Transforming anglian water

Introduction It is believed that survival of an organization in contemporary era of globalization & liberalization is directly correlated to the extent to which it utilizes advanced information technology tools and practices Total Quality Management. The concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† was introduced by Chris Argyris and further researched and explained by Sange (1990). Sange defined Learning Organization as the organization â€Å"in which you cannot not learn because learning is so insinuated into the fabric of life.† He further defines Learning Organization as â€Å"a group of people continually enhancing their capacity to create what they want to create.† The purpose of this assignment is to study Anglian Water in the light of Learning Organization and: 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Investigate the extent to which the organization could actually claim to be a Learning Organization. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Identify those factors that may undermine the concept of â€Å"Learning Organization† in   Anglian Water and call into question the investments made. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Explain if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. While exploring the definitions and characteristics of Learning Organizations, the case study of Anglian waters will be investigated and comparisons will be drawn. Chris Argyris differentiates between first order or single loop learning versus second order or double loop learning.   Learning is further explained as detection and correction of errors. Single loop learning detects the errors and then functions within the construct of organization’s governing variable to achieve the desired result. Double loop learning challenges the governing variable itself and aims at producing drastic cultural changes within the organization. Argyris further divides organizations into Model I and Model II. Model I represents the traditional bricks and mortar culture, a few characteristics of which are: Achieve the purpose as the actor defines it, Win, do not lose, Suppress Negative Feelings, Advocating courses of actions which discourage inquiry, Defensive relationships, low freedom of choice. Model II represents a learning organization, the characteristics of which are: Valid Information, Free and Informed choice, Internal Commitment, Sharing control, Surfacing conflicting view, Minimally defensive relationships, High freedom of choice, Increased likelihood of double loop learning. Considering the above view point, Anglian water clearly falls in the Model II category of double loop learning. In the 1990’s it diversified into new markets, conducted employee satisfaction surveys and acted on the results of it. The Management clearly had a vision to introduce and sustain drastic cultural changes and move towards becoming a learning organization. This was achieved to a great extent through employee empowerment & implementation of ‘transformation journey’ which enabled incumbents at all levels to develop attitudinal and behavioral change to be able to cope up with turbulent and uncertain environment. Argyris further introduces us to the concept of triple loop learning (Learning how to learn) which is in continuation to single loop (What to do); Double Loop (Learning what to do). Triple Loop Learning questions the structures and strategies of learning; and how our mental map affects the way we behave. It is considered as the highest level of organizational learning and restructuring. Triple loop learning leads to restructuring of current systems and processes. Dialogues are initiated with in the organization in the form of â€Å"collective mindfulness† to understand the basis of existence of hierarchies; policies, procedures etc and RESTRUCTURING within the organization takes place. A Learning Infrastructure is created where existing structure is studied, dialogue is initiated and new and more effective structures are proposed. Focus then is on developing competencies and skills of individuals – teams – organization and hence emerges a Learning Organization. Anglian Water as an organization seems to have all the characteristics that the Triple Loop learning mentions as that of a Learning Organization. At Anglian water, face to face communication is given utmost importance amongst employees; university of Water was established to integrate , support and accredit all forms of learning; develop skills and competencies that was required to move Anglian water to the 21st century and place it as a global player. Peter Senge (1990) remarks â€Å"The rate at which organizations learn may become the only sustainable source of competitive advantage†. He differentiates between adaptive and generative learning. Adaptive Learning is the initiation of a company into the community of Learning Organization. Generative learning utilizes the power of creativity and innovation to reconstruct those systems and processes that govern consequences. Senge, in his much acclaimed book The fifth discipline explains the five disciplines which according to him are cucial in building a learning organization. The first discipline Personal Mastery concentrates on learning of each and every individual in the organization resulting in Learning organization as a whole. Individual goals and tools to measure the proximity to these goals are developed. Significant evidence of Personal Mastery can be found at Anglian water through the introduction of the concept of travelers whose four guiding principles were a willingness to get to know myself, a desire to develop myself, a desire to develop my full potential with and through others, an ability to link my personal development to the development of Anglian water. The second discipline of Mental Model is the framework of cognitive processes of our mind which determines our thought and action process. Argyris concept of theories of action is similar to the Mental Model concept and govern actual behavior. Espoused theory is what we would like others to believe as our actual action theory. Anglian Water does not seem to have incorporate the Mental Model theory in its learning curve. The third principle of systems thinking or the ability to see interrelationships / circular causations (where a variable is both the cause and effect of another)is prevalent in the practice of Transformation Journey , Total Quality Management , Change Agent Networks. The Fourth principal of shared vision (build on individual vision of it’s members) is not well supported at Anglian Water. While the vision and value statements were rolled out in the 1990s it is unclear if these were created through the interaction between leaders and employees of the organization. It seems more likely that the vision and values were communicated from top to bottom. The fifth discipline of team learning or â€Å"genuine thinking together† was highly encouraged by the leadership at Anglian water and is corroborated with the team and group formations through the methodology of Transformational Journey. Victoria Marsick states that learning organizations involve deep change in the mind sets of people as well as the culture of the organization and socities. Gephart , Marsic & Van Buren 1997 emphasize on Continuous Learning at the system level which at Anglian Water was initiated in the form of Transformational Journey and University of Water. Knowledge generation and sharing was made possible through the introduction of University of Water which aimed at acknowledging, integrating, supporting and accrediting all forms of learning in the company. The concept was further given a boost with the establishment of an intranet for information exchange and communication. Systematic Thinking capacity which enables employees to identify linkages and feedback loops. The presence of the concept of systematic thinking can be illustrated by the feedback statements of employees on the Journey being a good learning experience OR the findings of the employee satisfaction survey that clearly demanded a cultural change in Anglian Water. Greater Participation and accountability by a larger percentage of employees is promoted by Anglian Waters through various methods such as ‘employee satisfaction survey’ , ‘employee empowerment’ , ‘transformational journey’ that saw the participation of more than 3000 employees, new ‘HR Performance Management Policies’. Culture and structure of rapid communication and learning was introduced with the advent of the 2 year long traveler role and Aqua University. Rapid communication was facilitated through the installment of Intranet. Pedler, another major pioneer, in his work ‘Blue prints of a learning company’ characterizes such organizes through the usage of five themes. ‘Strategy’ is explained through: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Learning approach to strategy was seen in the efforts to promote team working and cooperation through transformational journey which would have a direct bearing on the operational effectiveness and business performance. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Participative Policy making is missing in Anglian Water’s organizational learning. ‘Looking in’ encompasses: i.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Informating or use of information technology to inform and empower employees by giving them access to information was being practiced at Anglein Water through installation of Hawk – their intranet system. ii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Internal Exchange was facilitated through the introduction of Total Quality Management i.e. Each department treated the other as Internal Customer iii.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Formative Accounting and control and iv.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reward flexibility are missing from the grounds of Anglian Water. ‘Enabling structures’ are flexible organizations which revisit & reformat structures, goals, objectives to align with the interest of employees, shareholders and suppliers. Post privatization, Anglian Water reorganized it’s business, restructured to a flatter organization, encouraged cross functional and individual participation to facilitate positive change. Transformational Journey empowered employees to arrange for their own support and skill development. ‘Looking out’ encompasses i. ‘Boundary workers as environmental scanners’, which refers to the collection of information from the external stakeholders of an organisation in order to establish their needs is evident through the introduction of TQM a key element of which is to be: ‘sensitive to customer requirements and to respond rapidly to them†¦to achieve customer satisfaction†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Stark, 1998) ii.‘Inter-company learning’ which entails joining with customers and suppliers in training experiences, research and development and job exchanges is conspicuous by its absence in Anglian Water. Learning Opportunities talks of i.    Learning Climate encourages employees to seek continuous improvement, learn from their experiences and make time to question practices and try out new ones. Establishment of university of water by Anglian Water for the sole purpose of learning and development of employees attests the presence of Learning Climate in the company. ii. Self Development opportunities for all was encouraged at Anglian Water through the introduction of Transformational journey which was a holistic strategy designed to prepare and equip employees for the technical and emotional challenges of operating in a turbulent and uncertain environment. To Summarize, whether Anglian Water can claim to be a learning organization, I would like to include a few ideas organized by Art Kleiner states as Why Bother? i.   Because we want superior performance and competitive advantage ii.    For customer relations iii. To avoid decline iv.    To improve quality v.    To understand risks and diversity more deeply vi.    For innovation vii.   For our personal and spiritual well being viii.    To increase our ability to manage change ix.       For energized committed work force x.   To expand boundaries Above mentioned ten points are positive results of a successful learning organization. Anglian Water when viewed in the light of the above mentioned results comes out as a winner in the field of learning organizations  The next step is to identify factors that may undermine the concept of Learning Organization in Anglian Water. Senge states that the role of a leader is to build a shared vision. Though the vision and value statement that were released at Anglien Water were designed to inculcate new attitudes and behaviors, no evidence of participation of employees in shared vision building exercise is found. Shell (1997) also talks of Creative tension as a characteristic of Learning Organization. This enables innovation and visioning the future and further working towards a commonly agreed goal. However, this capacity to vision the future seems to be lacking in the employees of Anglian Water. This was more than evident when in 1990 Ofwat recommended a price reduction of at least 17.5%. and this decision hit the company hard. It suffered tremendous losses and had to initiate a major cost reduction strategy. If the government decision had been predicted by the visionaries of the company, they would have had time to prepare ground for the turbulence that they faced as a result of this Change. Davenport and Prusak (1998) are concerned with the magnitude of importance that has been given to Information technology centric Knowldege Management in Learning Organizations. They state that it is more important to build a culture conducive to knowledge and learning rather that emphasizing on information storage, retrieval and transfer. Clarke and Cooper state that in their goal to be a learning organization, Anglian Water rolled out a complete Knowledge Management Policy. However, their Intranet, despite of being called HAWK – Harnessing Anglian Water’s Knowledge appears to play only a secondary role. One of the major characteristics of Learning Organization is Experiential Learning. Polanyi (1967) characterizes experiential learning as tacit or not highly conscious. Lave and Wenger term the process as ‘legitimate peripheral participation’ which further dilutes   lessons learnt. Employees undergoing experiential learning might not be capable of fully understanding the reasons for success or failure. Thought Processes that are different from that of the value systems of a learning organization might be considered null and void. Marsick points out that when an organization is undergoing change and simultaneously assessing feedbacks, a confused and chaotic situation is bound to emerge. Multiple feedbacks emerge resulting in reception to various signals at the same time. Envisioning the environmental factors that would affect the well being of the company in future and predicting the types of challenges that the company should be ready for becomes very difficult. A tiny random fluctuation, often called Noise ‘can induce the path of choice’ (Capra 1996). It is hence expected of a learning organization to analyze well the various feedbacks and signals and prepare for the future challenges. It appears that the visionaries ay Anglian Water missed the point and hence future environmental challenges could not be well predicted. A few other vital characteristics of a Learning organization, mentioned by Pedler, seem to be missing at Anglian Water are â€Å"Formative Accounting and Control†, â€Å"Feedback loops being built in policy making process†. Formative Accounting and control insists on accounting , budgeting and reporting systems that are designed to help people understand the operations of organizational finance. However, It is important to add here â€Å"scholars often caution against one size fits all approach to creating the learning organization† (Marsick). Hence, it should not be a mandatory criteria for companies to absorb all characteristics defined by all scholars in the field of learning organizations. The third step is to analyze if Anglian Water can sustain the ideals and practices of a Learning Organization. If we refer to that portion of case study which is called â€Å"The future†, what immediately comes to our mind is that Anglian Water can not sustain the ideals and principles of a learning organization. When Anglian Water adopts a major cost reduction strategyin 1998 – 99; it seems to be moving away from the concept of Learning Organization. 10% of the employees (400 in number) were seen losing their jobs. While Learning Organizations are all about Investment in social, human and intellectual capital; Cost reduction strategies include downsizing, ‘low levels of risk taking, ‘short term focus’ ‘minimal levels of employee training and development,’ and ‘narrowly defined career paths’ (Schuler and Jackson, 2006:168) These practices are in stark contrast to senior managements bid to change Anglian Water’s approach to doing business to ‘entrepreneurial, innovative and outward looking’ (Jenkins, 2008:1) Cost Reduction would further mean minimizing overheads and it is assumed that the worse affected areas would be Human Resources & logistics. Under Human Resources, most of the benefits such as training programs, employee engagement activities would have been scrutinized and the logical conclusion would be to cut the costs related to them. In this scenario, existence of a corporate university might come under investigation with respect to the total costs being incurred on it. Huczynski and Buchanan (2001:135) describe LO practices as: ‘A complex difficult set of practices, difficult to implement systematically.’ This criticism is relevant toAnglian Waterin numerous ways. Firstly, with regards to the University of Water, in the long run, those employees involved may struggle with coping with learning and their ‘day job’ at Anglian Water and also the need to encourage employee attrition and encourage ‘new blood’ at Anglian Water. Secondly after the initiation of the cost-reduction strategy the practices of a Learning Organization would be even harder to implement for reasons which were discussed previously. It is imperative to mention here that a lot of scholars in the field of Learning Organizations consider downsizing as a part of the Learning and restructuring process. Labbas 1999, states that employment downsizing has been regarded as the preferred route to improving organizational performance. Success or failure of a downsized organization depends on the workforce remaining after the downsizing (Best Practices in Downsizing: 1997). The Organizational trends in late 1990’s and then at the advent of 21st century was moving towards downsizing , restructuring and outsourcing. Managers continue to use downsizing – and other forms of restructuring – to improve productivity ( Ellis, 1998 ).   Downsizing has been termed as a reorganization strategy by Mckinley, Sanchez and Schick. Few other companies which downsized in 1998 and are still going strong are Kodak, Levis and Citicorp. Freeman and Cameron mention downsizing as an intentional reduction in personnel intended to improve the efficiency of the firm. Last but not the least, the chaos theory related to learning organization deserves to be given its due importance while discussing the probability of success of Anglian Water after downsizing. This theory talks about a situation when an organizational equilibrium becomes structurally unstable at critical bifurcation points†¦.in the system’s evolution where a fork suddenly appears and the system branches off in a new direction (Capra 1996). As a result of occurrence of chaos, a new form of organization would evolve. Since it is important for an organization to always be in the learning category to be able to survive environmental changes, downsizing at Anglian water could be looked as a phase in the learning process. It can be assumed that Anglian Water emerges successful after the process of downsizing and continues in its process of learning through as innovative techniques as â€Å"Transformational Journey†; â€Å"Traveller† and â€Å"University of Water†. Bibliography Peter Sange, Fifth Discipline Chris Argyris On Organizational Learning Watkins and Marsick Sculpting the Learning Organization Beardwell, J and Claydon, T (2007) Human Resource Management A contemporary approach Fifth Edition Pearson Education Ltd Organizational Behavior Tata Mcgraw Hill Burnes, B (2004) Managing Change Pearson Education Ltd Easterby-Smith, M, Burgoyne, J and Araujo, L (2006) Organizational Learning and The Learning Organisation Sage Publications Huczynski, A and Buchanan D (2001) Organisational Behaviour (4th Edition ) FT/Prentice Hall Paton, R, Peters, G, Storey, J and Taylor, S (2005) Handbook of Corporate University Development Gower Publishing Pedlar, M., Boydell, T. and Burgoyne, J. Learning Company Project: A Report on work (see mullins p205) Mabey, C and Salaman, G (1999) Human Resource Management a Strategic Introduction Blackwell Publishers Ltd Schuler, R and Jackson, S Strategic Human Resource Management (2006) Blackwell Publishing Torrington, D and Hall, L(1995)   Human Resource Management Prentice Hall Perter Clarke & Maggie cooper, Knowledge Management & Collaboration      

How Does Music Affect Our Lives

How Does Music Affect Our Lives: The Connection between Communication and Music Music is present throughout our lives, from the moment we wake up and hear that song that starts our day off, to that song that reminds us of that relationship we once had with that special someone, or a song that a city uses as its anthem for it’s sports team or a song that a country listens to, that helps comfort them in a time of tragedy and loss. Music helps us communicate and relate to things when we can not find the words to help us express our feelings. When we have had a tragedy in our lives some people turn to alcohol, drugs, or something else to get rid of a terrible memory. After the attacks of September 11th music was used as instrument in rebuilding the lives of the many New Yorkers who had lost loved ones, or had witnessed the horrific events. Bruce Springsteen was one artist that released an album at this time; the album was titled The Rising. This album conveyed the feelings of the citizens of New York City. Some of the tracks were titled, â€Å"Into the Fire†. â€Å"You’re Missing† and â€Å"Lonesome Day† We also had Sir Paul McCartney’s Freedom a song that was used as a memorial for the 9/11 attacks. Another band that helped heal the wounds of 9/11 was U2. Since the beginning they have written songs that reach a wide variety of fans from all over the world. One song that sticks out is, â€Å"Pride (In the Name of Love)† these lyrics talk about many great figures throughout history, including Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi. These are some of those lyrics. One man come in the name of love One man come and go One man come, he to justify One man to overthrow In the name of love What more in the name of love In the name of love What more in the name of love One man caught on a barbed wire fence One man he resist One man washed on an empty beach. One man betrayed with a kiss In the name of love What more in the name of love In the na me of love What more in the name of love Early morning, April 4 Shot rings out in the Memphis sky Free at last, they took your life They could not take your pride†¦ (U2 The Unforgettable Fire, 1984 Island Records) Music is also used at funerals as a send off into the next life or as a testament to the life of that person. My uncle was murdered in the fall of 2002. Everyone including my grandmother took it hard. They song my cousin chose for her father was Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Music has been there for me when I have no one to talk to. In the book Popular Music and Communication by James Lull there is a paragraph that explains musicians and how they communicate to their fans, â€Å"Popular musicians are loved, even worshiped, not only for their abilities to write songs and perform them publicly, but for their ability to â€Å"speak† to their audiences. Even an artist whose only contact with the audience is through the sale of millions of compact discs and tapes communicates â€Å"personally† with each listener† Pg. 33 of Popular Music and Communication by James Lull Sage Publications, C 1992. Everyone has a soundtrack to their lives and I found the first part of mine in 2000 with an album by a band named Papa Roach. My mother and father are separated; there divorce was based on the fact that my father was abusive towards my mother. The one song I could strongly relate to on that album was a song titled â€Å"Broken Home† I can't seem to fight these feelings I'm caught in the middle of this My wounds are not healing I'm stuck in between my parents I wish I had someone to talk to Someone to I could confide in†¦ Broken home All alone I know my mother loves me But does my father even care If I'm sad or angry You were never ever there When I needed you I hope you regret what you did I think I know the truth Your father did the same to you†¦ (Infest, Papa Roach, April 25, 2000, DreamWorks Records) When I heard this song it really opened my eyes, for the past sixteen years of my life I never knew that my fathers father had left when he was very young, it was a revelation to me, that this man who is my grandfather, that I have only seen a few times in my life, and my father were one in the same. After recently ending a relationship with someone that had truly changed my life I continue to listen to this song from a popular punk rock Band MxPx. The song is about someone giving up on girls and relationships and joining G. S. F. â€Å"Girls Schmirls Foundation† â€Å"You didn't have to be so mean to me I guess now I see how it's gonna be I'm joining GSF, I've made up my mind Forget this thing called love, it's a waste of time Girls ain't no good anymore, anyway! Not for one second have I understood Why they do what they do, why they say what they say Always happens to my friends, it always happens to me It's taken me 19 years to finally see She said â€Å"Can we just be friends? It's just not working out. † Another broken heart that I can do without Girls ain't no good anymore, anyway! Not for one second have I understood Why they do what they do, why they say what they say† Many of my friends say that they can relate to how I feel and the song is a good way for me to get my feelings out and to show that girl she hurt me. Music is also used to help boost morale in teams and fans at sporting events. Once a Spurs fan hears, â€Å"Are You Ready for This? † they automatically begin to get hyped for the preceding game. The same is at football games, especially college football games. When the fans at Texas State hear â€Å"Go Bobcats† they automatically get on there feet and begin to participate in the hand gestures and sing the chorus. The football team, whether win, lose or draw will be on that field singing the Alma Mater. There are those fan jams that are required at any sporting event, such as Queens â€Å"We Will Rock You† and â€Å"We are the Champions† Music is used at these events to get a crowd hyped and the teams pumped and excited that they are playing in front of a large group of people that believe in them. As you can see Music is all around us. It is apart of our lives. It helps us express our feelings towards other people, it helps us to close old wounds made by tragic events, it also give us a reason to cheer and sporting events, but the most important thing music gives us is a voice, a reason, a definition of who we real are. Bibliography 1. McLaughlin, Terence. Music and communication, New York, St. Martin's Press [1971, c1970] 2. Lull, James. Popular music and communication, Newbury Park, Calif. : Sage Publications, c1992. 3. Lynyrd Skynrd. Lynryd Skynrd, MCA Records, c 1973 4. Papa Roach. Infest, DreamWorks Records, c April 25, 2000 5. Paul McCartney. Freedom, Capitol Records, c November 13, 2001 6. U2. The Unforgettable Fire, Island Records, c 1984 7. MxPx GSF, At The Show, Tooth and Nail Records, c. July 27, 1999

Self Development Assignment

This assignment is designed to help you understand yourself. In this course, you will explore who you are in terms of your personality, skills and values. Further, you will examine how you work and interact with others. In it, you will explore two areas of strength, two areas of weakness, and then you will develop a plan of action focused on one of your strengths and one of your weaknesses. It is expected that this assignment will contribute to your sense of self-awareness and thus help you make wise choices about your future. As part of our in-class activities, we will focus on self discovery. This will allow you to reflect and disclose those aspects of yourself that you feel are most likely to contribute to your abilities as a leader. Further, you will be encouraged to give and receive feedback from others. In addition, you will have the opportunity to delve into your areas for growth. For this assignment you will also reflect on two areas of weakness (or areas that you would like to develop). Understanding your strengths and your developmental needs should help you because a heightened sense of self-awareness should guide you to make career choices that capitalize on your strengths. The first step in this assignment is to identify two areas of strength and two for development. If you are already aware of your strengths and the areas in which you would like to grow, then you simply need to determine whether you are using appropriate terminology to describe them. If you are uncertain of your strengths and areas for improvement, then you will begin the assignment with an exercise in self-reflection. Increasing Self-Awareness Step 1 Once you have identified two strengths and two areas for growth, you should compare your list with the list of competencies in For Your Improvement (on reserve in the library). Step 2 1. Consider how you exemplify the strengths / areas for development. Provide concrete examples of how you demonstrate these strengths / weaknesses in your daily life (at work or at school). 2. Describe how each of the strengths/weaknesses impacts your performance at work and/or how it currently affects your performance at school. If you find that you cannot identify how the strength/weakness helps/hinders your performance, then re-consider why it is a strength or why you would want to improve the skill, or go back to step 1 and identify another area for development. Step 3 1. Select one strength and one area for improvement. 2. Drawing on theory, explain why the strength/developmental need might affect your current performance and/or how it might positively or negatively impact your future career. When considering theory, you will want to find research articles (academic ones) in support of your hypothesis that the strength will be of benefit to your career and that the area for development will negatively affect your performance (or alternatively, why improvement in this area will be necessary for your career). Developmental Plan The next part of the assignment is to develop a plan for improvement. Your plan should be realistic and you should provide a convincing argument for why you believe it will be effective. In order to be persuasive, I recommend that you support your plan with evidence (i.e., research the potential methods that can be used to improve a particular skill and include this evidence in your paper). 1. Develop a plan of action for capitalizing on one of your strengths. a. Develop a plan for how you believe you can capitalize on your area of strength. Use specific behavioural example(s) to indicate how your plan will give you an opportunity to use the competency to advance your career. The plan should be realistic and you should apply what you know about goal setting to ensure that the plan is likely to be motivating (e.g., consider whether your plan has SMART goals). b. You will need to indicate what would constitute career success and how your plan will bring you closer to achieving it. Further, you need to use research to convince the reader that your plan will be effective. 2. Develop a plan for how you believe you can improve one of your areas of weakness. 1. Use specific behavioural example(s) to indicate how your plan will be implemented. The plan should be realistic and you should apply what you know about goal setting to ensure that the plan is likely to be motivating (e.g., consider whether your plan has SMART goals). 2. You will need to indicate what would constitute improvement. You should explain the criteria for achieving proficiency on the competency. In addition, you should provide a specific behavioural example of how you would demonstrate improvement in your own life/career. 3. Research the plan. Look for evidence to support the idea that you can improve the identified skill and that your method is likely to be successful. If your idea has not been tested, then you should provide a theoretical explanation for why it will work. Please use academic theory and research to support your plan.

G Puccini's Tosca Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

G Puccini's Tosca - Essay Example Nevertheless; those musical references to objects, persons, or ideas are not developed on a Wagnerian scale and are not certainly woven into symphonic web. Puccini’s musical motives serve as a narrator and provide information a character’s unexpressed thoughts, recollections, or recall. In Act 1 Tosca and Cavaradossi’s plan their rendezvous that evening, but Cavaradossi’s thoughts are revealed when Angelotti’s fugitive motive is heard. Likewise, Scarpia’s interrogation of Cavaradossi is punctuated by the motif connoting the well: Cavaradossi refuses to mention the well, but the music reveals that he is thinking about it (Puccini 21) Tosca begins on an imposing, quasi-tragic note, much darker than the opening pages of Puccini’s earlier operas. However the composer takes care to introduce the Sacristan, a basso buffo, for comic relief. Puccini was always very careful to include well defined minor characters. The Sacristan’s banter with Mario gradually leads to the aria â€Å"Recondita armonia†. This piece requires vocal intensity and extension, together with depth of interpretation from the tenor, and is enriched by the Sacristan’s counter-melody (21). A nearly comic interlude features the sacristan and the chorus, creating an overall cheerful tone. This is immediately interrupted with the arrival of Scarpia, as the orchestra once more becomes deep and obscure, but with energy and power this time conveying the overall power held by the police chief. Every accent and work of Scarpia is underscored by Puccini to depict a character with the depth of evil comparable perhaps only to Iago in Verdi’s Otello.The darkness of the orchestra continues throughout the scene of the search of the church. Upon Tosca’s sudden arrival in the cathedral, the sinister nature of the music is toned down significantly as Scarpia acts politely towards her. However, as Scarpia plays upon Tosca’s jealousy, the music resumes

Script Adaptation Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Script Adaptation - Coursework Example She gesticulates very actively and addresses the audience. Her eyes are constantly moving as if the girl is asking someone from the audience to help her and take her from this dull life. Bridget stretches her hands to the sky and tells that she hates seeing her mother phoning the list of people who had died. The decorations are changed when Bridget’s mother appears on the stage. There are more dark colours now. This is closely connected with the women’s relation to death. During the conversation between two people a calm but alerting music is playing. These sounds give the feeling that something awful or strange will happen soon. The girl asks her mother to give up phoning the list. Bridged embraces and kisses her mother. Her gestures are very gentle. She should do everything that may show her passion towards mother. The latter stays calm and says that she is not planning to stop phoning the list of dead people. Bridged tells that these things affect their relationship in the family; the girl turns aside and bursts out crying. Her mother leaves. More lights appear on the stage after her disappearance. In a few seconds a stranger in black coat comes to Bridget, touches her hand and tells that Archie Shearer killed Jennifer MacDonnell. There is a silent scene after these words. Works Cited Coady, Lynn. Strange Heaven. Canada: Goose Lane Editions, 2010.

NEW ECONOMIC POWERS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

NEW ECONOMIC POWERS - Assignment Example These are some of the most sought after names in the business world, and since their populations are dense, they are able to come ahead with little ease as a great amount of cheap labor is available - this allows China, India and Brazil to depict success. Export orientation definitely depends on a nation’s stage of development since it suggests the kind of imports coming in and exports going out of its shores (Sibanda, 2011). However, this requires a great amount of persistence and effort by the governments of these countries because they are the ones who decide the relevant course of action that has to be adopted within these lands. In essence, these countries are doing all that they can to make sure that their economic progress comes about in an easy manner, without much difficulty (Quer, 2010). Export orientation is inherently a powerful approach because it sets the ball rolling for bringing an upheaval within the economic settings and allows the people to understand that t hey must connect globally rather than remaining locally

The effective steps for risk assessment to identify the risks Essay

The effective steps for risk assessment to identify the risks regarding the misstated data in the financial records - Essay Example The analytical procedures can be described as ‘evaluating the financial records by analyzing the credible relationship between the financial records and non-financial records’. It can be also included that ‘such analysis is mandatory to identify the difference or inconsistency of relevant data or the difference between provided data and the estimated values’ (ISA/HKSA 520(4)). The basic principle to apply the analytical procedures is the expected existence of the credible relationship may occur and the analytical procedures may carry on in such circumstances in the non-appearance of the opposite factors. Defining the purposes Auditors use analytical procedures in the entire audit course to achieve the three main purposes of audit: 1) Preliminary analytical review These are the introductory analytical reviews, which assist the auditors to get an idea about the business and industry. They can start with reviewing the previous financial records, performance of industry and the competitors. This will lead them to decide the nature of audit, the time period required and the level of analytical procedures. Basically, preliminary analytical reviews help to design the strategies and plans to conduct the audit. 2) Substantive analytical procedures Auditors can use the analytical procedures substantively. If the auditors feel that their analytical procedure can bring more accurate results rather than using different tests, so they usually reduce the level of tests to identify the misstated facts of the financial records. These procedures will be known as substantive analytical procedures. 3) Final analytical reviews Financial records are analyzed thoroughly by the auditors through analytical procedures, which lead the independent individuals towards th e outcomes whether records are accurate or in compliance with auditors’ understanding. So analytical procedures are applied finally to analyze the facts but these procedures are not executed to get hold of the extra substantive analysis. In such case, if auditors find any inconsistency in the records, they must repeat the risk assessment procedure and if they feel the need of extra analytical procedures, they can go for it. Substantive analytical procedures usage Acquiring the evidence of audit that must be reliable and appropriate is one of the basic points of analytical procedures. While applying the procedures of substantive analytics, auditors need to acquire the guarantee with the assistance of other auditing tools and controls. These tools and controls help the auditors to evaluate the results of different sections after applying analytical procedures. Such analytical procedures have ability to cover a wider range of transactions that is why procedures of substantive an alytics are normally used to analyze the financial records. As it is briefly told that the auditors apply substantive analytical procedures on the expected existence of the credible relationship between financial data and they may carry on this analytical procedure in case of non-appearance of contrary factors. The existence of relationship between the data provides the base of audit evidence that leads the auditors to

Roman Republic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Roman Republic - Essay Example The reasons for the decline of Rome are as intriguing as the factors contributing to its rise. In order to understand the causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire, it is essential to understand the confluence of circumstances and variables that contributed to its rise, for these are the same factors that were brought to such an excess that the Empire collapsed under its own weight. Ultimately, Rome's successful development of military might, political dominance and infrastructural innovation led to such an expansion of the Empire that it could not sustain its own mass. This development was driven largely by the egos of Rome's leaders, who believed Roman civilization was so superior that it was a gift to the world to have it spread as much as possible. Military might was arguably the first key factor that enabled the Romans to build their empire. This was achieved through "cultivation of virtues conducive to military strength: unswerving loyalty, obedience, frugality and disregard for peril to life and limb" (Bonta, par. 6). These virtues were evident from the very beginning of the evolution of Rome. Roman history, from its inception, is replete with monumental wars and battles, most of which resulted in Rome's victory and dominance, thereby paving the way for geographic expansion and assimilation of weaker neighbors. Bonta maintains that "for the most part, Roman military history is a dreary catalog of one-sided battles with outmatched and poorly organized foes, of the destruction or absorption of entire nations into the expanding Roman state, and of almost superhuman resilience in rebounding from rare defeats that would have broken the back of any other people" (par. 8). Clearly the expansion of the Roman Empire would not have been possible had Rome not been militarily dominant. And yet, over-zealous military adventures eventually resulted in the destruction of Rome. Political Structures Rome's political structures were cutting edge and in many ways ahead of their time. They vested real power in the hands of the people in a way that had rarely if ever been seen before; and did so in a way that struck a nearly perfect balance between stability and liberty (Bonta, par. 10). Rome "discovered a formula for limiting the power of government by dividing it among several different magistrates and elected bodies" and also "developed a code of written laws that defined and protected the rights of Roman citizens" (par. 10). These developments regarding separation of powers and personal liberty planted the seeds of political thought that served as the foundation of modern Western-style democracies. Roman citizens were genuinely empowered. They enjoyed an unprecedented degree of liberty that was protected by law, and had a hand in electing their government representatives. The satisfaction of common citizens with their representation in the government was a very important factor that led to the stability of the state. The masses, as a whole, felt politically content and this was a critical factor enabling the empire to evolve. Essentially, by giving people a stake in their political system, Rome ensured that it would not have to be distracted by the need to quell internal discontent, and could instead focus on external expansion. The problem for Rome was that these same political privileges were not afforded to many of those

Film Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Film Review - Essay Example This causes the Spanish ambassador in London to write to Queen Margaret in Spain to hire Don Juan as a fencing instructor in the Spanish Academy. Following many rumors and much gossip in London, Don Juan has no choice but to leave the city for Madrid. However, an important thing to be considered here is that the DJ figure portrayed in the movie is essentially a molecular DJ because he is not merely a man tied down to his impulses. Rather, he is a man of great intellect as is obvious from the highly intellectual way by which he schemes a plot later in the movie to crush the treacherous plans of Duke de Lorca and his henchmen. He is not merely a man clearly incapable of controlling himself whenever he encounters a beautiful woman in this movie in contrast to how he had been portrayed before this movie was released. In contrast to previous versions, Don Juan controls himself and tames his impulses fairly well after moving to Spain and instead invests all his mental and physical energies in defending the Queen, her husband, and Count de Polan. He secretly cherishes a soft spot for Queen Margaret and despises her weak husband, but he refrains from acting on his ideas like the other times in his past and discovers the treacherous people to defeat them in the end. Don Juan in this film is essentially a molecular DJ because he is so much more than just a man notorious for his many illicit affairs. DJ in this movie thinks and schemes genius plans. He is capable of engineering really smart strategies to keep his masters safe. He is not disloyal, rather he is very loyal and defensive. Unlike how he used to be in London, he is very faithful to his people in Spain. He does not engage in any affair with the Queen despite harboring a soft spot for her in his heart. Instead, he throws himself into discovering the disloyal propagandists

Business, a Practical Introduction Essay Example for Free

Business, a Practical Introduction Essay 1. Scarcity increases the demand for a product, and increases the price that consumers are willing to pay for it. Scarcity of an item allows a seller to raise prices, while a surplus of an item means prices will decrease. 2. Macroeconomists would be concerned with issues such as job growth and unemployment, growth in industrial production, and the consumer price index. 3. Under a socialist economic system, businesses and industries can be state-owned or privately owned, depending on the country. 4. A downside to capitalism is the issue of income inequality. There is a considerable difference between the highest and lowest incomes, as indicated by the 2010 income information reported in the textbook for this course. Median pay for a chief executive of a company whose stock was listed on Standard and Poor’s index was $9 million. Median pay for private sector workers was $40,500. 5. The model of perfect competition was created by Adam Smith. According to Smith, in perfect competition, the market has many small sellers who sell interchangeable products to many informed buyers, and no seller is large enough to dictate the price of the product. 6. The term consumer sovereignty is the idea that consumers influence the marketplace through the decisions of which products they choose to buy or not to buy. 7. The business cycle runs through a pattern of expansion, peak, contraction, and trough. Expansion, when economic activity speeds up, is triggered by a rise in investment spending, government spending, or exports. 8. Deflation is defined as a general decline in the prices of most goods and services. 9. An economic bubble is a situation in which prices for securities, especially stocks, rise far above their actual value. 10. TARP is the Troubled Assets Relief Program, signed into law in October 2008. This $700 billion program was created to purchase bank assets in order to strengthen the financial sector. This was outgoing President Bush’s last â€Å"screw you† to the people of America. It might have worked to stabilize the banks if the amount was double, and if it offered relief to businesses as well.

Explication Of Seamus Heaneys Digging English Literature Essay

Explication Of Seamus Heaneys Digging English Literature Essay Seamus Heaneys Digging is free verse poem about a mans observations and reflections of his father and grandfather and his place in the family tradition. The poem is traditionally separated into nine stanzas, but from another viewpoint it can be separated into four parts: the speaker, his father, his grandfather, and then the speaker again. This separation effectively illustrates that the poem forms a circle and at the end of that circle lays self-discovery. There are various poetic devices used throughout the poem to effectively complete the circle and strengthen the theme of the poem. The title of this poem is fitting because in the poem there are three generations of diggers. The speakers father and grandfather dug up potatoes and the speaker is digging up the past. Interestingly, the word digging is repeated three times within the poem. The first stanza of the poem is about the speaker about to write something. This is illustrated by the pen in his hand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦rest[ing]; snug as a gun. In line two, the words snug as a gun illustrate that the pen fits naturally in his hand. Also, in the simile snug as a gun the word snug if spelled backwards is guns. Furthermore, the comparison of the pen to a gun, at first glance, seems awkward and makes little sense. However, when taking a moment to digest the words one can start to draw connections. A gun is a device that relies on precision to hit its target, and the precision is reliant upon the operator of the gun. Similarly, the pen is in need of a good writer to target ideas to put to paper. Rather than bullets, h e shoots with words. In addition, the semicolon between rests and snug creates a short pause. The second stanza breaks from the first and begins describing things, particularly his father, outside of the room that the speaker is in. The speaker describes the sound coming from outside his window as a clean rasping sound where the words clean and rasping serve as an oxymoron to precisely describe the sound. In the second line of the stanza there is alliteration with the words spade sinks and gravelly ground. The gr- sound which is repeated has a scraping tone to it which is highly relevant to the context of the poem. The words rasping and gravelly also serve as onomatopoeia to effectively give sound to the descriptions. It isnt until line three of the stanza that the reader learns that these sounds are coming from the speakers father digging. The comma in this line creates a pause which gives the sense that digging is something his father is accustomed to doing. Also, he both literally and figuratively look[s] down upon his father. This stanza ends midsentence to create a journ ey through time, which we learn to be twenty years. Stanza three picks up midsentence, right where stanza two left off. When examining his fathers straining rump in line four, the speaker projects a condescending tone towards his father. The word straining also shows the reader that his fathers work is backbreaking labor. In line five, the phrase comes up twenty years away tells the reader that the speaker has transplanted himself twenty years in the past. The next line is very musical. The long u of the word stooping sets the tone for the rhythmic line. In the following line, the repetition of the word digging at the end of the stanza creates emphasis upon that action and reinforces the theme of the poem. The fourth stanza continues on with the musically rhythmic actions from the previous stanza, but with more detail. The first line is packed with details. The process by which his father digs is discussed step by step in great detail. During the step by step description the speaker uses alliteration, tall tops and buriedà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ bright to continue the musical flow started at the end of the previous stanza. In addition, the repetitions of the words with the long u sound, such as, stooping (from the previous stanza), boot, and rooted provide reinforcement to the musical flow. In line four, the word we tells the reader that the speakers father is not alone in the potato farm, the speaker is there with his father. This also illustrates that a child in this time has close relations with his fathers work, confirming the idea that a persons livelihood will continue within the family through generations. In the next stanza, the speakers tone towards his father changes from that of the second; the speaker now finds himself in awe of his father. The exclamation By God, is evidence of this. The fifth stanza also introduces the speakers grandfather, an excellent digger himself. In stanza six, the descriptions switch from being about the speakers father to his grandfather. The first two lines serve as character development. The reader learns that the speakers grandfather was a very efficient digger and one of, if not, the best in his profession. The next line shows the admiration the young speaker has for his grandfather, Once I carried him milk in a bottle, the fact that the speaker remembers the trivial task of bringing his grandfather a drink shows the respect he has for him. The next few lines shine light on the grandfathers character. He has his mind set on the task at hand and refuses to waste time doing anything else. In stanza seven, the speaker reignites his widespread use of sound. He uses the word Nicking which sounds like the spade going into the soil. Then, he uses the word slicing which has a repeating s sound and sounds like the soil is being carved out by the end of the spade. Furthermore, he throws in the word neatly to show that the grandfather was very methodical about his work. His use of the word heaving rather than throwing or lifting describes the grandfather as being a strong person. The repetition of the word down shows that this is a repetitive motion that the grandfather endures for a long period of time. This stanza ends with a one word sentence, Digging. This places great importance on the word and the d and g sounds make it even more noticeable. The next stanza, stanza number eight, switches gears once again. This stanza switches back to being more about the speaker than his father or grandfather. The use of assonance with the words cold and mould The use of alliteration continues with squelch, slap, soggy, and curt cuts. There is also some onomatopoeia with the words squelch and slap. In line three of the stanza the words living roots is a metaphor for the memories that are still alive within the speaker. This also shows that he is getting back to his roots, that is, finding his identity and gaining appreciation for his family. At the end of this stanza the speaker has made a complete one hundred and eighty degree turn. He began by look[ing] down on his father and probably his grandfather, but now he feels unworthy and inadequate having no spade to follow men like them. The final stanza is much the same as the first. The only differences are the punctuation and the final line. The use of a period in this stanza creates an even longer pause than the semicolon used in the first stanza. The omission of the snug as a gun simile and in its place Ill dig with it shows that he no longer compares his pen to a gun, but now compares it to a spade. This shows the journey that he has made to self-discovery. He has pride in his heritage and admiration for his father and grandfather. All three uses of digging are used on his father or grandfather; it is not until the final line of the poem that the speaker digs.

Creative about recruiting

Creative about recruiting Question 1: How can Helen and Jesse be creative about recruiting top-notch people for the housekeeping department? Helen and Jesse have to create an atmosphere in which people believe in strategy, believe in management decisions, and believe in their work in order to create recruiting top-notch people for the housekeeping department. Additionally, people believe in management decisions, there is an enthusiasm within an organization. According to Chowdhury, 2000 such an atmosphere makes an organization do well; furthermore, successful leaders make this sort of environment equally inside and outside the organization. Jesse Rodriquez as a HR manager has to create a motivational atmosphere through setting a positive example through the utilization of good leadership practices. Moreover he must be good leader considering the fact that â€Å"leadership is a relationship through which one person influences the behavior or actions of other people† (Mullins, 2005) In addition Helen and Jesse must motivate potential employees because motivated employees help organizations to survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, Helen and Jesse need to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. According to Maslow, employees have five levels of needs (Maslow, 1943): physiological, safety, social, ego, and self- actualizing. Maslow argued that lower level needs had to be satisfied before the next higher level need would motivate employees. Herzbergs work categorized motivation into two factors: motivators and hygienes (Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, 1959). Motivator or intrinsic factors, such as achievement and recognition, produce job satisfaction. Hygiene or extrinsic factors, such as pay and job security, produce job dissatisfaction. Furthermore, management team must make employees feel important and treat employees fairly and equitably. Moreover, the implement job satisfaction to their employees is required. Employees that feel they are a valued and integral part of the organization are likely to remain with the property for extended periods of time. Human resources manager must be good communicator team player and to power to his employees constantly and continue to improve overall group performance. Employees that believe their managers will lend support and reinforcement during challenging times are more likely to remain with the organization for the long term A good operating system and adequate training are essential. Employees need the proper tools and support to do the job. A performance-based compensation plan should be designed very carefully to ensure that your employees are encouraged to help build the business and are rewarded for their contributions, and provide as many extra benefits as possible. A positive corporate culture and a pleasant work environment are more important than money to most good employees. Question 2: What kind of support should Helen and Jesse ask the general manager to provide? The general manager has to support these ideas in order to give opportunity to these systems to be effective. Manager need to demonstrate a truthful sense of caring about employees and what is important to them. Manager has to help employees refocus on the demands of their roles and on the skills, knowledge and talents they bring to their jobs.. For employees to engage and commit to their employer, they need: A strong relationship with their manager; Clear communication from their manager; A clear path set for concentrating on what they do best; Strong co-worker relationships; A strong commitment to their co-workers so they will take risks and stretch for excellence; and Opportunities to learn and grow.

Cloning is Unethical :: essays research papers

In recent years our world has undergone many changes and advancements, cloning is a primary example of this new modernism. On July 5th, 1995, Dolly, the first cloned animal, was created. She was cloned from a six-year-old sheep, making her cells genetically six years old at her creation. However, scientists were amazed to see Dolly live for another six years, until she died early 2005 from a common lung disease found in sheep. This discovery sparked a curiosity for cloning all over the world, however, mankind must answer a question, should cloning be allowed? To answer this question some issues need to be explored. Is cloning morally correct, is it a reliable way to produce life, and should human experimentation be allowed? Scientists have no problem with the ethical issues cloning poses, as they claim the technological benefits of cloning clearly outweigh the possible social consequences, not to mention, help people with deadly diseases to find a cure. Jennifer Chan, a junior at the New York City Lab School, said, "?cloning body organs will help save many patients' lives," she said. "I think that cloning is an amazing medical breakthrough, and the process could stop at cloning organs--if we're accountable, it doesn't have to go any further." This argument seems to be an ethical presentation of the purpose of cloning. However, most, if not all scientists agree that human cloning won?t stop there. While cloning organs may seem ethical, cloning a human is dangerous. Still, scientists argue that the intentions of cloning are ethical. On the other hand, there are many who disagree with those claims. According to those from a religious standpoint, it is playing God, therefore, should be avoided. From a scien tific standpoint it is also very dangerous, as scientists are playing with human cells which, if done wrong, can lead to genetic mutations that can either become fatal to the clone, or cause it severe disabilities. This information does, in fact, question the moral of the issue. If cloning is unsafe and harmful, what is the point? Another argument pertains to the reliability of cloning. Cloning experts have claimed it is, in fact, an effective procedure. Scientists have admitted it is risky, but also have argued that with time, and more experimentation, cloning will become extremely reliable and effective. However, facts are not as supportive towards this claim as scientists may want. Currently only 3 out of 71 cloning eggs have lived, and only 1 out of 278 fully developed clones have survived from those eggs.

Frankenstein :: essays research papers

Frankenstein   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Love is an aspiration based on admiration and benevolence. To love another is to admire them and to have a warm attachment to them. Many things in one’s life have the ability to cloud or cover up feelings of love. Things such as rage, hate, ugliness, and revenge. Despite these negative feelings and thoughts, love is present in every being, every animal, and anything that possesses the beautiful thing we call life, because to be alive is lovin’. There is an excellent book titled Frankenstein, written by Mary Shelley, that displays the use of unseen love to drive a creature to destruction, murder and, devastation. Can such a being who has committed so many acts of wretchedness contain such a feeling as love?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people think that for such a being that love is not possible to obtain, and others will agree, but argue that although it may be impossible to obtain love from something , it is easy and very possible to have love for something. Throughout the whole novel, the monster talks of revenge on the doctor for making him live with his ugliness and being rejecting by people because of it. Even the doctor was frightened and ran away when he first saw his creation’s hideous looks and monstrous body. Right off the bat, the doctor could have killed the fiend and rid himself of it forever, but he didn’t. He knew that for him to kill this thing, it would be like killing his own beloved child. Seeing the reaction of Frankenstein and the other humans, the creature vowed to hunt down and destroy Victor for bestowing such looks upon this creature’s body. What the monster was looking for was love, and he never found any, but he had plenty. The monster loved Victor for letting him live. The monster didn’t know this until the end. He found out that to give someone life was to give them the ultimate show of affection and love. At anytime in the monster’s life he could have killed Victor, especially when he was weak. Victor said â€Å"...for I was a shattered wreck—the shadow of a human being; my strength was gone..†(page 175). If the monster was as mean and hateful as he appears, he could have crushed Victor with his enormous hands and unbelievable strength. Why didn’t he then, because to kill your creator is to kill yourself, plus you must love your creator for life.

Keynesian Economics

Keynesian economics is the view that in the short run, especially during recessions, economic output is strongly influenced by aggregate demand . In the Keynesian view, aggregate demand does not necessarily equal the productive capacity of the economy; instead, it is influenced by a host of factors and sometimes behaves erratically, affecting production, employment, and inflation The theories forming the basis of Keynesian economics were first presented by the British economist John Maynard Keynes in his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936, during the Great Depression.Keynes contrasted his approach to the aggregate supply-focused ‘classical' economics that preceded his book. The interpretations of Keynes that followed are contentious and several schools of economic thought claim his legacy. Keynesian economists often argue that private sector decisions sometimes lead to inefficient macroeconomic outcomes which require active policy resp onses by the public sector, in particular, monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the government, in order to stabilize output over the business cycle.Keynesian economics advocates a mixed economy – predominantly private sector, but with a role for government intervention during recessions. Keynesian economics served as the standard economic model in the developed nations during the later part of the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war economic expansion (1945–1973), though it lost some influence following the oil shock and resulting stagflation of the 1970s. The advent of the global financial crisis in 2008 has caused a resurgence in Keynesian thought. OverviewPrior to the publication of Keynes's General Theory, mainstream economic thought was that the economy existed in a state of general equilibrium, meaning that the economy naturally consumes whatever it produces because the needs of consumers are always greater than t he capacity of the economy to satisfy those needs. This perception is reflected in Say's Law and in the writing of David Ricardo which is that individuals produce so that they can either consume what they have manufactured or sell their output so that they can buy someone else's output.This perception rests upon the assumption that if a surplus of goods or services exists, they would naturally drop in price to the point where they would be consumed. Keynes's theory was significant because it overturned the mainstream thought of the time and brought about a greater awareness that problems such as unemployment are not a product of laziness, but the result of a structural inadequacy in the economic system. He argued that because there was no guarantee that the goods that individuals produce would be met with demand, unemployment was a natural consequence.He saw the economy as unable to maintain itself at full employment and believed that it was necessary for the government to step in a nd put under-utilised savings to work through government spending. Thus, according to Keynesian theory, some individually rational microeconomic-level actions such as not investing savings in the goods and services produced by the economy, if taken collectively by a large proportion of individuals and firms, can lead to outcomes wherein the economy operates below its potential output and growth rate.Prior to Keynes, a situation in which aggregate demand for goods and services did not meet supply was referred to by classical economists as a general glut, although there was disagreement among them as to whether a general glut was possible. Keynes argued that when a glut occurred, it was the over-reaction of producers and the laying off of workers that led to a fall in demand and perpetuated the problem. Keynesians therefore advocate an active stabilization policy to reduce the amplitude of the business cycle, which they rank among the most serious of economic problems.According to the theory, government spending can be used to increase aggregate demand, thus increasing economic activity, reducing unemployment and deflation. Theory Keynes argued that the solution to the Great Depression was to stimulate the economy (â€Å"inducement to invest†) through some combination of two approaches: 1. A reduction in interest rates (monetary policy), and 2. Government investment in infrastructure (fiscal policy). By reducing the interest rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks, the government sends a signal to commercial banks that they should do the same for their customers.Investment by government in infrastructure injects income into the economy by creating business opportunity, employment and demand and reversing the effects of the aforementioned imbalance. Governments source the funding for this expenditure by borrowing funds from the economy through the issue of government bonds, and because government spending exceeds the amount of tax in come that the government receives, this creates a fiscal deficit. A central conclusion of Keynesian economics is that, in some situations, no strong automatic mechanism moves output and employment towards full employment levels.This conclusion conflicts with economic approaches that assume a strong general tendency towards equilibrium. In the ‘neoclassical synthesis', which combines Keynesian macro concepts with a micro foundation, the conditions of general equilibrium allow for price adjustment to eventually achieve this goal. More broadly, Keynes saw his theory as a general theory, in which utilization of resources could be high or low, whereas previous economics focused on the particular case of full utilization.The new classical macroeconomics movement, which began in the late 1960s and early 1970s, criticized Keynesian theories, while New Keynesian economics has sought to base Keynes's ideas on more rigorous theoretical foundations. Some interpretations of Keynes have emp hasized his stress on the international coordination of Keynesian policies, the need for international economic institutions, and the ways in which economic forces could lead to war or could promote peace. Concept Wages and spending During the Great Depression, the classical theory attributed mass unemployment to high and rigid real wages.To Keynes, the determination of wages is more complicated. First, he argued that it is not real but nominal wages that are set in negotiations between employers and workers, as opposed to a barter relationship. Second, nominal wage cuts would be difficult to put into effect because of laws and wage contracts. Even classical economists admitted that these exist; unlike Keynes, they advocated abolishing minimum wages, unions, and long-term contracts, increasing labour market flexibility. However, to Keynes, people will resist nominal wage reductions, even without unions, until they see other wages falling and a general fall of prices.Keynes rejected the idea that cutting wages would cure recessions. He examined the explanations for this idea and found them all faulty. He also considered the most likely consequences of cutting wages in recessions, under various different circumstances. He concluded that such wage cutting would be more likely to make recessions worse rather than better. Further, if wages and prices were falling, people would start to expect them to fall. This could make the economy spiral downward as those who had money would simply wait as falling prices made it more valuable – rather than spending.As Irving Fisher argued in 1933, in his Debt-Deflation Theory of Great Depressions, deflation (falling prices) can make a depression deeper as falling prices and wages made pre-existing nominal debts more valuable in real terms. Excessive saving To Keynes, excessive saving, i. e. saving beyond planned investment, was a serious problem, encouraging recession or even depression. Excessive saving results if invest ment falls, perhaps due to falling consumer demand, over-investment in earlier years, or pessimistic business expectations, and if saving does not immediately fall in step, the economy would decline.The classical economists argued that interest rates would fall due to the excess supply of â€Å"loanable funds†. The first diagram, adapted from the only graph in The General Theory, shows this process. (For simplicity, other sources of the demand for or supply of funds are ignored here. ) Assume that fixed investment in capital goods falls from â€Å"old I† to â€Å"new I† (step a). Second (step b), the resulting excess of saving causes interest-rate cuts, abolishing the excess supply: so again we have saving (S) equal to investment. The interest-rate (i) fall prevents that of production and employment.Keynes had a complex argument against this laissez-faire response. The graph below summarizes his argument, assuming again that fixed investment falls (step A). Firs t, saving does not fall much as interest rates fall, since the income and substitution effectsof falling rates go in conflicting directions. Second, since planned fixed investment in plant and equipment is based mostly on long-term expectations of future profitability, that spending does not rise much as interest rates fall. So S and I are drawn as steep (inelastic) in the graph.Given the inelasticity of both demand and supply, a large interest-rate fall is needed to close the saving/investment gap. As drawn, this requires a negative interest rate at equilibrium (where the new I line would intersect the old S line). However, this negative interest rate is not necessary to Keynes's argument. Third, Keynes argued that saving and investment are not the main determinants of interest rates, especially in the short run. Instead, the supply of and the demand for the stock of money determine interest rates in the short run. (This is not drawn in the graph.)Neither changes quickly in respons e to excessive saving to allow fast interest-rate adjustment. Finally, Keynes suggested that, because of fear of capital losses on assets besides money, there may be a â€Å"liquidity trap† setting a floor under which interest rates cannot fall. While in this trap, interest rates are so low that any increase in money supply will cause bond-holders (fearing rises in interest rates and hence capital losses on their bonds) to sell their bonds to attain money (liquidity). In the diagram, the equilibrium suggested by the new I line and the old S line cannot be reached, so that excess saving persists.Some (such as Paul Krugman) see this latter kind of liquidity trap as prevailing in Japan in the 1990s. Most economists agree that nominal interest rates cannot fall below zero. However, some economists (particularly those from the Chicago school) reject the existence of a liquidity trap. Even if the liquidity trap does not exist, there is a fourth (perhaps most important) element to K eynes's critique. Saving involves not spending all of one's income. Thus, it means insufficient demand for business output, unless it is balanced by other sources of demand, such as fixed investment.Therefore, excessive saving corresponds to an unwanted accumulation of inventories, or what classical economists called a general glut. [ This pile-up of unsold goods and materials encourages businesses to decrease both production and employment. This in turn lowers people's incomes – and saving, causing a leftward shift in the S line in the diagram (step B). For Keynes, the fall in income did most of the job by ending excessive saving and allowing the loanable funds market to attain equilibrium. Instead of interest-rate adjustment solving the problem, a recession does so.Thus in the diagram, the interest-rate change is small. Whereas the classical economists assumed that the level of output and income was constant and given at any one time (except for short-lived deviations), Key nes saw this as the key variable that adjusted to equate saving and investment. Finally, a recession undermines the business incentive to engage in fixed investment. With falling incomes and demand for products, the desired demand for factories and equipment (not to mention housing) will fall. This accelerator effect would shift the I line to the left again, a change not shown in the diagram above.This recreates the problem of excessive saving and encourages the recession to continue. In sum, to Keynes there is interaction between excess supplies in different markets, as unemployment in labour markets encourages excessive saving – and vice-versa. Rather than prices adjusting to attain equilibrium, the main story is one of quantity adjustment allowing recessions and possible attainment of underemployment equilibrium. Active fiscal policy Classical economists have traditionally yearned for balanced government budgets.Keynesians, on the other hand, believe this would exacerbate the underlying problem: following either the expansionary policy or the contractionary policy would raise saving (broadly defined) and thus lower the demand for both products and labour. For example, Keynesians would advise tax cuts instead. [10] Keynes's ideas influenced Franklin D. Roosevelt's view that insufficient buying-power caused the Depression. During his presidency, Roosevelt adopted some aspects of Keynesian economics, especially after 1937, when, in the depths of the Depression, the United States suffered from recession yet again following fiscal contraction.But to many the true success of Keynesian policy can be seen at the onset of World War II, which provided a kick to the world economy, removed uncertainty, and forced the rebuilding of destroyed capital. Keynesian ideas became almost official in social-democratic Europe after the war and in the U. S. in the 1960s. Keynes developed a theory which suggested that active government policy could be effective in managing t he economy.Rather than seeing unbalanced government budgets as wrong, Keynes advocated what has been called countercyclical fiscal policies, that is, policies that acted against the tide of the business cycle: deficit spending when a nation's economy suffers from recessionor when recovery is long-delayed and unemployment is persistently high – and the suppression of inflation in boom times by either increasing taxes or cutting back on government outlays. He argued that governments should solve problems in the short run rather than waiting for market forces to do it in the long run, because, â€Å"in the long run, we are all dead.†This contrasted with the classical and neoclassical economic analysis of fiscal policy. Fiscal stimulus could actuate production. But, to these schools, there was no reason to believe that this stimulation would outrun the side-effects that â€Å"crowd out† private investment: first, it would increase the demand for labour and raise wag es, hurting profitability; Second, a government deficit increases the stock of government bonds, reducing their market price and encouraging high interest rates, making it more expensive for business to finance fixed investment.Thus, efforts to stimulate the economy would be self-defeating. The Keynesian response is that such fiscal policy is appropriate only when unemployment is persistently high, above the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment (NAIRU). In that case, crowding out is minimal. Further, private investment can be â€Å"crowded in†: Fiscal stimulus raises the market for business output, raising cash flow and profitability, spurring business optimism. To Keynes, this accelerator effect meant that government and business could be complements rather than substitutes in this situation.Second, as the stimulus occurs, gross domestic product rises, raising the amount of saving, helping to finance the increase in fixed investment. Finally, government outlays ne ed not always be wasteful: government investment in public goods that will not be provided by profit-seekers will encourage the private sector's growth. That is, government spending on such things as basic research, public health, education, and infrastructure could help the long-term growth of potential output. In Keynes's theory, there must be significant slack in the labour market before fiscal expansion is justified.Contrary to some critical characterizations of it, Keynesianism does not consist solely of deficit spending. Keynesianism recommends counter-cyclical policies. An example of a counter-cyclical policy is raising taxes to cool the economy and to prevent inflation when there is abundant demand-side growth, and engaging in deficit spending on labour-intensive infrastructure projects to stimulate employment and stabilize wages during economic downturns. Classical economics, on the other hand, argues that one should cut taxes when there are budget surpluses, and cut spendi ng – or, less likely, increase taxes – during economic downturns.Keynesian economists believe that adding to profits and incomes during boom cycles through tax cuts, and removing income and profits from the economy through cuts in spending during downturns, tends to exacerbate the negative effects of the business cycle. This effect is especially pronounced when the government controls a large fraction of the economy, as increased tax revenue may aid investment in state enterprises in downturns, and decreased state revenue and investment harm those enterprises. â€Å"Multiplier effect† and interest rates Main article: Spending multiplierTwo aspects of Keynes's model has implications for policy: First, there is the â€Å"Keynesian multiplier†, first developed by Richard F. Kahn in 1931. Exogenous increases in spending, such as an increase in government outlays, increases total spending by a multiple of that increase. A government could stimulate a great dea l of new production with a modest outlay if: 1. The people who receive this money then spend most on consumption goods and save the rest. 2. This extra spending allows businesses to hire more people and pay them, which in turn allows a further increase in consumer spending.This process continues. At each step, the increase in spending is smaller than in the previous step, so that the multiplier process tapers off and allows the attainment of an equilibrium. This story is modified and moderated if we move beyond a â€Å"closed economy† and bring in the role of taxation: The rise in imports and tax payments at each step reduces the amount of induced consumer spending and the size of the multiplier effect. Second, Keynes re-analyzed the effect of the interest rate on investment. In the classical model, the supply of funds (saving) determines the amount of fixed business investment.That is, under the classical model, since all savings are placed in banks, and all business investo rs in need of borrowed funds go to banks, the amount of savings determines the amount that is available to invest. Under Keynes's model, the amount of investment is determined independently by long-term profit expectations and, to a lesser extent, the interest rate. The latter opens the possibility of regulating the economy through money supply changes, via monetary policy. Under conditions such as the Great Depression, Keynes argued that this approach would be relatively ineffective compared to fiscal policy.But, during more â€Å"normal† times, monetary expansion can stimulate the economy. IS/LM model The IS/LM model is nearly as influential as Keynes's original analysis in determining actual policy and economics education. It relates aggregate demand and employment to three exogenousquantities, i. e. , the amount of money in circulation, the government budget, and the state of business expectations. This model was very popular with economists after World War II because it could be understood in terms of general equilibrium theory. This encouraged a much more static vision of macroeconomics than that described above.History Precursors Keynes's work was part of a long-running debate within economics over the existence and nature of general gluts. While a number of the policies Keynes advocated (the notable one being government deficit spending at times of low private investment or consumption) and the theoretical ideas he proposed (effective demand, the multiplier, the paradox of thrift) were advanced by various authors in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Keynes's unique contribution was to provide a general theory of these, which proved acceptable to the political and economic establishments.Schools See also: Underconsumption, Birmingham School (economics), and Stockholm school (economics) An intellectual precursor of Keynesian economics was underconsumption theory in classical economics, dating from such 19th-century economists as Thomas Malthus, t he Birmingham Schoolof Thomas Attwood, and the American economists William Trufant Foster and Waddill Catchings, who were influential in the 1920s and 1930s.Underconsumptionists were, like Keynes after them, concerned with failure of aggregate demand to attain potential output, calling this â€Å"under consumption† (focusing on the demand side), rather than â€Å"overproduction† (which would focus on the supply side), and advocating economic interventionism. Keynes specifically discussed under consumption (which he wrote â€Å"under-consumption†) in the General Theory, in Chapter 22, Section IV and Chapter 23, Section VII.Numerous concepts were developed earlier and independently of Keynes by the Stockholm school during the 1930s; these accomplishments were described in a 1937 article, published in response to the 1936 General Theory, sharing the Swedish discoveries. Concepts The multiplier dates to work in the 1890s by the Australian economist Alfred De Lissa, the Danish economist Julius Wulff, and the German American economist Nicholas Johannsen,[15] the latter being cited in a footnote of Keynes. [16] Nicholas Johannsen also proposed a theory of effective demand in the 1890s. The paradox of thrift was stated in 1892 by John M.Robertson in his The Fallacy of Savings, in earlier forms by mercantilist economists since the 16th century, and similar sentiments date to antiquity. [17][18] Today these ideas, regardless of provenance, are referred to in academia under the rubric of â€Å"Keynesian economics†, due to Keynes's role in consolidating, elaborating, and popularizing them. Keynes and the classicists Keynes sought to distinguish his theories from and oppose them to â€Å"classical economics,† by which he meant the economic theories of David Ricardo and his followers, including John Stuart Mill,Alfred Marshall, Francis Ysidro Edgeworth, and Arthur Cecil Pigou.A central tenet of the classical view, known as Say's law, state s that â€Å"supply creates its own demand. † Say's Law can be interpreted in two ways. First, the claim that the total value of output is equal to the sum of income earned in production is a result of a national income accounting identity, and is therefore indisputable. A second and stronger claim, however, that the â€Å"costs of output are always covered in the aggregate by the sale-proceeds resulting from demand† depends on how consumption and saving are linked to production and investment.In particular, Keynes argued that the second, strong form of Say's Law only holds if increases in individual savings exactly match an increase in aggregate investment. Keynes sought to develop a theory that would explain determinants of saving, consumption, investment and production. In that theory, the interaction of aggregate demand and aggregate supply determines the level of output and employment in the economy. Because of what he considered the failure of the â€Å"Classica l Theory† in the 1930s, Keynes firmly objects to its main theory – adjustments in prices would automatically make demand tend to the full employment level.Neo-classical theory supports that the two main costs that shift demand and supply are labour and money. Through the distribution of the monetary policy, demand and supply can be adjusted. If there were more labour than demand for it, wages would fall until hiring began again. If there were too much saving, and not enough consumption, then interest rates would fall until people either cut their savings rate or started borrowing. Postwar KeynesianismMain articles: Neo-Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economics, and Post-Keynesian economics Keynes's ideas became widely accepted after World War II, and until the early 1970s, Keynesian economics provided the main inspiration for economic policy makers in Western industrialized countries. Governments prepared high quality economic statistics on an ongoing basis and tried to base their policies on the Keynesian theory that had become the norm. In the early era of new liberalism and social democracy, most western capitalist countries enjoyed low, stable unemployment and modest inflation, an era called the Golden Age of Capitalism.In terms of policy, the twin tools of post-war Keynesian economics were fiscal policy and monetary policy. While these are credited to Keynes, others, such as economic historian David Colander, argue that they are, rather, due to the interpretation of Keynes by Abba Lerner in his theory of Functional Finance, and should instead be called â€Å"Lernerian† rather than â€Å"Keynesian†. Through the 1950s, moderate degrees of government demand leading industrial development, and use of fiscal and monetary counter-cyclical policies continued, and reached a peak in the â€Å"go go† 1960s, where it seemed to many Keynesians that prosperity was now permanent.In 1971, Republican US President Richard Nixon even pr oclaimed â€Å"I am now a Keynesian in economics. † However, with the oil shock of 1973, and the economic problems of the 1970s, modern liberal economics began to fall out of favor. During this time, many economies experienced high and rising unemployment, coupled with high and rising inflation, contradicting the Phillips curve's prediction. This stagflation meant that the simultaneous application of expansionary (anti-recession) and contractionary(anti-inflation) policies appeared to be necessary. This dilemma led to the end of the Keynesian near-consensus of the 1960s, and the rise throughout the 1970s of ideas based upon more classical analysis, including monetarism, supply-side economics, and new classical economics. At the same time, Keynesians began during the period to reorganize their thinking (some becoming associated with New Keynesian economics).One strategy, utilized also as a critique of the notably high unemployment and potentially disappointing GNP growth rates associated with the latter two theories by the mid-1980s, was to emphasize low unemployment and maximal economic growth at the cost of somewhat higher inflation (its consequences kept in check by indexing and other methods, and its overall rate kept lower and steadier by such potential policies as Martin Weitzman's share economy). [22] Multiple schools of economic thought that trace their legacy to Keynes currently exist, the notable ones being Neo-Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economics, and Post-Keynesian economics.Keynes's biographer Robert Skidelsky writes that the post-Keynesian school has remained closest to the spirit of Keynes's work in following his monetary theory and rejecting the neutrality of money. In the postwar era, Keynesian analysis was combined with neoclassical economics to produce what is generally termed the â€Å"neoclassical synthesis†, yielding Neo-Keynesian economics, which dominated mainstream macroeconomic thought. Though it was widely held t hat there was no strong automatic tendency to full employment, many believed that if government policy were used to ensure it, the economy would behave as neoclassical theory predicted.This post-war domination by Neo-Keynesian economics was broken during the stagflation of the 1970s. There was a lack of consensus among macroeconomists in the 1980s. However, the advent of New Keynesian economics in the 1990s, modified and provided microeconomic foundations for the neo-Keynesian theories. These modified models now dominate mainstream economics. Post-Keynesian economists, on the other hand, reject the neoclassical synthesis and, in general, neoclassical economics applied to the macroeconomy.Post-Keynesian economics is aheterodox school that holds that both Neo-Keynesian economics and New Keynesian economics are incorrect, and a misinterpretation of Keynes's ideas. The Post-Keynesian school encompasses a variety of perspectives, but has been far less influential than the other more main stream Keynesian schools. Relationship to other schools of economics The Keynesian schools of economics are situated alongside a number of other schools that have the same perspectives on what the economic issues are, but differ on what causes them and how to best resolve them: Stockholm SchoolThe Stockholm School rose to prominence at about the same time that Keynes published his General Theory and shared a common concern in business cycles and unemployment. The second generation of Swedish economists also advocated government intervention through spending during economic downturns although opinions are divided over whether they conceived the essence of Keynes's theory before he did. Monetarism There was debate between Monetarists and Keynesians in the 1960s over the role of government in stabilizing the economy.Both Monetarists and Keynesians are in agreement over the fact that issues such as business cycles, unemployment, inflation are caused by inadequate demand, and need to be addressed, but they had fundamentally different perspectives on the capacity of the economy to find its own equilibrium and as a consequence the degree of government intervention that is required to create equilibrium. Keynesians emphasized the use of discretionary fiscal policy and monetary policy, while monetarists argued the primacy of monetary policy, and that it should be rules-based The debate was largely resolved in the 1980s.Since then, economists have largely agreed that central banks should bear the primary responsibility for stabilizing the economy, and that monetary policy should largely follow the Taylor rule – which many economists credit with the Great Moderation. The Global Financial Crisis, however, has convinced many economists and governments of the need for fiscal interventions and highlighted the difficulty in stimulating economies through monetary policy alone during a liquidity trap. Criticisms Austrian School criticisms Austrian economist Friedrich Hay ek disagreed with some of Keynes' views.Journalist and Austrian publicist Henry Hazlitt, wrote a detailed criticism of Keynes's General Theory in The Failure of the New Economics. James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner James M. Buchanan and Richard E. Wagner, writing Democracy in Deficit: The Political Legacy of Lord Keynes and â€Å"The Consequences of Mr. Keynes† with John Burton, criticize Keynesian economics. According to them, The implicit assumption underlying the Keynesian fiscal revolution was that economic policy would be made by wise men, acting without regard to political pressures or opportunities, and guided by disinterested economic technocrats.They insisted that the fundamental flaw of Keynesian economics was the unrealistic assumption about political, bureaucratic and electoral behavior. Some economists such as James Tobin and Robert Barro commented about the thesis. They replied these comments New Classical Macroeconomics criticisms Another influential schoo l of thought was based on the Lucas critique of Keynesian economics. This called for greater consistency with microeconomic theory and rationality, and in particular emphasized the idea of rational expectations.Lucas and others argued that Keynesian economics required remarkably foolish and short-sighted behavior from people, which totally contradicted the economic understanding of their behavior at a micro level. New classical economics introduced a set of macroeconomic theories that were based on optimising microeconomic behavior. These models have been developed into the Real Business Cycle Theory, which argues that business cycle fluctuations can to a large extent be accounted for by real (in contrast to nominal) shocks.Beginning in the late 1950s new classical macroeconomists began to disagree with the methodology employed by Keynes and his successors. Keynesians emphasized the dependence of consumption on disposable income and, also, of investment on current profits and curren t cash flow. In addition, Keynesians posited a Phillips curve that tied nominal wage inflation to unemployment rate. To support these theories, Keynesians typically traced the logical foundations of their model (using introspection) and supported their assumptions with statistical evidence.New classical theorists demanded that macroeconomics be grounded  on the same foundations as microeconomic theory, profit-maximizing firms and rational, utility-maximizing consumers The result of this shift in methodology produced several important divergences from Keynesian Macroeconomics 1. Independence of Consumption and current Income (life-cycle permanent income hypothesis) 2. Irrelevance of Current Profits to Investment (Modigliani-Miller theorem) 3. Long run independence of inflation and unemployment (natural rate of unemployment) 4. The inability of monetary policy to stabilize output (rational expectations) 5. Irrelevance of Taxes and Budget Deficits to Consumption (Ricardian Equivalenc e)