Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Testing anti-bacterial agents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Testing anti-bacterial agents - Essay Example Firstly, the infected cell may be exposed to different types of quinolone antibacterial. Secondly, McCoy cell monolayers should inoculate with 103 (IFU) OF C. trachomatis then incubated with or without ofloxacin. Result: The main results of testing anti-bacterial agents will show in this paragraph. The effects of four types of antibacterial (Ofloxacin, Ciprofloxacin, Enoxacin, and Norfloxacin) in McCoy cell are different. The results may refer to the different abilities for each antibacterial to penetrate the eukaryotic cell. Moreover, the infected cell may not increase the time of incubation after the removal of anti-bacterial agents creating a little different between MIC and MLC for each antibacterial agent. On the other hand, Ofloxacin antibacterial agent may act contrary to some enzymes that are important for the survival of non-replicating intracellular chlamydia. As such, Ofloxacin has a responsibility of treating the determined and calm infection. Conclusion: This study deriv es and presents four important points. Firstly, quinolone antibacterial agent acts quickly against chlamydia. Secondly, Ofloxacin considers suitable antimicrobial agent against chlamydia infection. Thirdly, humans can achieve and maintain 1mg/l of Ofloxacin in serum. Therefore, the clinical experiment against chlamydia infection will be of interest. Finally, Ofloxacin may give us a tool to show the importance of DNA metabolism in non-replicating intracellular chlamydia organized by topoisomerases.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Impact of Exports, Imports and Stock Exchange on Pakistan

Impact of Exports, Imports and Stock Exchange on Pakistan Impact of Exports, Imports and Stock Exchange performance on GDP of Pakistan. CHAPTER NO 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The stock market plays an important role in the economy by mobilizing domestic resources and channeling them to productive investment. This implies that it must have a significant relationship with the economy. The relationship can be seen, in general, in two ways. The first relationship views the stock market as the leading indicator of the economic activity in the country, whereas the second focuses on the possible impact the stock market may have on aggregate demand, particularly through aggregate consumption and investment. In other words, whether changes in stock market cause fluctuations in macroeconomic variables, like Consumption Expenditures, Investment Spending, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Index of Industrial Production (IIP), etc., or are caused by these variables is an interesting issue to be examined. The former case implies that stock market leads economic activity, whereas the latter suggests that it lags economic activity. In addition to stock market another significant factors that are likely to effect on any economy around the world are imports and exports. As far as Pakistan is concerned its economy is highly reliant on the imports like industrial inputs, machinery, fuel and essential food stuffs. Pakistan major imports are petroleum, machinery, transport equipment, chemical, dyes, steel, iron, products, tea chemicals and many other products of goods and services which are not easily available in Pakistan. All the major transactions are in terms of million from the year of 2009 to 2011 having a percentage of GDP effect the economy of Pakistan. The major exports of Pakistan are the agriculture products, industrial goods, hosiery products, garments, cloth, fabrics and many other items which are excess in Pakistan Shabbir, Mahmood, Niazi, (1992). A country can avail numerous benefits from its exports. Firstly, trade expansion will bring about enhanced productivity through greater economies of scale in the export sector. Secondly, increased competition encountered in the international markets will undoubtedly provide greater incentives for technological advancement and better management, the effects of which will spill over into the non-export sectors, and thus raise the over-all productivity of the economy. Thirdly, increased export earnings will ease constraints on growth by enhancing the capacity to import essential goods, especially imports of intermediate and capital goods. In other words, export expansion promotes capital accumulation and, consequently, over-all economic growth. Fourthly, exports may have a positive imp act on productivity owing to better allocation of resources through specialization based on comparative advantage. Lastly, an export-oriented approach in a labor-surplus economy permits rapid expansion of employment and real wages. The importation and exportation of goods and services take a vigorous role in the progress of the economic development of Pakistan. It is observed that both factors import and exports help the economy to grow in the local and international market as well. Now due to energy crises the ratios of exports are very less as compared to imports. The rate of population of Pakistan is increasing day by day, which means a high increase of the demands and needs. The importation and exportation of goods and services play a dynamic role in the progress of the economy of Pakistan. It is observed that both factors import and exports help the economy to grow in the local and international market as well. Now due to energy crises the ratios of exports are very less as compared to imports. Therefore, the study will analyze the imports/exports and stock exchange growth with respect to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan. 1.2 Problem Statement A country like Pakistan whose economy is dependent on taking loans from International Monetary Fund (IMF) has to increase it exports and decrease its imports in order to reduce its dependency on foreign aid and loans. Moreover, owing to economic and political un stability the stock exchange of Pakistan fluctuates all over the year. Both imports/exports and stock exchange is effecting the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Pakistan over the years. Therefore, the study wants to find the impact of Imports/Exports and Stock exchange growth on GDP of Pakistan. 1.3 Research question What is the impact of imports, exports and stock exchange growth on GDP of Pakistan? 1.4 Research Objectives To analyze the impact of imports and exports on GDP of Pakistan. To investigate the impact of Stock exchange growth on GDP of Pakistan. 1.5 Rational of the study The study is based on the time series data from year 2001 to 2015. Data has been collected from authentic sources such as World Bank, world development index and Pakistan stock exchange. On the contrary the stock exchange performance was gathered from Pakistan stock exchange. Imports, exports and stock exchange performance will be used as independent variables and GDP will be used as dependent variable. In order to find the impact of imports, exports and stock exchange performance on GDP of Pakistan the research will use and Regression analysis. 1.6 Significance of the Study The study will be significant to the overall economic sector of Pakistan. Government can avail benefits from research findings in such a way that it can help the government while making their relevant policies for exportation and importation of goods. Furthermore, the government of Pakistan can see the fluctuations in the stock exchange growth over the years through which they can predict the stock exchange performance for years to come. All in all, the whole research will be beneficial to the relevant government sector if they want to increase the economic performance of our country. CHAPTER NO 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Following section contains viewpoints of various authors around the world and from Pakistan with respect to imports/exports and stock exchange growth on GDP of Pakistan. Literature review is an essential part of any research reason being it gives us the direct and indirect perspectives and establish a ground on which current research is taken place. It is inappropriate to conduct a new research before reviewing past research related to the topic on which we are going to conduct research. 2.1 Literature Review The empirical literature on export, import and economic growth nexus are distinguished between two stands in the methodological point of view. The à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst stand uses the cross-country approach in order to test the economic theory about export and economic growth nexus by using rank correlation approach, OLS method, 2SLS and random effect estimation method. These studies are supported for a positive relationship between export and economic growth McNab and Moore, (1998). The second stand uses the time series techniques. In the beginning of time series literature on export, import and growth nexus, the researchers have widely used causality methods to find out the results. Ahmad and Harnhirun, (1995) employed cointegration and error-correction modeling approach in case of à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ve Asian countries, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, annual data of 1966-1990 are employed. They found out bidirectional causal relationship between export and economic growth. In case of China, Shan and Sun, (1998) investigated the ELG hypothesis by using the monthly data 1987-1996. They found bidirectional relationship between export and economic growth. Lie et al. (1997) examined the long-run relationship between trade openness (exports plus imports) by using the quarterly data from 1983 to 1995. They found bidirectional relationship between trade openness and economic growth and suggested higher degree of trade openness associated with the higher level of economic growth. Narayan and Smyth, (2004) used Cointegration and error-correction method in order to check the link between real export, human capital accumulation and economic growth. They found long-run relationship only when real export is the dependent variable. Mah, (2005) the ELG is tested using the ARDL model. The results are in favor of a long-run bidirectional relationship between real GDP and export growth. Conversely, Tang (2006) reviewed the ELG hypothesis in China with import as an additional variable in the model. He used two Cointegration methods, i.e. ARDL approach to Cointegration, and JJ cointegration methods. The results of two approaches indicate no cointegration between export, import and real GDP. Herrerias and Orts, (2009) examined the relationship between the import, investment, output and productivity by using the data 1964-2004. They concluded in the long run both import and investment have promoted output and labor productivity but on the other hand neither investment causes import nor import causes investment. Muhammad Adnan Hye, (2012) conducted a research in China the purpose of this paper is to investigate the export-led growth, growth-led export, import-led growth, growth-led import and foreign deà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cit sustainability hypothesis in the case of China, using annual time series data from 1978-2009. The results conà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rm the bidirectional long run relationship between the economic growth and exports, economic growth and imports, and exports and imports. These à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ndings guided the authors to conclude that the exports-led growth, growth-led exports, imports-led growth and growth-led imports hypothesis is valid, and foreign deà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ cit is sustainable for China. The long run elasticities are the elasticity of economic growth with respect to exports is 0.591, and elasticity of exports with respect to economic growth is 1.635. The elasticity of economic growth with respect to imports is 0.621, and elasticity of imports with respect to economic growth is 1.392. Fur thermore, the elasticity of exports with respect to imports is 1.322, and imports elasticity with respect to exports is 0.975. Using time-series and panel data from 1986 to 2004, Hsiao Hsiao, (2006) examines the Granger causality relations between GDP, exports, and FDI among China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand, the eight rapidly developing East and Southeast Asian economies. After reviewing the current literature and testing the properties of individual time-series data, we estimate the VAR of the three variables to à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ nd various Granger causal relations for each of the eight economies. We found each country has different causality relations and does not yield general rules. We then construct the panel data of the three variables for the eight economies as a group and then use the à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ xed effects and random effects approaches to estimate the panel data VAR equations for Granger causality tests. The panel data causality results reveal that FDI has unidirectional effects on GDP directly and also indirectly through exports, and there also exists bidi rectional causality between exports and GDP for the group. Our results indicate that the panel data causality analysis has superior results over the time-series causality analysis. Wacziarg (2001) analyzed the association between trade policy and economic growth by taking 57 countries over the period 1970-1989 by employing fully specified empirical model. He constructed openness index with the help of three trade policy variables, tariff barrier, non-tariff barriers and a dummy variable of liberalization. The results concluded that trade openness affects growth mainly by raising the ratio of domestic investment to GDP and by FDI. Nath and Mamun (2006) investigated the causality between trade, investment and growth through Vector Auto regression (VAR) framework for the period 1971-2000 in Bangladesh. They presented that trade openness has promoted investment in Bangladesh. Although study suggested that growth causes trade but this study found little evidenced that trade affecting economic growth in Bangladesh. By employing ARDL Approach to Co-integration on two Asian countries, India and Korea, Sarkar (2005) has found no meaningful relationship between the per capita real GDP and trade openness. Although India and Korea, opened trade and shares of trade in their GDPs also rose significantly. But none of the countries experienced a positive long-term relationship between opening up and economic growth. Parikh and Stirbu (2004) used fixed effects, random effects, OLS and SURE models for panel of 42 developing countries i.e. Asia, Africa and Latin America over the period 1970-1999. They analyzed the relationship between liberalization, growth and trade balance or current account. Their results concluded that liberalization contributes significantly to economic growth, openness and investment rates. The studies dealing with the causal relationship between stock market and macro variables focus on the relationship of stock prices with consumption expenditures, investment spending, and economic activity. In these studies, the economic activity is generally measured by Gross Domestic Product. (A) Stock Prices and Consumption Expenditures The relationship between stock prices and consumption expenditures is based on the life cycle theory, developed by Ando and Modigliani (1963), which states that individuals base their consumption decision on their expected lifetime wealth. Part of their wealth may be held in the form of stocks linking stock price changes to changes in consumption expenditure. Thus, an increase in stock prices will increase the expected wealth, which, in turn, will increase the consumption expenditures, suggesting the direction of causality from stock prices to consumption expenditures. On the other hand, an increase in consumption expenditures may result in an increase in the corporate sectors earnings, which will result in higher stock prices, implying causality from consumption expenditures to stock prices. (B) Stock Prices and Investment Spending The relationship between stock prices and investment spending is based on the q theory of Tobin (1969), where q is the ratio of total market value of firms to the replacement cost of their existing capital stock at current prices. According to the theory, the firms would increase their capital stocks if q is greater than one, implying that the market value of firms is expected to rise by more than the cost of additional physical capital. Thus an increase in stock prices will result in an increase in the market value of firms, implying that firms would increase their capital stocks reflecting an increase in investment spending. Another link, though less direct, between stock prices and investment spending is based on the neoclassical or cost-of-capital model. The model assumes that firms first determine the desired stock of real capital on the basis of prices of labor, capital, and expected sales and then determine the rate of investment depending on how fast they wish to reach the desired capital stock in the face of significant adjustment cost. Thus, the expected changes in sales and planned output are the major factors affecting investments. However, as noted by Bosworth (1975), if higher earnings are implied by higher expected output that increases stock prices, then the market valuation model implicitly accounts for the effect of expected output. (C) Stock Prices and Economic Activity Finally, the relationship between stock prices and economic activity is investigated to examine the role of stock market, that is, whether it leads or lags economic activity. Moreover, the relationship of stock prices with the components of aggregate demand, consumption, and investment sometimes provide conflicting results, causing an ambiguity concerning the direction of causality between stock price changes and macro variables. As mentioned above, the economic activity is generally measured by GDP and/or IIP. In addition to above in any study of the aggregate economy, one of the key elements is the aggregate amount of goods and services produced over a certain period of time. The measure is called the nominal gross domestic product (the GDP). This is the market value of the total quantity of final goods and services produced over the specified time period. The GDP is actually measured quarterly, but the number is then multiplied by four, so that the amount is in annual terms Mankiw, (2011). The components of this measure of GDP are Consumption(C), Investment (I), Government Expenditure (G) and Net Exports (NX). Net exports represents the money value of domestically produced goods that are sold outside the country (i.e., our exports) minus the purchase of goods and services produced in other countries (i.e., our imports). Our exports are part of our domestic production, so obviously must be included. Our imports are subtracted here, because they are goods and services produced by foreign countries, but they have already been included in our consumption, investment and government expenditures. If imports increase, but all other parts of the GDP remain the same, the GDP will not change, because the imports are first included in the calculation of C + I + G, and then they are subtracted out. Thus, Y = C + I + G + NX. A large number of studies tested the Export Led Growth (ELG) hypothesis, using different econometric procedures, ranging from simple OLS to multivariate co-integration, but previous empirical studies have produced mixed and conflicting results on the nature and direction of the causal relationship between export growth and output growth. Ghatak and Price (1997) test the ELG hypothesis for India for the period 1960-1992, using exports as regressors and measure of GDP that nets out exports, along with exports and imports as additional variables. Their Cointegration tests confirm the long-run nature of this relationship. However, imports do not appear to be important for the case of India. Asafu-Adjaye et al. (1999) consider three variables: exports, real output and imports (for the period 1960-1994). They do not find any evidence of the existence of a causal relationship between these variables for the case of India and no support for the ELG hypothesis, which is not too surprising given Indias economic history and trade policies. Ramos (2001) investigates the Granger-causality between exports, imports, and economic growth in Portugal over the period 1865-1998. His empirical results do not confirm a unidirectional causality between the variables considered. There is a feedback effect between exports output growth and imports output growth. Nidugala (2001) finds evidence in support of the ELG hypothesis for the case of India, particularly in the 1980s. He finds that export growth had a significant impact on GDP growth. Further, his study reveals that growth of manufactured exports had a significant positive relationship with GDP growth, while the growth of primary exports had no such influence. Studies related to Pakistan Mukhtar, Rasheed, (2010) empirically examines the long run relationship between exports and imports for Pakistan using quarterly data for the period 1972-2006. The econometric framework used for analysis is the Johansen Maximum Likelihood Cointegration technique, which tests both the existence and the number of Cointegration vectors. Results show that there is a long run relationship between exports and imports and the country is not in violation of its international budget constraint. Furthermore, for testing the stability of long run equilibrium relationship and direction of causality, vector error correction model (VECM) technique has been applied. The findings confirm the stability of the long run equilibrium relationship between exports and imports. Under Granger causality tests, it has been found that there exists bidirectional causality between exports and imports. Ullah and Asif (2009) investigated export-led-growth by time series econometric techniques (Unit root test, Co-integration and Granger causality through Vector Error Correction Model) over the period of 1970 to 2008 for Pakistan. In this paper, the results reveal that export expansion leads to economic growth. They also checked whether there is unidirectional or bidirectional causality between economic growth, real exports, real imports, real gross fixed capital formation and real per capita income. The traditional Granger causality test suggests that there is unidirectional causality between economic growth, exports and imports. On the other hand, Granger causality through vector error correction was checked with the help of F-value of the model and t-value of the error correction term, which partially reconciles the traditional Granger causality test. After going through viewpoints of different authors it is evident that imports, exports relationship with economic development has been explained in Pakistan scenario and all over the world. However, the variables such as imports, exports and stock exchange performance are not being analyzed with respect to GDP specifically in Pakistan scenario which is the gap of the study. 2.2 Theoretical Framework Independent Variables Dependent Variables Reference: Mukhtar, T., Rasheed, S. (2010). Testing long run relationship between exports and imports: Evidence from Pakistan. Journal of Economic Cooperation and Development, 31(1), 41-58. 2.2.1 Operationalization of Variables Imports and Exports are measured as merchandise imports and exports (US $) and GDP is measured as per capita growth in percentage form Whereas, stock exchange performance is measured by market capitalization of all domestic companies registered on Pakistan stock exchange formally known as Karachi stock exchange. 2.3 Hypothesis H1:Imports, Exports and Stock exchange performance has a significant impact on Gross domestic product of Pakistan. H2: Imports, Exports and Stock exchange performance have no significant impact on Gross domestic product of Pakistan. CHAPTER NO 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Sample The sample size for this research consists of time series data of 15 years starting from 2001 to 2015. Data has been collected from authentic sources such as World Bank, world development index and Pakistan stock exchange. The research is secondary in nature because market research thats already compiled and organized for us are the examples of secondary information that includes reports and studies by government agencies, trade associations or other businesses within our industry. 3.2 Instrument and Measures Regression analysis, Anova and Coefficients of regression were the instruments that were used to measure the impact of exports, imports and stock exchange performance on Gross domestic performance of Pakistan. Furthermore, to check the validity and appropriateness of data reliability analysis was done for dependent and independent variables. 3.3 Procedure Statistical package for social sciences program SPSS version 20 was used to analyze the dependent and independent variables to see out the impact of exports, imports and stock exchange performance on GDP of Pakistan. CHAPTER NO 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 4.1 Regression Analysis Table 4.1.1 Model Summary Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .830a .689 .681 1.72691 a. Predictors: (Constant), SE_Per, Exports, Imports Interpretation The proportion of variation in dependent variable as a result of the independent variable is given by R square. Estimated 68% variation was found out in dependent variable as a result of the independent variable. Following the adjustments made the data related to variation in dependent elements due to the independent ones is represented by R square. Table 4.1.2 ANOVAa Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 55.198 3 27.599 91.914 .000 Residual 24.962 11 2.982 Total 80.160 14 a. Dependent Variable: GDP b. Predictors: (Constant), SE_Per, Exports, Imports Interpretation A perfect fit of the model is indicated by the ANOVA table. Furthermore, the p value of 0.000 indicates a perfect position regarding the independent and dependent variables. Table 4.1.3 Coefficients Coefficientsa Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) -.082 .220 -.876 .400 Exports .437 .073 .506 5.972 .018 Imports -.472 .103 -.390 -4.598 .027 SE_Per .094 .043 .762 2.213 .023 a. Dependent Variable: GDP Interpretation The coefficient stresses the influence of the independent variable on the dependent one. The direction in which the dependent variable is led towards by the independent one is ascertained from the Beta value. The p value is significant at less than 0.05. In our scenario all the variables that are exports, imports and stock exchange performance are significantly impacted the dependent variable that is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). But, the noteworthy thing in the results is that exports and stock exchange performance is positively impacted the GDP whereas, imports are negatively impacting the GDP of Pakistan but it is statistically significant. Hence our Hypothesis (H1) is accepted whereas H2 is rejected. CHAPTER NO 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Conclusion After above empirical results it has been proved that all the independent variables that are exports, imports and stock exchange performance are significantly impacted the dependent variable that is Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Hence our Hypothesis (H1) is accepted whereas H2 is rejected. In addition to our results previous studies conducted in Pakistan and outside Pakistan found out similar results such as Ullah and Asif, (2009) investigated export-led-growth by time series econometric techniques over the period of 1970 to 2008 for Pakistan. Their results reveal that export expansion leads to economic growth. However, outside Pakistan in case of our neighbor country India Asafu-Adjaye et al. (1999) consider three variables: exports, real output and imports (for the period 1960-1994). They do not find any evidence of the existence of a causal relationship between these variables for the case of India. 5.2 Recommendations Government should take strong measures to increase exports and decrease our imports. Interest free loan should be provided to the minor scale organizations to make rise in their productivity. Taxes should be cuts for the exporter country and taxes should be improved for importer companies to decrease the import. If we want to make a rapid growth in Pakistan economy, then it is necessary to reduce its imports and increase in exports. But in Pakistan the situation is reversed. The relationship between exports and economic growth is positively correlated but the relationship of imports and economic growth is negatively interrelated. If net exports are of positive value, the nation has a positive balance of trade. If they are having negative value, the nation has a negative trade balance. Lastly, our government should ensure political stability in our country as we see that whenever there is a political chaos in our country the stock market goes down and vice versa which is severely hurting Pakistans economy.

Friday, October 25, 2019

My Bedroom :: Descriptive Essay Examples, narrative, Observation

My Bedroom    Do you ever wonder why certain places mean so much to certain people? When I think of my bedroom, I realize why some people are touchy about who goes in their room or who has been touching things in their home, it is because those things are important to them and may have some meaning. Places like my bedroom are places where we can relax and be comfortable and I think that is why it is important to people, because we can be ourselves and feel comfortable, we can also just sit down and rest our bones and relax. Another important reason is we can go there when we want privacy, we can just shut our door, maybe even lock it, and tell everyone in our household not to bother us. Also our rooms hold most of our personal belongings and those things are important to us and we do not want anyone else to touch them or in some cases go near them.    Bedrooms are a place where we can be comfortable and we can sit back and relax. When we are tired or not feeling the best we can go to our room, shut our door, and lay down and relax. Maybe even turn on some music or read a book or magazine. My bed is where I like to retreat to when I want to relax. I have a double bed with four pillows and my favorite comforter. It is a Little Mermaid comforter, I know it is childish but it is soft and warm. And of course my Tickle Me Elmo sits on my bed and keeps me company. A lot of times I just lay down and close my eyes and daydream about places I'd like to see or think about things that make me happy. One thing we should not do is think about things we need to get done or anything that makes us feel stressed because then we'll never feel relaxed. I usually try to stay away from these sort of thoughts and it usually works out well.    The reason my bedroom is so important to me is because my room holds all of my personal belongings, which are very important to me. Also my room is a comfortable place to study or just to relax.    I can also have privacy whenever I want it by resorting to my room, this may be hard for some people if they share a room.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Compare/Contrast Online Shopping vs Traditional Shopping Essay

Online shopping has grown to new heights over the last decade and shows no signs of slowing down. The internet has brought practically every store in the world to the finger tips of anyone with internet access. Shopping online gives the user the opportunity to search for the product they want through endless avenues. Online shopping has grown so large that many companies are not investing in buildings and mall space, rather in online websites and web advertising. Through this paper I will discuss the reasons why shopping online is a better alternative to traditional shopping. The first benefit of online shopping is the convenience. While others are out fighting traffic and waiting in lines, online shoppers are home relaxing. Online shoppers can go from store to store with a flick of a mouse, while traditional shoppers have to walk, drive or can’t get to the stores they want. Online shoppers also benefit when it comes to comparison shopping. Traditional shoppers have to put a lot of work into comparison shopping. They have to drive from place to place find items and price and go onto the next place. This can be exhausting and stressful. The online shopper can do this from his or her couch. Online shoppers can search the planet for the product they are looking for, while traditional shoppers are limited to a small area. Saving money is always a concern when shopping. Many people argue that shipping is the downfall of online shopping. The truth is that if you take all things into consideration shipping charges are minor. Often time the money you spend on gas, food, and time far outweighs the cost of shipping. Online shopping or traditional shopping, everyone has a preference. If you enjoy being out in the crowds, waiting in lines, and getting stressed out then traditional shopping is for you. For me, I’ll take a hot cup of coffee and an easy chair. I believe that there really is no comparison. In theory a person would never have to leave their home. All in all the benefits far outweigh the negatives when it comes to online vs. traditional shoppers. The convenience, the ability to compare products, and the ability to save money all lead to the conclusion that online shopping is the way to go these days.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Minimum Wage and Unemployment Rate †A Direct Relationship Essay

In any labor market, free or regulated, there is friction and rigidity that result in labor issues. With 11 million people unemployed, and millions more discouraged or underemployed, there is justification to believe that these high population levels represent a glitch in the American labor market (1). These basic statistics, coupled with the elementary economic theory of supply and demand, demonstrate that minimum wage regulation has not only proven to be unsuccessful, but should be eliminated immediately. Although compulsory wage levels may be problematic in our contemporary labor market, the theory supporting a minimum wage dates back to over three centuries ago. The earliest evidence of a mandatory minimum wage could be found in New Zealand when in 1894 there was an effort to extinguish sweatshop labor. Also during this time, Australia made amendments to the Factories Act which created a wage price floor in six industries that were considered to have low paying wages. Although this amendment began as an experiment, within a few years additional amendments were created to expand minimum wage to over 150 different industries (2). It took until the early 1900’s for the minimum wage model to appear in the United States. In 1912, Massachusetts set up a commission not to demand minimum wages, but to recommend them – especially for women and children. Within eight years, 13 US states and Washington DC implemented their own compulsory minimum wage laws (3). Due to challenges from the Supreme Court during the Lochner Era – a time where the Supreme Court exercised its power to protect economic liberty and private contracts – it took until 1938 for federal minimum wage laws to manifest in the United States. Presented under the Fair Labor Standards Act under the scope of the Commerce Clause, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had the power to regulate employment. As a result, the first ever federal minimum wage entered the market at 25 cents an hour (4). Today we have a federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour and even higher in some states like Washington where the minimum wage is over $9/hour. Aside from the role minimum wage laws play in our current market, they’ve also made prominent news headlines and been in the minds of many laborers as of recently. Many of these headlines reveal a desire by workers and politicians alike to raise the minimum wage. Organized protests by workers in the fast food industry have assembled in the streets of major cities to bring to attention not only their demand for a much higher minimum wage, but for union representation as well. Additionally politicians like Barack Obama and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn have spoken publicly about their desire for an increased minimum wage. While the President has put pressure on Congress to legislate a $9/hour minimum wage, Mayor McGinn has expressed his support for a $15/hour minimum wage by his respective legislators (5). Aside from the strong political appeal that may encourage politicians to propose minimum wage increases, on the surface this type of legislation seems like a well-intentioned effort to raise the standard of living of people working for relatively low wages. This is not only because people naturally desire better things for themselves, but it also seems like a productive way to align wages with levels of inflation that the Federal Reserve is primarily responsible for (6). To make minimum wage theory even more confusing, there have been multiple studies on the issue only to garner completely opposite results. David Neumark, an economics professor at UCI and William Washer, an economist on the board of governors at the Federal Reserve wrote a descriptive 155 page monograph that elaborately detailed the negative effects that minimum wage laws created. Conversely, David Card an economics professor at UCB and Alan Krueger, a professor at Princeton University, published a highly renowned study that concluded minimum wage laws would only cause minimal job loss and in some instances could even raise employment levels (7). However, when studying economic phenomena mixed results are completely common due to the failure to meet the cetaris paribus condition, which stresses the concept of keeping variables constant. Not surprisingly, there were very few constant variables between these two studies. So rather than fill this essay with the observations of others, I plan to mainly use deductive reasoning to discuss the logical consistency of my argument. Because minimum wage laws are not only self-defeating but also make society poorer, it is in everyone’s best interest, especially those the law is intended to help, to abolish minimum wage laws immediately. In rudimentary economic studies, we learn about the affects supply and demand have on market clearing prices and that where supply meets demand is price equilibrium. We also learn that when prices are arbitrarily set above equilibrium, the result is a surplus. Wage labor is no different, and when analyzing this data, the surplus can be expressed as unemployment. These surpluses (unemployment) result when the productivity of a laborer is not high enough to warrant the new minimum wage. Now an economic burden to the company, the employer will have no choice but to terminate the employee(s) in order to remain profitable in their endeavors. Because these compulsory created economic burdens will generally be people already earning relatively lower wages, wage price floors actually hurt the people they are intended to help. Even if one was to claim that the terminations resulting in raising the minimum wage were offset by the new people making higher nominal wages, this person would be committing an arbitrary value judgment. Additionally, minimum wage laws have a dampening effect on inner city youth (8). After spending time in subpar public schooling, many underprivileged adolescents are forced to turn to the streets instead of taking a low paying position where he would be able to acquire skills on the job. Rather than gain working experience, he is more prone to a perpetual cycle of poverty and violence. When viewed from a more macro approach, there are even worse social ramifications. Unemployment is universally agreed upon as a bad thing. This is because the negative effects have no offsetting benefits, rather they are considered a dead loss. When unemployment levels rise, people tend to crave acts of protectionism, which is are strives to restrict the immigration process and limit imports from competing countries. Not only can these actions lead to retaliatory actions from other countries, but can also impede the influx of cheaper goods, which will directly hurt the unemployed (9). Not only will unemployment lower total national output, but it also creates a demand for costly federal and state services such as the unemployment program. Furthermore, the logic behind the minimum wage legislation seems to contain not only many dissenting opinions on what the nominal wage should be, but many faults in logic as well. Down to the cent, there are thousands of people who all support the minimum wage but at different amounts. Although most main stream public figures seem to restrain a wage price floor from exceeding $20/hour, wouldn’t consistent logic prevail for compulsory wages of at least $100/hour or even $1,000/hour? Clearly, this is absurd. Rather than having economists design the economy, evidence prevails that it would be better for people to decide respective wage levels on their own. While it may be true that â€Å"moderate† rises in the minimum wage may not lead to substantial changes in the rate of unemployment, this is exactly why these laws are self-defeating. This price floor only affects a small sect of the economy, making some of it unemployed. When laborers compete for a job, they have two tools. On one hand is productivity and ingenuity. On the other hand is the wage at wish they are willing to work for. If a relatively unproductive worker wants to compete with a highly productive worker, then he or she must naturally accept a lower wage. In doing this, the worker gains a form of payment through knowledge and information that can be taken with them throughout life. Denying this ind ividual the right to do so, with arbitrary government price floors, removes his or her ability to compete and to find employment. Not only will this disarm the very people the laws were intended to help, but it also blocks a person from a basic right to work at whatever wage he or she chooses to do so at. Through the use of deductive reasoning, it is quite clear that although well intentioned, minimum wage laws have created a disturbing effect on our contemporary labor market and have had negative effects on the people they were designed to help. It should come as no surprise then that the urban areas of our nation experience the highest levels of unemployment. Works Cited 1) â€Å"Employment Status of Displaced Workers : The Editor’s Desk : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.† U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1 Sept. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 2) â€Å"History of the Minimum Wage.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 Feb. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 3) â€Å"Minimum Wage in the United States.† Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 4) â€Å"Lochner Era.† LII. Cornell University Law School, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 5) Associated Press. â€Å"Seattle Mayor Would Support Minimum Wage above $15.† USA Today. Gannett, 9 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 6) Casey, Chris. Killing the Currency. Ludwig Von Mises Institute, 27 May 203. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 7) MacKenzie, D.W. â€Å"The Ludwig Von Mises Institute.† Minimum Wage Laws: Economics versus Ideology. N.p., 14 June 2007. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 8) Caldwell, Roger. â€Å"Inner City Black Male Unemployment At 50 Percen t.† West Orlando News Online 2013 ® Central Florida News, Info, Sports. N.p., 15 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. 9) â€Å"The Cost Of Unemployment To The Economy.† Investopedia. N.p., 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.