Suze Orman..leadership Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Suze Orman..leadership - Assignment Example Career Suze Orman faced a lot of physical and mental challenges in her youth period, which she overcame through strong determination. Her indomitable effort bore fruit when she completed her graduation from public school and got chance at the Illinois University. At the University of Illinois she was a student of Social Work in which she desired to obtain a degree despite significant hardships. Suze Orman could not get achieve the University degree in first chance. However, instead of staying back moved over to California during 1973 where she started working as a waitress in a bakery to finance her studies. During 1976, Suze Orman was conferred diploma in Social Work by the University of Illinois. The initial period of Suze Orman’s career was as rough as the initial stages of her life. Suze Orman after being a graduate decided to stay back at the bakery to learn the style of the trade. She decided to open a restaurant by herself. To this end, she was also awarded with a loan of $50,000 dollars (by a benevolent customer) that she deposited in Merrill Lynch. However, with the crash of the financial market the entire amount was lost. This changed the course of Suze Orman’s life as she in a great need of meeting the loan ventured into the financial market to be employed as a broker. ... Four years down the line in 1987 Suze Orman resigned from the post of Vice President in Prudential Bache to become a financial entrepreneur. As a financial entrepreneur, Suze Orman ventured to open up her own financial firm, Suze Orman Financial Group where she stayed till 1997. Suze Orman decided again to change her career course from being a financial advisor to become a writer and a speaker. She quit the post of director of her firm and started on her career as a writer and an orator on financial matters (â€Å"Suze Orman Biography†). Achievement Suze Orman’s career as a writer and speaker won her many accolades. The books written by her consists of popular titles like ‘ The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom’, ‘The Courage to Be Rich’ and ‘The Road to Wealth’. All these books authored by Suze Orman happened to become the best sellers in New York. Suze Orman’s writing career also wears some national bestsellers like ‘Youà ¢â‚¬â„¢ve Earned It’ and ‘Don’t lose it’. Her writing career gains further recognition through her continued literary contribution to America’s contemporary magazines like ‘Oprah Winfrey’s Magazine’, ‘Philadelphia Inquirer’ among others. Apart from shining in her writing career, Suze Orman made a mark of an orator while hosting a show in the CNBC Channel. A separate segment was created in CNBC named ‘The Suze Orman Show’ which gained huge popularity. Her list of accolades includes Emmy awards for hosting shows aimed at public service. Suze Orman also received the Gracy Allen award for her significant contribution in financial talk shows in the audio and visual media. The Smart Money Magazine had listed Suze Orman among thirty ‘’Power Brokers’’ in the country. The Feminist Press for her

Energy drinks Essay Example for Free

Energy drinks Essay An energy drink is a drink which contains drugs that increases levels of nervous activity in the body, mainly caffeine, which is known for its mental or physical stimulation. Energy drinks may or may not be carbonated, and contain large amounts of caffeine and other stimulants drugs, and many also contain sugar, herbal extracts and amino acids. They are sub branches of the group of energy products, which includes bars and gels. Energy drinks comes in many brands, qualities, flavors and varieties. Positive Points: 1. Significant amount of improvement in mental and cognitive performances as well as increased alertness. 2. It’s been suggested that the reversal of some components present in caffeine helps in leaving a good effect on mood and one’s performance. 3. After many tests it is observed that in young healthy adults an energy drink significantly increased upper body muscle strength. 4. Energy drinks help in improve memory. 5. Energy drinks improve circulation of blood in your brain, ears and eyes. 6. Many energy drink companies use fruits and herbs that are healthy (for example: berries they protect your body cells from oxidation). Negative points: With 30 to 50 percent of teens are taking energy drinks on daily basis, there are disadvantages of drinking these drinks, especially in children and teenagers, because they cannot safely consume as much caffeine as adults can. 1. Energy drinks are very high in sugar level, containing up to 35 grams of sugar per drink, which is above the recommended amount of sugars for women of 25 grams per day and very close to the recommended daily limit of 37.5 grams per men. Consuming a lot of added sugars increases your risk for obesity, because added sugars provide extra calories. 2. The caffeine in energy drinks increases the speed with which the alcohol is absorbed by a body making it more likely a person will stay awake long enough to consume more alcohol than a body would otherwise be able to. 3. The risks can be lessened by sticking to the recommended limts, which are listed on every drink, and by controlling the consumption of energy drinks by drinking one drink in a day. Extra ingredients , like amino acids, taurine, guarana and ginseng, are added in such small amounts that they are not likely to give any beneficial health effects or cause any negative side effects. Suggestion: 1. For many people, occasional drinks are fine, but try your best to limit yourself to about 500 milliliters a day. If youre consistently fatigued or rundown, however, figure a better and healthier way to boost your energy. Get good sleep, include yourself physical activity in your routine, and eat a healthy food. If these things dont help, consult your doctor. Sometimes fatigue is a sign medical condition, such as hypothyroidism or anemia. 2. There are energy drinks which are not recommended, If you have a heart disease or high blood pressure, consult your doctor if energy drinks may cause complications. Pregnant women and women who are breast-feeding may want to especially limit consumption of these beverages. 3. With the growing popularity of energy drinks on daily basis, most of the parents are concerned about how much caffeine their kids are taking. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that adolescents get no more than 100 milligrams of caffeine a day. Younger children shouldnt drink caffeinated beverages on a regular basis.

Essay example --

In comparison to parallel economically advanced democracies, the United States in particular is prone to uniquely adversarial and legalistic means of policy formulation and implementation, constructed by the process of judicial review. With the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, common law, or using precedent as the basis of judicial policy making, has been a staple for American society. This British adaptation to U.S. lawmaking has evolved into an interest-driven persuasion tactic as opposed to statutory interpretation and democratic mechanisms. Americans frequently rely on legal threats and lawsuits, in which the laws that pertain, generally, are more complicated and prescriptive. In idealistic democratic models, the relative institutional relationships among the legislature, the executive state, and the courts. Yet, it is a false truth of the current U.S. governing system, in which author Robert Kagan theorizes is due to the American way of law known as adversarial leg alism. Although a thesis in this form is hardly a new discussion, Kagan’s treatment of it ranges throughout the political spectrum, targeting both the atmosphere surrounding policy making as well as its political actors within. Kagan provides a chief explanation for adversarial legalism as a mode of policy making, implementation, and dispute resolution characterized by frequent resort to highly adversarial legal interests, that conclusively infiltrate American democracy and ironically isolate branches of government, discrediting its merit of freedom and equality. Through this examination of politics, it is apparent that the system is at fault, perhaps inevitably, to the continuously growing problem of fragmented government that align with various other... ... and reform. Yet, it is in my opinion that his article is of such significance because of its logistic explanation of such frequent and high volume Court case reforms. Author Mark Graber in The Lessons of Dred Scott, claimed that decision rendered by Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney in 1865 was unavoidable, simply because the decision was consistent with the times of the era (Graber, p.7). This conditionality of politics concerning political environments is evident in Kagan as well, providing both political scientists and students alike with the knowledge that Courts do and often will act not only for the majority, but also more explicitly towards the persuasion tactics of every outlet of both private and public political participation, which provides a necessary and comprehensive evaluation of the American way of law unknown to many, including myself until today.

Ancient Chinese Inventions

Ancient Chinese Inventions It is well known that China has an ancient and glorious history, from the feudal periods ending in 222 BC through the three Imperial and Intermediate Eras, up to the Modern era – over 4000 years of dynastic reigns. It may also be well known that China is the source of many wonderful and useful inventions from spaghetti to gunpowder. This list, however, will take a slightly different slant of the topic: Chinese inventions and developments that were not known to or adopted by the Western (European) world for many decades and sometimes centuries after they were common place in China.Some you may be familiar with, others perhaps less so. First on the list is Row Planting, which is from Feudal period through 6 century BC. The Chinese begin planting crops in rows sometime around 6 century BC. This allows the crops to grow stronger and a lot faster. It allows more efficient planting, weeding, harvesting and watering. There is also proof documented that they realized that when the wind travels over rows of plants it causes less damage to the crop. This development was not introduced in the western world for another 2200 years.A Chinese man by the name of Master Lu wrote in the â€Å"Spring and Autumn Annals†: If the crops are grown in rows they will mature rapidly because they will not interfere with each other’s growth. The vertical rows made for skill, the horizontal rows must be drawn well, for if the lines are straight the wind will pass gently through. Along with the above we have mechanical clock mechanisms. This was invented around 725 AD. This clock operated by dripping water that powered a wheel, which made one full revolution in 24 hours. A bronze and iron system of wheels and gears made the clock rotate.Accurate mechanical clocks were developed because of a belief in the form of astrology. This was based upon the moment of conception rather than the time of birth. In ancient years retainers would listen outside of royal bedrooms to record the possible times of conception of royal children. This event was important enough that considerable effort was devoted to developing accurate timing mechanisms. Next on the list would be the compass, which was developed around Feudal period through 4th cent BC. The Chinese developed a lodestone instrument to ndicate direction which is known as the compass. Upon development the compass were only south pointing and were primarily use for land as divination tools and direct finders. It was written that lodestone makes iron come or it attracts it. Spoons were used to point the direction, while mounted on plates. The spoons were made from lodestone, while the plates were of bronze. Later in year of 1040 thermo-remanence needles were produced for mariners. The common use of this was recorded around year 1119. The thermo-remanence technology is still in use today.Then we have deep drilling, the Chinese invented a tool used for deep drilling boreholes. This wa s invented around circa 202 BC through 220 AD. It is listed that some of these boreholes would reach the depths of 4800 feet. This technology would be easily recognizable to a modern engineer. The Chinese would stack rocks with center holes which were tube or doughnut shaped from the surface to the deep stone layer as a guide for their drills. In the search for salt wells the Chinese developed a technology of driving bamboo poles deep into the earth.In addition to brine this drilling also often tapped into reservoirs of natural gas. The natural gas was captured in barrels and used as fuel to evaporate the water from brine to produce salt. They used the gas to boil sea water which separated the salt allowing it to become drinkable. The Chinese also invented gun powder; this was invented around 850 AD. An enterprising alchemist mixed 75 parts saltpeter with 15 parts charcoal and 10 parts sulfur. This mixture had no discernible life-lengthening properties, but it did explode with a fla sh and a bang when it was exposed to an open flame.What is noted in text from the era is that smoke and flames result so that hand and faces have been burnt, and even the whole house where they were working burned down. Then we have something that is widely used and appreciated throughout countries, cities and societies, the commonly used paper. This was invented around 105 AD and was made from a suspension of hemp waste in water, washed, soaked and beaten with a wooden mallet. A paper mold, probably a sieve of coarsely woven cloth stretched in a four sided bamboo frame, was used to dip up the fiber slurry from the vat and hold it for drying.Initially it was used for clothing rather than writing material. It was used to make body armor for soldiers. Now we have the ancient Chinese great unique invention of porcelain, which was invented around 16 century BC. In very ancient times the Chinese discovered that with the right choice of clay and firing techniques pottery could be made so thin that is was translucent. Such porcelain became universally known as china. Last but definitely not lease we have the known Chinese invention of a fabric that is soft to the skin. This fabric is called silk, which was invented around 3000 BC.For more than two thousand years the Chinese kept the secret of silk altogether to themselves. It was the most zealously guarded secret in history. The Chinese discovered that the cocoons of silk worms could be unwound and the filaments used to weave an especially light strong and beautiful cloth. All of these inventions were invented by original everyday pioneers. The saying goes everyday people do extraordinary things. Out of all of these wonderful inventions that were discussed, the invention of silk, paper, row planting and the mechanical clock mechanism would be the choice of the most important.Let’s briefly go over the reasons why these four would be the most important inventions. The invention of silk has paved the way for cent uries of fabric wearers. In the ancient years a person could distinguish who was royalty by the silk garment that was worn. Silk is 100% natural fabric and is healthy for your breathing due to the fact that silk is naturally hypoallergenic. The invention of row planting allowed more efficient growth of produce for farming which allowed more and better food to sell and to eat.The invention of the mechanical clock mechanism has evolved in time to be a much needed daily device called the clock. A clock is an instrument use to indicate, keep and coordinate time. A clock refers to any device for measuring and displaying time. This clock mechanism invention has involved into personal time keepers like a wrist watch, pocket watch etc. The invention of paper would be one of the best great inventions due to the fact that paper is used for everything in daily life. Paper was used to spread information that was on hand written letters. Paper is also used for drawings and painting.Not to mentio n that paper is used for books, newspaper and lets not forgot paper is used for making what we all love to spend money. Of all of the inventions listed above if there were one invention that would be listed as a must have invention would be the invention of paper. The invention of paper has evolved into the making of paper money. Paper money consists of 1, 5, 10, 20 dollar bills and etc. Money is something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a unit of account or a store of value. The first advantage to having money is that fact that stuff costs money. If you want things you have to have money to pay for them.Vary rarely do people just give their stuff away, they want something for it and money is the universal trade item. You can trade money for almost anything in the world. If you want a lot of stuff you need to have a lot of money. We now know that we owe a whole lot to the ancient Chinese for inventing so many things that are of important value to our lives. Makes you won der if they knew back then how important these inventions would become to be. References â€Å"About the Collection. † About the Collection. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http://www. ipst. gatech. edu/amp/collection>. CHINESEA   INVENTIONS. † Chinese Inventions. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http://www. vhinkle. com/china/inventions. html>. â€Å"History of Silk. † History of Silk. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http://www. silk-road. com/artl/silkhistory. shtml>. â€Å"Natural Gas Exploration. † Natural Gas Exploration. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http://www. explorations. org/natural_gas_exploration_cont. html>. â€Å"Origin of Chinese Porcelain. † Origin of Chinese Porcelain. N. p. , n. d. Web. 20 Aug. 2012. <http://www1. chinaculture. org/gb/en_artqa/2003-09/24/content_37884. htm>.

King Kong Remake Analysis Essay

Movies have shown throughout our time that there is a strong underlying theme or message that can be unseen to most. It can be a minuscule significance to some, who focus on the violence and special effects, but once you start looking back at the big picture of certain films, there is so much more. A lot of people tend to focus on what is being filmed instead of how it’s being filmed. The difference is remarkable between the two films King Kong (1933) and the remake of King Kong produced in 2005. The perspective of how the story played out is very different between the two films. On one end, in the original, Kong is portrayed as a violent beast similar to a Godzilla type figure that is a huge threat to civilization. In the remake, it brings a deeper relationship to Kong to humanize his character. The audience can feel his emotions and reactions in a much bigger way to show he might be a powerful beast, but has a big heart too. The difference of how scenes are depicted by each director seems to be complete opposite visions of how the story plays out in each film. It’s interesting to see overtime how the outlook on how man deals with nature has dramatically shifted. Both films underlying messages can be very unnoticed with all the action, adventuring, and amazing special effects going on in the film. This ultimately makes it harder to pick out how power obsessed America was in the original, and how destructive we really are with nature today. It’s very apparent that both movies follow the same story line and plot, but how it is seen through the director’s eyes is very different. In both movies, the humans seem to be very destructive and disrespectful to nature. This is seen a lot more in the remake. Throughout original King Kong you never get that close to Kong to see how he feels and why he feels certain ways. A lot of the scenes with him in it displays very destructive behavior of him killing and tearing things apart. It sets him up as a monstrous figure similar to Godzilla, whereas the other movie personifies Kong as more of a humanized beast that is just looking for love and understanding. The newer film shows this by longer drawn out scenes between Ann and Kong that are almost intimate. Even though Kong cannot talk, the audience can tell how he’s thinking by facial expressions, along with his grunts and roars. It’s understandable the older film wasn’t able to show these certain sides of Kong due to technology and outdated special effects, but they still repeatedly display Kong’s actions and intentions strictly out of violence. In the original Kong, he is captured and put on display in New York City; he breaks out and is immediately enraged by the situation. He begins to run around the city damaging buildings, killing innocent civilians, and causing complete chaos. This again shows how Kong is a problem with society and a huge threat to anyone near him. Putting his image as this out of control beast brings the element that we have to conquer nature to express our true power with weapons and technology. This scene dramatically differs in the new film. Once Kong breaks free of captivity while being put on display on the stage, his focus is not on destroying and causing harm. His motivation is fully on being reunited with his love Ann. When he finally gets back together with her, they show just the two of them playing together in the snow at central park. They are laughing and enjoying themselves in a peaceful setting, showing that Kong means no harm at all. Until all of the sudden police and military forces interrupt the two with bombings, which puts a sense of how we are the evil force in the movie. Putting Kong on display like he was shows how we really do not respect nature. Its seen so much today that we start to treat animals as objects or material things to be used for our pleasure. Whether animals are used for food, or put in an exhibit at a zoo, it’s very apparent the respect for them is fading. A lot can argue that we need these things to survive or for our entertainment but we definitely go overboard. Our country does not think twice to slaughter millions of animals each day just for our benefit. It also wouldn’t be uncommon to see an animal’s head put up on display on a wall similar to a trophy or family picture. This develops a huge consequence because we don’t ever stop to think from the animal’s point of view. It seems to result in a lot of selfish acts by humans who don’t think twice about treating animals this way, which ultimately destroys their true worth of living beings. In the remake of King Kong, Kong is seen as a protector to Ann. He does not let anyone else harm her and never takes his eye off of her. No matter what the situation seems to be, his full focus is on Ann. In the original she doesn’t seem to be his top priority, and seems like he’s more about showing off how strong and powerful he can really be throughout the film. It’s very apparent in the scene where Kong battles two Tyrannosaurus Rex in the jungle on Skull Island. In the original, Ann is sitting off to the side watching from a distance very frightened. Kong continues to battle and barely acknowledges Ann and seems to worry more about his own well-being. There was even a point where she is pinned under a tree during the battle, and Kong doesn’t seem to notice her presence or screams until he’s finished with his fight. It is completely different in the new film. During the whole scene while fighting the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Kong has Ann wrapped up in his hand, and never lets go. He keeps her close to him at all times and makes sure she doesn’t get harmed. It really shows how Kong means well and looks out for her, almost as her guardian as they go around Skull Island. By doing this, the film really shows how Kong ultimately has good intentions with Ann. Seeing how he will defend Ann by any cost, shows that she has a place in Kong’s heart and he really does mean well. Even though Kong shows his loyalty out of violent acts, it’s still very obvious he does this strictly to protect the ones he cares about, bringing the viewers on Kong’s side. It shows how she is a true priority to Kong and his intentions are for the best, making him a more respectable character that doesn’t deserved to be captured. Building Kong’s character up as a protector and intelligent beast really puts the spotlight on us that we are the destructive force. This seems problematic today with all of the poaching and extinctions of our beloved animals, which we are the main contributors to. There are many cases where laws have been established because of people killing animals for clothing or cosmetic purposes. It shows we don’t believe these animals’ lives are worth much. It’s almost every day where you can see a commercial about donating money to help save or adopt some type of animal in need. When in reality, we probably wouldn’t need to do that if we made sacrifices ourselves to help protect our animals and environment. The last scene where Kong is shot down climbing the Empire State building makes arguably the biggest impression on how destructive we really can be to nature. As seen in the original, Kong is a huge problem in society and an untamable beast. This is a big reason why when the military and police forces are called in, they are portrayed as the hero type image saving the day. It shows it in a big way that we won’t be conquered by something like this, and humans can over power nature at the end of the day. However in the remake, it seems to be the complete opposite. Throughout the film the audience grows closer to Kong, and the last thing that is wanted is for him to be harmed. He has shown that he is loyal to Ann and just wants to be loved. That’s why when the airplanes are called in to destroy Kong; it’s almost hard to watch. It’s apparent that Kong did not want to be captured, and we now have to use violent force against him just because us humans can’t respect nature. It really shows how hypocritical we are and selfish the society can be. When captured he was praised and displayed as â€Å"The Eighth Wonder of the World†, but after breaking free, he needs to be killed. Humans never really look back and see how he might be feeling about ripping him out of his home, thinking he is just some type of ignorant animal that is to be put on display for everyone to look at. It definitely symbolizes how power hungry our country is. We are always trying to fix other countries problems and colonize the world when we have enough issues of our own to work out. In the end the military forces and planes bring Kong to his death, which presents another problem of how we use our technology available to take control and overpower situations. A lot of people view Kong as a problem and a threat to society because you see how violent and powerful he can really be. This is true, but that’s the exact reason we do not need to be capturing and taking Kong out of his environment. If we would have just let him be in peace in his own environment where he belonged, there would be no reason for having to kill him, But America’s greed for fame and money overpowers that in this film. It really goes to show how we are the destructive ones that have no respect for nature and it’s ultimately our fault this happened. It’s very vital to the viewers watching to see the significant themes shown throughout the films. It’s surprising how the same story can be displayed but with completely different underlying messages. The newer and drawn out film really enables the audience on how Kong is feeling throughout the film. It makes a huge impact on how you view everything else. Protecting and conserving nature seems to be the least of our priorities and degrades the worth of animal’s lives. Many viewers always look at it as â€Å"Beauty killed the Beast†, when really I believe we killed the beast with our destructive and selfish plans regarding nature’s finest things.

Free Essays on Founding Brothers, By Joseph J. Ellis Book Review

The opposing ideologies during the post-revolutionary era of individual liberty (the Jeffersonian outlook) versus collective nationalism (the Hamiltonian outlook) had the potential to swallow the infant American union into an abyss of anarchy. As Ellis puts it, â€Å"The politics of the 1790s was a truly cacophonous affair.† (page 16). Similar revolutions in Europe had resulted in postbellum nightmares, where differing parties and ideologies had fought to the death over power. But the American Revolution was a colonial revolution very different than others in that its founders’ acumen allowed them to safely place their opposing ideologies in a governmental structure containing political parties, and thus form a basis of government on healthy debate as opposed to antagonism. Through six stories and themes on specific events in the lives of Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison, â€Å"Founding Brothers† masterfully explains how the fou nders were able to â€Å"contain the explosive energies of the debate† (15), and thereby successfully create what is now the longest and most enduring republic of all time, the United States. Professor Ellis employs a stylistically unique way of presenting and detailing this overwhelmingly massive and often daunting subject of history. He uses stories as his format to capture the personalities, temperaments and dynamic interactions of the leading figures, and he presents them as real people we can relate to, with shortcomings and other imperfections. His purpose is to reveal the unique origin and character of the American Revolution as a colonial revolution very different from others in history and to reveal the origin of how the major ideas and institutions of the United States were decided. The thrust and primary thesis, however, are to show how these political leaders functioned as a collective unit in which each leader contributed a specific strength. This collective balan... Free Essays on Founding Brothers, By Joseph J. Ellis Book Review Free Essays on Founding Brothers, By Joseph J. Ellis Book Review The opposing ideologies during the post-revolutionary era of individual liberty (the Jeffersonian outlook) versus collective nationalism (the Hamiltonian outlook) had the potential to swallow the infant American union into an abyss of anarchy. As Ellis puts it, â€Å"The politics of the 1790s was a truly cacophonous affair.† (page 16). Similar revolutions in Europe had resulted in postbellum nightmares, where differing parties and ideologies had fought to the death over power. But the American Revolution was a colonial revolution very different than others in that its founders’ acumen allowed them to safely place their opposing ideologies in a governmental structure containing political parties, and thus form a basis of government on healthy debate as opposed to antagonism. Through six stories and themes on specific events in the lives of Hamilton, Burr, Jefferson, Franklin, Washington, Adams, and Madison, â€Å"Founding Brothers† masterfully explains how the fou nders were able to â€Å"contain the explosive energies of the debate† (15), and thereby successfully create what is now the longest and most enduring republic of all time, the United States. Professor Ellis employs a stylistically unique way of presenting and detailing this overwhelmingly massive and often daunting subject of history. He uses stories as his format to capture the personalities, temperaments and dynamic interactions of the leading figures, and he presents them as real people we can relate to, with shortcomings and other imperfections. His purpose is to reveal the unique origin and character of the American Revolution as a colonial revolution very different from others in history and to reveal the origin of how the major ideas and institutions of the United States were decided. The thrust and primary thesis, however, are to show how these political leaders functioned as a collective unit in which each leader contributed a specific strength. This collective balan...

Definition and Examples of Word Triplets in English

Definition and Examples of Word Triplets in English In  English grammar  and  morphology, triplets  or word triplets are three distinct words derived from the same source but at different times and by different paths, such as place, plaza, and piazza (all from the Latin platea, a broad street). In most cases, such words have the same ultimate origin in Latin. Captain, Chief,andChef The triplets wont necessarily be obvious just by looking at the words but will take a little investigation for their relationship to come clear. English words encode interesting and useful historical information. For example, compare the words captainchiefchef All three derive historically from cap, a Latin word element meaning head, which is also found in the words capital, decapitate, capitulate, and others. It is easy to see the connection in meaning between them if you think of them as the head of a vessel or military unit, the leader or head of a group, and the head of a kitchen respectively. Furthermore, English borrowed all three words from French, which in turn borrowed or inherited them from Latin. Why then is the word element spelled and pronounced differently in the three words?The first word, captain, has a simple story: the word was borrowed from Latin with minimal change. French adapted it from Latin in the 13th century, and English borrowed it from French in the 14th. The sounds /k/ and /p/ have not changed in English since that time, and so the Latin element cap-  /kap/ remains substantially intact in that word.French did not borrow the next two words from Latin...French developed from Latin, with the grammar and vocabula ry being passed down from speaker to speaker with small, cumulative changes. Words passed down in this way are said to be inherited, not borrowed. English borrowed the word chief from French in the 13th century, even earlier than it borrowed captain. But because chief was an inherited word in French, it had undergone many centuries of sound changes by that time...It was this form that English borrowed from French.After English borrowed the word chief, further changes took place in French...Subsequently English also borrowed the word in this form [chef]. Thanks to the linguistic evolution of French and the English propensity to borrow words from that language, a single Latin word element, cap-, which was always pronounced /kap/ in Roman times, now appears in English in three very different guises. (Keith M. Denning, Brett Kessler, and William R. Leben, English Vocabulary Elements, 2nd ed. Oxford University Press, 2007) Hostel, Hospital, and Hotel Another example [of triplets] is hostel (from Old French), hospital (from Latin), and hotel (from modern French), all derived from the Latin hospitale. (Katherine Barber, Six Words You Never Knew Had Something to Do With Pigs. Penguin, 2007) Similar but From Different Sources The resulting English triplets might not even look similar, depending on the route they took to get to English. The simultaneous borrowing of French and Latin words led to a highly distinctive feature of modern English vocabulary: sets of three items (triplets), all expressing the same fundamental notion but differing slightly in meaning or style, e.g., kingly, royal, regal; rise, mount, ascend; ask, question, interrogate; fast, firm, secure; holy, sacred, consecrated. The Old English word (the first in each triplet) is the most colloquial, the French (the second) is more literary, and the Latin word (the last) more learned. (Howard Jackson and Etienne Zà © Amvela, Words, Meaning and Vocabulary: An Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. Continuum, 2000)Still more remarkable is the fact that there are in our language words that have made three appearances- one through Latin, one through Norman-French, and one through ordinary French. These seem to live quietly side by side in the language, and no one asks by what claim they are here. They are useful; that is enough. These triplets are- reg al, royal, and real; legal, loyal, and leal; fidelity, faithfulness, and fealty. The adjective real we no longer possess in the sense of royal, but Chaucer uses it...Leal is most used in Scotland, where it has a settled abode in the well-known phrase the land o the leal. (J.M.D. Meiklejohn, The English Language, Its Grammar, History, and Literature.  12th ed. W.J. Gage, 1895)

E.T. Movie Released

E.T. Movie Released The movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was a hit from the day it was released (June 11, 1982) and quickly became one of the most beloved movies of all time. The Plot The movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was about a 10-year-old boy, Elliott (played by Henry Thomas), who befriended a little, lost alien. Elliott named the alien E.T. and did his best to hide him from adults. Soon Elliotts two siblings, Gertie (played by Drew Barrymore) and Michael (played by Robert MacNaughton), discovered E.T.s existence and helped. The children tried to help E.T. construct a device so that he could phone home and thus hopefully become rescued from the planet he was accidentally left upon. During the time they spent together, Elliott and E.T. create such a strong bond that when E.T. started to become sick, so did Elliott. The plot got even sadder when agents from the government discovered the dying E.T. and quarantined him. Elliott, distraught by his friends illness, eventually rescues  his friend and flees  from the pursuing government agents. Realizing that E.T. would only really get better if he could go home, Elliott took E.T. to the spaceship that had returned for him. Knowing they would never see each other again, the two good friends say  goodbye. Creating E.T. They storyline of E.T. had its beginnings in director Steven Spielbergs own past. When Spielbergs parents divorced in 1960, Spielberg invented an imaginary alien to keep him company. Using the idea of a lovable alien, Spielberg worked with Melissa Mathison (future wife of Harrison Ford) on the set of Raiders of the Lost Ark to write the screenplay. With the screenplay written, Spielberg needed the right alien to play E.T. After spending $1.5 million, the E.T. we now know and love was created in multiple versions for close-ups, full-body shots, and animatronics. Reportedly, the look of E.T. was based on Albert Einstein, Carl Sandburg, and a pug dog. (Personally, I can definitely see the pug in E.T.) Spielberg filmed E.T. in two very unusual ways. First, nearly all of the movie was filmed from the eye-level of the children, with most of the adults in E.T. only seen from about the waist down. This perspective allowed even adult moviegoers to feel like a child while watching the movie. Secondly, the film was mostly shot in chronological order, which is not a common filmmaking practice. Spielberg chose to film this way so that the child actors would have a more realistic, emotional reaction to E.T. throughout the movie and especially during E.T.s departure at the end. E.T. Was a Hit E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was a blockbuster movie right from its release. Its opening weekend grossed $11.9 million and E.T. stayed at the top of the charts for over four months. At the time, it was the largest grossing movie ever made. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won four of them: Sound Effects Editing, Visual Effects, Best Music (Original Score), and Best Sound (Best Picture that year went to Gandhi). E.T. touched the hearts of millions and has remained one of the best movies ever made.

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

FINANCIAL MARKETS AND MONETARY POLICY - Essay Example Since then it has been varying over the years where the present name ‘official bank rate’ was initiated in 2006 replacing the former ‘Repo Rate’ that existed till 1997. The rate of interest is levied by the nation’s central bank or the Federal bank on lending or advances to regulate the supply of money in the banking sector and overall economy. This is essentially conducted on a quarterly term to regulate the inflation rate and strengthen the nation’s rates of exchange. Any deviation in the bank rates stimulates a ripple-impact as it affects every sector of the economy. For example, the stock prices in the exchange market seem to respond to the changes in the interest rates. A variation in the bank rates has an impact on the customers as it affects the prime rates of interests for individual loans. The Bank rate is the rate at which the Bank of England gives to the commercial bank for the extra reserves being kept in safe custody of the Central Bank (Ciro, 2012, p. 122). Conventionally, the treasury determines the rates of interests. But upon the reforms that occurred in 1992, the policy makers organized several meetings and minutes were published, yet they were not autonomous of the state which resulted into a perception that political forces were overshadowing what was stipulated to be fiscal decisions on the monetary policy. In 1997 there was operational accountability to determine the interest rates which was granted to the autonomous Bank of England by Gordon Brown-the Chancellor of Exchequer. Several principles were set for the establishment of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that was enacted in the Bank of England Act 1998 (OECD, 2009, p. 31). The Act also spelled out the accountability of the MPC: this include; meeting on monthly basis, the membership consists of the governor, two deputy governors, two executive directors of the bank

Business plan Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Business plan - Assignment Example This makes the incoming businesses have a competition disadvantage within the industry. In spite of the fact that completion increase cause adverse effects to existing businesses, it is also helpful as it will help Good health fitness center become more efficient and thus provide quality services (Abrams, 2003). According to the Good Health Fitness Center, it is evident that the power of suppliers merely has an effect on the business. This is because the ways of transacting is service oriented. To offer a service in the fitness center, instructions get and the only material supply needed is readily available in its market. These supplies include things like weights, food and gym instructors (Cyr, 2007). The target market for Good Health Fitness Center mainly comprises of the middle aged and the old who want to reduce their weight. A case study of Canada would show that they make the largest share of the population. This means that, it is a threat to the business because of the large number. Baring in mind that this is the technology era, Good Health Fitness Center may face several other threats in the market. Substitutes for health fitness exist. However, the business will survive this threat by launching a campaign against the substitutes which include steroids and slimming pills. It is imperative to let the public and potential customers, of the impending danger, and side effects of using the substitutes. This way, the business will survive the threat (Abrams, 2003). Within the fitness industry in Canada, for example, there are many businesses with the same goal of having as many customers as possible. However, the intensity of rivalry does not seem too intense as customers can choose which programs best works for them from different centers (Abrams, 2003). Good health fitness center has various sources of competitive advantages. One of the sources would be by ensuring a well-equipped and developed marketing team. This forms a good competitive

The foundation of football Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The foundation of football - Essay Example With regards to the origination of this sport, the other most important person that needs to be acknowledged is William Ebb Ellis. Mary Bellis-author of â€Å"History of American Football† on about.com noted that Ellis was the first person documented for picking up the ball during a soccer game and running with it in 1823. Ellis breached the rules of the game and amidst all of that he created a new game now known as American Football. The invention of this sport saw attempts to write to write the rules in 1867. He pulled some characteristics from previous sports such as rugby and soccer to create American Football. Some of these changes as reported Bellis include: 1. one side retained undisputed possession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as a result of its own violations 2. the line of scrimmage 3. 11 on a team instead of 15 4. created the quarter-back and center positions 5. forward pass 6. standardized the scoring system, numerical scoring 7. created the safet y, interference, penalties, and the neutral zone American Football In the past, football teams consisted of around 25 players on each side and negligent and neglectful rules made it an excessively violent sport, resulting in serious injuries to players and even the deaths of some. With reference to waltercamp.org, Camp brought some amount of discipline to the game and served on the rules committee from his college days until 1925 when he died. Later Camp devised some insightful tactics from plays and restricting the game to eleven members per team. This then gave the teams an advantage of utilizing various strategies throughout play to become victors. Camp then made further innovations to the game which includes system of downs and yards-to-go. This idea was preconceived from a game between Princeton and Yale. Princeton was determined and convinced that within the rules of the game, they could sit on it and not move it for an entire half. The misunderstanding of the Princeton and Ya le game influenced the use of the Gridiron System of lines and lavish marks on the field. Despite the myriad of similarities to Rugby, the methods of scoring didn’t work well with American Football. As such Walter Camp devised a scoring sytem which continues to be the basis of the game. Camp continued to contribute to the game he helped create, even contributing to the establishment of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), but the violence of the game continued to bog it down. In 1905, so many deaths occurred on the field that then President Theodore Roosevelt, a proponent of strenuous exercise, made it known that collegiate football would have to be made safer or it would be outlawed. So in 1906, Camp's American Football Rules Committee adopted several rules that made the game safer – among them, the adoption of the forward pass as an acceptable method of moving the ball down field. While Camp never played for a professional team, without his innovation s and continued support of the game it's entirely possible it never would have existed at all, particularly since the National Football League initially used collegiate rules to govern play. Rules of American Football The rules state that the game has 11 players who can field at any time and the main of the purpose of the game is to move the ball towards the opposition's end zone and ultimately into their end zone (a touchdown). This is achieved by either running with the ball until

Land Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Land Law - Essay Example Part of the agreement signed with the tenants reads that he is not intending to create a tenancy. However, Peter signs documents detailing his relationship with the new occupants of the flats. He then considers selling the townhouse, and gets a suitable buyer in Joan. For Joan to purchase the townhouse, matters of the relationship between Peter and the current occupiers of the house are vital and she must evaluate them conclusively, concurrently projecting patterns of actions in view of legal inhibitors and enablers. In this paper I have looked deeply into the relationship between Peter and the existing tenants of his property, in order to establish whether, indeed, there is no effective tenancy agreement between him and the â€Å"occupants† as the agreement detailing their relationship deemed. Further, details of the types of tenancy available to Peter at the time he signed the agreements with the tenants and the implications they have are discussed. The fact that the townhouse is a freehold puts to rest any matters about eligibility of the sale, especially considering that no details of mortgages/ loans, or joint ownership are provided. Such matters would likely complicate the sale process. To begin with, Joan needs to study and establish the legality of the agreements signed between Peter and the present occupiers of the house. But before she can recover any documents from the seller, she has substantial background to base her claim to either evict or not to evict the tenants. In this part, I have provided enlightening notes on the types of tenancy available to the present occupiers, and the implications of each to the buyer in her pursuit for their eviction. In the pursuit of her right to evict the tenants, Joan needs to understand the types of tenants that she will be dealing with, and how much protection they have under law. In establishing whether a tenancy really exists between a

Purchase Journal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Purchase Journal - Case Study Example Less attention on the goods and products needed for daily use. This creates pressure on the budget and sometimes the expenditure is not well planned. If goods for day to day use are not bought regularly and in a planned way, serious problems in consumption patterns may arise. The individual has spending power, but he is reluctant to buy the food products, fruits, vegetables, detergent, etc. This may give rise to health and hygiene problems. In the case too much money is spent to buy branded goods, there will be no funds left for medical emergencies, sudden price hike, etc. The expenditure is already high, so funds are being exhausted rapidly. It is necessary to revise the present purchase pattern. If the present purchase pattern is maintained, it will simply lead to financial mismanagement. However, the problem appears to be at a preliminary state. There is too much tendency of buying expensive, branded goods (this tendency can be checked, of course). No plan for significant savings discernable. More attention is needed on the daily expenses. The daily expenses must be focused to obtain a quality diet. Bank deposits or suitable investments at small scale are a good savings option. There should be more planning for a more economic living. The plans may include proper fund allocation, stoppage of buying expensive and sometimes unnecessary goods, investment in saving scheme,

MIST Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

MIST Project - Essay Example The answer of the question: Here it is observed that the Australian warehouse storage and retrieval of product is still predominantly a labor-intensive or semi-automatic process employing a multiplicity of materials handling equipment such as conveyors, elevators and fork lift trucks. The relatively low cost of land in Australia, compared to high density population centers in Asia, generally limits that country’s use of high rise storage facilities to special situations that might include hazardous storage conditions or where desired throughout cannot be maintained with a manual system. So we can say that was the main reason behind the development of an automated warehouse by the SCT. They have planned to minimize the storage cost and have an efficient faculty to switch the on the whole movement, storage and delivery of the products on the main office through the automated warehouse. 1 It was believed by the DB that a market could be developed in Asia providing high rise automated warehouse solutions at more aggressive prices than that demanded by the most important suppliers, using dissimilarity to the by and large used ASRS configuration that involved automated ASRS robots (cranes) that were able to drive around corners. Globally, most high rise warehouses use ASRS cranes that are only capable of traveling in a straight line (referred to as straight-aisle cranes). The limitation of a straight aisle crane is that one crane is required to service each storage aisle in a warehouse. As cranes are a major part of the cost of this type of warehouse solution, by reducing the numbers of cranes there are significant savings. It is supposedly promising for a single aisle-changing crane to service a whole multi-aisled warehouse. So the above given reason can also be the motive behind the SCT has set the decisions on the development and setting up and intelligent artificial

Purchase Journal Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Purchase Journal - Case Study Example Less attention on the goods and products needed for daily use. This creates pressure on the budget and sometimes the expenditure is not well planned. If goods for day to day use are not bought regularly and in a planned way, serious problems in consumption patterns may arise. The individual has spending power, but he is reluctant to buy the food products, fruits, vegetables, detergent, etc. This may give rise to health and hygiene problems. In the case too much money is spent to buy branded goods, there will be no funds left for medical emergencies, sudden price hike, etc. The expenditure is already high, so funds are being exhausted rapidly. It is necessary to revise the present purchase pattern. If the present purchase pattern is maintained, it will simply lead to financial mismanagement. However, the problem appears to be at a preliminary state. There is too much tendency of buying expensive, branded goods (this tendency can be checked, of course). No plan for significant savings discernable. More attention is needed on the daily expenses. The daily expenses must be focused to obtain a quality diet. Bank deposits or suitable investments at small scale are a good savings option. There should be more planning for a more economic living. The plans may include proper fund allocation, stoppage of buying expensive and sometimes unnecessary goods, investment in saving scheme,

Service Operations Management - Celebrity Cruises Case Study

Service Operations Management - Celebrity Cruises - Case Study Example Celebrity Cruises has an ambiguous strategy for marketing that lacks focus in attracting new customers and improving the loyalty of previous customers. First, celebrity Cruises must start by identifying clear marketing positions to source for additional potential customers. Secondly, their customer service is also failing them. Additionally, their services are getting old and need to be revitalized to attract new customers. Finally, their product also lacks consistency. To deal with these issues, Celebrity Cruises must alter its marketing strategy to place more emphasis on customer service. Pricing also requires to be changed to emphasize upgrades with added value rather than dollars off discounts. Finally, the employees need to be re-trained in customer service provision. Background The Chandris Group started celebrity Cruises in 1989 in Greece, originally as a shipping company. The company merged in 1997 with Royal Caribbean International to form the Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in order for the two companies to target their particular market segments, the parent company decided to separate the two brand companies’ operations and marketing. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ... However, given the highly competitive nature of the cruise shipping line industry, the marketing strategy employed by celebrity Cruises is, at best, indistinct since it finds it difficult to find ways of creating and maintaining customer loyalty while also working towards increasing revenues. Problem Statement Celebrity Cruises is in possession of a marketing strategy, which is ambiguous and that has no focus on attracting customers and fumbles with increasing or improving customer loyalty. Analysis Celebrity Cruises needs to develop aspects of their operations, as well as transform them if they are to increase their market share (Vogel et al 22). First, celebrity Cruises must start by identifying clear marketing positions to source for additional potential customers. While Celebrity cruises has done a commendable job in appealing to their prospective customers, their marketing initiatives still require to be fine-tuned and implemented. Celebrity cruises needs to be able direct their efforts at marketing towards the correct market segment, which, in this case, is the multi-generational market and baby-boomers market. Baby boomers make up a large population of United States with one-fourth of the population in the US being aged between forty two and sixty in 2006 (Vogel et al 24). Celebrity Cruises is also missing out by choosing not to market to the people in the thirty to forty age bracket. While this has the ability to alienate the older crowd who like travelling on cruise ships, there will be some classy ones in this generation who are already used to dining in fine restaurants and knowledgeable in theater etiquette. For this generation

Hobby and Outdoor Pursuits Essay Example for Free

Hobby and Outdoor Pursuits Essay Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. (help, get involved! ) Any material not supported by sources may be challenged and removed at any time. This article has been tagged since June 2006. A hobby-horse was a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like the real hobby. From this came the expression to ride ones hobby-horse, meaning to follow a favourite pastime, and in turn, hobby in the modern sense of recreation. Hobbies are practised for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include collecting, creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports and adult education. Engaging in a hobby can lead to acquiring substantial skill, knowledge, and experience. However, personal fulfillment is the aim. What are hobbies for some people are professions for others: a game tester may enjoy cooking as a hobby, while a professional chef might enjoy playing (and helping to debug) computer games. Generally speaking, the person who does something for fun, not remuneration, is called an amateur (or hobbyist), as distinct from a professional. An important determinant of what is considered a hobby, as distinct from a profession (beyond the lack of remuneration), is probably how easy it is to make a living at the activity. Almost no one can make a living at cigarette card or stamp collecting, but many people find it enjoyable; so it is commonly regarded as a hobby. Amateur astronomers often make meaningful contributions to the professionals. It is not entirely uncommon for a hobbyist to be the first to discover a celestial body or event. In the UK, the pejorative noun anorak (similar to the Japanese otaku, meaning a geek or enthusiast) is often applied to people who obsessively pursue a particular hobby that is considered boring, such as train spotting or stamp collecting. [edit] Development of hobbies into other ventures Whilst some hobbies strike many people as trivial or boring, hobbyists have found something compelling and entertaining about them (see geek). Much early scientific research was, in effect, a hobby of the wealthy; more recently, Linux began as a students hobby. A hobby may not be as trivial as it appears at a time when it has relatively few followers. Thus a British conservationist recalls that when seen wearing field glasses at a London station in the 1930s he was asked if he was going to the (horse) races. [citation needed] The anecdote indicates that at the time an interest in nature was not widely perceived as a credible hobby. Practitioners of that hobby went on to become the germs of the conservation movement that flourished in Britain from 1965 onwards and became a global political movement within a generation. Conversely, the hobby of aircraft spotting probably originated as part of a serious activity designed to detect arriving waves of enemy aircraft entering English airspace during World War II. [citation needed] In peacetime it clearly has no such practical or social purpose. Types of hobbies Collecting The hobby of collecting consists of acquiring specific items based on a particular interest of the collector. These collections of things are often highly organized, carefully cataloged, and attractively displayed. Since collecting depends on the interests of the individual collector, it may deal with almost any subject. The depth and breadth of the collection may also vary. Some collectors choose to focus on a specific subtopic within their area of general interest: for example, 19th Century postage stamps, milk bottle labels from Sussex, or Mongolian harnesses and tack. Others prefer to keep a more general collection, accumulating Star Trek merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world. Some collections are capable of being completed, at least to the extent of owning one sample of each possible item in the collection (e. g. copy of every book by Agatha Christie). Collectors who specifically try to assemble complete collections in this way are sometimes called completists. Upon completing a particular collection, they may stop collecting, expand the collection to include related items, or begin an entirely new collection. The most popular fields in collecting have specialized commercial dealers that trade in the items being collected, as well as related accessories. Many of these dealers started as collectors themselves, then turned their hobby into a profession. There are some limitations on collecting, however. Someone who has the financial means to collect stamps might not be able to collect sports-cars, for example. One alternative to collecting physical objects is collecting experiences of a particular kind. Examples include collecting through observation or photography (especially popular for transportation, e. g. train spotting, aircraft spotting, metrophiles, bus spotting; see also I-Spy), bird-watching, and systematically visiting continents, countries, states, national parks, counties etc. Games [pic] [pic] Card game, 1895. A game is a structured or semi-structured recreational activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment (although sometimes for physical or vocational training). A goal that the players try to reach and a set of rules concerning what the players can or cannot do create the challenge and structure in a game, and are thus central to its definition. Known to have been played as far back as prehistoric times, games are generally distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration. Because a wide variety of activities are enjoyable, numerous types of games have developed. What creates an enjoyable game varies from one individual to the next. Age, understanding (of the game), intelligence level, and (to some extent) personality are factors that determine what games a person enjoys. Depending on these factors, people vary the number and complexity of objectives, rules, challenges, and participants to increase their enjoyment. Games generally involve mental and/or physical stimulation. For this reason, they are beneficial after a large meal or a long and tedious task, but counterproductive if played immediately before sleeping. Many games help develop practical skills and serve as exercise or perform an educational, simulational or psychological role. Outdoor recreation Outdoor pursuits can be loosely considered to be the group of sports and activities which are dependent on the great outdoors, incorporating such things as hill walking, trekking, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, caving, and arguably broader groups such as watersports and snowsport. While obviously enjoyed by many as a bit of fun, an adrenaline rush, or an escape from reality, outdoor sport is also frequently used as an extremely effective medium in education and teambuilding. It is this ethos that has given rise to links with young people, such as the Duke of Edinburghs Award and PGL, and large numbers of outdoor education centres being established, as the stress on the importance of a balanced and widespread education continues to grow. Depending on the persons desired level of adrenaline, outdoors can be considered a type of hobby. As interest increases, so has the rise of commercial outdoor pursuits, with outdoor kit stores opening up in large numbers and thriving, as well as outdoor pursuits journalism and magazines, both on paper (for example Trail [1]), and online (such as Eclipse Outdoor [2]). The increased accessibility of outdoor pursuits resources has been the source of some negative publicity over the years also, with complaints of destroying the landscape. A widely-seen example is the destruction of hillsides as footpaths are eroded by excessive numbers of visitors. Creative Hobbies Some hobbies result in an end product of sorts. Examples of this would be woodworking, software projects, artistic projects, creating models out of card or paper called papercraft up to higher end projects like building or restoring a car, or building a computer from scratch. While some of these may just be for the enjoyment of the hobbyist, there have been instances where it has come into demand at the request of friends or passerbys observing said project. At this point it has the potential to become a small business. Cooking Cooking is an act of preparing food for eating. It encompasses a vast range of methods, tools and combinations of ingredients to improve the flavour or digestibility of food. It generally requires the selection, measurement and combining of ingredients in an ordered procedure in an effort to achieve the desired result. Constraints on success include the variability of ingredients, ambient conditions, tools and the skill of the individual cooking. The diversity of cooking worldwide is a reflection of the myriad nutritional, aesthetic, agricultural, economic, cultural and religious considerations that impact upon it. Cooking requires applying heat to a food which usually, though not always, chemically transforms it, thus changing its flavor, texture, appearance, and nutritional properties. Cooking proper, as opposed to roasting, requires the boiling of water in a receptacle, and was practiced at least since the 10th millennium BC with the introduction of pottery. There is archaeological evidence of roasted foodstuffs, both animal and vegetable, in human (Homo erectus) campsites dating from the earliest known use of fire some 800,000 years ago. [citation needed] [edit] Gardening Gardening is the art of growing plants with the goal of crafting a purposeful landscape. Residential gardening most often takes place in or about a residence, in a space referred to as the garden. Although a garden typically is located on the land near a residence, it may also be located in a roof, in an atrium, on a balcony, in a windowbox, or on a patio or vivarium. [pic] [pic] A gardener Gardening also takes place in non-residential green areas, such as parks, public or semi-public gardens (botanical gardens or zoological gardens), amusement and theme parks, along transportation corridors, and around tourist attractions and hotels. In these situations, a staff of gardeners or groundskeepers maintains the gardens. Indoor gardening is concerned with the growing of houseplants within a residence or building, in a conservatory, or in a greenhouse. Indoor gardens are sometimes incorporated as part of air conditioning or heating systems. Water gardening is concerned with growing plants adapted to pools and ponds. Bog gardens are also considered a type of water garden. These all require special conditions and considerations. A simple water garden may consist solely of a tub containing the water and plant(s).

Effects The Newspaper Industry Media Essay

Effects The Newspaper Industry Media Essay The benefits aggregation services like Google News gain is that the information they put on the site have additional content and provides a broader view of the topic, industry and subject matter. That is what appeals to the readers, as they can skim through the important news they want to read and dont need to go through the unimportant news like in newspapers or TV. Online news aggregation services like Google News are changing the way news is being advertised to people. Since the creation of Google News, it has become one of the best innovations for the company in terms of subscriptions to their feeds and revenues they generate through readers. What Google does best is that it gathers interesting things and presents them in new ways to appeal to the vast audiences. Effects on the newspaper industry During the past decade, the Internet has become an important news source for most Americans. According to a study conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, as of January 2010, nearly 61 percent of Americans got at least some of their news online in a typical day. (Isbell, 2010). This statistic shows us that there is a lot of reliance on the internet for news. People have forgone the traditional practices of getting their news through newspapers, magazines and TV. Thus, there is a decline in the traditional media these days. News Corporations Rupert Murdoch and Associate Press Chairman Dean Singleton have reasoning to believe that the major cause of the decline in the traditional media is due to the rise of the news aggregators. According to this theory, news aggregators from Google News to The Huffington Post are free-riding, reselling and profiting from the factual information gathered by traditional media organizations at great cost. (Isbell, 2010). Aggregation services threaten the print media because they are emerging as the new front page which people skim through every morning for headlines instead of going to any single newspaper site. (Schonfeld, 2009). The other reasoning behind low print media numbers is that companies have started to advertise more on the sites as they cost much less as compared to advertising on the newspapers. The problem with newspapers these days is that there are about 20% top headline stories and the rest of the 80% is usually not relevant or uninteresting to the reader. Aggregation sites create loads and loads of important headlines from all over thus captivating the audience. The value not only comes from skimming through the website material but clicking the links to the various headlines creates value. Of course newspapers are failing because you surely cannot capture the readers attention with only 20% news and the other 80% being irrelevant. Aggregation services use automated logarithms to get really good content, and thus its not only the front pages that captures the audience attention but the other pages are as interesting as the first one. Basically newspapers cater to the needs of a higher class of people who earn higher than average income whereas aggregation services like Google News cater to every age group as anyone can access the news from anywhere with no fear of purchasing any material on the web they read. Plus, the cost of paper, ink, postage, and physical distribution will never be a contender in a world of electronic communication. Therefore, newspapers are now creating websites for their readers and advertisers. The classified sections on the newspaper are being threatened because sites like Craigslist are seeking a share of the classified market. This shows that the task is becoming more difficult as newspapers try to serve a diverse audience of readers. Aggregation services are fast in staying up to date in their industries, track competitors, monitor industry blogs, and follow specific Websites. Aggregation services get the best of their data in a very speedy manner meaning that they get their news feeds as soon as a special event or news occurs. In short, newspapers are struggling to attract the customer base they once had due to technological advances on the internet. Aggregation services improving over the years I will take example of Google News and how they have approached online aggregation services. Google News over the years has improved and has grown smarter than many other aggregation services. They keep track of user behavior which is very important as peoples view and opinions change daily and is never on one thing. Google News uses a very different algorithm to that used for their Google search. Google News uses a closed index whereas their search engine uses an open index. Now, the difference is that in a closed index Google News will only capture the news related items, whereas in an open index the search engine will take everything into consideration thus making the database even bigger. Thus, Google News gets their information in a more real time manner which is faster and becomes easier for users to find what they are looking for. Other aggregation services are also taking note of this and improving their services as well. Aggregation services are less concerned of what type of medium they will be using and are more concerned about making sure that the news continues to be flowing for example those enterprise journals, editorials and other things that can be seen in the newspapers. Therefore, their main concern or interest is to try and make sure that the news not only survives but thrives. The only way to ensure the speediest delivery of news to the audience, aggregation services use specialized algorithms to get these cluster of news out to the readers thought their internet sites rather than the traditional newspapers which takes longer and hold up to 60% of ad space. If we look at the pace at which the media is going online, news is the area which would benefit the most when it is online. With something new happening every other minute, breaking news becoming a daily issue, with updates and alerts which require something more than the traditional media network, it is the time that the news gets online. Every time there is breaking news it is posted online for the internet users to stay in touch without any effort to do the same. (Chris Williams, n.d.). I mean the best way for a person to stay up to date with the latest information is to log in to one of the online sites and check the news rather than having the hassle of buying a newspaper or turning on the TV or the radio. It saves a lot of time for a person to do this. The competition to make the news more attractive is lesser in the online world, considering the fact that it is simpler in most ways than the print media. The print media requires you to come up with innovative ideas every other day to stay afresh in the emerging competitive market. Comparatively, in the online news market the competition to stay new is less. (Chris Williams, n.d.). Therefore, sites like Google News and The Huffington Post dont really care whose site is better, but rather are interested that the news they are providing is being read by the audience and that it is getting to every person in a timely manner.

Freedom of Choice in Shakespeares King Lear :: Essays on King Lear

         Humans, like all creatures on the earth, have the privilege of the freedom of choice.   There are two broad ranges of factors that affect the decisions a person makes.   The first factor that affects decision making is internal and includes a person's character and intellect.   The second factor is external such as environment and interaction with other people. Naturally, each decision a person makes results in a repercussion of some degree, usually either helpful or hindering, and rarely inconsequential. The concept of justice is based on the fact that decisions are always followed by consequences.   It strictly adheres to the rewarding of good deeds and the punishment of evil.   King Lear, a play by William Shakespeare, is a grave tragedy that is a prime example of the Elizabethan conception of justice.   Lear's kingdom turns to chaos because of a break in the "Great Chain of Being" and restores to order when justice prevails. Its tragic labelling stems from t he prevalence of death the just punishment for many of its characters.   The deaths of Lear, Goneril, and Edmund are prime examples of justice prevailing for evil, and in Lear's case unnatural, acts.   Ã‚  Ã‚   Lear's ultimate fate is death.   His early demise is a direct result of breaching the "Great Chain of Being" which states that no mortal will abandon his position in the hierarchy of ranking set by God.   Lear's intention of abdicating his throne is apparent from the outset and is seen in the following speech spoken during the opening scene of the play:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . 'tis our fast intent   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To shake all cares and business from our age,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conferring them on younger strengths while we   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Unburdened crawl toward death. . .1      Ã‚  Ã‚   Evidently the splitting of Lear's kingdom and abdication of his throne is not an act of necessity, but an act toward easing the remainder of his life.   Lear's disruption of the "Great Chain of Being" is in an unnatural fashion because the abdication of his kingship is without dire or mortal cause.   The method of passing down his land to his heirs is also unnatural, as seen in the following excerpts:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . Know that we have divided   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In three our kingdom. . .   Ã‚  Ã‚   . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Finance Manager

Fiscal Policy in Kenya: Looking Toward the Medium-to Long-Term By Kamau Thugge, Peter S Heller, and Jane Kiringai[1] Executive Summary Kenya’s authorities, in articulating their vision for the next two decades of Kenya’s development, understood clearly that fiscal policy would need to play a critical role in influencing the pace at which the economy will grow and its capacity to deal with the key challenges that will arise over the next several decades.Domestic policy challenges include a high population growth, rapid urbanization, significant weaknesses in infrastructural capacity, inadequate levels of investments, and pressures for decentralization. External challenges include security risks as well as an uncertain global economic growth environment. Fiscal policy will not only affect macroeconomic stability, but also whether Kenya can transition to a higher economic growth path, reduce its high poverty rate, and address its substantial income, asset, and regional ine qualities.The paper by Thugge, Heller and Kiringai examines whether Kenya’s medium-term fiscal policy strategy is responsive to addressing the potential scale of the challenges confronting Kenya, particularly given the inevitable uncertainties assicuated with the global economic environment. It also takes stock of the impact of recent developments on the viability of the original strategy. Kenya is likely to face in the next two decades and the scope of its policy goals for this period.Section II will briefly identify both the domestic policy challenges that Kenya’s fiscal policy-makers must address in coming years as well as the different potential external policy environments within which these policies must be formulated. Section III reviews the Government of Kenya’s (GOK) fiscal policy strategy, as broadly embodied in its recently issued long-run perspective–Vision 2030, but more concretely in the Medium Term Plan for 2008/09-2012/13 and the Medium-Te rm Budget Strategy Paper (MTBSP) for 2009/10-11/12.In particular, it will examine the economic and institutional assumptions underlying this strategy; the policy choices made in terms of the balance between the roles of the public and private sectors; the choice among alternative public spending priorities; the way in which possible downside risks are addressed; the approach to financing fiscal initiatives; and the sustainability of the fiscal and debt strategy. Section IV will then assess whether the GOK’s chosen policy strategies appear both responsive to the long-term policy challenges identified in Section II and robust to the downside risks in the external economic environment.II. Medium to long-run challenges In Vision 2030, Kenya aspires to achieve middle-income status by 2030 through the realization of a 10 percent per annum real growth rate for the period 2012-2030. This is a highly ambitious objective although not an unreasonable aspiration, given the importance of Kenya to the regional economy of East Africa and the many assets that Kenya possesses in terms of its human capital and its industrial, service, and tourism potential.But achieving this goal will require that Kenya successfully pursue disciplined and ambitious policies that will confront the many domestic and external policy challenges it now faces. It will also require a bit of luck and a bit of skill by Kenyan policy-makers in adapting to the uncertain global economic policy environment that will undoubtedly emerge in the next two decades. Fiscal policy will need to be finely balanced if Kenya is to achieve the Vision 2030 objectives.It must facilitate rapid growth—both through the provision of needed infrastructure and human capital—while still being responsive both to the demands of the population for basic public services and the potential downside risks that may emerge. Yet fiscal policy must also be sustainable. Fiscal space will be precious if the various expen diture objectives are to be met without compromising macroeconomic stability or raising doubts about Kenya’s solvency. If growth proves less than anticipated—as occurred in 2008 and as expected in 2009—the needed fiscal space may prove inadequate to finance the required government outlays.Under these circumstances, unrestrained recourse to additional borrowing could jeopardize Kenya’s solvency and crowd-out its private sector. a. Domestic policy challenges to which fiscal policy should respond There are several important obstacles that could impede Kenya’s progress toward achieving the high growth rate targeted through 2030. First, after years of neglect, Kenya has only recently begun to address the inadequacy of its infrastructure for the realization of a modern, 21st century economy.Deficiencies exist in terms of Kenya’s port facilities, its trunk and secondary roads, its railroad system, its energy plant, and in the availability of clean water and sanitation facilities. While telecommunications has been the bright light of the last several years, there is still much to be done to make the system fully accessible and the proposed undersea fiber-optic cable, The East Africa Marine System, should help in this regard. Vision 2030’s emphasis on rebuilding and creating a productive infrastructure is rightly supported by international observers (e. . , in the IMF’s 2009 staff report) and appears responsive to this challenge. [2] But creating this infrastructure will be costly and could easily outstrip the domestic financial capacity of the government if it were to go it alone, justifying the government’s interest in seeking public-private partnerships as well as external financial support. Second, while Kenya is blessed with relatively a high quality and deep base of human capital, it has yet to find ways to deploy it more efficiently.Among African countries, Kenya has always been known for the high as pirations of its population for education and the drive of its citizens for self-betterment. But the productivity of Kenya’s educational system has long been a source of concern, and the continuing weaknesses in the health system have meant that infant and mortality rates are still too high, that malaria still poses a heavy health burden, and that the AIDS epidemic has cost Kenya significant losses among its most productive citizens. 3] The success of many Asian countries in realizing high growth rates when they were at Kenya’s stage in the demographic transition derived from their ability to productively employ the rising share of the working-age population. Strengthening the quality and exploiting the productive use of Kenya’s human capital, particularly looking forward, must thus be a high policy priority. Third, governance concerns remain an obstacle to Kenya fully exploiting its growth potential through foreign investment inflows.While the World Bankâ€℠¢s â€Å"Doing Business Indicators† suggest some improvements in creating the conditions for a receptive foreign investment climate (with Kenya ranking among the world’s top ten reformers in 2006/07), Kenya still ranks only 82nd on this index out of 181 countries, and ranks 147 out of 180 countries in terms of Transparency International’s index of perceptions of corruption for 2008. [4] Prioritizing and effectively carrying out the necessary institutional reforms, while not requiring substantial fiscal resources, may still prove costly and difficult in political economy terms.More important, it may play a critical role in determining whether Kenya can meet its ambitious investment goals in infrastructure, given that they are to be primarily financed from private sources through public-private partnerships. Fourth, to achieve its target growth, Kenya will not only need to raise significantly its pace of investment (from an average of 19% of GDP in 2005/06 to 2007 /08 to over 30% by 2012/13), but also to maintain the relatively low incremental capital-output ratio (ICOR) of about 3 that it has experienced over the last few years.The latter may prove difficult. Among low and low-middle income countries, an ICOR of about 4 seems the norm (see World Bank, 2009). For the few non-oil-based countries in the world that have experienced growth rates as high as 10% for a sustained period, investment rates have been in the range of 40% of GDP plus (e. g. , China), reflecting a loss of efficiency in capital investment (and thus a higher ICOR). For Kenya to realize more efficiency from its investments, it must demonstrate a concomitant capacity to mobilize human capital resources effectively (e. . , rectifying both the under- and overstaffing of different public service activities), efficiency in the utilization of capital inputs, adequate attention to routine and periodic maintenance of existing infrastructure and a focus on investments that are of part icularly high return (the latter influencing the appropriate structure of Kenya’s public and private investment programme). Linked to these issues is the low absorptive and implementation capacity in the key infrastructure line ministries, particularly for foreign-financed projects.A key challenge that will determine whether the desired change in the composition of expenditure materializes will be the actual implementation rate of the development budget. In the past, actual expenditures have fallen well short of budget estimates, and in particular, absorption of donor development assistance has been very low—usually below 50 percent of budgeted amounts. Increasing the implementation capacity of the infrastructure ministries, and especially that of the Ministry of Roads and Public Works, will, therefore be critical.Fifth, generating the required financing for a higher level of investment will be a further challenge. A sound fiscal policy will constrain how much can dire ctly be provided from the budget, leading to the acknowledged need to rely on the private sector, domestic and external, for the remaining financing. The modalities by which Kenya provides incentives and deals with the risks associated with public-private partnerships, and improves governance, will determine the extent of foreign capital participation in Kenya’s investment programme.Six, despite the progress made in reducing poverty incidence from 57% in 2002 to 46% in 2006 (MTBSP, paragraph. 14), Kenya still faces high income and asset inequality as well as significant regional inequality in incomes and assets. While rapid growth over the next two decades would do much to reduce absolute poverty levels, the number of absolute poor will still remain substantial. Together with continued high inequality, this would constitute a significant drag, in political economy terms, on Kenya’s ability to obtain popular support for an ambitious resource mobilization and savings eff ort.Certainly, unless addressed, income inequality will constrain growth in the country, dampen the scope for poverty reduction and create an environment for social and political unrest. Seventh, and linked to the latter point, current fiscal decentralization efforts to address regional inequality through the use of a devolved funds mechanism are subject to potential vulnerabilities. In principle, through community-based projects, such an approach can have a positive impact on grass roots[5] support.However, slippages in governance and accountability, efficiency, or effectiveness in the use of devolved funds could undermine their potential impact, with political pressures engendering spending programs that would not normally meet benefit-cost criteria or address the existing regional maldistribution of resources. In the medium term, three potential threats to the effectiveness of a devolved funds approach require attention.First, is the poverty-weighted allocation criteria, which ef fectively incentivises constituencies to be ranked poor in order to qualify for a higher share of the devolved resources. Second, the provision of such ‘free’ budgetary resources may dampen revenue generation efforts at the local level. Third, the disconnect between community-based projects and the provision for operations and maintenance within the central budget can limit efficiency and effectiveness in the use of these funds[6].All of the above factors might be considered as relevant in formulating current budgetary policies. But Kenya also confronts other future developments that can easily undermine the long-term capacity of the economy to sustain rapid growth. These include: †¢ The rapid rate of urbanization: By 2025, Nairobi and Mombasa will have to invest in urban infrastructure (e. g. , housing, water, sewage, transport, schools and health facilities) to accommodate a virtual doubling of their populations. 7] The size of other urban centers will more than double by 2025 (from 3. 8 million to 9. 3 million). [8] Overall, the urban population is projected to triple to 21-22 million. Such urban infrastructure investments are likely to be of a lower overall productivity (thus implying a higher ICOR), further constraining the prospects for achieving the high efficiency level required to realize a 10% annual growth rate. †¢ The continued high overall population growth rate: Kenya’s fertility rate of 5 is high.The population aged 5-14—the prospective primary and secondary school-age groups—is anticipated to rise during 2005-2030 by at least 60 percent (more than 5. 2 million children). This highlights both the prospective increase that will be needed in spending on Kenya’s primary and secondary school system and the substantial expansion that is likely to be needed for tertiary education facilities. The latter will be particularly costly, and will put enormous pressure on the education budget (with one tertia ry student costing the equivalent of 40 primary students).Without policies that will encourage a reduced fertility rate, Kenya’s capacity to create fiscal space by shifting the composition of government expenditure towards growth-enhancing investments will be severely limited. †¢ The pressures for job creation arising from population growth: In the next 6 years, Kenya’s education system will produce at least 14 million new school leavers seeking jobs. While the public sector cannot be responsible for their employment, government expenditure policies will need to be sensitive to the job creation possibilities associated with the realization of the government’s expenditure program.This burgeoning employment challenge also highlights the importance associated with a successful transition to a high growth policy framework, since this will be the key to meeting the continuing pressure for job creation over the medium- to long-term. †¢ Cost pressures in the public sector: as with most middle-income and industrial economies, rapid productive growth in the economy typically will outpace productivity growth in the government sector.As wages in the public sector respond to market wage developments in the private sector, this will create cost-push pressures on public service delivery (particularly in the social sectors) (the so-called â€Å"Baumol effect†), pushing up the recurrent cost budget and generating further need for a higher revenue share. †¢ The looming costs of climate change: Recent World Bank reports suggest that Kenya is among the countries most at risk from an increased frequency and intensity of drought conditions.Addressing the potential deleterious effects on agricultural productivity will require a combination of intensified investment in water-control systems that promote enhanced efficiency in the use of water resources; a further shift in the role of nonagricultural outputs (and thus a capacity to become co mpetitive in earning the foreign exchange required for a higher level of food imports); and new R&D efforts at promoting agricultural techniques robust to drought and uncertain precipitation conditions.Given the importance of Mombasa as Kenya’s principal port, the probability of a sea level rise raises the question of when it will become necessary for Kenya to undertake the investments required to cope with the potential longer-term damages to Mombasa and what alternative approaches might be needed to ensure a continued viable port capacity. Less of a challenge and more of an opportunity is the possibility that Kenya might be able to exploit its comparative advantage with respect to solar and geo-thermal energy generation, and earn additional export and fiscal revenues from selling carbon credits to other high-emission countries. The budgetary risks associated with recognized contingent liabilities: the most obvious include those associated with the pay-as-you-go budgetary fu nding of civil service pensions; the potential for the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) to be relatively unfunded; and the possibility of losses associated with the parastatal sector. The anticipated effort by the Government to seek public-private partnerships in a number of infrastructure projects carries with it the potential for additional contingent liabilities. b. External policy challengesKenya’s ability to achieve its Vision 2030 objectives is not wholly subject to its own making. The global financial crisis which commenced in 2008 has adversely impacted Kenya, and highlighted the importance of external factors in influencing the growth of an economy. Kenya is vitally integrated within the global economy, being dependent on external commodity markets for its exports and critical energy imports, sensitive to the state of global tourism markets, significantly reliant on remittances, a recipient of aid flows, and ambitious in its pursuit of both direct foreign investm ent flows and possible external credits.In geopolitical terms, it has already experienced terrorist incidents and is a vital transport hub for many important countries in Central Africa. But of course the future is uncertain, particularly if one is considering policy options looking out more than 20 years. There is, thus, an important argument for seeking a policy program that is robust to potential downside risks and the possibility of very different external environments. One approach to exploring the robustness of the Vision 2030 fiscal strategy is to examine its viability in the context of alternative scenarios of the future.In 2005, the World Bank undertook just such an exercise to consider alternative scenarios for how the global economy might evolve through 2020. Each of the three scenarios elaborated were meant to constitute â€Å"relevant, compelling, plausible, and logically consistent†, but, importantly, divergent stories of what the global economy might look like in 2020. As emphasized by the Bank, â€Å"no single scenario will ever come true in its entirety, but if it is to be a valuable stone against which to sharpen one’s strategy, one must believe it just might! Box 3 provides a brief summary of these three different worlds, and section IV will examine more concretely the robustness of Vision 2030 in the context of these scenarios. At this point, what is important to emphasize are the key external policy factors to which the success of Vision 2030 might prove sensitive, and the way in which these scenarios highlight potential issues to which Kenyan policy makers might need to be responsive. Among the key factors that could affect Kenya’s prospects, the following appear most relevant: Robustness of global growth: Kenya’s capacity for mobilizing the fiscal resources required to implement its public investment program (and equally the prospect for the private sector to also achieve the targeted growth in its investment share) will be strongly influenced by the pace and structure of global growth. Given its dependence on external commodity and tourism services, a slower global growth scenario (such as in the GU scenario) would probably be reflected in slower Kenyan growth, lower fiscal revenues, and the need for a smaller budgetary envelope.How would the budget be prioritized in such circumstances? Would the same infrastructure and human capital investment priorities be relevant under a lower global growth scenario? Certainly, with the pace of population and urban growth (not to mention climate change) not affected by external factors, the pressure would be to cutback on precisely those investments most likely to generate additional growth and employment!Moreover, if global growth were to be dominated by a higher share derived from emerging markets, would this adversely affect Kenya (perhaps through reduced tourism from industrial countries)? Would reduced dynamism in the US and European economies imply a lower level of concessional financing, or would Kenya be able to obtain such assistance from alternative sources (e. g. , China and India)? With changes in the pace or sources of global growth, would Kenya still be able to realize the currently anticipated level of direct foreign investment flows?Would these derive from different sources and if so, would they be directed to the same sectors? |Box 1: Alternative Scenarios for the World of 2020 | | | |The following provides a brief summary of how these different worlds will appear, with our focus principally on the character of | |the alternative potential external economic environments facing Kenya. | | |Affluence, Ltd. (AL) | |Years of rapid, US-centered, economic growth will nearly double world GDP, an annual increase of more than 4 percent. States have | |shifted their focus from guaranteeing outcomes to providing opportunities.Rapid innovation and new technologies enable continuous | |improvements in productivity, whic h global corporations spread around the world as they expand. But economic success is not | |universal. Forty less competitive countries have been left behind due to geographic isolation, poor governance, small market size, | |or lack of strategic relevance. For most major economies, however, the United States has guaranteed political stability and open | |trade-conditions that have encouraged the creation of massive amounts of wealth. |Globalization Unwinding (GU) | |Through 2020, economic growth has been slow worldwide, averaging less than 2 percent for more than a decade. Weaker states have | |collapsed, as economic pressure translates into domestic unrest, while other states have resorted to authoritarianism or populism | |in order to stay in power. Costs of military interventions, energy price volatility, and years of deficits brought a sharp | |contraction in the US economy, and the consequent dollar crisis triggered a global economic downturn.Europe and Japan lacked the | |dy namism to lead the world out of recession, while the growth engines of China, India, Korea, and other â€Å"emerging economies† all | |sputtered-as did those of Russia and Latin America. Most developing countries have proven unable to mitigate the worst effects of | |the downturn. A deep-seated cynicism about the value of free markets prevails in the world, and economic decisions are generally | |focused on short-term returns. Protectionism grew rapidly following the downturn, and the path to recovery looks difficult. | | |Competing Horizons (CH) | | | |Large emerging markets of China, India, Brazil, Indonesia and much of Southeast Asia have sustained rapid long-term | |growth—particularly in comparison to older industrialized economies—and a second wave of developing countries has joined their | |ranks. The developing world accounted for almost two-thirds of global GDP growth between 2005 and 2020.Regional economic powers | |have started to contest US primacy in their regions, and in global forums. Poles of cutting-edge R&D have emerged, with growing | |numbers of firms from these high-growth countries rivaling the multinational companies from the United States, Europe, and Japan. | |Many other developing countries have grown rapidly following improved policies and governance and benefiting from rising volumes of| |global trade. However, rising tensions between Old World and New World powers seem inevitable in the medium term.Despite strong | |networks of trade and continued rising demand for raw materials and basic commodities, growth in parts of the developing | |world—particularly in parts of Africa—remains low. In addition, the environmental costs of broad-based growth are significant: | |accelerating environmental degradation and severe resource constraints for water, strategic minerals, and energy are the order of | |the day. | | | |* Source: World Bank, Rehearsing for the Future: the World and Development in 2020 (Wa shington DC, 2006) (www. worldbank. rg/2020) | †¢ Scale of security threats: the alternative scenarios highlight the potential for different degrees of ethnic, terrorist and regional security tensions. Kenya may thus need to be prepared for the possibility of a higher level of security-related military outlays than presently envisaged under Vision 2030. Depending on the extent of external financial support to deal with terrorism and regional security threats, this may prevent the realization of the current strategy to shift funding away from such â€Å"other sectors† for the purpose of creating fiscal space for social or growth-oriented outlays. Nature of the trade environment: the extent to which further global trade barriers are reduced, or rather shifted towards bilateral or regional trading arrangements, may potentially influence the pace of growth and potentially the sources of Kenya’s principal comparative advantage, again influencing both the prospects for revenue mobilization and the focus of the investment programme. †¢ Importance of governance concerns: Were there to be a shift in the global economic center more towards emerging market countries, there might be a reduced incentive for Kenya to focus as much on governance issues.However, given the possibility of the AL scenario also arising, and given the merits on political economy grounds for strengthening Kenya’s governance and regulatory system (particularly given the increased role envisaged for PPPs), current strategies would appear robust to the alternative possible scenarios. †¢ Pace of technological change: Alternative scenarios also suggest differences in the future pace of technological change. This could be important, particularly with respect to certain kinds of infrastructure (e. g. , in the energy and possibly the ICT sectors).Would the nature of infrastructure investment decisions be influenced by the possibility that newer and more advanced technolo gies might make existing infrastructure or technologies inappropriate? All of these uncertainties raise the question of whether fiscal policy, to be robust under alternative scenarios, should be more conservatively managed, particularly with respect to the level of nonconcessional borrowing that would be appropriate in financing the investment program (or more pointedly, in the level of any fiscal debt anchor that might be considered in managing fiscal policy).They also raise questions as to the core investment programme which would appear appropriate, given the uncertainty as to which scenario might eventuate. III. Kenya’s fiscal strategy underpinning the Vision 2030 A. Background and macroeconomic assumptions Under the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) covering the period 2003-07, Kenya made significant progress in macroeconomic management and in implementing key structural and governance reforms. As a result, the economy staged a remarkable broad-based recovery as growth of real GDP accelerated from 0. 5 percent in 2002 to 7. percent in 2007. In the aftermath of the post-election-violence (PEV) in early 2008 and the global economic slowdown, growth fell sharply in 2008 to 1. 7 percent. In 2009, the economy is projected to rebound only slightly to 2. 5 percent . Underpinning the good economic performance of recent years was the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies, and in particular, through 2007, the pursuit of a prudent fiscal stance in which the overall budget deficit (on a commitment basis, including grants) was contained to an average of about 2 per cent of GDP compared with a target of 3. percent in the ERS. As a result, there was a net domestic repayment of 0. 7 percent of GDP in 2007/08, relative to a net borrowing of 3. 6 percent of GDP in 2002/03, thereby contributing to a decline in the ratio of net domestic debt to GDP from 23 per cent in 2002/03 to roughly 17 per cent in June 2008. This facilitated a reduction in interest rates a nd an expansion of credit to the private sector in support of productive activities.With the conclusion of the ERS at end-2007, the Kenyan Government elaborated a medium-term development plan, the National Vision 2030, aimed at achieving rapid economic growth and poverty reduction. The vision had three pillars: †¢ an economic pillar whose goal was to achieve and then sustain annual real GDP growth of 10 percent by 2012 with a view to making Kenya a middle-income country by the year 2030; †¢ a social pillar aimed at creating a cohesive society enjoying equitable social development.This pillar would address inequality and poverty challenges faced by many Kenyans and move Kenya towards achieving some of the Millennium Development Goals; and †¢ a political pillar calling for an issues-based, accountable and democratic political system. Achieving the Vision 2030 growth target would require Kenya to increase its investment share in GDP from about 22 percent in 2007/08 to 33 percent by 2012/13. Over the same period, domestic savings would need to increase from about 16 percent of GDP to 28 percent. Details of the key indicators underpinning the macroeconomic framework are provided in Table 1. Table 1: Key Macroeconomic Indicators Underpinning Vision-2030 and the Medium-Term Plan | | |2007/08 |2008/09 |2009/10 |2010/11 |2011/12 |2012/13 | | | |Medium-term projections | |(Annual percentage change) | |National accounts and prices | |6. 2 |8. 3 |9. |9. 7 |10. 0 | |Real GDP |5. 7 |7. 5 |5. 0 |5. 0 |5. 0 |5. 0 | |CPI (end of period) |28. 5 | | | | | | |(In percent of GDP) | |Investment and savings | | | | | | | |Investment |21. |21. 9 |23. 3 |27. 3 |29. 9 |32. 6 | |o/w Central Government |8. 2 |8. 6 |8. 4 |8. 6 |9. 0 |9. 5 | |Gross domestic savings |15. 9 |15. 1 |17. 4 |21. 8 |24. 6 |27. 5 | |o/w Central Government |0. 4 |1. 6 |2. 7 |2. 9 |3. 2 |3. | |Central government budget | | | | | | | |Total revenue |21. 3 |21. 6 |21. 8 |21. 8 |21. 9 |22. 0 | |Total e xpenditure and net lending | | | | | | | |Overall balance (incl. grants) |29. 4 |28. 6 |27. 6 |27. 6 |27. 8 |28. | |Domestic debt, net (eop) | | | | | | | |Total Public Sector Debt |-6. 2 |-5. 6 |-4. 2 |-4. 0 |-4. 0 |-4. 0 | | |17. 8 |16. 8 |16. 5 |15. 7 |15. 0 |14. 3 | | |41. 6 |43. 0 |40. 2 |41. 3 |38. 0 |38. | |External sector | | | | | | | |Current account (incl. official transfers) | | | | | | | |Reserves (months of import cover) |-6. 0 |-6. 8 |-5. 9 |-5. 5 |-5. 3 |-5. 1 | | | | | | | | | | |3. |3. 5 |3. 7 |3. 9 |4. 2 |4. 5 | Source: Ministry of Finance; Medium-Term Budget Strategy Paper, 2008/09-2010/11. The fiscal framework underpinning the Vision 2030 scenario called for increased spending on the critical â€Å"flagship† projects, while at the same time ensuring that the overall fiscal deficit (after grants) would progressively narrow from 6. 2 percent of GDP in 2007/08 to a sustainable level of around 4 percent of GDP over the medium term. This would allow net domest ic debt to decline substantially from 17. 8 percent of GDP to 14. 3 percent by 2012/13.The strengthened fiscal position would be supported by the implementation of revenue administration measures by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), which would sustain the revenue-to-GDP ratio at around 22 percent throughout the medium-term. Under Vision 2030, public expenditure was to be restructured in favor of development spending and other priority social interventions. Improved management of public sector finances was expected to lead to a positive shift in investor and creditor confidence as well as to boost growth by providing the fiscal resources to raise public development spending from 8. percent of GDP in 2007/08 to 9 ? percent of GDP by 2012/13. B. The Medium-Term Plan, 2008-2012 (MTP)[9] To understand how the Kenya government envisaged the role of fiscal policy in its broad vision for development in the coming two decades, it is useful to begin with the first five-year development stra tegy, the Medium-Term Plan (MTP), issued in 2008 and intended to be the instrument for implementing the Vision 2030 development strategy. Two important elements underpin the MTP. First, the MTP clarified how overall resources in the economy would be allocated among the three pillars and the enabling sectors (i. . the Foundations for National Transformation) during the course of the first five-years of the Vision 2030 (see Annex Figure 1 and Annex Table 1). In particular, it highlighted the overwhelming importance that would be played by investments in infrastructure projects, particularly beginning in 2010/11. [10] While in 2008/09 and 2009/10, 21 percent of the resources was to be on infrastructure,[11] this share was to rise in the three subsequent years to about 60 percent with a heavy emphasis on roads (reflecting the inadequate maintenance and limited construction on new roads during the 1990s and earlier).The MTP also indicated that (with the exception of a short burst in 2009 /10), the social sector would absorb about 20 percent of available resources. Spending on the economic sector pillar was to drop sharply after 2008/09 (being replaced by infrastructure spending), but would then be held roughly constant for the remaining four years of the MTP period (see Annex Table 1). [12] Second, given the limited resources available to Government, the MTP emphasized that the financing of infrastructure should rely heavily on the private sector through the use of public-private-partnership (PPP) financing initiatives.For the five-year period, at least 80 percent of infrastructure spending should expect to be financed through PPPs, particularly starting in 2010/11. Thus, the success of infrastructure financing would be predicated on two important fundamentals: first, that domestic savings could be increased from about 16 percent of GDP in 2007/08 to reach 28 percent of GDP in 2012/13 and second, that a legal and regulatory framework for public-private-partnerships could quickly be put in place so investors would feel comfortable about investing in this strategy.Regarding the latter, we note that a PPP framework has been developed but has yet to be made operational. C. Medium-Term Budget Strategy Paper, 2009/10-2011//12 (MTBSP) Each year, the MTBSP provides much more detail on the government’s fiscal framework over the next three budget years, not only in terms of the allocation and financing of the budget for the different government ministries, but more importantly with regard to the key policy objectives. The most recent MTBSP was issued in June 2009 at the time of the BudgetSpeech for fiscal year 2009/10. Unlike the MTP, the MTBSP is guided by the need to be prudent on growth prospects to mitigate the risk of being overly optimistic, and in the event that higher than expected growth rates are achieved, the medium-term macroeconomic framework can be modified accordingly, with the higher revenues allocated to priority expenditures. Ta ble 2 below summarizes the main macroeconomic indicators underpinning the more cautious fiscal framework in the 2009 MTBSP.The table reveals the striking contrast between what had been assumed in the Medium-Term Plan for the next few years and the new assumptions dictated by recent domestic and external developments. Reflecting the domestic and external shocks of 2008 and 2009—the violence following the December 2007 election and the global economic slowdown—real GDP growth over the next three years is now projected to average under 5 percent, much lower than the 6. 8 percent projected in the 2008 MTBSP and half the 10 percent targeted under Vision 2030. | |Table 2: Key Macroeconomic Indicators Underpinning the MTBSP, | | |2007/08 |2008/09 |2009/10 |2010/11 |2011/12 | | | |Prel. Est. | | | | | | |Medium term projections | |(Annual percentage change) | |National accounts and prices | | | | | | |Real GDP |4. 0 |2. 5 |3. 1 |5. 2 |6. 4 | |CPI (end of period) |29. |18. 0 |10. 1 |5. 9 |5. 0 | |(In percent of GDP) | |Investment and savings |19. 1 |18. 1 |19. 2 | | | |Investment |8. 2 |7. 6 |10. 2 |22. 1 |23. 3 | |o/w Central Government |13. 5 |11. 9 |14. 1 |8. 9 |9. 1 | |Gross national savings |1. |1. 7 |2. 3 |17. 3 |19. 0 | |o/w Central Government | | | |3. 1 |3. 5 | |Central government budget | | | | | | |Total revenue |22. 0 |22. 6 |22. 3 |22. 5 |22. 6 | |Total expenditure and net lending |27. 2 |28. 5 |30. 3 |28. |28. 3 | |Overall balance (incl. grants) |-3. 5 |-4. 9 |-6. 6 |-4. 5 |-4. 2 | |Domestic debt, net (eop) |16. 9 |18. 5 |20. 6 |21. 1 |21. 1 | |Total Public Sector Debt |39. 3 |42. 6 |44. 5 |44. 3 |43. 8 | |External sector | | | | | | |Current account incl. off. ransfers |-5. 6 |-6. 2 |-5. 1 |-4. 8 |-4. 3 | |Reserves (months of import cover) |3. 4 |2. 8 |2. 9 |3. 1 |3. 5 | Source: Ministry of Finance; and the MTBSP, 2009/10-2011/12 With respect to the saving-investment balance, there is also a significant divergence between the MTP? s mediu m-term targets and the revised targets in the 2009 MTBSP. For example, the saving-to-GDP ratio is projected to reach 19 percent compared with 24. 6 percent in the MTP in 2011/12—a shortfall of 5. percentage points of GDP. Similarly, the investment-to-GDP ratio is now projected to reach only 23. 3 percent in 2011/12 compared with 29. 9 percent in the MTP—a shortfall of 6. 6 percentage points of GDP. Virtually all the projected shortfall in both saving and investment are associated with the private sector as public sector saving and capital spending are broadly as envisaged in the MTP. The large projected shortfalls in private sector saving and investment suggests that the Vision 2030 growth objectives are unlikely to be met within the timeframe originally envisaged of 2012/13.Moreover, unless the level of productivity rises sharply (or the ICOR is reduced markedly compared with the target in the MTP) in the next few years, achieving the growth objectives of the Vision 2 030 with lower investment is unlikely to be realized. Therefore, to avoid a prolonged divergence between actual outcomes and the Vision 2030 objectives, it is critical for Kenya to fast track the implementation of key reforms aimed at rapidly improving the investment climate, while putting in place the institutional framework to facilitate private sector participation in infrastructure projects through the PPPs.Without these reforms, the timeline for achieving the Vision 2030 growth objectives will not only be delayed substantially but could be seriously compromised. As in the previous year, the 2009 MTBSP also aims at maintaining revenue collection at around 22 percent of GDP over the medium term. This is quite reasonable by historical Kenyan standards and high by Sub-Saharan African standards, and reflects an assumption that revenue collection will keep up with growth in nominal GDP.No major tax rate increases are envisaged in line with Kenya’s intention to maintain a compe titive climate for foreign and domestic investors by reducing the cost of doing business. Avoiding higher taxes seems, at this time, to be a reasonable policy position, though the issue of a further increase in the overall tax share will become more important to consider as one moves further into the next decade (as discussed below). The MTBSP rightly takes a cautious view on the availability of grants and concessional loans, which are projected at roughly 3. 5 percent of GDP annually through 2011/12.However, even for this amount of financing to become available, the MTBSP recognizes that improving public expenditure and financial management will be critical in order to give comfort to development partners that their resources are being efficiently used to support economic growth and poverty reduction. The decision to exclude budget support in formulating the medium-term framework is informed by the recent success of having more predictability in budget execution by ensuring that re sources allocated to line ministries are not disrupted by the ups-and-downs of donor relations and conditionalities.This practice has been highlighted positively by Standard and Poor’s and Fitch Ratings. However, as the 2008 MTBSP emphasized, the exclusion of budgetary support should not suggest a slowdown in implementing reforms in public expenditure management, in the financial sector, and in the restructuring and/or privatizing of public enterprises. Indeed, the assumed lower donor inflows should be accompanied by an intensification of the pace of structural reforms, especially in the modernization of tax and customs administration, to ensure Kenya’s recent financial independence is sustained in line with KRA’s motto of â€Å"Tulipe Ushuru–Tujitegemee. †On the expenditure side, the 2009 MTBSP proposes an increase in overall spending from 28. 5 percent of GDP in 2008/09 to 30. 3 percent followed by a gradual reduction thereafter to about 28 perce nt by 2011/12, while simultaneously effecting a slight shift in the composition of expenditure towards development projects. As a result, the share of recurrent outlays in total outlays will have declined from a high of 90 percent in 2002/03 to 80 percent in 2006/07 and to 67 percent by 2010/11. This is consistent with Vision 2030’s objective of increased funding for the flagship infrastructure projects while still maintaining macroeconomic stability.Reflecting the importance of the other pillars of Vision 2030, and in particular, the social pillar, the proposed expenditure profile in the 2009 MTBSP provides for spending on education and health to remain broadly unchanged at around 30 percent of total spending over the medium-term (Table 3). [13] This follows significant increases in resource allocation to both sectors in recent years. Nevertheless, it may still be necessary to provide more resources to both sectors (see below) and this will require careful prioritization of spending to create the fiscal space for the shift in budget priorities.In particular, spending on other parts of the budget (including public administration, defense, internal security, etc), which is currently projected to remain broadly stable at around 46 percent of total spending, may need to be rationalized in order to release resources for the social sectors. . |Table 3: Spending on the Social and Economic Sectors (in percent of total expenditure) 1/ | | |   |2007/08 |2008/09 |2009/10 |2010/11 |2011/12 | |Social Sectors |28. % |29. 3% |30. 4% |30. 6% |29. 6% | | Health | 6. 1% |5. 7% | 6. 8% |6. 0% |6. 0% | | Education |22. 0% |23. 6% |23. 6% |24. 7% |23. 7% | |Economic Sectors |†¦ |24. 8% | 22. 9% |23. 6% |24. 8% | | Productive, incl.Agriculture |†¦ |4. 3% |3. 5% |4. 3% |4. 4% | | Physical Infrastructure |†¦ |20. 5% |19. 5% |19. 3% |20. 4% | |Other |†¦ |45. 9% |46. 7% |46. 3% |45. 6% | |Total |†¦ |100. 0 |100. 0 |100. 0 |100. 0 | / Source: The Medi um-Term Budget Strategy Paper, 2009/10-2011/12 Based on the projected revenue and expenditure, the overall budget deficit (after grants) is estimated to initially rise from 4. 9 percent in 2008/09 to about 6 percent of GDP in 2009/10—reflecting the impact of the fiscal stimulus package—and then decline to 4. 2 percent by 2011/12. (see Table 2). It is anticipated that concessional financing, mainly from multilateral institutions, non-concessional borrowing through the issuance of sovereign bonds, and domestic borrowing will cover the deficits.The projected domestic borrowing (including issuance of domestic infrastructure bonds) would result in a gradual increase in the stock of outstanding net domestic debt from 17 percent of GDP in 2007/08 to about 21 percent in 2011/12. This increase, while necessary in the context of the economic slowdown and government policy response, carries with it the risk of potentially crowding out of the private sector. This could pose diffic ulties in allowing the private sector to play its role in financing economic activities consistent with achieving the higher growth path. D. Overall fiscal and debt sustainabilityThe projected medium-term fiscal deficits are broadly consistent with fiscal and debt sustainability. Throughout the period covered by the MTBSP, the ratio of public sector debt-to-GDP fluctuates within a narrow range of 40-44 percent of GDP, implying that the net present value of debt-to–GDP ratio is well below 35 percent. [14] It should be noted that the issuance of sovereign bonds to fund high-return infrastructure projects does carry some debt sustainability risks arising from the exchange rate, making it important that the projects be subjected to rigorous cost-effectiveness analysis.Also, some caution may be needed with regard to the timing of issuance of these bonds, given the increased borrowing spreads currently facing many developing countries, as well as the recent and potential further de preciation of the Kenya Shilling against the Euro and the US dollar. Regarding contingent liabilities, a significant amount has already been taken into account in the context of the financial restructuring of the National Bank of Kenya (over Ksh. 21 billion) and during the course of privatizing Kenya Telecom.However, owing to lack of data, not all potential contingent liabilities from the parastatal sector and from the pension scheme have been included in the debt sustainability analysis. Including such contingent liabilities would increase the official public debt and the risk of the overall public debt becoming unsustainable. Another potential source of contingent liabilities is the Government’s planned heavy reliance on public-private-partnerships to finance many of the infrastructure projects for Vision 2030. It will be critical to ensure that increased use of the PPP framework is well managed and minimizes potential contingent liabilities.Reliance on PPPs in some instanc es involves some assumption of the government ultimately, in the future, financing the purchase of the privately-built assets. Moreover, depending on the terms of an individual PPP, the government could bear a number of potential risks associated with each project (demand risk, financing risk, political risk, supply risk, legal risk, etc). The Government appears to be cognizant of this danger, and intends to establish a PPP unit in the Ministry of Finance to vet all new PPP funded projects.In the meantime, the Government should avoid any new PPP projects before the finalization of the PPP legal and regulatory framework. E. The Potential Role of PPPs Can and should Kenya realistically rely on PPP mechanisms? First, there are some areas of public infrastructural spending where potentially the private sector may be willing to invest and provide services without the need for a PPP (e. g. , as has already been demonstrated in the telecommunications sector). In other sectors, the challeng e is for the government to ensure that the same public policy factors that originally motivated public sector investment and provision, e. . , equity factors, natural monopoly conditions, or externalities, are taken into account in the way in which the private sector produces and delivers services. Here the government’s task is to ensure that a clear and well-designed regulatory structure is in place, particularly with regard to pricing policy. Second, private financing in the form of a PPP entails both opportunities and risks to a government, and management of these risks is essential if there is to be a genuine sharing of both the gains and the associated risks between the public and private sectors.What makes a PPP attractive to a government is the ability to harness the potential of the private sector to construct and operate a facility with greater efficiency than would be the case for the public sector, with such efficiency gains offsetting the presumably higher borrowi ng or equity costs associated with private as opposed to government borrowing. Such efficiency gains are particularly relevant when the private sector can bundle the construction and operating phases of a project, thus allowing for internalization of cost-reducing incentives (Scandizzo and Sanguinetti, 2009).At the same time, by substituting the private sector for public provision, the government can also save scarce public funds and relieve strained budgets. But PPPs can also be used, inappropriately, to bypass spending controls and move public investments off budget and debt off the government’s balance sheet. This could leave governments bearing most of the risks involved and face large fiscal costs over the medium to long term.Experience in other countries suggests that to work effectively and for a PPP to be an appropriate approach, several key prerequisites should be satisfied: the quality of services should be contractible; there should be competition or incentive-base d regulation; as noted, there should be an appropriate distribution of risks; the institutional framework should be characterized by political commitment, good governance, clear supporting legislation (including with regard to pricing); and a transparent procedure for award of performance incentives and enforcement of sanctions throughout the concession period.Finally, a government needs to have a capacity, both in the finance and sector ministries, to effectively appraise and prioritize public infrastructure projects; design PPPs; evaluate affordability, value for money and risk transfer; correctly select those projects that are appropriate to undertake as PPPs; draft and scrutinize contracts, monitor, manage and regulate ongoing projects, and undertake periodic performance evaluations (see Sutherland et al, 2009; Scandizzo and Sanguinetti, 2009; IMF, 2004; and Tchakarov, 2007).This underscores the importance of Kenya moving at a deliberate pace to put in place a strengthened manag ement capacity in the Ministry of Finance and given, past governance failures, caution to ensure that the government sector is not burdened with excessive risks that ought legitimately to be borne by the private sector. In terms of negotiating the distribution of risk, the experience of Latin American countries with PPPs suggests that some are appropriately borne by the private partner—those associated with the construction or the operation of the project in particular.Others, such as political and regulatory risk, clearly should be borne by the government. Others—such as market demand risk, some supply side risks (the cost of foreign exchange, some factor cost risks), may be influenced by government but not fully under its control. How such risks are shared is an obviously important and sensitive aspect in the negotiation of a PPP with a private partner, since it will bear on how large are the contingent risks to which a government is exposed. Experience also has taug ht that governments entering into PPPs need to be aware, that there is a strong tendency for contracts to be renegotiated.Tchakarov (2007) notes that in Latin America and the Caribbean, over 30 percent of PPPs were renegotiated (particularly in transportation and water projects), often within the first two to three years of the award of a PPP. Key factors forcing renegotiation have included the fixed term nature of concession contracts, the challenges posed by demand risk, poor decisions at the design stage, government acceptance of aggressive bidding, or changes in the rules of the game by the government after the contract award.Tchakarov also notes that an â€Å"improper regulatory framework and poor regulatory oversight [can] increase the chances of conflict, rent capture by operators, or opportunistic behavior by government. † In sum, private sector financing offers important opportunities for Kenya to augment its fiscal space for infrastructure, but successful exploitati on of this source requires important capacity building within the government in order to ensure both fiscal savings and efficiency gains relative to public provision.F. Risks The MTBSP recognizes that the underlying medium-term assumptions are not without risks, and that the projected rate of economic growth may not be achieved. Under such circumstances, the MTBSP indicates that the government would take appropriate measures to mitigate the risks to macro-economic stability, such as by delaying or scaling back on expenditures on non-priority programs. However, the MTBSP does not identify which programs would be curtailed should revenues fall short of projection. IV.Assessing the Vision and the Medium-Term Budget Strategy ADoes Vision 2030 and the MTBSP Address the Key Challenges facing Kenya? In assessing Kenya’s fiscal policy going forward, it is probably best to work from the plans indicated in the recent MTBSP, primarily because Vision 2030 and the MTP provide less detail on the macroeconomic and fiscal policy framework. Vision 2030 is also of course more ambitious in its objectives for growth, so that any doubts raised about the MTBSP would only be more the case concerning Vision 2030.At the outset, it is worth pointing out that the fiscal framework in the MTBSP appears to be based on fairly conservative assumptions and has introduced some degree of flexibility that can accommodate several alternative scenarios. In particular, the assumed lower growth in the MTBSP compared with the Vision 2030 is, regrettably, realistic in light of recent global developments. However, the projected constant ratio of revenue-to-GDP ratio also comes at a time when KRA is undertaking significant reforms in the customs and tax administration.This means that there is likely to be a revenue windfall. The projected disbursement of concessional loans in line with GDP assumes no improvement in absorption capacity in the key line ministries from the low levels of between 40-5 0 percent and the authorities have underscored this as an objective to pursue in coming years. With the recent enhanced monitoring of project implementation, the absorption of donor funds should increase. The exclusion of donor budget support from the framework at a time when PFM/PEM reforms are on-going also suggests a potential upside in donor support.Finally even with the increase in government spending associated with the fiscal stimulus, the level of public sector debt to GDP ratio still provides some scope for additional domestic borrowing to fund key infrastructure projects, if warranted, without jeopardizing Kenya’s debt sustainability status. All in all, with the exception of the growth scenario, most of the other assumptions appear fairly cautious and leave room for some over performance. Thugge et al make several key observations on these issues.While acknowledging that the authorities have articulated a sensible and ambitious policy strategy, recent domestic polit ical events and the global economic downturn highlight the setbacks to its realization almost from the outset. Revenue shortfalls, limited efforts at rationalizing spending in noncritical sectors, and the slow pace of civil service rationalization will limit the potential for meeting policy objectives in the health and education sectors, both in terms of levels of spending and efforts at increased sectoral efficiency.The need for increased infrastructural spending is recognized, but financing efforts remain impeded by the lack of progress on setting out the policy framework for enhanced private sector participation and an improved investment climate. Enhanced revenue efforts will also be needed, particularly from personal and corporate income taxes and from an increase in the effective VAT rate. Fifth, the MTP calls for a sharp increase in overall investment in order to achieve the planned 10 percent real GDP growth.However, in light of the sharply lower medium-term levels of saving and investment now projected in the MTBSP, the government needs to move with deliberate speed to implement structural reforms and improve the investment climate in order to raise productivity rapidly. Without a significant increase in total factor productivity, achieving the Vision 2030 growth objectives could be seriously impaired.One implication of the limited amount of resources available to G