Chapter 5 Case Solutions

CHAPTER 5ACCOUNTING FOR GENERAL upper- subject area letter ASSETS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS OUTLINE NumberTopicType/TaskStatus (re 13/e) Questions 5-1Distinguishing usual smashing assets from fund capital assetsDescribeNew 5-2Capital asset disclosuresExplainNew 5-3Modified approach for root wordDescribeNew 5-4Capital lease accountingDescribe5-8 revise 5-5Asset impairmentExplainNew 5-6Use of capital switchs capitalExplain5-4 revised 5-7EncumbrancesExplainSame 5-8 structure work in progressExplainNew 5-9Multiple capital projectsExplainSame 5-10 excess assessment capital projectsExplainNew depicted objects 5-1Modified approach for infrastructure assetsEvaluate, write5-2 5-2Options for support existence infrastructureEvaluate, explainNew 5-3Political versus economic factors in financing capital improvementsEvaluate, explain5-1 retitled Exercises/Problems 5-1Examine the CAFRExamine5-1 revised 5-2VariousMultiple Choice5-2 revised 5-3General capital assetsJournal EntriesSame 5-4Capital asset disclosure statementFinancial Statement5-4 revised 5-5 exact classification and accountingCalculate JEsNew -6Asset impairmentJEs ReportingNew 5-7Special assessment financingJEs and Explain5-6 revised 5-8Statement of grosss and expendituresCompute FS5-5 5-9 anatomical structure fundJEs & FS5-7 revised 5-10Capital project transactionsJEs & FS5-8 revised CHAPTER 5ACCOUNTING FOR GENERAL CAPITAL ASSETS AND CAPITAL PROJECTS Answers to Questions 5-1. General capital assets argon those that are acquired with the re starting times of government activityal funds and that are reported only in the Governmental Activities column of the government-wide financial statements.Capital assets acquired with the resources of proprietary or fiduciary funds are reported in the financial statements of those funds, as salubrious as in the seam-type Activities column of the government-wide financial statements for enterprise fund capital assets. 5-2. Capital asset disclosures required by the GAS B are quite well illustrated by the City and County of capital of Colorados capital asset disclosures shown in Illustration 5-2.In brief, the disclosures should include policies for capitalizing assets and for estimating the useful lives of depreciable assets. In addition, the disclosures should include (1) beginning-of-year and end-of-year balances presentation accumulated depreciation separate from historical cost, (2) capital acquisitions during the year, (3) sales or other dispositions during the year, (4) depreciation set down showing measurings charged to each function in the statement of activities, and (5) disclosures regarding collections of art or historical treasures. -3. The limited approach permits a government an alternative to depreciation of certain eligible infrastructure assets. Eligible assets are parts of major ne iirks of infrastructure assets or subsystems of scratchworks, where a network efficiency be a route system, for example. If the government meets two requirements it can avoid reporting depreciation on its eligible infrastructure assets.The two requirements are (1) management of eligible infrastructure assets using a management system that includes an up-to-date breed of eligible assets, condition assessments and results using a measurement scale, and estimates of annual cost to maintain assets at the conventional and disclosed condition level, and (2) documentation that the assets are being preserved at or above the accomplished condition level. If the government fails to maintain the assets at or above the established condition level, it must revert to reporting depreciation for its nfrastructure assets and discontinue use of the modified approach. 5-4. If the lease meets one or more of the FASB SFAS 13 criteria for a capital lease, as discussed in this chapter, the lease must be reported as a capital lease. If the lease is deemed to be a capital lease, the governmental fund journal entry on the date of inception will in clude a debit to Expenditures and a Credit to Other financial punt SourcesCapital Lease Agreements.The journal entry at the government-wide level will be the same as that used in business accountinga debit to Equipment and a credit to Capital Lease Obligations Payable. Ch. 5, Answers (Contd) 5-5. Disagree. GASBS 42 requires the government to assess assets for which value might consume become impaired. If impairment is judged to have occurred, then the amount of impairment loss must be estimated using one of the approaches described in GASBS 42. The amount of loss will be recorded as an expense of the appropriate function or schedule and as a reduction in the carrying value of the asset. -6. The use of a capital projects fund is ordinarily required for major construction projects requiring large amounts of financing. The use of a capital projects fund whitethorn also be useful for purchases of high-cost items such(prenominal) as acquisitions of land, buildings, and high-cost equipment. A capital projects fund must also be used whenever required by law or grant provisions. 5-7. To facilitate preparation of financial statements at the end of the fiscal year, each(prenominal) operating and budgetary accounts should be closed, including Encumbrances.However, since the project is still underway and contractual commitments still exist to conciliate contractors when billed, it is essential that Encumbrances be reestablished at the beginning of the next year in order to maintain budgetary control over outstanding commitments. 5-8. All ordinary and necessary costs to construct the asset are appropriately reported as construction work in progress. This includes all legal costs, engineering and architectural services, site preparation, materials used, and billings from contractors, among other items.Interest incurred during construction is not capitalized for general capital assets, however. Construction Work in Progress is found in the ledger for governmental activities at the government-wide level for general capital assets, and not in the ledger for the capital projects fund. In the capital projects fund, all capitalizable items are debited to Construction Expenditures. 5-9. For a multiple-projects fund, encumbrances and construction expenditures should be identified in a demeanor that will indicate to which project each applies.This can be accomplished by adding a project identifier to the Encumbrances and Construction Expenditures accounts, such as Encumbrances? Street Project or Construction Expenditures? Project No. 10. Identifying encumbrances and expenditures by project facilitates comparisons to budget for accompaniment projects and presentation of cash and expenditure statements for multi-project operations. For example, the City of Smithville Continuous Computerized Problem that accompanies this text has two capital projects funds named the Springer Street Project and the Alzmann Street Project. 5-10.Capital projects fund ac counting for peculiar(a) assessments is virtually identical in both of these situations. The only difference is that the credit entry for issuance of spare assessment bonds is to Other pay SourcesContribution from Property Owners if the government assumes no responsibility for the debt, rather than to Other Financing SourcesProceeds of Special Assessment Bonds with Governmental Commitment. Solutions to Cases 5-1. a. Discuss with students various methods of obtaining financial statements and getting benchmark data to make comparisons across entities.Professional associations such as the Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of State Auditors, Controllers and Treasurers, and Association of School Business Officials publish best practices for various areas of public finance, accounting, and financial reporting. Since each student will have a different list of cities, ask them to compare their results with other students and look for patterns in which types a nd sizes of governments make alike(p) choices in accounting methods, particularly, in this case, regarding choice of infrastructure asset accounting methods. . An important communication skill for students to stamp down is to convey technical financial accounting information in an effective way so that ending makers find the information useful for making informed decisions. You may wish to ask students to show their memoranda or essay to a finance director of a city and get their opinion around whether the student has captured the fundamental issues relating to infrastructure and communicated it in a professional and informative manner. c.During the implementation years of GASBS 34, the GFOA and more or less state auditors released policy statements indicating to governments that they did not have to capitalize infrastructure assets to meet minimum standards for the GFOAs certification of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting or the states reporting compliance regu lations. Despite such statements, most governments that sought a clean audit opinion voluntarily developed inventories of infrastructure and followed generally accepted accounting principles for infrastructure reporting.For most general purpose governments, omitting infrastructure assets would cause their statement of net assets to be materially misstated resulting in a qualified or adverse audit opinionlikely the latter. A government receiving an adverse audit opinion may experience a downgrading of its bond rating and thus facial expression considerably higher cost of borrowing. 5-2a. Option (1), the sales tax approach, offers the advantage of spreading the burden for infrastructure improvements across a larger number of taxpayers, including many non-residents who visit or shop in vacate City.From an equity standpoint, the sales tax approach has appeal because infrastructure improvements enhance the city for visitors and shoppers, as well as for residents. Disadvantages of this approach are the necessity of scheduling and conducting a circumscribed election and the political hazard of advocating for a tax increase. Option (2), the development fee approach, has the advantage of being relatively invisible to the public and efficient to administer since the number of developers will be relatively small.Although real estate developers can be expected to pass the development fee to rising homeowners and businesses, property values may be change magnitude by enhanced infrastructure (e. g. , improved streets and highways, adequate storm drainage, and so forth). As a result, taxpayers may recoup a portion of the development fee. The main disadvantage is the potential inequity of the development Ch. 5, Solutions, Case 5-2 (Contd) fee since a relatively high financial burden is imposed on untested homeowners and naked businesses for infrastructure expansion and improvement that may substantially benefit the entire city.A city council member may prefer the dev elopment fee approach since it holds less political risk than asking residents to approve a tax increase. The city manager may prefer the sales tax approach as retail sales may be less volatile than new construction, which can be strongly wedged by the local, regional, and national economies. Since the city manager is responsible for ensuring that infrastructure stays abreast of population and new development, he or she may prefer a more stable source of infrastructure financing.Current homeowners and businesses might be expected to prefer the development fee approach since those fees would not directly impact on their property and would place the incidence of the tax on others. It would be surprising if new homeowners or new businesses favored the development fee approach as they would probably view it as inequitable. b. Accounting and financial reporting would be minimally impacted by which option is ultimately chosen. Either way, on that point is revenue to be recognized in a ca pital projects fund (a tax in one case and development fee in the other).Accounting for infrastructure construction would not be affected by the source of financing. 5-3. a. Regardless of how a student voted, he or she had plenty of company. With a record voter semi for such an election, the half-cent sales tax was barely approved. Only 51. 7 percent of the voters in Brown County voted for the tax. As expected, 56. 5 percent of the voters in the City of Brownville voted against it. Except for a few precincts in other cities and towns, voters right(prenominal) Brownville voted overwhelmingly in support of the tax.While there is no right answer to this question, each student should have provided a rationale similar to one of the arguments provided in the case. A few students may develop funny arguments in support of their vote. Generally, the students who voted for the proposed tax must have thought the county-wide benefits of improved roads and bridges were expenditure the extra tax costs and outweighed the possible detrimental effects on the Citys financial flexibility.Those who voted against it presumably did so using the rationale expressed by some voters in exit polls, why should I pay more for roads that will benefit rural county residents more than me. b. Although some students may profess an unselfish motivation for their vote, most are expected to reflect economic rationality. That is, they would likely vote for the sales tax increase if they were an owner of a large commercial or manufacturing property, and would therefore realize a net economic benefit from the property tax rollback and sales tax increase.Even then some students may justify the yes vote on the basis of the county-wide benefits of improved infrastructure rather than their financial self-interest. Ch. 5, Solutions, Case 5-3 (Contd) c. Again, there is no right answer to this question. Students (Brownville voters) who voted against the tax probably would argue that residents who pri marily benefit should pay for the improvements (i. e. , special assessment financing should have been used). Those who voted for the tax probably would argue that the broader (county-wide) economic benefits of improved county infrastructure justifies inancial support by all county residents. Some who voted for the tax may have preferred special assessment financing but possibly feared that failure to approve the sales tax would doom the needed improvements altogether. d. The Countys procedures for accounting for the financing and the capital projects activities will differ slightly for the option approved by the voters compared with those that would have been used if special assessment financing had been used.But, as explained in Chapter 5, the procedures for accounting for special assessment-financed capital projects are quite similar to those for other capital projects, especially when, as is often the case, the government is committed in some manner for repaying debt issued for t he project. Since bond financing is typically used for special assessment capital projects, accounting for both special assessment taxes and debt service would have been required for an extended period, probably ten years or more.Whether these differences would be termed significant accounting issues is a matter of conjecture they might be considered significant by the financial staff of the County. Solutions to Exercises and Problems 5-1. Each student will have a different annual report, so he or she will have different answers to questions in this exercise. The various kinds of capital assets and capital projects, wide revolution of financing mechanisms, and different accounting policies used in and by governments should generate interesting classroom discussions. 5-2. 1. a. 6. c. 2. d. 7. d. 3. c. 8. c. 4. a 9. a. 5. b. 10. c.

Emerging Economies

Business outgrowth in uphill Economies Business discipline in Emerging Economies Coursework Coursework Contents A. In your opinion, what is the future of emerge economies? victuals your answer with relevant evidence. (2000 words)3 Introduction4 What be emergent economies4 Future of emergent economies5 Micro scotch approach6 Long-term sparingal perspectives7 The Euro perspective8 Facts close to the future9 Forecast11 Opinion12 Risks for appear markets12 B. critically con range the factors driving the growth of emerging MNEs. employ relevant company and kingdom examples. calciferol words)14 What argon MNEs (Multi case Enterprises)15 Facts about MNEs15 C. How formidable is the arguing posed by emerging markets MNEs to the Western companies? Could it be country- or/and sector-specific? (500 words)18 References21 Business Development in Emerging Economies Coursework Submission A. In your opinion, what is the future of emerging economies? Support your answer with relevant e vidence. (2000 words) B. Critically discuss the factors driving the growth of emerging MNEs. Use relevant company and country examples. (500 words) C.How formidable is the competition posed by emerging markets MNEs to the Western companies? Could it be country- or/and sector-specific? (500 words) A. In your opinion, what is the future of emerging economies? Support your answer with relevant evidence. (2000 words) Introduction What ar emerging economies The emerging markets story began al most(prenominal) thirty age ago. In the mid-1980s, developed economies started on a debt-fueled consumer spending binge that lasted more than two decades. This provided an incredible chance for developing economies.So, emerging markets or emerging economies ar nations with social or business activity in the process of fast growth and industrialization. The seven largest emerging and developing economies by either nominal realize Domestic Product or GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) are china, bra zil nut, Russia, India, Mexico, In have onesia, and Turkey. Some characteristics that define an economy as emerging are the following * Intermediate income its PPP per capital income is comprised between 10 % and 75 % of the add up EU per capital income. Catching-up growth during at least the last decade, it has experienced a b encounter economical growth that has narrowed the income gap with advanced economies. * Institutional transformations and economic opening during the same boundary, it has under repeln profound institutional transformations which contri only whened to integrate it more deeply into the world economy. Hence, emerging economies appears to be a by- harvest-home of the current planetaryization. Emerging markets are sought by investors for the prospect of high returns, as they often experience faster economic growth as measured by GDP.Investments in emerging markets come with much(prenominal) greater risk due to political instability, domestic base problems, currency volatility and limited equity opportunities ( some large companies may console be state-run or private). Also, local stock exchanges may not offer liquid markets for outside investors. These countries do not section any common agenda, so in that respect are heterogeneous lists of emerging markets, developed by various analysts such(prenominal) as The Economist, the International Monetary Fund, Dow Jones etc.. If we had to make a outline list it would be the followingAfghanistan Estonia Lithuania Qatar Sudan Argentina Hong Kong Malaysia Romania Taiwan Bahrain Hungary Mauritius Russia Thailand Bangladesh India Mexico Saudi Arabia Turkey Brazil Indonesia Morocco Singapore Tunisia Bulgaria Iran Nigeria Slovakia UAE chile Israel Oman Slovenia Ukraine chinaware Jordan Pakistan South Africa Venezuela Colombia Kuwait Peru Sri Lanka Vietnam Czech Republic Latvia Philippines South Korea Sudan Egypt Estonia Poland Qatar Taiwan Future of emerging economiesIn the knightly deca de emerging markets have established themselves as the worlds best sprinters. As straight crises tripped up America and then Europe, China barely broke stride. Other big developing nations paused for wind only briefly. Investors bet that rapid growth in emerging markets was the new normal, while leaders from capital of Red China to Brazil lectured the world on the virtues of their state-centric economic models. More than 80% of the worlds race lives in countries with emerging economies. As we open fire see in Figure 1, the share of emerging markets in globose output has increased from below 20% in the early 90s, to more than 30% today.Considering the exist of living differences, the share of emerging economies in world GDP already exceeds 45%, which is 13 division points higher than in the early 90s. According to the International Monetary Funds (IMF), realness Economic Outlook, this share leave behind exceed 50% in 2013. Figure 1 Share of emerging economies in world GDP in recent periods While these economies are already large, they keep festering strongly. Growth in emerging economies and increased resistance to economic and financial shocks mean good intelligence information for the planetary economy, which can definitely rely on the dynamism of emerging economies more than it did in the past.The residents of emerging economies countries benefited a lot from this rapid growth, as it led to rising living standards. During the period 2000-2009, the per capita GDP in these countries increased by more than 70%. The integration of emerging economies in world markets for goods and services happened smoothly. Regarding worldwide exports of goods and services, the share of emerging economies almost doubled between the early 90s and 2010, reaching 35%. Microeconomic approach The most important role of the emerging economies and reflected at the micro level.Specifically, six of the 25 largest companies in the world, for example, in terms of market valu e come from emerging markets. These companies are listed below, according to orbicular 2000 list for 2012, an annual ranking of the top 2000 public companies in the world by Forbes magazine. The ranking is base on a mix of four metrics sales, profit, assets and market value. Rank Company Headquarters labor Profits ( meg $) Assets (billion $) Market Value (billion $) 05 Industrial and Commercial confide of China China Banking 25. 1 2,039. 1 237. 4 07 PetroChina China Oil and bobble 20. 304. 7 294. 7 10 Petrobras Brazil Oil and gas 20. 1 319. 4 180 13 China Construction Bank China Banking 20. 5 1,637. 8 201. 9 15 Gazprom Russia Oil and gas 31. 7 302. 6 159. 8 19 Agricultural Bank of China China Banking 14. 4 1,563. 9 154. 8 Long-term economic perspectives The present of emerging economies seems promising, yet the future seems even better. According to forecasts for pine-term growth based on demographic trends and models of capital ingathering and productivity, it seems that t he role of emerging economies in the orbiculate economy go forth be even larger.More specifically, according to various surveys, the growth prospects of these economies are striking. The share of Brazil, Russia, India and China, if considered together, could by 2025 correspond to a rate of more than 50% share of the current six largest industrialized economies and to e very(prenominal)wherecome it in less than 40 years. The Euro perspective From the perspective of the euro, the ontogenesis role of emerging economies provides various opportunities. More specifically, the dynamic growth of emerging economies is increasing demand for authentic goods and tradable services where the euro order has a comparative advantage.Also, competition from emerging markets increases motivation for further progress in structural reforms in the euro zone, which are either way necessary. In addition, the Eurozone is capable of seizing new opportunities created by emerging economies. Exports and im ports of goods and services of the euro zone represent a significant share of the GDP. Considering this, it is remarkable that the share of the euro zone exports (excluding trade inside the euro zone) to Asia increased from 19% in 2000 to 22% in 2009, while exports to the United States lessen from 17% to 12% over the same period.Chinas share in total exports of the euro zone increased from 2% in 2000 to 5. 3% in 2009. Exports to Russia more than doubled over the same period from 1. 8% to 3. 9%, thus exceeding the exports to Japan, although the share of Russia was higher in 2008 (5. 0%), before the global trade collapsed. A corresponding trend was observed in India, though on a much smaller scale, as Indias share was 1. 7% of euro zone exports in 2009. The crisis When the global financial crisis struck, emerging economies responded energetically China launched a huge stimulus, Brazils state-owned banks avished credit, interest place were slashed. They succeeded so well that by 201 0 they were hale to reverse course. To squash price pressures they raised interest rates, curbed speculation and allowed their currencies to appreciate. With a lag, that tightening has had the predicted result. Still, the slowdown has proven much sharper than endureed. Europes sovereign-debt crisis is partly to blame. It has sapped demand for the developing worlds fabricate exports and restrained prices of their commodities South Africa is a notable casualty.European banks had been conduits for foreign money flowing into emerging markets. Now they are pulling back as they grapple with the problems at home. The issues of slowing growth, high government debts, rising unemployment, and senescent populations within developed economies such as the United States presented headwinds for emerging market countries, which in the past had been much more reliant on the health of developed markets. However, because of earlier fiscal discipline, countries such as China, Brazil and Indonesia w ere able to stimulate economies on their own with low interest rates and massive stimulus packages.The important banks were recourse to those who needed to borrow money, in order to avoid a major crisis. In declination 2011 and February 2012, the European Central Bank announced long-term refunding, while European banks borrowed about 1 cardinal euros. The U. S. Federal Bank, along with many central banks from developed countries went on with liquidity injections. That move resulted to massive relief, as the markets stabilized and industrial production increased again. The question then was if this would last, allowing the global economy to keep on growing.This was more of c erstrn for emerging economies, which were considered to be safer than economically advanced countries. many a(prenominal) of them faced difficulties when they actually started developing, as they had to deal with massive poverty. Facts about the future Sadly, many emerging-world governments have interpreted the crisis in rich-world finance as a reason to preserve a more muscular role for the state. China has reserved roughly sectors for state-owned enterprises. In Brazil the big state- affirmled cover company, Petrobras, and the tate-controlled banks have become virtual appendages of government insurance policy. Having so much leverage over the economy is indeed helpful during a crisis, but in the long run it pass on stifle competition, starve the private sector of capital, deter foreign investment and know-how, and cut through with(predicate) corruption. When the dust settles, emerging markets will still be growing faster than they did before 2003. But get back up to the speed of the past decade will mean maintaining the macroeconomic discipline and returning to the microeconomic reforms that made it possible in the first place.A strong infrastructure has significant long-term benefits, such as a growing manufacturing base, an educated workforce and more mobile, and therefore more easily employable, societies. The build-out of strict asset infrastructure in China, which has been strong over the past 15 years, continues today, particularly as the population becomes more urbanized. Brazil also continues to invest in infrastructure, with estimates in excess of $800 billion in infrastructure spending as the country prepares to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. For example, the case of India.Since 2009, India has purposely inflated its deficit in order to offset the economic slowdown. monetary expansion was very in force(p) in promoting growth of demand and supply after several years restriction. However, now the expansion is limited. opposed developed countries, most developing economies are under puffinessary pressure, which can be worse than additional expensed. Thus, the short-term future seems to be reserving various dangers. Nevertheless, medium and long-term perspectives about emerging economies are positive. Countrie s that drive home money, invest in human capital and provide good governance can achieve rapid growth again.India, for example, saves and invests more than 30% of its GDP, devoting a significant percentage of these sources to infrastructure. Thus, the possibility of India exaggerateing its business increases. Investors seem to take seriously into account this perspective. They seem to be very hesitant towards investments in private equity funds. Nonetheless, they provided India with 43,8 billion dollars in long-term reckon investments during 2011-2012. Despite the current crisis, the outlook seems encouraging for new(prenominal) emerging economies too, such as Brazil, China and Indonesia.Its obvious that during the second half of 2011, developing economies that have faced the economic crisis kind of well, started to feel pressure as the euro zone crisis was getting worse. Growth in Brazil, India, China and other countries noted a remarkable slow down. Global economy seems to be focusing on fast-growing(prenominal) markets that are outside BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) as there is the perception that they are capable of integrating faster than the BRIC countries into the global economy due to a look of trade, investment, technological and cultural criteria.These markets achieve constantly high rates of economic growth at the same level with the BRIC countries. Turkey, Indonesia and Mexico come just after China and India in terms of GDP growth between 2000 and 2015. Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Malaysia and Vietnam, along with some countries and regions of Africa are ready to be include in the list with the most dynamic countries in the world, regarding investments. Its becoming more and more admittible that these countries are the most significant sources of income for the future years.Same prospects seem to appear for South Africa, Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, which are considered to be the most free-enterprise(a) ones. Executives from all arou nd the economy world claim that they are planning to raise their investments in these markets. As goods and services trade goes back to the levels it was before the financial crisis and the flow of funds appears to steadily increase, technology and cross-border exchange of ideas will continue forcing growth and promoting globalization. Forecast Forecasts concerning the period of time from now and by 2015 dont seem really encouraging for Europe and emerging economies.The last years liquidity injection was deemed to be an efficient policy, but it was certainly not a radical solution. No crisis looms, but serious concern is justified, for the emerging world faces two distinct risks a cyclical slowdown and a longer-term erosion of potential growth. The first should be reasonably easy to deal with. The second will not. Fiscal discipline and investment has delivered for emerging economies up to this point. This can significantly contribute to future growth. If Europe can succeed in promo ting large fiscal and banking reforms and put its economy in order, the crisis will probably subside.Otherwise it will remain until the end of 2014 and then Europe will be before high risk once again. Regarding the developing countries, they will definitely be influenced by the U. S. and Europe the two largest economies in the world. Their slowdown will directly affect all developing countries. The analyst, Jean Louis Martin claims though, that emerging economies will account for 52% of the global economy. His forecast is based on current prices and exchange rates-compared with 38. 9% in 2011. Opinion Looking through the past as thoroughly as I can, and considering the risks, my opinion about a potential recovery tends to be negative.A slump in these countries thus looks unlikely so, however, does a return to the past decades growth rates. China, for one, doesnt want it. Its economy has become over-reliant on investment its leaders want to guide in a phase of more sustainable but slower growth, led by consumers. beyond China, it is increasingly clear that many emerging economies have been growing beyond their underlying potential. Optimists once aspect India could sustain Chinese-style growth of over 9% a year but that led to stubborn inflation and current-account deficits, suggesting that Indias potential growth may be more like 6-7%.There is no guarantee that emerging markets will experience stable, sustainable development, since numerous economic and political risks are lurking. Emerging countries are still vulnerable to economic changes that occur in developed countries. Risks for emerging markets Theres a number of potential sources of macroeconomic and political instability such as high fiscal deficits, over-dependence on oil revenues and gas, increasing disparities in income leading to social tensions and acroeconomic and financial instability. Many reports also highlight the pressures on native resources from the rapid growth in emerging economies , including the increasing difficulty of keeping global warming within the maximum limit of two degrees Celsius. While new unconventional sources like shale gas have decrease fears of depletion of fossil fuels, the risks associated with the most unstable global climate patterns are expected, to follow a steady upwards trend.Issues such as taxation of executive compensation, the proper scope of financial regulation, and international MA have come to the foreground in the wake of the crisis, and stark international differences in opinions and policies on these matters are already evident. The differences will only become more pronounced as discussions about the appropriate near-term policy response to the crisis give way to debates about who should pay and how much.The multinational firms best able to anticipate and control the related risks and opportunities will have the strongest competitive edge. B. Critically discuss the factors driving the growth of emerging MNEs. Use relevan t company and country examples. (500 words) What are MNEs (Multinational Enterprises) As the name implies, a multinational corporation is a business concern with operations in more than one country. These operations outside the companys home country may be linked to the parent by merger, operated as subsidiaries, or have considerable autonomy.Firms tend to locate where barriers are easier to overcome. For firms in emerging countries, this initially meant locating in nearby countries with regional, cultural or language ties (so-called South-South FDI). This trend seems to be changing, however, as firms from emerging economies gain prominence. Facts about MNEs There are over 40,000 multinational corporations currently operating in the global economy, in addition to approximately 250,000 overseas affiliates lead cross-continental businesses.The top multinational corporations are headquartered in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan they have the capacity to determine global t rade, production, and financial transactions. Multinational corporations are viewed by many as favoring their home operations when do difficult economic decisions, but this tendency is declining as companies are forced to respond to increasing global competition. Multinational corporations follow three general procedures when seeking to access new markets * merger with or direct acquisition of existing concerns * resultant market entry and joint ventures Heres an example of incidental market entry, which often includes foreign direct investment, which involves the establishment or acquisition of concerns operating in street corner markets related to the parent companys product lines in the new country of operation. Japans Sony Corporation made use of sequential market entry in the United States, beginning with the establishment of a small television assembly plant in San Diego, California, in 1972. For the next two years, Sonys U. S. perations remained confined to the manufactur e of televisions, the parent companys leading product line. Sony branched out in 1974 with the creation of a magnetic tape plant in Dothan, Alabama, and grow further by opening an audio equipment plant in Delano, Pennsylvania, in 1977. After a period of consolidation brought on by an unfavorable exchange rate between the yen and dollar, Sony continued to expand and diversify its U. S. operations, adding facilities for the production of computer displays and data storage systems during the 1980s.In the 1990s, Sony further diversify it U. S. facilities and now also produces semiconductors and individualized telecommunications products in the United States. Sonys example is a classic case of a multinational using its impression product line to defeat indigenous competition and lay the foundation for the sequential expansion of bodied activities into related areas. Multinational corporations are thus able to penetrate new markets in a assortment of ways, which allow existing concer ns in the market to be accessed a varying degree of autonomy and control over operations.Multinationals today are viewed with increased suspicion given their perceive lack of concern for the economic well-being of particular geographic regions and the public impression that multinationals are gaining power in relation to national government agencies, international trade federations and organizations, and local, national, and international labor organizations. Despite such concerns, multinational corporations appear poised to expand their power and influence as barriers to international trade continue to be removed.They share many common traits, including the methods they use to penetrate new markets, the manner in which their overseas subsidiaries are tied to their headquarters operations, and their interaction with national governmental agencies and national and international labor organizations. In particular, factors that benefit MNEs growth are * labor is relatively cheap * Ow nership advantages encompass the development and ownership of proprietary technology or widely recognized imperfections that other competitors cannot use.Empirical analysis shows that multinationals are often technological leaders that invest hard in developing new products, processes and brands, which are then kept confidential and are protected by intellectual property rights * technology being adopted is leapfrogging much of the legacy IT infrastructure that is still in use in developed countries * Localization advantages refer to the benefits that come from locating near the final buyers or closer to more abundant and cheaper production factors, such as expert engineering or stark materials multinationals internalize the benefits from owning a particular technology, brand, expertness or patent that they find too risky or unprofitable to rent or license to other firms due to the difficulties of enforcing international contracts * management and production expertise from the pa rent concern Other concerns raised by respondents included government regulation, established competition, and the availability of communications and digital infrastructure. C. How formidable is the competition posed by emerging markets MNEs to the Western companies? Could it be country- or/and sector-specific? 500 words) Right now more than 20,000 multinationals are operating in emerging economies. According to the Economist, Western multinationals expect to find 70% of their future growth there40% of it in China and India alone. But if the fortune is huge, so are the obstacles to seizing it. On its 2010 Ease of Doing Business Index, the World Bank ranked China 89th, Brazil 129th, and India 133rd out of 183 countries. Summarizing the banks conclusions, the Economist wrote, The only way that companies can prosper in these markets is to cut costs relentlessly and accept profit margins close to zero. Western companies have had many difficulties debut emerging markets to date, as the y seemed to apply a wrong entering strategies, which were due to lack of knowledge and experience. Many companies have already been lured by the promise of profits from selling low-end products and services in high mess to the very poor in emerging markets. And high-end products and services are widely available in these markets for the very few who can afford them You can buy a Mercedes or a washing machine, or stay at a nice hotel, almost anywhere in the world.Our experience suggests a removed more promising place to begin between these two extremes, in the vast middle market. Consumers there are defined not so much by any particular income band as by a common circumstance Their needs are being met very poorly by existing low-end solutions, because they cannot afford even the cheapest of the high-end alternatives. Companies that devise new business models and offerings to better meet those consumers needs affordably will discover enormous opportunities for growth.Take, for examp le, the Indian consumer durables company Godrej & Boyce. Founded in 1897 to sell locks, Godrej is today a diversified manufacturer of everything from safes to hair dye to refrigerators and washing machines. In workshops we conducted with key managers in the appliances division, refrigerators emerged as a high-power area Because of the cost some(prenominal) to buy and to operate them, traditional compressor-driven refrigerators had penetrated only 18% of the market. The markets and operating environments in India are radically different fromMNCs home markets, making it possible a wide range of competitive encounters and outcomes. For example, there are several layers of product and customer segments that reward different approaches from competitors, making it possible for both local challengers and patient MNCs to find different starting places and, over time, compete more directly. Competition appears to be formidable for Western companies, since they are not really qualified to d eal with MNEs of emerging markets, which keep on developing.Furthermore, it seems that the competition could definitely be both country and sector specific, as, regardless of the difference in trends perceived as important and the reported level of preparedness, companies, both Western and emerging multinationals, take a similar approach to the critical actions needed to address emerging countries consumer market trends. These include developing new products and services, adapting the brand strategy, conducting market research, and adapting the marketing communication strategy.References * Contessi S. , El-Ghazaly H.. (2010). Multinationals from Emerging Economies Growing but Little Understood. Availablehttp//research. stlouisfed. org/publications/regional/10/07/multinational. pdf. * Matthew J. Eyring, Mark W. Johnson, and Hari Nair. (2011). New Business Models in Emerging Markets. Available http//hbr. org/2011/01/new-business-models-in-emerging-markets/ar/1 * Ernst & Young. (2013). Focusing on emerging markets. Available http//www. net. gr/? i=news. el. article&id=338400 * Jean Louis Martin. (2012). Emerging Economies in 2020. Available http//www. capital. gr/news. asp? id=1497484 * mystical author. (2013). Challenges in development of emerging economies. Available http//www. stockwatch. com. cy/nqcontent. cfm? a_name=news_view&ann_id=165565 * K. Ghosh and L. Yu. (2012). The future of emerging markets. Allianz Global Investors. 12 (1), 1-4 * AmCham and Booz & Company.

The Lost Symbol Chapter 4-6

CHAPTER 4The U.S. Capitol construction stands reg bothy at the eastern finis of the topic Mall, on a raised plateau that city designer Pierre LEnfant described as a pedestal waiting for a monu workforcet. The Capitols massive footprint measures more than 750 feet in length and 350 feet deep. housing more than sixteen acres of floor space, it contains an astonishing 541 manners. The neoclassical architecture is meticulously designed to resound the grandeur of ancient Rome, whose ideals were the inspiration for Americas f angiotensin-converting enzymethers in establishing the laws and culture of the new re existence.The new security checkpoint for tourists ente ring the Capitol Building is located deep within the recently completed subterranean visitor center, beneath a majestic grouch skylight that frames the Capitol Dome. Newly hired security watch Alfonso Nunez thoughtfully studied the male visitor now approaching his checkpoint. The man had a shaved compass point and had been lingering in the lobby, completing a phone call before entering the building. His right arm was in a sling, and he locomote with a slight limp. He was wearing a tattered army-navy surplus coat, which, combined with his shaved head, make Nunez guess military. Those who had served in the U.S. armed furys were among the most common visitors to Washington.Good evening, sir, Nunez said, pastime the security protocol of verbally engaging any male visitor who entered alone.Hello, the visitor said, glancing around at the nearly deserted entry. tranquil night.NFC play- reachs, Nunez replied. E genuinelyones watching the Redskins tonight. Nunez wished he were, too, scarcely this was his first month on the job, and hed drawn the short straw. Metal objects in the dish, please.As the visitor fumbled to empty the pockets of his long coat with his one working hand, Nunez watched him c befully. Human instinct do special allowances for the injured and handicapped, exclusively it was an instinct Nunez had been trained to oerride.Nunez waited while the visitor removed from his pockets the usual pastiche of loose change, keys, and a couple of cell phones. Sprain? Nunez asked, eyeing the mans injured hand, which appe atomic number 18d to be disguised in a series of thick Ace bandages.The bald man n unmateded. Slipped on the ice. A week ago. Still hurts akin hell.Sorry to hear that. Walk through, please.The visitor limped through the detector, and the machine buzzed in protest.The visitor fr accepted. I was unnerved of that. Im wearing a ring under these bandages. My finger was too swollen to besot it off, so the doctors wrapped right over it.No problem, Nunez said. Ill use the wand. Nunez ran the coat-detection wand over the visitors wrapped hand. As expected, the only metal he detected was a large lump on the mans injured ring finger. Nunez took his time corrasion the metal detector over all inch of the mans sling and finger. He knew his supervisor was probab ly observe him on the closed circuit in the buildings security center, and Nunez needed this job. Always better to be cautious. He carefully slid the wand up inside the mans sling.The visitor winced in pain.Sorry.Its okay, the man said. You fagt be too careful these days.Aint that the truth. Nunez hold back this guy wire. Strangely, that counted for a lot around here. Human instinct was Americas first lineage of defense against terrorism. It was a grown fact that human intuition was a more accurate detector of danger than all the electronic gear in the worldthe gift of fear, as one of their security reference books termed it.In this case, Nunezs instincts sensed nonhing that caused him any fear. The only oddity that he noticed, now that they were standing so close, was that this tough-looking guy appeared to have used near kind of self-tanner or concealer makeup on his face. Whatever. Everyone hates to be pale in the winter.Youre fine, Nunez said, completing his sweep and stowing the wand.Thanks. The man started collecting his belongings from the tray.As he did, Nunez noticed that the cardinal fingers protruding from his bandage each exhaust a tattoo the tip of his index finger bore the image of a crown, and the tip of his thumb bore that of a star. Seems everyone has tattoos these days, Nunez thought, although the pads of his fingertips seemed like painful spots to get them. Those tats hurt?The man glanced down at his fingertips and chuckled. Less than you might think.Lucky, Nunez said. Mine hurt a lot. I got a mermaid on my back when I was in boot camp.A mermaid? The bald man chuckled.Yeah, he said, look sheepish. The mistakes we make in our youth.I hear you, the bald man said. I made a big mistake in my youth, too. Now I wake up with her every morning.They both laughed as the man headed off. Childs play, Malakh thought as he moved past Nunez and up the escalator toward the Capitol Building. The entry had been easier than anticipated. Malakhs sl ouching specialty and padded belly had unavowed his true physique, while the makeup on his face and hands had hidden the tattoos that covered his body. The true genius, however, was the sling, which disguised the potent object Malakh was transporting into the building.A gift for the one man on earth who can help me obtain what I seek.CHAPTER 5The worlds largest and most technologically advanced museum is too one of the worlds best- kept hiddens. It houses more pieces than the Hermitage, the Vatican Museum, and the New York Metropolitan . . . combined. Yet contempt its magnificent collection, fewer members of the public are ever invited inside its heavily guarded walls.Located at 4210 Silver Hill track in effect(p) outside of Washington, D.C., the museum is a massive zigzag-shaped edifice constructed of five interconnected podseach pod big than a football field. The buildings bluish metal exterior barely hints at the strangeness withina six-hundred- thousand-square-foot alie n world that contains a dead regularise, a wet pod, and more than xii miles of storage cabinets.Tonight, scientist Katherine Solomon was feeling unsettled as she drove her white Volvo up to the buildings main security gate.The guard smiled. Not a football fan, Ms. Solomon? He bring down the volume on the Redskins play-off pregame show.Katherine forced a tense smile. Its Sunday night.Oh, thats right. Your meeting.Is he here yet? she asked anxiously.He glanced down at his paperwork. I dont see him on the log.Im early. Katherine gave a companionate wave and continued up the winding access road to her usual parking spot at the bottom of the small, two-tiered lot. She began collecting her liaisons and gave herself a quick check in the rearview mirrormore out of force of habit than actual vanity.Katherine Solomon had been blessed with the resilient Mediterranean skin of her ancestry, and even at fifty geezerhood old she had a smooth olive complexion. She used nearly no makeup and w ore her thick baleful hair unstyled and down. Like her older brother, Peter, she had gray eyes and a slender, patrician elegance.You two might as well be twins, people often told them.Their father had succumbed to cancer when Katherine was only seven, and she had little memory of him. Her brother, eighter from Decatur years Katherines senior and only fifteen when their father died, had begun his journey toward becoming the Solomon patriarch much sort of than anyone had ever dreamed. As expected, though, Peter had grown into the role with the dignity and strength befitting their family name. To this day, he allay watched over Katherine as though they were just fools.Despite her brothers occasional prodding, and no shortage of suitors, Katherine had never married. acquaintance had become her life partner, and her work had proven more fulfilling and exciting than any man could ever apprehend to be. Katherine had no regrets.Her field of choiceNoetic Sciencehad been virtually unkno wn when she first heard of it, simply in recent years it had started chess opening new doors of understanding into the power of the human mind.Our untapped electric potential is truly shocking.Katherines two books on Noetics had established her as a leader in this obscure field, but her most recent discoveries, when published, promised to make Noetic Science a pass awayic of mainstream conversation around the world.Tonight, however, experience was the last thing on her mind. Earlier in the day, she had received some truly upsetting training relating to her brother. I still cant believe its true. Shed thought of nothing else all afternoon.A pattering of light rain drummed on her windshield, and Katherine quickly gathered her things to get inside. She was about to step out of her car when her cell phone rang.She suss out the caller ID and inhaled deeply.Then she tucked her hair behind her ears and settled in to take the call.Six miles away, Malakh was woful through the corrido rs of the U.S. Capitol Building with a cell phone pressed to his ear. He waited patiently as the line rang.Finally, a womans voice answered. Yes?We need to meet again, Malakh said.There was a long pause. Is everything all right? I have new information, Malakh said. notify me.Malakh took a deep breath. That which your brother believes is hidden in D.C. . . . ?Yes?It can be found.Katherine Solomon sounded stunned. Youre telling meit is real?Malakh smiled to himself. Sometimes a legend that endures for centuries . . . endures for a reason.CHAPTER 6Is this as close as you can get? Robert Langdon felt a sudden wave of anxiety as his driver position on First Street, a good quarter mile from the Capitol Building.Afraid so, the driver said. Homeland Security. No vehicles near landmark buildings anymore. Im sorry, sir.Langdon checked his watch, startled to see it was already 650. A construction zone around the National Mall had slowed them down, and his lecture was to begin in ten minutes.W eathers turning, the driver said, hopping out and opening Langdons door for him. Youll want to hurry. Langdon reached for his wallet to tip the driver, but the man waved him off. Your host already added a very generous tip to the charge.Typical Peter, Langdon thought, gathering his things. Okay, thanks for the ride.The first few raindrops began to fall as Langdon reached the top of the gracefully arched concourse that descended to the new underground visitors entrance.The Capitol Visitor Center had been a costly and contentious project. Described as an underground city to rival parts of Disney World, this subterranean space informly provided over a half- cardinal square feet of space for exhibits, restaurants, and meeting halls.Langdon had been looking forward to seeing it, although he hadnt anticipated kinda this long a walk. The skies were threatening to open at any moment, and he broke into a jog, his loafers go virtually no traction on the wet cement. I svelte for a lectu re, not a four-hundred-yard downhill dash through the rainWhen he arrived at the bottom, he was breathless and panting. Langdon pushed through the revolving door, fetching a moment in the foyer to catch his breath and brush off the rain. As he did, he raised his eyes to the newly completed space before him.Okay, Im impressed.The Capitol Visitor Center was not at all what he had expected. Because the space was underground, Langdon had been apprehensive about passing through it. A childhood accident had left him stranded at the bottom of a deep well overnight, and Langdon now lived with an almost crippling aversion to enclosed spaces. But this underground space was . . . airy somehow. Light. Spacious.The ceiling was a bulky expanse of glass with a series of dramatic light fixtures that threw a muted glow crosswise the pearl-colored interior finishes.Normally, Langdon would have taken a full hour in here to admire the architecture, but with five minutes until showtime, he put his he ad down and dashed through the main hall toward the security checkpoint and escalators. Relax, he told himself. Peter knows youre on your way. The event wont start without you.At the security point, a boyish Hispanic guard chatted with him while Langdon emptied his pockets and removed his vintage watch.Mickey Mouse? the guard said, sounding mildly amused.Langdon nodded, accustomed to the comments. The collectors edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a gift from his parents on his ninth birthday. I wear it to remind me to slow down and take life less seriously.I dont think its working, the guard said with a smile. You look like youre in a serious hurry.Langdon smiled and put his daybag through the roentgenogram machine. Which way to the statuary Hall?The guard motioned toward the escalators. Youll see the signs.Thanks. Langdon grabbed his bag off the conveyor and hurried on. As the escalator ascended, Langdon took a deep breath and tried to gather his thoughts. He gazed up through th e rain-speckled glass ceiling at the mountainous form of the illuminated Capitol Dome overhead. It was an astonishing building. High atop her roof, almost three hundred feet in the air, the Statue of Freedom peered out into the misty darkness like a unearthly sentinel. Langdon always found it ironic that the histrions who hoisted each piece of the nineteen-and-a-half-foot bronze statue to her perch were slavesa Capitol mystifying that rarely made the syllabi of high school history classes.This entire building, in fact, was a treasure trove of quaint arcana that included a killer bathtub responsible for the pneumonic murder of Vice President total heat Wilson, a staircase with a permanent profligatestain over which an inordinate number of guests seemed to trip, and a sealed root cellar chamber in which workers in 1930 discovered General John Alexander Logans long- deceased stuffed horse.No legends were as enduring, however, as the claims of thirteen different ghosts that h aun tyed this building. The spirit of city designer Pierre LEnfant frequently was reported wandering the halls, seeking payment of his bill, now two hundred years overdue. The ghost of a worker who fell from the Capitol Dome during construction was seen wandering the corridors with a tray of tools. And, of course, the most famous apparition of all, reported numerous times in the Capitol basementan ephemeral black cat that prowled the substructures eerie maze of narrow passageways and cubicles.Langdon stepped off the escalator and again checked his watch. Three minutes. He hurried down the wide corridor, following the signs toward the Statuary Hall and rehearsing his opening remarks in his head. Langdon had to admit that Peters assistant had been correct this lecture topic would be a perfect match for an event hosted in Washington, D.C., by a prominent Mason.It was no secret that D.C. had a rich masonic history. The buns of this very building had been laid in a full Masonic ritual by Ge orge Washington himself. This city had been conceived and designed by Master MasonsGeorge Washington, Ben Franklin, and Pierre LEnfant all-powerful minds who alter their new capital with Masonic symbolism, architecture, and art.Of course, people see in those symbols all kinds of crazy ideas.Many camarilla theorists claimed the Masonic forefathers had concealed powerful secrets throughout Washington along with symbolic messages hidden in the citys layout of streets. Langdon never paid any attention. Misinformation about the Masons was so commonplace that even educated Harvard students seemed to have surprisingly belie conceptions about the brotherhood.Last year, a freshman had rushed wild-eyed into Langdons classroom with a printout from the Web. It was a street map of D.C. on which certain streets had been highlighted to form various shapessatanic pentacles, a Masonic compass and square, the head of Baphometproof apparently that the Masons who designed Washington, D.C., were in volved in some kind of dark, mystical conspiracy. Fun, Langdon said, but just now convincing. If you draw enough intersecting lines on a map, youre bound to find all kinds of shapes.But this cant be concurrency the kid exclaimed.Langdon patiently showed the student that the same exact shapes could be formed on a street map of Detroit.The kid seemed sorely disappointed.Dont be disheartened, Langdon said. Washington does have some incredible secrets . . . just none on this street map.The young man perked up. Secrets? Like what?Every spring I give instruction a course called deep Symbols. I talk a lot about D.C. You should take the course.Occult symbols The freshman looked excited again. So there are devil symbols in D.C.Langdon smiled. Sorry, but the word occult, despite conjuring images of devil worship, actually means hidden or obscured. In times of religious oppression, knowledge that was counterdoctrinal had to be kept hidden or occult, and because the church felt threatened b y this, they redefined anything occult as evil, and the prejudice survived.Oh. The kid slumped.Nonetheless, that spring, Langdon spotted the freshman seated in the front row as five hundred students bustled into Harvards Sanders Theatre, a hollow old lecture hall with creaking wooden benches.Good morning, everybody, Langdon shouted from the expansive stage. He turned on a slide projector, and an image materialized behind him. As youre getting settled, how many an(prenominal) of you get laid the building in this picture?U.S. Capitol dozens of voices called out in unison. Washington, D.C.Yes. There are nine million pounds of ironwork in that dome. An unparalleled feat of architectural ingenuity for the 1850s.Awesome individual shouted.Langdon rolled his eyes, wishing somebody would ban that word. Okay, and how many of you have ever been to Washington?A scattering of hands went up. So few? Langdon sham surprise. And how many of you have been to Rome, Paris, Madrid, or London?Almost all the hands in the room went up.As usual. One of the rites of passage for American college kids was a summer with a Eurorail ticket before the rough-cut reality of real life set in. It appears many more of you have visited Europe than have visited your own capital. why do you think that is?No drinking age in Europe individual in back shouted.Langdon smiled. As if the drinking age here stops any of you?Everyone laughed.It was the first day of school, and the students were taking longer than usual to get settled, shifting and creaking in their wooden pews. Langdon loved teaching in this hall because he always knew how engaged the students were simply by listening to how much they fidgeted in their pews.Seriously, Langdon said, Washington, D.C., has some of the worlds finest architecture, art, and symbolism. Why would you go overseas before visiting your own capital?Ancient stuff is cooler, someone said.And by ancient stuff, Langdon clarified, I assume you mean castles, crypts, t emples, that sort of thing?Their heads nodded in unison.Okay. Now, what if I told you that Washington, D.C., has every one of those things? Castles, crypts, pyramids, temples . . . its all there.The creaking diminished.My friends, Langdon said, lowering his voice and moving to the front of the stage, in the next hour, you go out discover that our nation is overflowing with secrets and hidden history. And exactly as in Europe, all of the best secrets are hidden in plain view.The wooden pews fell dead silent.Gotcha.Langdon dimmed the lights and called up his second slide. Who can tell me what George Washington is doing here? The slide was a famous mural depicting George Washington dressed in full Masonic regalia standing before an odd-looking contraptiona giant wooden tripod that supported a rope-and- pulley system from which was suspended a massive block of stone. A mathematical group of well-dressed onlookers stood around him.Lifting that big block of stone? someone ventured.Langd on said nothing, preferring that a student make the field of study if possible.Actually, another student offered, I think Washington is lowering the rock. Hes wearing a Masonic costume. Ive seen pictures of Masons move cornerstones before. The ceremony always uses that tripod thing to lower the first stone.Excellent, Langdon said. The mural portrays the Father of Our Country using a tripod and pulley to lay the cornerstone of our Capitol Building on September 18, 1793, between the hours of eleven fifteen and twelve thirty. Langdon paused, scanning the class. Can anyone tell me the significance of that date and time?Silence.What if I told you that precise moment was elect by three famous MasonsGeorge Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Pierre LEnfant, the primary architect for D.C.?More silence.Quite simply, the cornerstone was set at that date and time because, among other things, the auspicious Caput Draconis was in Virgo.Everyone exchanged odd looks.Hold on, someone said. You mea n . . . like astrology?Exactly. Although a different astrology than we know today.A hand went up. You mean our Founding Fathers believed in astrology?Langdon grinned. Big-time. What would you say if I told you the city of Washington, D.C., has more astrological signs in its architecture than any other city in the worldzodiacs, star charts, cornerstones laid at precise astrological dates and times? More than half of the framers of our Constitution were Masons, men who strongly believed that the stars and fate were intertwined, men who paid close attention to the layout of the heavens as they structured their new world.But that whole thing about the Capitol cornerstone being laid while Caput Draconis was in Virgowho cares? Cant that just be coincidence? An impressive coincidence considering that the cornerstones of the three structures that make up Federal Trianglethe Capitol, the White place, the Washington depositarywere all laid in different years but were carefully timed to occu r under this exact same astrological condition.Langdons gaze was met by a room full of wide eyes. A number of heads dipped down as students began taking notes.A hand in back went up. Why did they do that?Langdon chuckled. The answer to that is an entire semesters worth of material. If youre curious, you should take my mysticism course. Frankly, I dont think you guys are emotionally prepared to hear the answer.What? the person shouted. Try usLangdon made a show of considering it and then agitate his head, toying with them. Sorry, I cant do that. Some of you are only freshmen. Im afraid it might blow your minds.Tell us everyone shouted.Langdon shrugged. Perhaps you should join the Masons or Eastern Star and learn about it from the source.We cant get in, a young man argued. The Masons are like a supersecret societySupersecret? Really? Langdon remembered the large Masonic ring that his friend Peter Solomon wore proudly on his right hand. Then why do Masons wear provable Masonic rings, tie clips, or pins? Why are Masonic buildings clearly marked? Why are their meeting times in the newspaper? Langdon smiled at all the puzzled faces. My friends, the Masons are not a secret society . . . they are a society with secrets.Same thing, someone muttered.Is it? Langdon challenged. Would you consider Coca-Cola a secret society?Of course not, the student said.Well, what if you knocked on the door of corporate headquarters and asked for the recipe for Classic snow?Theyd never tell you.Exactly. In order to learn Coca-Colas deepest secret, you would need to join the company, work for many years, prove you were trustworthy, and eventually rise to the upper echelons of the company, where that information might be shared with you. Then you would be verbalize to secrecy. So youre saying Freemasonry is like a corporation? Only insofar as they have a strict hierarchy and they take secrecy very seriously.My uncle is a Mason, a young woman piped up. And my aunt hates it because he wo nt talk about it with her. She says Masonry is some kind of strange religion.A common misperception.Its not a religion?Give it the litmus test, Langdon said. Who here has taken professor Witherspoons comparative religion course? some(prenominal) hands went up.Good. So tell me, what are the three prerequisites for an ideology to be considered a religion?ABC, one woman offered. Assure, Believe, Convert.Correct, Langdon said. Religions assure salvation religions believe in a precise theology and religions convert nonbelievers. He paused. Masonry, however, is batting zero for three. Masons make no promises of salvation they have no specific theology and they do not seek to convert you. In fact, within Masonic lodges, discussions of religion are prohibited.So . . . Masonry is anti religious?On the contrary. One of the prerequisites for becoming a Mason is that you must believe in a higher power. The difference between Masonic apparitionality and organized religion is that the Masons do not cut a specific definition or name on a higher power. Rather than classical theological identities like deity, Allah, Buddha, or Jesus, the Masons use more general terms like Supreme universe or Great Architect of the Universe. This enables Masons of different faiths to gather together.Sounds a little far-out, someone said.Or, perhaps, refreshingly broad-minded? Langdon offered. In this age when different cultures are killing each other over whose definition of God is better, one could say the Masonic tradition of tolerance and open-mindedness is commendable. Langdon paced the stage. Moreover, Masonry is open to men of all races, colors, and creeds, and provides a spiritual fraternity that does not discriminate in any way.Doesnt discriminate? A member of the universitys Womens Center stood up. How many women are permitted to be Masons, Professor Langdon?Langdon showed his palms in surrender. A fair point. Freemasonry had its roots, traditionally, in the stone masons guilds o f Europe and was thereof a mans organization. Several hundred years ago, some say as early as 1703, a womens branch called Eastern Star was founded. They have more than a million members.Nonetheless, the woman said, Masonry is a powerful organization from which women are excluded.Langdon was not sure how powerful the Masons really were anymore, and he was not going to go down that road perceptions of the modern Masons ranged from their being a group of harmless old men who liked to play dress-up . . . all the way to an underground cabal of power brokers who ran the world. The truth, no doubt, was somewhere in the middle.Professor Langdon, called a young man with curly hair in the back row, if Masonry is not a secret society, not a corporation, and not a religion, then what is it?Well, if you were to ask a Mason, he would offer the following definition Masonry is a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.Sounds to me like a euphemism for off-the-wall cult. Freaky, you say?Hell yes the kid said, standing up. I heard what they do inside those secret buildings eldritch candlelight rituals with coffins, and nooses, and drinking wine out of skulls. Now thats freakyLangdon scanned the class. Does that sound freaky to anyone else?Yes they all chimed in.Langdon feigned a sad sigh. Too bad. If thats too freaky for you, then I know youll never want to join my cult.Silence settled over the room. The student from the Womens Center looked uneasy. Youre in a cult?Langdon nodded and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. Dont tell anyone, but on the pagan day of the sun perfection Ra, I kneel at the foot of an ancient instrument of torture and consume ritualistic symbols of blood and flesh.The class looked horrified.Langdon shrugged. And if any of you care to join me, come to the Harvard chapel on Sunday, kneel beneath the crucifix, and take Holy Communion.The classroom remained silent. Langdon winked. Open your minds, my friends. We all fear what we do not understand.The tolling of a clock began let loose through the Capitol corridors.Seven oclock.Robert Langdon was now running. Talk about a dramatic entrance. Passing through the House Connecting Corridor, he spotted the entrance to the National Statuary Hall and headed straight for it.As he neared the door, he slowed to a nonchalant stroll and took several deep breaths. Buttoning his jacket, he lifted his chin ever so slightly and turned the corner just as the final chime sounded.Showtime.As Professor Robert Langdon strode into the National Statuary Hall, he raised his eyes and smiled warmly. An instant later, his smile evaporated. He stopped dead in his tracks.Something was very, very wrong.

Ways To Prevent Tb Health And Social Care Essay

Michael does non sleep together precisely when he contracted TB, but he figures it must turn out been sometime during August 2007 in Bangkok. Before the beginning of his symptoms, he did non go to any topographic points that seemed particularly pr i to TB. He could hold caught it anyplace, in a crowded disco, a saloon, or even merely sitting in a cab with an septic driver. Tuberculosis is transmitted through the air when person infected with TB coughs, sneezings, tongues, laughs, or negotiations. By making these things, they spread the terabit sources in the air, and person can catch them from take a breathing in the sources and exposing it to their lungs or mucose membrane.The incubation period of TB is anyplace mediate devil to twelve hebdomads. Therefore, the visual aspect of symptoms may non happen until months after the first exposure to the bacterium. There ar umpteen symptoms associated with TB, but they are non ever a revealing mark of a unsoundness each bit serious as this and are frequently mistaken for something much less terrible. Some common land symptoms of TB are a changeless cough with mucose secretion, coughing up blood, inordinate mordant workout suits, weariness, febrility, and unwilled weight loss. Some extra symptoms include trouble external respiration, thorax strivings, and wheezing. Michael s first mark that something was incorrect was a instance of the icinesss on a normal vesiculation fiery twenty-four hours in the centre of Bangkok. A a few(prenominal) hebdomads subsequently, he began to cough and experience a hurt which he, at that clip, thought was in his dorsum. His status quickly became worse and worse, and ii hebdomads after his cough first appeared, he went to see a physician at the taking international infirmary in Bangkok. The physician concluded it was merely an transmission and gave him some antibiotics. Of class, the antibiotics had no consequence, and so he went acantha to see a lung specializer. The s pecializer concluded the same(p) as the first physician, but this clip Michael insisted on an X ray. The X ray showed big clouded countries at the underside of the lungs. Fluid around the lung, along with swollen or stamp lymph nodes in the cervix or other countries, and unusual breath sounds, are a few marks of TB. She told him that it was either lung malignant neoplastic disease or TB, and she asked him to cough up some phlegm, mucous secretion like stuff from the lungs, so it could be analyzed. She anyhow recommended him to acquire an HIV trial because many raft in Thailand have HIV before TB. Fortunately, the HIV trial came back negative, but that same twenty-four hours he was called back to the physician s and officially told he had TB. A specialised infirmary was to make a more in-depth analysis, but Michael was decreed his interposition right off.As mentioned before, TB is extremely infective because of its ability to be transmitted through the air. The infective period o f this disease is difficult to feel as a set sum of yearss or hebdomads or months. In theory, TB can be spread all bit long as the bacteriums are actively being released from the septic several(prenominal) s phlegm. However, the greatest opportunity of conveying the infection is during the period before diagnosing. The hazard of conveying the infection is greatly reduced within yearss to 2 hebdomads after get downing intervention. This is why it is vitally of implication to acquire a speedy diagnosing of TB and get down taking medicine every bit shortly as possible.There are ways to forestall TB. The Bacille Calmette-Gu & A eacute rin ( BCG ) inoculation is healthy for cut downing TB meningitis and decease in kids, but it is merely used in states with extravagantly hazard for TB for it is merely potent for a short period of clip. In fact, Michael had received this inoculation when he was born in Denmark, but he was told after he was diagnosed it was no longer effectual. PP D peel trials are available in high hazard populations and for people exposed to TB, such as physicians and nurses. A positive tegument trial shows contact with the bacteriums, and prompt intervention is critical to forestall the spread of the bacteriums from people with active Terbium to those neer infected.All states are required to describe information near TB surveillance to the World Health Organization. This information is used to organize processs to command the planetary spread of the disease. A individual infected with TB should be isolated at place or a infirmary for 2-4 hebdomads till they are non contagious any longer. TB is normally treated by a archetype six month class of the four drugs isoniazid, rifampicin, pyrazinamide, and ethambutol. It is imperative that these medicines be taken every bit prescribed to forestall the bacterium from going resistant to the medicines doing it harder to handle. If the medicines are non being taken right, patients may be move to s traight observed therapy where they are observed taking their medical military posture two to three multiplication a hebdomad.Michael s coughing quickly decreased after being put on the medicines, and his back/lung hurting vanished after holding the liquid in his lungs removed. Remembering to take his medical specialties several measure throughout the twenty-four hours, without of all time jumping, was a challenge, but he was determined. He was good informed by his physicians about side make and different things he could non make. He experienced holding about ruddy piss and remembered no intoxicant was allowed during the six month intervention. Even though he k stark naked vigour about TB before his diagnosing, he listened to his physicians and was smart plenty non to halt taking his medical specialty after the first few hebdomads when his symptoms went off. He knew how of import it was to remain on them on a habitue basis, and the six month intervention was a success. Terbium has the greatest opportunity of returning in the two old ages after a successful intervention, and so today, he is taking better attention of himself, doing original(prenominal) to maintain his immune system strong. He stays strong mentally and physically, and he is convinced he s all in TB one time and for all.Tuberculosis is a treatable disease, but certain fortunes can do intervention a more drawn-out, expensive, and hazardous venture. Suren Arakelyan is a 40 four yr old adult male presently shacking in an Abovyan infirmary on the outskirts of Yerevan the capital of Armenia, his autochthonal place. He has been combating TB for 15 old ages since undertaking it after a short stay in a Russian prison for a bash in St. Petersburg. Patchy antibiotics defeated the disease one time, but it returned in 2008 in the signifier XDR-TB, extensively drug-resistant TB. XDR-TB is one signifier of drug-resistant TB. Drug-resistant TB is when the bacterium survive immune to the drugs normall y used to handle TB. This can go on when prescribed the incorrect intervention, dosage, and/or length of clip, when the drugs are unavailable or of bad quality, when people do non take all of their Terbium medicines or take them on a regular basis, when they develop TB for a 2nd clip, or when they are infected by person with drug-resistant TB. Multi-drug immune TB ( MDR-TB ) is when the bacterium is unaffected by a lower limit of INH and Rifadin, the most frequently used and effectual TB medicines. Extensively drug-resistant TB is a uncommon type of MDR-TB that is unaffected by INH and Rifadin, fluoroquinolone, and a lower limit of one of the three injectable second-line drugs ( such as amikacin, Kantrex, or capreomycin ) . XDR-TB is immune to the strongest first-line and second-line TB drugs, and hence intervention of this tense is less effectual, more expensive, and prone to more side effects. Drug-resistant TB may necessitate up to two old ages of chemotherapy depending on how m any drugs the bacteriums are immune to.Arakelyan is emaciated and despondent, and he has lost half his lung meander from the disease and much of his hearing due to the toxic drugs. He is lonely and separated from his household, a get hitched with woman and immature kids, who live in distant Belarus. Hopeless, he skips and refuses some of his prescribed medicines, the side effects on his organic structure excessively hard to bear, but this lone worsens his state of affairs and strengthens the bacterium s opposition. Taking all of the medicines precisely as they were prescribed and neer losing or halting intervention early are the best ways to forestall drug-resistant TB. Bing rapidly diagnosed and get downing intervention right off and restricting exposure to those infected with drug-resistant TB will besides assist forestall MDR-TB or XDR-TB.Scientists continually conduct research to happen better interventions for TB. Scientists at Yeshiva University in Bronx, NY are researching how TB infects/causes disease in worlds, how the mankind immune system responds, and placing the factors that allow the endurance and reproduction of the bacteriums in the host. They are besides analyzing the mechanisms of drug opposition and how M. TB is able to last long-run drug interventions to find more effectual drugs and methods of intervention against TB. They work towards making new powerful vaccinums to break prevent and protect against all strains of TB. Scientists at the University of Illinois in Chicago work to optimise anti-TB drugs to kill the bacteriums while being less toxic/non-toxic to human cells. They are besides analyzing the usage of natural merchandises against TB and developing tools to assist break the find of new drugs.Tuberculosis was nt one time called ingestion and the cachexia disease for nil. Without proper intervention, TB can be life endangering and if non can still do life hard and suffering. Precautions should ever be taken in high hazard countr ies until the twenty-four hours when scientists discover a definite remedy.

Coming to America My Personal Story

History is something we answer together, Orhan Pamuk once said. It is to a fault something we enjoy together, I would add, because it is frequently a play of coincidences. Bulgaria is a beautiful country in Europe. The geographical location of Bulgaria is in the southerly East of Europe on the Balkan Peninsula. It has an interesting geography. It has mountains on the south and the middle and valleys in between. The entire duck on the East is constituted by the coastline of the dusky Sea. Romania is the border on the North separated by the Danube River.To the West is Serbia and Macedonia, while Greece and Turkey are on the South. After an aborted uprising in 1923, the Bulgarian communist Party had gone underground and its leaders fled to the Soviet fraternity. The Bulgarian party was marked by interior turmoil. The German invasion of the Soviet coupler in 1941 brought unity among Communists manhoodwide. In April 1944 the Communist party proclaimed itself the First Bulgarian Partisan Brigade and started communicating with the command center in Sofia.The Chavdar brigade became the principal(prenominal) arm of the party leaders in Sofia for sabotage, raids, and intimidation close to the capital. During the night of September 8, 1944 the current shoes led the partisans in capturing without bloodshed, the Ministry of War, arresting the ministers and seizing the communication system. As the partisans became the new militia, its policy-making chief of cater directed the round-up and execution of thousands of enemies of Communism in Bulgaria.According to the saturnineicial figures, 12,000 of the population were delivered to the peoples tribunals, while untold numbers disappeared without a trial. I was born in 1947, the youngest in the family, in the town of Shumen by the seaside on the embody of the Black sea. We had a both story house on the hills. In the winter season the streets were cover with four feet of deep snow. In spring, Lipton trees bloome d with flowers, lining on both sides of the streets. The smell of its fragrance still ashes in my memory.In the summer after school, we were vacationing for three months in the beach house by the Black Sea. My father stayed behind to provide for us. Because of his love, goodness and kindness of his heart to our family, he struggled a lot to make up with the new government changes and restrictions. My father studied in France to be a dentist and had a clinic in our town and my mother was a house wife. Dad had a great influence on us as a pro-westerner because of his study abroad, living experience and knowledge of the demeanor outside Bulgarian borders.He told us amazing stories about the free world like Paris, Rome and the life of the Western world of prosperity and freedom. I grew in communist Bulgaria, but we were Armenian by nationality, because our grandparents came from Turkey as refugees in 1914, when Turks occupied Armenian land. They started their new life in Bulgaria. Com munist Bulgaria and Soviet Union became very close. The growth of Nikita Khrushchev as the leader of the Soviet Union re berthd Joseph Stalin. After those changes life in Bulgaria became worse, bad economy, no food, no housing, and corruption followed.Only the members of the communist party were privileged Everyone addled their businesses and personal property because the Government took over. Our house was also nationalized. I graduated high school in December 1965, I could non further my reproduction because my father applied for a refugee visa so that we can leave the country and break away(predicate) from this difficult and corrupted life. The Government refused to give us a visa for the next five geezerhood Instead they ask me to go to serve in the host for the next two years.I was in the multitude during the conflict with neighboring Hungary and there were few major crises during my stay in the army. I completed my military service in the Bulgarian army and started go ing to college for my higher education. I also wanted to be a dentist and a dental technician like my father. At the same time our family was hoping that sooner or later the Bulgarian communist party will permit us to leave the country. During his lengthy reign, the chairperson Zhivkovs main policy was to follow the Soviet model. He often stated that loyalty to the Soviet Union was a test of Bulgarian patriotism.He pursued increasing integration with the Soviet economy and resisted the economical experiment of neighboring Hungary. In cultural affairs he bought off the creative intelligentsia to head off dissent. There were few major crises during his time in power except for one military plot, several(prenominal) instances of terrorism, and occasional outbursts of dissent. Bulgarias economic advancement during the era came to an end in the 1980s, and the collapse of the Communist system in Eastern Europe marked a turning point for the countrys development.In 1990 elections, the Co mmunist Party renamed the Bulgarian state-controlled Party and remained in power. A series of crises in the 1990s left much of Bulgarias industry and floriculture in shambles. I personally followed politics, economy and finance. Bulgaria joined NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 2004 and the European Union in 2007. We had no hope until the ANCA (The Armenian National Committee of America), the largest and about influential Armenian American grassroots organization helped the Armenian community.ANCA was working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters and supporters throughout the joined States and committed organizations around the world, such as The United Nation, to help Armenian families leave all communist countries around the world to get freedom, destining America. In 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14, which declares, Everyone has the righteousness to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. I was sad that I was leaving the place where I was born, but inside in my heart I was feeling happy for the new life that I will face soon.Finally we received our visas to leave the country. In order to reach our destination which was the United States, we had to stop in the city of Beirut, Lebanon as a refugee in 1968 and then we flew to our final destination which was late York in December, 1969. New York is an amazing city, no wonder everyone talks about New York. It is one of the most agglomerations in the world at the center of the Metropolitan Area. New Yorkers called us rubber necks feeling always up at the tall skyscrapers.We stayed for some time in New York, but we had to move to Los Angeles where our friends from back home started their life from zero. Our family had to do the same. Life for us was very difficult at the graduation especially for my parents starting at sixty they had to start all over, building a new life. We lost everything, we had to lear n English, find work, go to school at night, and find new friends and neighbors. Refugees or families like us really struggled a lot in the beginning. It took us many years to forget the difficulties, the hard work, distract and suffering.Unfortunately, I lost my parents in the first three years of my stay in the United States they could not take the pressures of the new life. Even though it was difficult for them, they were happy they came, so that we could build our life in this free democratic capitalism. This country is a political, economic, and social system and ideology based on a tripartite arrangement of a market-based, economy based predominantly on a democratic policy, economic incentives through free markets, fiscal responsibility and a liberal moral-cultural system which encourages pluralism.This economic system supports a capitalist free market economy subject to control by a democratic political system that is supported by the majority. I am happy today with my lovel y family, my wife and two boys. My older son is following the dental profession, and my younger son graduated medicine becoming a surgeon. I am still following politics, economy and finance. In 2000 I became a Financial advisor for WFG. And in 2004 I became a real estate agent and a Broker. Today I am back to school taking classes at an online university for pre-law and I completed my LAVC (Los Angeles Valley College) for Paralegal degree.

Kate Chopin --The story of an hour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Kate Chopin --The bilgewater of an hour - Essay ExampleAs the text suggests, Mrs. Mallard looked at Mr. Mallard as a powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which hands and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature (par. 13). sequence the news of her husbands passing caused her grief, she soon realizes that the expiry of her husband also offers her a new freedom (par. 11, 14, 15), something she has been longing to have so badly that the shock she received when she found out that her new freedom was actually not hers to claim because her husband escaped the accident caused her untimely death.The story is make full with symbolisms of a new life that was supposedly waiting for Mrs. Mallard to relish. She was looking out of an open windowpane where she could see blue patches of sky highlighted that the wonders of spring were making everything look beautiful and promising. Even the first conjure of Mrs. Mallard, Louise, provi des an insight into how repressed she was. Her name was not mentioned until the late part of the story, signifying the loss of Mrs. Mallards indistinguishability which was only found when she thought that she has already broken away from her husbands clutches. Furthermore, Louise is simply a feminization of the name Louis, which symbolizes just how much women of her time were strongly dependent on the male members of society.It was reinvigorated of Chopin to use the omniscient point of view because none of the characters in the story could have known the take up thoughts going through everyones minds. The narrator could also not be Mrs. Mallard as she dies in the end of the story. In addition, the story carried with it an ironic tone as shown by passages which tells of Mrs. Mallard crying for the death of her husband when, in fact, she only loved him sometimes, and oftentimes did not (par. 14). Of course, the most ironic part of the story is when the doctors conclude that

The Evolutionary Development of Adaptive Radiations Essay

The Evolutionary Development of Adaptive Radiations - Essay ExampleThe Galapagos Islands and the Hawaiian Islands are among places where adaptative radiations and convergence are noticed because these islands are relatively new than most Mainland and have radically opposite ecology and environmental niches. Wilson in his book the Diversity of Life, says that the 10,000 species of insects that now inhabit the Hawaiian islands have originated from a mere 400 species owing to accommodative radiation. In his book we find one of the best examples of adaptive radiation in the Hawaiis. The Islands itself has different biodiversity and environment and genus Caconemobius have adapted themselves to different ecological niches in the same island. Some have left land existence and have become partial naval and live in boulders, another population of the same genus is blind and live in dark caves and to that extent another population of the same genus lives on lava flows. This shows that the different population of the genus adapted to the new environment and real a whole new niche for themselves and gave rise to a new species.Cocos juvenile finches have the end to imitate feeding habits of warblers and sandpiper birds hence this is an embryonic state of radiation. If circumstances allow radiation Cocos finches ordain also meet adaptive development in the coming times.Another more livid example of adaptive evolution is the Lake Victoria cichlids. A study of these cichlids reveals the changes in each species and reveals the steps in adaptive evolution owing of changes in their environment.