Where does government spending go Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Where does government spending go - Essay Example It is also important to note that often the overall expenditure made by the government on its purchase of goods and services exceeds the revenue generated by the government through taxes. As such government tend to borrow either from the international or domestic market in order to fill short fall or deficit arising in its budget. US government spent its revenues on major goods and services which it renders including the defense services, infrastructure development, salaries of the government employees as well as other heads under which the overall revenue or budget of the country is spent. Almost 54% of the revenue earned by the government is spent on the military related activities whereas 46% of the revenue is spent on the non-military related expenditure. The recent surge in the military related expenditure has mostly been associated with the new military activities conducted by US government in Afghanistan and Iraq. The current budget proposed by the Obama administration show a complete breakdown of how the overall budget will be spent on different activities of the government. The government has also proposed different budget cuts in order to improve the situation of its finances. (Harris). The overall public debt in US still more than $14.2trillion dollars suggesting that the government may be borrowing heavily in order to finance its activities. This paper will trace as to where the government money is spent and why US faces such huge debt of $14.2 trillions. How government money is spent? The recent budget proposed by the Obama administration shows how the government money will be spent under different heads1. A critical analysis of the data would suggest following: National Defense 2011 proposed budget is $3.69 trillions out of which $738 billions will be spent on the national defense which is mostly related with the military related expenditure. The money spent on the national defense however, is further broke down into different sub-headings such as operations and maintenance, military personnel, procurement, research and development, military construction, energy as well as family housing and other benefits to the military personnel. This composition of the spending suggests that most of the spending on the national defense is made in terms of operations and maintenance. Social Security The second largest chunk on which government money is spent is social security services provided by the government. Under social security, most of the money is spent on the old age and survivors insurance whereas the rest of the money is spent on the disability insurance. Income Security Another important source where most of the money is spent by the government is providing income security to the citizens. Under this head, money is spent on the unemployment insurance, food stamps, child tax credit, supplemental security income, military retirement, unemployment insurance, rental income support, child nutrition and various other heads. Income security therefore serves as an income stabilizing factor for the citizens with the help of government. Health and Education Another important source on which the government spends money is health and education sector under which State offer both these basic services. Under the health and education, government offers grants to the States for health facilities as well as the health services are offered to the retired employees, funding to National Institute of Health, children health insurance program as well as other expenditure is made. Under the head of education, government offers assistance in terms of student scholarships, support for the disadvantaged, elementary and vocational training, training and employment services as well as other services which are offered by the governmen

Corporate culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate culture - Essay Example The goal of the essay is to identify what parts of culture are the most important and why it is useful for managers in order to build a worthwhile long-term corporate strategy and keep competitive edge. Here will be described power, diverse attitudes and beliefs, how to effectively manage people, risk and socialisation. The corporate culture There are several success factors for business if the organisation desires to achieve growth and build high human capital development. First, leadership needs to have a very strong vision of what they want to accomplish. â€Å"They know how to set the direction for the organisation and how to build commitment to follow that direction† (DeVries, 1996, p.491). It is necessary for managers to be transformational, using positive personality and charismatic traits, in order to get employees to model themselves after the leader. They need to push for personal growth and add more value to the human resources role to gain this commitment. However, this cannot be done without setting a cultural tone within the business that provides opportunities for employees to be empowered. If the manager considers culture important, they will develop proper training for this effort and always reinforce how important it is for employees to be focused on mission-related goals. ... Managers should not always keep power at the top levels since this breaks down the effectiveness of attempting to build a positive, unified corporate culture. â€Å"If power lies in the strategic coordination of resources rather than mere possession of them, then a strategic conception of power offers the opportunity for subordinate groups to develop coalitions capable of challenging dominant groups† (Alvesson & Willmott, 2003, p.6). If this is true, then employees will work against senior-level power and control and try to combat it by developing their own factions as they try to gain control in certain key areas. If power only resides at the top layers of the business leadership, then it is not a true culture. It is, instead, a business that maintains very high controls and does not provide workers with much flexibility or give them perceptions of value. A business that operates in this condition would be referred to as a centralised organisation dedicated only to making sur e employees perform as they are expected. Social and psychological factors are dismissed in this type of business and no culture exists at all, only one with a Theory X type of focus where employees are always regulated. This could lead to higher turnover rates or generally dissatisfied employee groups who have little to contribute to a cultural whole. In some business environments overseas, such as Saudi Arabia, managers score high on testing related to Hofstede’s power distance scale. This is due to Muslim beliefs that are traditionalist and are common in Islamic societies (Bjerke & Al-Meer, 1993). Power distance is the level of closeness between management and regular employees.

Internal Rate Of Return And Net Present Value Finance Essay

Internal Rate Of Return And Net Present Value Finance Essay In every business, investment appraisal is the very important part. Accounting rate of return (ARR), Payback period (PP), Net present value (NPV), Internal rate of return (IRR), and Profitability index (PI) are the different types of investment appraisal methods. In investment decisions, time is a very vital feature. ARR and PP do not take into consideration the time value of money, and do not give an indication of the amount of capital investment required. NPV, IRR, PI are consider the time value of money and the discounted cash flow techniques. It measures the cash inflows and outflows of a project as if they occurred at a single point in time so that they can be compared in an appropriate way. These are the best methods to use for long-run decisions. Since, IRR and NPV incorporate all the cash flows and time value of money, these criteria can be used to reflect capital investment proposals strategic orientation. It is often assumed that higher is better for both of the net present value and the internal rate of return.   It is usually stated that investments with higher IRR are more profitable than investments with lower IRR. However, this is not essentially so.   In some situations, an investment with a lower IRR may be better, even judged on narrow financial grounds, than an investment with a higher IRR. This interactive lecture explores why and when this reversal takes place. To review, both the NPV and the IRR require the idea of an income stream, so lets start there. An income stream is a series of amounts of money. Each amount of money comes in or goes out at some specific time, either now or in the future.   The income stream represents the investment; the income stream is all you need to know for financial evaluation purposes. In real life, individuals, charitable institutions, and even for-profit businesses have social or other goals when selecting investments.   For businesses, the benefits of community good will are no less real for being difficult to measure precisely.   For enterprises with social as well as financial goals, the measures discussed here are still useful:   They tell you how much it costs you to advance your social goals. In here, FIRMEX Corporation is allowing for undertaking two projects. The two projects will be evaluated using the discounted cash flow methods to decide on, which project is to be selected. Net Present Value (NPV) The Net Present Value analyzes the profitability of a project by discounting all expected future cash inflows and outflows to the present point in time, using the discount rate (Horngren, et al.,1997). Discount rate is the minimum acceptable rate of return on an investment. It is the return that the organization could expect to receive elsewhere for an investment of comparable risk. NPV is a better method of appraising investment opportunities than Accounting rate of return (ARR) and Payback Period (PP), because it takes account of the time value of money and also includes all the relevant cash flows irrespective of when they are expected to occur (McLaney and Atrill, 2002). Appraisal using NPV NPV is positive when the discounted cash inflows exceed the discounted cash outflows, and so a proposal is acceptable if it has a positive NPV. When evaluating two or more mutually exclusive proposals, the one with the highest positive NPV should be accepted. In the given case, NPV of Project B is much higher than that of Project A. So, Project B is preferable. Internal Rate Of Return (IRR) Internal rate of return is another discounted cash flow technique. It is the discount rate at which the present value of expected cash inflows from a project equals the present value of expected cash outflows of the project. That is, IRR is the discount rate yielding a zero NPV (Upchurch, 1998). Appraisal using IRR : A project is accepted only if the internal rate of return exceeds the companys cost of capital. If it is less than the cost of capital, the project should be rejected. While evaluating two competing projects, the one with the higher IRR should be selected. In the given case, we will get two IRR values for Project A, and so this project cannot be evaluated using IRR. Whereas, the IRR of Project B is much higher than the companys cost of capital, and therefore it can be selected. Profitability Index: Profitability index is the total present value of future net cash flows of a project divided by the total present value of the net initial investment (Horngren, 1997). It measures the cash flow return per dollar invested. It is very useful in choosing among projects when the investment funds are limited, because it can identify the projects that will generate the most money from the limited capital available. Conclusion: NPV is the technically superior criteria, because IRR is calculated by trial and error method, and so the results are less precise. Also, IRR do not consider the size of the investment required and the gain/loss which will result from undertaking or not undertaking a project. It is therefore difficult to use IRR for comparing competing proposals, and there is a possibility that both NPV and IRR will give conflicting indications. IRR is also unable to cope with a change in the cost of capital during the life of a project. But, NPV can accommodate such a change. Another problem with IRR is that some projects may have more than one IRR, which makes it a meaningless criterion while evaluating that project. In FIRMEX Corporation, Project A has got two IRR values. So, IRR cannot be used for evaluating this project. The other two criteria, NPV and profitability index are higher for Project B . IRR for Project B is also higher than the companys cost of capital.

Use of Minor Characters in To Kill a Mockingbird Essay -- To Kill a Moc

In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a range of both major and minor characters which are portrayed with varying personalities. These character's interactions help to explain the issues that this text is concerned with. In the novel, the protagonist, Atticus Finch, is a defence lawyer who is appointed to represent a black man, Tom Robinson, who is charged with raping a white woman. The novel is set during the 1930s in America, which was when segregation of blacks and whites was well manifested into the society of those days. A black person had no right to defend himself if accused of a crime by white men. The author depicted several minor characters which helped to build up and expose the personality of the text's protagonist, Atticus Finch. Tom Robinson is a minor character who is black and accused of raping a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Tom Robinson symbolizes a mockingbird which does not harm any people but is accused of an uncommitted crime. Atticus Finch is appointed to defend Tom Robinson. The portrayal of Tom Robinson in the text helped me understand the char...

RE SBA

CXC RELIGIOUS EDUCATION SBA GUIDELINES Statement Of Aims Your SBA should have at least 3 aims. The aims tell what you hope to find out, and are centered around the research topic. For example, if â€Å"worship† is your area of research, then all the aims must be centered around worship. Methodology This tells how, when and where you will collect information. Why have you selected a particular method of data collection (advantages)? How many questionnaires or interviews were administered? How many questions were on the questionnaires or in the interview schedule and when were they collected?Formulating Questionnaires: Look at the aims and form questions based on these aims and all the questions must relate to the topic chosen. Summary of Findings This section should provide the information to cover your aims. For example if the aims are to discover:(1) What is the most important Rastafarian symbol?(2) How are these symbols used in the Rastafarian Movement?(3) How has the use of the Rastafarian symbols impacted on Jamaica? You would t herefore have to provide information under the following headings for the summary of findings: * Important Rastafarian symbol * Rastafarian symbols and their purposes The impact of the Rastafarian symbols on the Jamaican society. Simply put, the summary of findings is the information that is researched based on the aims. Analysis and Interpretation of Data In this section you can use diagrams to represent your findings or simply provide a description of their findings. Interpretation is to say in percentage how the respondents answered the questions. For example, the questionnaire asks: â€Å"What is the most important Rastafarian symbol?† Questionnaire results shows: Lion 60% Flag 5% Dreadlocks 25%You illustrate this on a chart and speak to each response, as demonstrated below.Pie Chart # 1 showing respondents’ view of the most important Rastafarian symbol. As shown in pie chart # 1 above, 60% of the respondents said the lion, 5% said it is the flag and 25% said the d readlocks. Analysis: After looking at the interpretation, you will now have to use critical thinking skills to find out what factors could contribute to difference in the responses. Why did some say the flag? Based on research done, which is really the most important symbol? Could it be that some of the respondents are not informed about the movement? This reasoning is the analysis. ConclusionIn this section, you provide answers for the aims in a summary. For example:* The most imporatnat Rastafarian symbol is the lion because†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..* The rod and staff are used for†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦* The flag is used during worship†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..* The rastafarian symbols have had both positive and negative effects on society †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. You can also include your own views on the research (optional). Presentatio n You must have a table of contents, appropriate illustrations, properly compiled & neat document. You must also have a bibliography.Your bibliography should include the author’s name, the year of publication, the name of the text, the place of publication and publisher’s name, as seen in the example below: Dessler, Gary (2008) Human Resource Management (11th ed. ) New Jersey: Pearson Education Your research should be submitted in a simple soft-back folder and on letter-size paper. Your candidate registration number, title of the research paper and the name of your school should be clearly written on the folder AND on the FIRST inside page. The document should be typed in a clear font, preferably â€Å"Times New Roman† or â€Å"Tahoma† and at a minimum font-size of 12.

Fate and Destiny Essay

The Epic of Sundiata is meaningless without the concepts of fate and destiny. When the Mandinka king receives the divine hunter at the royal court, and the hunter predicts that the king’s marriage to an ugly woman would grant him a mighty king for a son; the Mandinka king must honor the prophecy. It is for this reason that the king, before his death, gives to Sundiata – his son born of an ugly woman – a griot. When Sundiata is older, he too believes in the importance of harnessing powers of a supernatural nature (Niane). Prophecies are, of course, made through supernatural powers. Seeing that the kings of the Mandinka people believe in supernatural powers, their subjects must also be believers in the same. Moreover, fate and destiny appear real to the Mandinka people, which is the reason why the prophecy is honored by the king. But, even if most of the Mandinka people do not believe in supernatural powers, the belief system of the king is expected to be superior to that of his people. Belief in prophecy entails that one’s fate is determined, and there is nothing that one can do to change his or her destiny. Prophets are believed because they know the fate and destiny of others. By informing people about their respective fates and destinies, they save their people from being misled. At the same time, however, the concepts of fate and destiny entail that the Mandinka king would have married an ugly woman, with or without the prophecy of the hunter. The king would have had Sundiata, too, regardless of the prophecy. The only useful part about the prophecy was that the king gifted Sundiata with a griot because he knew that Sundiata would be a mighty king in the future. Just as the Epic of Sundiata cannot be understood without reference to fate or destiny, Things Fall Apart focuses on a hero and his community, unable to change circumstances in the face of destiny. Things Fall Apart makes repeated references to chi, a concept that refers to a personal deity that is available to all people to guide them to fulfill their individual destinies. It is impossible for a human being to struggle against the chi, or his or her spirit force. This is the reason why Okonkwo, a courageous and intelligent individual, cannot change his circumstances or that of his community even as things fall apart for everybody except the colonialists (Achebe). In other words, the human being is powerless against the decisions of the chi or his or her personal deity who establishes the fate and destiny of every soul. The personal deity of all people has determined that Okonkwo and his people would suffer, and there is nothing they can do about it (Achebe). Okonkwo is a distinguished leader of a village in Nigeria. He is rich, powerful, brave as well as wise. He has worked hard to achieve his high status in his village. Thus, the village elders choose him to be the guardian of a boy named Ikemefuna, who has been made prisoner by Achebe’s tribe. Okonkwo must keep the boy with him until the Oracle decides otherwise (Achebe). This shows that man has no free will, and that, in fact, fate and destiny are determined by another. Human beings are not even allowed to make decisions by themselves. If they attempt to make decisions by themselves, they must be severely punished, as Okonkwo was. When the village elders decided that Ikemefuna must be killed, Okonkwo went against the advice of the oldest man of the village by killing the boy himself. Subsequently, things started to fall apart for Okonkwo. He accidentally killed another individual at a funeral ceremony. For this act he had to be sent into exile with his family for a period of seven years. After all, he had offended the deities by committing the murder (Achebe). When Okonkwo returned to his village, he struggled for his people against the colonialists. In the end, however, he had to kill himself (Achebe). The forces of change were too strong for him to resist. This reveals that man’s determination, intelligence, and courage have no power over destiny and fate. Even though I believe in fate and destiny, I do not agree with this grim vision of the same. Neither do I trust the fact that man has been rendered powerless by fate and destiny. In my understanding of these concepts, God, who is all-knowing, has written the fate and destiny of all people. His knowledge of all people’s past, present and future is their fate and destiny, in fact. At the same time, He has given unto human beings the power to make decisions for themselves. The Bible confirms this view. Although there is nothing that a human being can do to fight destiny and fate, individuals are free to use their intelligence in the best possible ways. Our use of intelligence – in my belief – is also determined by God. He allows some people to prosper at the expense of others. All the same, in the Biblical sense, such circumstances are a trial from God. He cannot be blamed for giving one man a life of riches, happiness and peace while his brother is poor and living in a violent neighborhood. In the Biblical view, both men are loved by God. However, by severely testing the homeless man, He would like the man to turn to Him in prayer. The rich man, on the other hand, is required to be of help to the poor man. If he does not help his brother, however, God would continue giving him opportunities to do so in future. In this view of fate and destiny, God also knows the people who would go to Heaven as opposed to those who would enter Hellfire for eternity. Even so, I know that people have free will to choose what they would like to do with themselves and where they would like to go. God does not stop us from using our minds to do as we please. But, as I have already mentioned, it is He who ultimately decides what we would think. So, while one man concentrates on spirituality, another spends his entire lifetime thinking about the theory of relativity. It is our personal destiny to think, do, and wish as God pleases. Of course, my understanding of fate and destiny is not the same as that of the Mandinka king or the people of Okonkwo. I do not visit soothsayers, and neither would I believe in all of them. Furthermore, even if it is unfashionable in our times to believe in God and supernatural powers, I continue to believe in fate and destiny. Works Cited Achebe, C. Things Fall Apart. New York: Doubleday & Co. , Inc. , 1994. Niane, D. T. (trans. ). Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Harlow: Longman, 2006.