and some may be appreciative. In this scenario, it is the way media players reach their target audience becomes the whole crux of their strategies and plans of their programs. To hit the right audience at the right time, right moment and right situation is the motive of media players around which the whole of media content depends. And it is the only way advertisers are attracted to use the media content for their valuable business propositions for these right audiences. Number of programs like â€Å"Pop Idol†created by impressionist music maestro Simon Fuller became the most popular format for the first show on the European TV and also reached the other continents as well. The craze of the Pop idol carried Americans, Canadians and Australians as American Idol, Canadian Idol and Australian Idol followed by Spanish bonanza â€Å"Operacion Triunfo†, making the Latin and South Americans also to come under their sway. Ipod, a melodious device of new generation and a complete new innovation being carried by the young and old alike in Shanghai as well as Innsbruck rapidly transferred to the new generations across the borders. It is quite true that if digital home cinema has gained so popularity in Japan then why it shouldn’t reach the other continents? Well, it has reached the homes of other continents. (Reding 2005: Online Edition) More than the spread of news, the world of music has imbibed in itself international facets in its thematic expression and lyrical notes. Music has reached new dimensions in the technological advancement. According to Steiner, â€Å"The totally new fact is that today any music can be heard at any time and as domestic background music. †(Nesbitt 2006: 103). The other programs are now more of sensational, individualist and reductionist in nature as these programs touches the heart of audiences. Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet studied how the voters made the decision during 1940 presidential election campaign and got their results published in paper The People’s Choice. They found out that information did not directly reach the consciousness of the audiences rather modified and passed down by the opinion leaders, which was again passed over to lesser active associates. In 2002, Anthony Giddens, a sociologist in the radio national broadcast made the people feel the essence of Globalization. He said, â€Å"Globalization is like a code-word standing for the reconstruction of our social institutions, going all the way through from the family, gender, sexuality (because after all the changing position of women is surely a global phenomenon as much as any other one) through the economy, the restructuring of business organizations, a restructuring of the nation and government, through the restructuring of international organizations†. (O’Regan 2002: Online edition) The politics since last 2300 years have been influencing the communication processes in the state. But since last few centuries, the relationship between politics and media is being seen in much controversial light than it was seen in the past and it is due to the political influence and control over the content of media and thereby their indirectly control over the public opinion. The political control over media reciprocates the views of Marx who said that media is a product of ruling elite wherein there is no scope of any alternative ideas. In Marx’s own words, â€Å"The class, which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it†. (Chandler 2000: Online) Marx further stated that mass media brings to the people’s consciousness false notions and ideas making media as a product of expressions of the ruling class. Graham Murdock too emphasized that economic factors play a determining role in the domination of ruling elite over media messages. The political economists look at ideological messages as superior to the economic criteria. (Chandler 2000: Online). In the 1966 article, Stein Rokkan brought into focus the two ways of decision making in the media circle: corporate system and numerical. In 1996, the whole of media was under the control of one or the other political party. But in the last two to three decades, we have seen number of changes in the way politics is being related to Media. Globalization has touched every sphere of human commodity from increasing a sense of risk to creating uncertainty. Interconnectedness in the global sphere increased the value of the humanity as a whole and an awareness of deep understanding and tensions between Global Diaspora, national and local perception of shared identities. (Gillespie, 1995: 3). It is no doubt a global village and we are all now a part of this global village where not only individual’s perception is taken into account but the perceptions of the whole in all its shades and dimensions is considered as the most virtuous and commercial proposition. REFERENCES LIST Chandler, D. 2000.Media as means of production in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism03. html [13 May 2008] Chandler, D. 2000. Media as amplifiers in Marxist Media Theory. [Online] Available: http://www. aber. ac. uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism05. html [13 May 2008] Downing, J. , McQuail, D. , Wartella, E. & Schlesinger P. 2004. The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Gillespie, Marie. 1995. Television, Ethnicity and Cultural Change. Routledge. Hjarvard, S. 2003. News Media and the Globalization of the Public Sphere. [Online] Available: http://www. kommunikationsforum. dk/default. asp? articleid=10761 [13 May 2008] Jhally Sut, P. 1990. The Codes of Advertising. Routledge. Jenks Chris, P. 2004. Urban Culture. Routledge. Johnson, P. 2004. Are the media playing politics? USATODAY. com. [Online] Available: http://www. usatoday. com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-10-10-media-mix_x. htm Media Studies. Audience (Adapted from Steve Baker’s Media Studies website) [Online] Available: http://www. northallertoncoll. org. uk/media/audience. htm McQuail, D. 1992. Media Performance: Mass Communication and the Public Interest. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Nesbitt, T. 2006. Global Media and cultural change. China Media Research, Chang, et, al, Intercultural Symposium on Cultural Globalization, 2(3): 103. O’ Regan, Mick. 2002. Media and globalisation. The Media Report. [Online] Available: http://www. abc. net. au/rn/talks/8. 30/mediarpt/stories/s678261. htm [13 May 2008] Puustinen L. 2006. The Age of Consumer-Audience. [Online] Available: http://209. 85. 175. 104/search? q=cache:FsxLpxbPeeQJ:www. valt. helsinki. fi/comm/fi/english/WP5. pdf+The+audience+reception+theories+on+ratings+system&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=in&ie=UTF-8 [16 May 2008] Rantanen T. 2005. The Media and Globalization. 1st Edition. California, London & New Delhi: SAGE Reding, V. 2005. The Media and Globalisation. European Forum Alpbach [Online] Available: http://europa. eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction. do? reference=SPEECH/05/469&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
Thursday, October 10, 2019
Relation between Economics and Law Essay
The study of Law without the knowledge of other related social sciences i.e., Political theory, Sociology and Economics, etc, is incomplete. In any law curriculum the study of Economics and Law and their interaction is increasingly found necessary. As Law influence Economics, Economics also influence Law. As a matter of fact Economics forms the basis of the study of Law. Economics reflects the socio-economic ethos of the country in particular and world in general. It becomes out of date and misleading if the Economic ethos change. But it was proved to be wrong by Dalton. The organisation, industrial structure and performance have changed in the thirty years. E.g.: policy goals, policy instrument, Economic institutions. Economics derives its aims and objectives from the study of man and must derive at least a large part of its methodology from a study of Nature. Legal Economics is a vital part in understanding the interactional dimension of Law and Economics, i.e., how modern Economics can be used to illuminate a number of legal problems. It is not sufficiently realised that the economic analysis can aid our understanding of the Law and how economic factors limit and shape the operation of crime control and legal systems. Economic considerations have varied and widespread effects on the costs and benefits that prospective offenders may expect from crime, on decisions to litigate or to settle out to court, on the significance of legal costs the practical problems of legal administration and the provision of legal services. Law and legal policy help to determine the behaviour of the economy. There are extensive legal constraints on the allocation and the distribution of resources and on labour and hou sing markets. The social functions of Law are broadly classified into three: (1) Encouraging good behaviour and discouraging bad behaviour. (2) Facilitating the people to transactions among themselves in organised legal system. (3) Distributing and re-distributing goods and services to the people. Law normally enters the scene in two guises; as public law, and as private law. The range extent of state intervention depends on the socio-economic ethos of each country. Western countries for a long time believed in laissez faire position, i.e. State interference in the economy will lead to misallocation of resources, economic inefficiency and a net wealth loss. Areas of law such as contact, tort and consumer protection legislations have obvious effects on financial dealings. In this changing scenario, there is need for guidance on the economic policy decisions by the legislature and courts which are increasingly involved with policy questions. Policy making courts need a behavioural theory of predict responses to change in Law and to evaluate these responses systematically according to normative standard. Ours is a market-oriented economy based on private enterprise. This implies two conditions- first, that all property can be privately owned and second, that people are economically free, i.e. subject to obedience to the law, they are free to use their time and means as they like. This is however, subject to the laws and regulations made by the society for the general good, otherwise it will lead to social cost. The classical economists, such as Adam Smith and his followers Marshall, Ricardo, Marthus, etc, believed that in a market economy perfect competition operates and through price mechanism (invisible hand) supply and demand of goods and services will reach equilibrium. Therefore, any interference in the market mechanism by the State will lead to economic waste and result in the economic inefficiency. Perfect competition operates only if the following conditions are satisfied: (1) Too many buyers and sellers,. They are price-takers and not price-givers; (2) Full knowledge of the products transacted in the market; (3) Homogeneity of products (product differentiation is not possible); and (4) Nil or negligible transaction costs. However, due to rapid economic development after the Industrial Revolution, the conditions mentioned above did not operate resulting in World Depression and complete collapse of the market system (in 1930’s). In these circumstances, J.M. Keynes, a well known economist propounded a new theory. He said the invisible hand relied upon by classical economists had developed arthritis and the visible hand of the Government was needed to correct the malady. He, therefore, advocated limited State intervention to correct the defects in the market mechanism so that the market operations can be revived and equilibrium achieved. He had faith in the market oriented economy. Later it was realised by the welfare and the third world economists that limited State intervention will not work and full intervention is necessary for the following reasons: (1) Steady increase in the divergence between private goods and social goods, i.e., economic development results in rapid industrialisation which in turn increases the tempo of urbanisation. (2) Rise of monopolies lead to distortion of the price system in the market economy through manipulation of supply of products and selling standard products, etc. (3) Rise of advertisement and propaganda (4) Steady increase in the divergence between private cost and social cost. Therefore, the introduction of a number of laws to protect environmental pollution (air, water and sound) has become necessary. The second feature of the market economy is the protection of property. Possession and ownership of property has been justified in economic theory because it is productive and contributes to economic growth. Propery rights are one of the incentives for efficient resource use. If there are no property rights, only common rights, then economic behaviour takes a new form. Due to technological revolution and growth, the intangible, aspects of property surfaced and they had to be protected for economic development. Therefore, the definition of property has been widened to include not only physical property but also the intellectual property (i.e. goodwill, patents, copyright, etc). This wider definition of the property is attractive to economists and predates modern work on Demand Theory which in fact focuses on the characteristics of a ‘goods’ rather than the ‘goods’ it. The third feature of the market economy is contract. Under the classical concepts, contract between the two parties are binding and no third party can interfere. This, of course is subject to the exceptions provided in the Contract Act (i.e. contact by minors, lunatics, idiots, etc. Contracts obtained by fraud, coercion, undue influence are all void contacts). In India the sanctity of contract has been given go-by. The Supreme Court in many cases held that court can interfere in the contractual relations. For e.g., Justice Hidayatullah held that: â€Å"Social justice is not based on contractual relations and is not to be enforced on the principles of contract of service. It is something outside these principles, and is invoked to do justice without a contract to back it.†The right to personal security under the welfare State has been given more social interpretation which includes: (1) the right of the worker to be protected against the risk of sickness, unemployment and old age, (2) his right to be protected by social insurance, and (3) His right to enjoy the necessary services of Government loosely called ‘Social Services’. Another area in contract law which made inroads in the concept of ‘sanctity of contract’ is consumer protection law inasmuch as changed role in freedom of contact is viewed as one of the foundations of a well organised society. Broadly, there are four reasons for the use of consumer protection laws: (1) The doctrine of ‘caveat emptor’ does not make sense in the modern world since information is asymmetrically distributed. (2) The free market system does not lead to optional use of resources. (3) The value judgement implicit in the â€Å"devil take the hindmost†attitude to the parting of money from a fool is now much less widely held. The economic consequences of consumer protection laws are- the legislation produces a different outcome with respect to resource allocation, prices and income distribution to that which would otherwise occur, and it results in the companies’ devoting more resources to quality control or even withdraw from some markets resulting in higher market prices and different resource allocation. INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF LAW AND ECONOMICS The marrying of Economics and Law is not new. According to Posner, much of the common law can be explained in economic terms and all branches of common and statue law has been examined in the light of this theory. Empirical research has proved that law has developed according to the economic structure of the country. Economic analysis is part and parcel of several law courses. Besides, there are many courses directly on Economics and Law (Legal Economics). At present it is probably fair to say that most lawyers find it quite difficult to see how they can make use of or even sense of such of the work done by economists on law†¦ however, there are increasing signs of legal writers taking explicit account of economic arguments. There remains however considerable scope for further work on bridging the gaps between the disciplines. The high flown values that legal principles express are examined by legal economists in the light of their efficiency and their social effect and not just their self defined moral content. WHAT IS LAW? : In layman’s language law is the definition and enforcement of ‘social norms’. WHY LAW? : To maintain ‘socio-economic equilibrium’ in the society. If viewed in the static sense, then the preservation of the existing rights in the society is the purpose of the law. That is why positive law defines and defends existing rights in the society. There are three models followed by the non communist countries, i.e. (1) Pure capitalist model in a market economy where the State plays no role and market forces decide how the market operates (2) Mixed Economy model with capitalist orientation, where state plays a minor role, corrects failures in the market operations and leaves the rest to the market forces, and (3) Mixed economy with socialist orientation, where the State plays a major role, i.e., interferes in the market operations not only to correct market failures but also to social justice, not because states are richer, but people have a different concept and expectations from the State. The economic analysis of law is concerned with ‘efficiency’, i.e. rational allocation of scarce resources with lest cost to attain maximum satisfaction. In law, people are concerned with justice only and not about its cost. If there is conflict between efficiency and justice, the nature of trade-offs can be illuminated by economic analysis and since the attainment of justice involves the use of resources, the economic approach can contribute to normative discussions by providing information on the costs of justice. Use of Economics does not predict the impact of law, but to describe and explain the law-to provide it with an economic rationale. The third important feature of economic analysis of law is the resurgence of Neo-Institutional Approach by making not the transaction, the basic unit of analysis. THE BROAD CHARACTERISTICS OF NEO-INSTITUTIONAL APPROACH (NIA) ARE: (1) It is Taxonomical. It lists a set of economically relevant categories that are useful for examining the law; (2) It is more micro-analytical. It focuses on the details of the environment in which the transaction takes place and suggests an empirical approach that requires the collection and compilation of relevant data; (3) It rejects market equilibrium analysis and instead places emphasis on the adaptation to disequilibrium; and (4) It investigates specifically institutional phenomena and uses these to develop conceptual categories. Our Constitution works on an economic system and not in vacuum. Ours is a market oriented economy where efficiency is the sole criterion and it has no place for a non economic input like social justice. Thus, there is a conflict between equality and efficiency. In a market economy where efficiency is the sole criterion, law plays a vital role in determining the efficiency of the economic activity it regulates. A law is ‘good’ if it guarantees and promotes economic efficiency and ‘bad’ if it impedes or disrupts it. The common criticism levelled against this approach is that by concentrating only on efficiency, it ignores justice in the sense that market system by encouraging efficiency, tolerates inequality of income and wealth resulting in unequal distribution of economic opportunity, thus violating the core objectives of our Constitution. However, there is a second meaning of justice i.e. in a world of scarce resources, waste or misuse of resources is considered as immoral and good law can prevent the misuse of resources and achieve efficiency and justice. In this approach, both are complementary. As Posner observes, ‘the demand for justice is not independent of its price’. A major contribution of economics is the framework that it gives the lawyer systematically to evaluate legal policy, reveal important trade-offs and interrelationships between legal goals and trace through the probable effects, costs and benefits of different laws. The economic approach not only provides an integrated treatment of the side effects but been responsible for drawing attention to the more subtle and hitherto unrecognised effects. Another contribution of economic analysis of law is that it treats legal rules as a system of incentives and disincentives which influences the actions of potential litigants. The law is seen as guiding the behaviour of groups or individuals and on the assumption of economic rationality the economic model is able to predict the direction of the response. Thus the economists tend to focus on the general effects of law such as the impact on trading behaviour of different contract remedies. This emphasis differs significantly from the way most lawyers are accustomed with grievances and of resolving individual disputes peacefully, fairly and consistently with legal doctrine. Law has also influenced socio-economic policies. â€Å"Laws and legal policy help to determine behaviour of the economy. In this context, Prof Barker observes that, â€Å"If Economic factors and economic interests have partly determined the legal framework, it is even more true that law has furnished the whole general framework of rules within which and under which the factors and interests of economics have had to work†. Legal Reform Legislations, Trust Law, Abolition of Bonded Labour (Art 23(1) of the Constitution), etc. are classical examples of how law has influenced the economic behaviour in the market economy. Legal constraints on the allocation and distribution of resources and on labour and housing markets which affect the economic activities in the market. These aspects have become vital in the globalisation of the economy and revival of the markets with privatisation as the focal point. Prof Paul Burrow said that, â€Å"Economics and Law can provide insights in places where traditional legal analysis fails to penetrate†. It is essentially nature of the two disciplines that makes us optimistic that collaboration between lawyers and economists will be increasingly fruitful in the future. TORT LAW The first topic of our study on the Economic Analysis of Law will be Tort Law because torts were one of the first bodies of Common Law to which formal economic models were applied. The broad features of tort law are: (1) It deals with civil offences only, i.e. trespass, nuisance, defamation, economic loss, etc. (2) it is judge-made law and therefore is flexible (unlike criminal law) (3) Tort Law aims at compensation as opposed to criminal prosecution which aims at punishment. There are three elements in torts: (a) Breach of duty owned to the plaintiff by the defendant; (b) Harm suffered by the plaintiff; and (c) The breach being the immediate or proximate cause of the harm. Breach of duty must give rise to measurable damages, valued in terms of money or moneys’ worth. The four possible bases of the action for damages are: (a) Appeasement; (b) Justice; (c) Deterrence; and (d) Compensation. (1) APPEASEMENT: The objectives of both tort and criminal laws are to encourage good behaviour and discourage bad behaviour. The victim receives money as appeasement and he is pleased that aggressor is discomfited by being made to pay. By this means, the victim is induced to let off stream ‘within the law rather than outside it’. (2) JUSTICE: two variants of this theory are: (a) The principle of Ethical Retribution: the pavement of compensation is an evil for the offender and that justice requires that he should suffer this evil. (b) The Principle of Ethical Compensation: this looks from the point of the victim. The payment of compensation is a benefit to the victim of the wrong and justice requires that he should receive compensation. (3) DETERRANCE: the action in tort is a â€Å"judicial parable†designed to control the future conduct of the community in general. According to Austin, the proximate end of evil action is redress to the injured party; but its remote and paramount end is the same as that of the criminal sanction, the presentation of the offences generally. (4) COMPENSATION: Compensatory or reparative theory demands that one who has caused injury to another must make good the damage whether he was at fault or not. It justifies strict liability. Be that as it may, we are concerned as students of Legal Economics with economic efficiency objectives of tort law. Before that we will discuss briefly the legal objectives of tort. Holmes and later others are of the opinion that tort law has no interests in shifting the loss from the victim of an accident to others unless this serves some special objective, ranging from vindication, preserving the peace by ‘buying off’ the victims, desire to retaliate, ethical retribution, compensation and deterrence the connected question is whether Common Law imposes liability for failure to resume. This concept has been rejected as not practicable since it is difficult to set limits of social interference with individual liberty. ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY: it is not concerned with morality or social purpose, etc, as in legal objectives of tort liability. It requires the minimisation of three costs: (a) The losses due to accidents; (b) The cost of preventing the accidents; and (c) The costs of administering a system of accidental law. In the light of the above discussion, we can safely conclude that the Tort Law, in India, is out of date, costly and reliefs meagre. As a result, it is economically inefficient, apart from special injustice caused to many of the victims of civil offences. CONTRACT LAW In a market oriented economy, the core concepts are property and contacts. These are basically, economic concepts, but law regulates them, contracts are devices for facilitating trade and economising costs of making transactions. By trading in promises for future delivery, traders can reduce uncertainty about the future. This requires adequate legal safeguards so that both the parties to the contract are secure and pan their activities accordingly.
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Breakeven Point of Sales for Accounting
IN UNITS=         TOTAL FIXED COST                 (Bazley, Hancock & Robinson, 2014).                       CONTRIBUTION PER UNIT IN DOLLARS=    TOTAL FIXED COST                (Cafferky, 2010).                                 P/V RATIO Variable Manufacturing Cost Per Unit Proportionate Contribution Per Unit Weighted average contribution per unit P/V Ratio (Contribution Per Unit/Selling Price Per Unit)  Breakeven sales (units) = IN UNITS=        TOTAL FIXED COST                                                                   CONTRIBUTION PER UNIT                                                                        = $270,000                                                                              $10.15                                                                                                                                              = 26601 units  Now 26601 units have been divided in the proportion of 1:1:3 (as determined above) between the products viz. Squid, Proud Stash and Private zoo. Squid            =26601  x 1  = 5320 units Proud Stash = 26601  x 1 = 5320 units Private Zoo = 26601   x 3  =15961 units Breakeven sales (units) = IN DOLLARS=   TOTAL FIXED COST                                                                                                P/V RATIO                                                                   = $270,000                                                                         11.01%                                                                   = $ 2452202 (difference in the sales amount because of rounding off the percentage of P/V ratio to 11.01%) Now sales of $245220 has been divided into the proportion of 1:1:3 (as determined above) between the products viz. Squid, Proud Stash and Private zoo. Squid            = $2452202  x 1  = $490440 Proud Stash = $2452202  x 1  = $490440                                  5 Private Zoo = $2452202  x 3  = $1471321                                  5 Weighted average p/v ratio=  (18.75%x 0.2*)  +  (14.10%x 0.2)  +   (7.40%x 0.6 # )  =11.01% (The percentage figure has been rounded off and due to this reason there could be slight variation in the amount of breakeven sales figure.)#0.2 = 1/5 Weighted average contribution per unit= (12x 0.2)    +   (11x 0.2)    +    (9.25x 0.6)                                                                        = $10.15 Cafferky, M., 2010. Breakeven Analysis: The definitive guide to cost-volume-profit analysis. Business Expert Press.
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Researching Academic and Examination Stress in Secondary School Essay
Researching Academic and Examination Stress in Secondary School Students - Essay Example Literature Review Across the globe, it has been noted that American students are among the most tested, taking over hundred million standardized tests year in year out (Mayer 2008, p.21). Presently, test score are more significant for secondary students since they have the perception that their future is significantly dependent on performing well on high-stakes standardised tests such as tests for admission in colleges the likes of ACT or SAT, state sponsored proficiency tests and advanced placement exams. Although testing is undeniably an expedient tool for making decisions as regards to stimulating a student from one grade to the other, teacher accountability and college admissions, it over and over again puts tremendous pressure on high school students. According to various research studies, it has been evidenced that examinations (testing) has the potential of producing anxiety among high school students. Moreover, these studies have linked testing with doing a great deal in lowe ring students’ self-esteem as well as increasing their fear of failure (Hardy 2003, p.1). Over the past few years, the number of students enrolling for advanced placement course has been on the increase, with students being subjected to high-stakes tests on completing the course. A great percentage of these students feel pressured by their teachers, parents as well as the learning institutions to such higher level advanced placement courses since they are in possession of their college applications (Rothman 1995, p.15). Additionally, students in some cases tae many advanced placement courses so as to assist them feel better about themselves following their enrolment to... This esaay stresses that American students are among the most tested, taking over hundred million standardized tests year in year out. Presently, test score are more significant for secondary students since they have the perception that their future is significantly dependent on performing well on high-stakes standardised tests such as tests for admission in colleges the likes of ACT or SAT, state sponsored proficiency tests and advanced placement exams. Although testing is undeniably an expedient tool for making decisions as regards to stimulating a student from one grade to the other, teacher accountability and college admissions, it over and over again puts tremendous pressure on high school students. This discussion declares that the phrase high-stakes tests used in earlier paragraphs has to been used in the definition of tests which have consequences to students, schools, teachers and even school systems. For instance, students may be deprived of enrolment in certain courses in the event that their scores miss the mark of meeting established gates. Additionally, these students may end up being retained at a grade level until that time they will meet a certain score. In some cases, they may also be prevented from graduating. High school junior and/or senior students ordinarily have a feeling that they ought to meet demanding college admission test score requirements for them to be accepted in majority of the colleges. As thus, attaching the aforementioned high-stakes scores more often than not intensifies the anxiety associated with standardized tests.
Monday, October 7, 2019
Personality assesment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Personality assesment - Essay Example (Funder 1991, Tellegen 1991) personality psychologists predominantly make use of the ‘Five Factor Model’ for the assessment of an individual’s personality. (Digman 1990, Goldberg 1993a) This model reflects an individual’s psychological, social and cultural components that contribute towards his personality. It also reveals if an individual has had a troubled history or comes from a very poor socio- economic background. Research has given us an invaluable theory of personality which could be used for assessing the different personality variables. Personality assessment helps us to get a better idea of an individual and also helps us understand the individual’s behavioral pattern in a better light, thereby avoiding many conflicting issues. The 8th edition of Robert Feldman’s (2006) book on Understanding Psychology, stimulates the understanding and capabilities of students through his broad vision and insightful thinking. He strongly felt that if students understood psychology then they would learn it well. The principles and concepts contained in his book cover the areas of five important perspectives – Cognitive, behavioral, neuro-scientific, psychodynamic and humanistic. 1. Validity – Validity is considered to be the subjective judgment which could be based on either experience or other empirical indicators. Validity is also considered to be the maximum extent to which a test measures what’s needed to be measured. For a test to be considered valid it has to be first of all reliable; but reliability of the test does not guarantee its validity. The different types of validity include – 1) Face validity, 2) Construct validity, 3) Criterion validity, 4)Convergent validity and 5) Discriminant validity. 2. Reliability – Reliability is nothing but consistency. Reliability is considered to be the extent to which any test provides consistent scores. Measuring procedures do
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