Great Recession Essay Example for Free

Great Recession Essay Our 2007-2008 financial crisis is blamed on cheap mortgage credit, including lax underwriting process and government policies. In 2003, the government passed the American Dream Development Act, which provided financing to low-income families. Trying to help lower middle class families, the policy led to mortgage subprime mortgages. Financing to families with low credit rating at high interest rates. Since a large part of the population is middle to lower class, an exhaustible demand for new homes was created. As a result, creating a bubble in home price. Some of these mortgages include Interest only (monthly payment pays nothing to the principal, thus never decreasing the principal amount financed), and Adjustable Rate Mortgage, which consists of lowering or increasing rates every year depending on market interest rate. This type of mortgage can be beneficial in times like this; but back in 2006, when interest rates were so high, many mortgages monthly payments increase more than 10% in just one month. As Interest rates increased, subprime mortgages started to default exponentially since new homebuyers were unable to meet the monthly payments. This led to the collapse of home prices. This period of time is called the Great recession. The increase in subprime defaults reduces aggregate income and increases aggregate home prices, which in turn increases the level of prime defaults in the economy. This is called the subprime contagion. How did the government react? The government used fiscal policy to stabilize interest rates, reduce unemployment and increase GDP, they issued a program of Easy Credit, letting subprime borrow at a prime borrower spread. Also, they gave a Tax Rebate in 2008 of $8,000 for First time homebuyers, and for those in default they issued the Distress Relief program of HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program). On the other hand, the Fed used monetary policy to reduce the economic crises and spur investments and consumption. They reduce the rate at discount window, increase money supply to reduce rates and they purchase mortgage-backed securities. Using Monetary Policy in a recession is more effective because it acts faster than fiscal policy. Fiscal policy has go through a various committees and has to be voted on to be made into law. As a conclusion, there is a contagion effect od subprime default due to the negative impact of subprime defaults on aggregate income, and monetary policy is the most effective when dealing with a recession. Monetary policy increases home aggregate prices in contrast to alternative government fiscal policies designed to loosen mortgage credit.

Lord Capulet in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet :: Romeo and Juliet Essays

In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Lord Capulet is a very prominent character. He is wealthy and a leader in his community. He is a very loving father to his daughter Juliet, he is a very contradictory person, and he trusts everyone to do as they are told and to act appropriately. Lord Capulet is a loving father who deeply cares for Juliet. When he arranges the marriage between her and Paris, he is just trying to do what he feels is best for her. He knows Paris, being handsome and rich, will make a good husband to Juliet. When she refuses to marry Paris he goes into a violent rage, saying things he doesn’t mean. â€Å"Hang thee, young baggage, disobedient wretch! / I tell thee what: get thee to church o’Thursday, / Or never after look me in the face.†(3.5.166-168). He feels that the marriage of the two will be beneficial for Juliet and he loves her so much that he doesn’t mean to hurt her feelings. When Juliet â€Å"dies† he laments. â€Å"Despised, distressed, hated, martyred, killed! / Uncomfortable time, why cam’st thou now/ To murder, murder our solemnity? / O child! O child! My soul and not my child! / Dead art thou! Alack, my child is dead, / And with my child my joys are buried.† (4.5.65-70). He cries out in a pain and anguish for his lost daughter Juliet. By showing emotion on account of her death and for her disobedience, Capulet shows that he really does care for Juliet and that he is a good father, wanting the best for her. Lord Capulet is a very trusting. He trusts Paris with his daughter, knowing that he would be a good husband to her. â€Å"Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender / Of my child’s love. I think she will be ruled / In all respects by me. Nay, more, I doubt it not-â€Å" (3.5.13-15). He believes that Paris will keep his word and love Juliet. After the death of Tybalt, he is sorrowful, and I think that is one of the reasons he trusts that Juliet will agree with this marriage. When Romeo, at the beginning of the play, shows up at the Capulet party, Tybalt is angered. He tells Capulet that he would kill Romeo if he had his permission. Even though Romeo was of the Montague family, he still trusted him not to do anything bad at the party.

Corporate Governance in Malaysia

Corporate Governance is a concept in which it has been existence for decades; although not in the exact form that it has come to be understood today (Anandarajah, 2001). The term corporate governance was introduced in Malaysia in 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis. It also drew the public’s attention on the weaknesses of the Malaysian corporate governance practice (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007).Besides that, the downfall of Sime Bank, the Bumiputera Malaysian Finance (BMF) scandal, the irregularities in Renong Berhad, the Perwaja fiasco and the internal management problem faced by Malaysian Airline System (MAS) forced government to enhance corporate governance regulations (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011).The High Level Finance Committee Report 1999 on Corporate Governance in Malaysia defined corporate governance as the â€Å"process and structure used to direct and manage the business and affairs of the company towards enhancing business prosperity and corporate account ability with the ultimate objective of realizing long term shareholder value, whilst taking into account the interest of other stakeholders. † (Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance, 2012). The code that governs the corporate governance in Malaysia is called the Malaysia Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG).This code was recently revised in March 2012 and it is known as the MCCG2012. Besides providing relevant information to investors, this code also aims to encourage transparency management of companies, to enable investors to guide the direction of the company (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). The MCCG 2007 was revised with the aim to enhance the directors’ duty to the companies. With the revised MCCG 2012, there are still many issues arising from corporate governance. However, to some extent there are improvements in some area of the corporate governance.The revised MCCG 2012 contained a few improvements in the recommendation. This Code now establishes clear roles an d responsibilities where ethical standard should be formalized through the code of conduct by the board to ensure its compliance. Through the company’s code of conduct, it mandates the board to formulate system of compliance and ethical standards. Besides, it also includes ensuring that the company’s strategies promote sustainability. There are many improvements made under reinforcement of independence. 3. 1 mandate boards to undertake an annual independent director assessment.For an individual to serve as an independent director, 3. 2 mandate a cumulative term to nine years. Under 3. 3, justification and shareholder’s approval is needed if the board retains as an independent director. And lastly MCCG 2012 recommends that a majority of independent directors must be in the board and the board chairman is not an independent director. These were not in the MCCG 2007. The most important improvement under the MCCG 2012 is to ensure timely and high quality disclosure. Under this the board should make certain the appropriate disclosure procedure and policies of the company.Also, for effective dissemination of information, board should encourage the company to leverage on information technology. This is to promote better use of technology. Furthermore, with the existing recommendation, MCCG 2012 also state that the board should also encourage pool voting in order for strengthening the relationship f the company and shareholder. This imposes duty to inform the shareholders of their right to demand a poll vote by the general meeting chairman. The concern here is whether the revised MCCG have enhanced the corporate governance of the companies in Malaysia.This code calls for voluntary compliance, coupled with the requirement in the listing rules of KLSE which make mandates disclosure of the extent of compliance with the best practice sets out in the Code, while allowing for some flexibility in its implementation by companies. The aim here is to provid e necessary information and encourage disclosure to investors who entrusted their funds to companies, so that they can monitor the way it is being run (Finance Committee on Corporate Governance, 1999). This Code has somehow reduced the number of financial scandal but definitely not completely clear it off.There are many scenarios that company collapsing due to financial scandal as what was initiated by the BMF (Bank Bumiputera Finance) scandal. The law governing director’s duty consist of various forms of law. These duties have been observed also contain a plurality of legal fields such as company law and employment law (Hee, 2003). Section 132(1) of the Companies Act 1965 requires a director to use reasonable diligence and to act honestly in the discharge of his duties. The duty to act in the best interest of the company as a whole also from common law covers the collective interest of both existing and prospective shareholders.It is suggested that the common law fiduciary d uty to avoid conflicts of interest should be codified to allow directors to be clear about their obligations in conflict situations. KLSE listing Requirements stipulates that public listed companies must got at least two independent directors. Individuals who are expressly excluded from being eligible to act as independent directors include major shareholders, professional advisers or relatives of an executive director or major shareholder of the listed company (Hee, 2003). This provides a better equilibrium of powers between directors and independent directors.The auditor actually provides a check on the information aspect of the governance system rather than having a direct corporate governance responsibility. As widely recognized, the duties of the audit committees have been related to internal audit financial reporting and external auditor. The importance of an audit committee in the framework of corporate accountability is where audit committees are expected to act as the guard ian of investors’ interests and corporate accountability suggested by the wide adoption of audit committee (Saidin, 2007).The main duties are to inspect and form an opinion as to whether the financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the financial reporting standards of Malaysia and the Companies Act 1965; to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatements; and to examine and form an opinion whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the Company as of the financial year end and of its financial performance and cash flows of the year end (Yycadvisors, 2012).The pertinent issue in corporate governance is due to mismanagement, director’s duty not well performed, abusing the minority projection / shareholders and not having meetings often to update what is going on. Management or board should practice the commonly accepted principles of corporate governance such as i ndependence, accountability, roles and responsibilities, integrity and ethical behavior, and transparency. A company’s board should have a number of independent directors. They should be individual with no connection with the company other than a seat in the board.Also, selected independent directors should meet the â€Å"independence† test under the regulatory rules and also to serve with independence of minds. This process of selecting independent directors is likely to maintain their independent mindedness (Rahman & Salim, 2010). To create a system that holds decision makers accountable while according proper respect to their authority over corporation is a challenging thing for corporate governance. The market, shareholder voting, and civil and criminal liability is the regular accountability mechanism.In theory, to create incentives for deterring self-dealing and other forms of misconduct and for responsible decision making these mechanisms work together. However, in reality, these contain flaws that allow individuals to occasionally exercise an irrational discretion when making decisions that will affect many others. The impact can be distressing for investors, employees, and the economy when the governance system fails (Jones, 2010). Given the control of publicly held companies, management should be accountable to its board of directors.The board, in turn, should be accountable to the shareholders and other stakeholders. The principle of accountability can be enhanced by many ways, such as enforcing rules and laws, protecting shareholders’ rights, imposing duties on officers and ensuring the scrutiny of the company’s financial statements by independent auditors (Rahman & Salim, 2010). To provide creditors, depositors and shareholders creditable assurance that they will abstain from fraud activities, financial transparency would be an important mechanism.Timely and accurate disclosure should be made regarding all materials mat ter concerning the corporation is one way to ensure excellent corporate governance. The voluntary items disclosed in the annual reports, the time of the information to be released and quantity of information influenced by the board of directors. In disclosing all the relevant information in the financial reporting, the BOD will be transparent when they are independent and examine their responsibility to be accountable to the shareholders.To ensure the quality of the financial reporting process is one of the main functions corporate governance play. Financial reporting should be prepared with integrity which relies on corporate governance. Dependency of the integrity of financial reporting is highly on the performance and conduct of individual involved. What lead the company to reporting failure is when the corporate governance fails where most of them manipulated their financial statement to meet the performance expectation.Research also has found that there is a connection between weaknesses in corporate governance with bad financial quality, fraudulent financial statement weak internal control and earnings manipulations (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). Problems that arise in companies in Malaysia regarding corporate governance have to do with the political interference to certain extent. State/government can be said as the â€Å"real† company controller compared to law/policy regulated under corporate governance. For example, the famous corporate governance failure in Malaysia – the scandal of Perwaja Steel Sdn.Bhd.. Perwaja, a company owned by the government in collaboration with a Japanese company, Nippon Steel Corporation that was established by HICOM Bhd. in 1982, to fulfill the government’s mission in implementing the heavy industrial policy (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). This can be seen as an example where the state, as a shareholder in the company, has direct interest to it. Fraud and corruption can easily happen with the exi stence of this relationship. Due to the misconduct of directorship the corporate governance of Perwaja collapsed.Perwaja faced with corruption and mismanagement in tender and contract awarding. Furthermore, doubtful trading transactions and payments were carried out to non existing companies (Netto, 2004). There are one sided contracts between Perwaja and both local and foreign companies plus with erroneous records and many of millions ringgit were unauthorized (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). This shows the failure of corporate governance in Perwaja Steel Sdn. Bhd.. However, with fresh funds being injected by the government today, Perwaja is still in business (Netto, 2004).In other case, like the Malaysian Airlines System Bhd. (MAS) faced with internal management problems. Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli, the largest shareholder in MAS who held both Chief Executive Officer plus with chairman position, entered into unprofitable business activities whereby he had over expansion the flight de stination, has caused the occurrence of governance failure (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). The new management under Tajuddin Ramli had already cause MAS to suffered huge debts, prior to the Asian Financial Crisis.This had put MAS at risk during the crisis as all their transaction were done is UD dollars (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). Due to the veto power of the government in MAS’s management the decision on airlines destinations were subjected to government’s decision and approval. To comply with Malaysian foreign policy, MAS had to oblige and extend its services, where at that time, not popular destinations or less concentrated areas were decided by the government. This decision contributed lower return to MAS.From this point of view, we can see that the government/political involvement in business have a huge influence in the management of the company. Besides another reason of governance failure of MAS was due to increased in capital expenditure caused by many orders on planes from 1998 to 2001. It was simply a mismatch between earnings and expenditure in the financial reporting, whereby earnings were is ringgit while the latter was in US dollar. MAS ended up paying a higher cost than what was originally ordered for. MAS was then repurchased for more than double of the market price.The question here was before the government’s buyback, why an audit was not conducted which would have a very important bearing on the proper price of the government buyout. An international case study example would be the Satyam Linggam scandal, the biggest corporate scam in India has come to the most respected businessman. Satyam founder resigned as its chairman after admitting to cooking up the account book. The CEO was responsible for the board accounting improprieties that reported a large amount of cash holding that does not exist and overstating the company’s profit and revenue.With a successful effort on the part of investor’s in o rder to prevent an effort by the minority shareholding promoters to use the firm’s cash reserves to buy two companies owned by them, the scandal all came to know. Consequently, this failed the attempt of expansion on Satyam’s part, which in turn led to a collapse in company’s stock prices, followed by a shocking confession from Raju. History has played a part in the development of corporate governance in India. The first code for corporate governance was published in 1988, but by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) entitled desirable Corporate Governance.Unlike codes in some other countries, the CII code did not make statements of principle but addressed specific business issues in India. The code called for â€Å"professionally competent, independent non-executive directors† to make up the board. None should hold more than ten listed company. The code also called for audit committees. A year later 1999 a government committee released India’ s National Code on Corporate Governance (Ticker, 2009). Reflecting international standards, the code had the approval by the SEBI and incorporated into stock exchange rules.The government issued guidelines on corporate governance in central public sector enterprises in 2007, covering the composition of the boards, audit committees, accounting standards and risk management (Ticker, 2009). However, corruption remains entrenched in India, not at least in the government administration. The Ministry of Company Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board need more competent staff experience in corporate governance matters. But rapid economic growth and potential in India suggest that the next few years will see significant changes in both attitude and practice (Ticker, 2009).The failure in corporate governance forced rules and regulations to be enacted (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). Recent corporate scandals and the near-collapse of the global ? nancial system all demonstrate the imp ortance of maintaining an effective corporate governance regime (Jones, 2010). With the revised MCCG 2012, duties of all the board of directors are clearly stated, and this will serve as guidance and should improve the corporate governance of the company.

The Picture Of Dorian Gray Aestheticism Analysis - 1585 Words

â€Å"We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely. All art is quite useless.† This is a stark claim made by Oscar Wilde in the preface to his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (3). Along with the rest of Wilde’s preface, this sentence rebukes literary realism in favor of aestheticism. This is unsurprising to anyone who is familiar with the playwright’s other plays and lectures; Wilde was an avid opponent of realism and a firm believer in the concept of â€Å"art for art’s sake.† Critic Elizabeth Prettejohn claims that aestheticism includes a focus on the visual elements of a piece of art. Oscar Wilde had previously met the†¦show more content†¦Before exploring Wilde’s preface, it is vital to explore the definitions of â€Å"aestheticism† and â€Å"realism† as Wilde would have understood them. Elizabeth Prettejohn defines aestheticism as a direct descendant of Pre-Raphaelitism in which the visual arts take center stage. These â€Å"visual arts† include paintings and sculptures, but can also be found in nature. Due to the ambiguity of its subjects, aestheticism does not have one true definition, but is commonly described as the movement that preceded Pre-Raphaelitism. While Pre-Raphaelites were concerned with the relationship between nature and reality, aestheticism is concerned with differentiating art from the real (Prettejohn 1-2). According to various lectures that Wilde had given on aestheticism throughout his lifetime, it is said that Wilde used the term â€Å"aestheticism† as a catch-all term for treating all forms of art, natural or man-made, as beautiful for their own sake. (Prettejohn 4). In contrast to aestheticism, realism is defined by author George Eliot as â€Å"the doctrine that all truth and beauty are to be attained by a humble and faithful study of nature, and not by substituting vague forms, bred by imagination on the mists of feeling, in place of definite, substantial reality.† Eliot claims that realism uses modesty to impose the modern, real world into art (Mullan 1). In the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde expresses his distaste of realists (â€Å"Those who find uglyShow MoreRelatedThe Picture Of Dorian Gray Aestheticism Analysis935 Words   |  4 PagesThe notion that art can exist for the sake of its beauty alone is the essence of aestheticism, a nineteenth-century arts movement that had a significant impact on the writings of Oscar Wilde; in particular, his enrapturing novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is an insightful narration that expresses many of the central elements of this aesthetic philosophy. Centered on the life of an attractive young man named Dorian Gray, the novel details how through the influence of others, he becomes morally depravedRead MoreThe Picture Of Dorian Gray Character Analys is830 Words   |  4 Pagesand the way the characters themselves interact with both their own thoughts and the world around them. In the works chosen, the appearances of the characters to be analyzed fall on opposite ends of the spectrum of aestheticism. Dorian Gray, from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray possesses an â€Å"...extraordinary personal beauty (Wilde 1),† one that controls other character’s reception of him, as well as affecting his own inner thoughts, for he knows that he seen as beautiful. On the oppositeRead MoreAbstract Aestheticism in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray2148 Words   |  9 Pagesexpression, but also one of social advancement. With this idea at its forefront, art suddenly inundated places where art was never previously found, such as social education and morality. In contrast, Oscar Wilde was a key advocate of an idea known aestheticism, a concept that relied on art simply being art. Oscar Wilde played a major role in Victorian England, having a major influence through his writing. At its peak the movement had a disdain for any traditional, natural, political, or moral ideals;Read MoreThe Picture Of Dorian Gray Essay1871 Words   |  8 Pagesexception. In creating the story of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde used his experience of sitting in on a painting session, done by a Basil Ward. He then proceeded to comment on how it would be amazing if the painting aged while the subject of the painting did not. Throughout the novel, we notice this kind of lifestyle being lived out by Dorian and Lord Henry, but we also see how Dorian handles his conscience based on his actions. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel that, while it has its controversiesRead MoreThe English Renaissance675 Words   |  3 Pagesostracize and scoff at people who failed to exhibit their narrow definition of ‘appropriateness’(Foldy). Aestheticism, more liberal and welcoming, was the main contributor to the downfall of the Victorian era because it combated Victorian exclusivity and embraced expression. A major direct impact of the aesthetic movement was spurred feminism. People invested in more elaborate and bold furnishings for their lives and homes, and boundaries were expanded to give women more freedom, causing them toRead MoreThe Importance Of Being Earnest By Oscar Wilde1243 Words   |  5 PagesBiography An exuberant nonconformist and controversial playwright, eminent author Oscar Wilde produced critically acclaimed literary works that defined the essence of late Victorian England. Posthumously recognized for his only novel The Picture of Dorian Gray and satiric comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde initially acquired criticism for his immoral and unconventional style of writing. Additionally, to his dismay, strife followed Wilde in his personal life as he was notoriously triedRead MoreA Streetcar Named Desire: the Importance of Being Earnest9437 Words   |  38 Pagesridicules the cant and hypocrisy of society’s moral arbiters. To a very large extent, this figure was a self-portrait, a stand-in for Wilde himself. The dandy isn’t always a comic figure in Wilde’s work. In A Woman of No Importance and The Picture of Dorian Gray, he takes the form of the villains Lord Illingworth and Lord Henry Wootton, respectively. But in works such as Lady Windermereâ₠¬â„¢s Fan, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, Wilde seems to be evolving a more positive and clearly