Non western epistemologies and etiologies of disease and cures Essay

Non western epistemologies and etiologies of disease and cures - Essay Example When a Filipino gets sick he asks three questions which reveal the three sources of sickness from his point of view - he first question is asked because Filipinos believe there are physical causes for illness. It could be something that he ate or drank, a change in the weather, taking a bath at the wrong time (during menstruation or fever), or germs. These sicknesses are treated by doctors but due to the cost of western medicine, folk medicine is usually resorted to. This includes use of herbs and chemicals and sometimes saying a powerful prayer (Henry, 2006). If there is no apparent physical cause or if medical doctors are unable to cure a sickness, the second question is asked on the belief that if God or the spirit-world has been offended, then sickness could be sent as a punishment. With this background, a health practitioner dealing with this particular cultural group has to be aware and sensitive enough so as to deliver a patient-centered and patient-approved service as what Leonard Berry, a professor in Mays Business School at Texas A&M proposes (2003). Professor Berry studied the healthcare industry and says that its future depends on a patient-centered approach. Berry explained - Working at the high-end of expertise is a departure from what goes on now in the industry.. It means that specialist physicians should do less of what generalist physicians can do, generalist physicians should do less of what non-physician providers - such as nurses and physician's assistants - can do, and non physician providers should do less of what clinical staff can do. What's more, each caregiver should do less of what appropriately instructed patients and families can do for themselves". This patient-centered approach complements the concept of cultural competence among health practitioners which requires awareness and sensitivity to patients' cultural differences. Through this approach, patients are educated about their conditions, encouraged to ask questions and collaboration, discuss how the condition affects the patient emotionally, and involve patients in treatment decisions. In this way, a better served client is assured therefore lifting the quality of health care delivery. Works Cited Henry, Rodney L. Filipino Spirit World. OMF Literature, 2006 Scott, William Henry J. Barangay: Sixteenth Century Philippine Culture and Society. Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2004 Texas A&M University (2003, October 9). Patient-centered Approach Just What The Doctor Ordered For

What will happen vs what should happen with Government Warrantless Essay

What will happen vs what should happen with Government Warrantless Surveillance - Essay Example Warrantless Surveillance will continue to be a mode of operation by the Federal Government. Things will continue to go pretty much as they have since 2001. There will continue to be court cases which will challenge the right of the government to engage in what some would call an illegal operation. It is hard to argue against the security of our nation as being a reason for this action. Some people will continue to distrust the government and their reasons for gathering certain information and tapping foreign phone calls. When looking at utopia, our country would not need to gather this information because everyone would be doing what is expected of them and not out to harm their neighbor. The government would function as an arm of the people, providing for the common good of all Americans. The court system would be engaged in the enforcement of our laws and not arguing about what is constitutional or unconstitutional. A sad thing that would happen with the disappearance of warrantless surveillance, people would lose their job. The news shows on television would have to find something else to discuss and Senators Kerry and McCain would begin addressing more pressing

Chinese Foreign Policy & National Security Essay Example for Free

Chinese Foreign Policy National Security Essay The China-South Korea axis is perhaps the most overlooked variable in the strategic environment of Northeast Asia. For nearly five decades their relationship was characterized by war, lack of dialogue and non-recognition; then, over a period of some three years, this situation gave away to fully normalized and amiable relations in 1992. Rapprochement between Seoul and Beijing in 1992 opened one of the first frontiers of the post-Cold War thaw in the region, and future security will hinge at least partly on this core relationship. In this context, Cha analyzes the evolution of Sino-South Korean reconciliation, and argues that the South Koreas engagement policy from the late 1980s in the political, economic, and cultural arenas played a major part in eliciting unprecedented cooperation from Beijing, however, its initiatives alone were not a sufficient condition to prompt this cooperation. A prior and necessary condition was a change in the strategic context surrounding China and the Korean Peninsula that raised both the benefits of cooperation and the costs of non-cooperation; the end of Cold War . In the context of security environment in Northeast Asia, South Koreas success in engaging China has implications for future security on the Korean Peninsula. On balance, the axis is a stabilizing factor but not without its share of future challenges. With this in mind, the key questions of the article include: (1) How does one explain the growth of cooperation between China and South Korea? (2) To what extent has Sino-ROK rapprochement been the result of successful strategies on the part of South Korea to engage China? (3) What are the implications on North Korea? For a quarter-century after the Korean War, Sino-South Korean relations sat at the intersection of the global East-West conflict and the Sino-Soviet split, making any hint of cooperation impossible.1 However, since the middle 1980s, Sino-South Korean relationship has moved from being sworn enemies and opposed combatants in the Korean War, to being potential economic partners (but still strategic adversaries), and fully normalized diplomatic relations in 1992. Three key drivers propelled the change in the relationship: (1) the transformation of strategic environment concomitant to the end of Cold War, which established the baseline for post-war interaction. In this context, Sino-Soviet reconciliation was a significant factor in Chinese calculations to normalize with Seoul. In particular, the end of Sino-Soviet rivalry reduced in Chinese minds the strategic consequences of losing North Korea to Moscow, and made opening to South Korea more feasible. Furthermore, in South Koreas view, China had evolved from being a revisionist power to being a status quo one, in the degree to which Beijing emphasized unification or peace maintenance as the security priority for the Peninsula. Unification was associated with Chinas revolutionary power and support for North Korea to overthrow the South the essence of Chinas one Korea policy of the Cold War. On the other hand, peace maintenance implied stability outcome for Korea by recognizing South Korea and opposing provocative acts by the North which might upset the unstable peace on the Peninsula. (2) Domestic change in China concomitant to Deng Xiaopings modernization reforms, and subsequent separation of politics from economics. The initial economic trade was largely indirect, transacted through third-party intermediaries or South Korean trading firms in Hong Kong. By 1985, however, total Chinese-South Korea trade surpassed that between China and North Korea. During the 1980s, while the two sides still viewed one another as military adversaries, they increasingly recognized each other as economic opportunities. The beginnings of a diplomatic relationship also emerged in the 1990s with the establishment of trade offices between the Korea Trade Promotion Association (KOTRA) and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in 1990, which facilitated shift from indirect trade to open and direct transactions, and subsequently in establishing formal diplomatic relations in August 1992. (3) South Koreas conscious policy of engagement to elicit cooperation from China, in particular using non-punitive, non-coercive diplomacy and seeking mutual accommodation. South Koreas engagement strategy contained the following tiers: first, economic linkages, investment and trade ties to increase the benefits to China of cooperation, and the costs of non-cooperation, providing foreign capital and technology, separating political cooperation with economics, but gradually produce cooperative behavior in other arenas. The growth of trade ties in the 1980s was a major reason why China chose to participate in the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics hosted by South Korea, which served as key event to normalize relations. Second tenet of South Koreas engagement strategy was to treat the opposing states perspectives as legitimate per se. This meant engaging Chinas divergent position into official dialogues on the proposals for enhancing peace and stability in the region such as the Four-Party talks, and more importantly South Koreas recognition of One China Policy, acknowledging Beijing as the only legal government in China. These initiatives at the diplomatic front were followed by general increase in communication flows on the business, educational, and cultural levels to cultivate goodwill. In this context, South Koreas engagement strategy included the following goals: (1) cultivate Beijings cooperation by tying Chinese national interests to stability on the Peninsula; (2) improve South Koreas credibility in the international arena by enhancing its image as a regional player willing to reduce tensions and foster dialogue; and (3) engage North Korea through alternative channels. In order to pursue these goals, South Korea utilized the following means: in the macro-political perspective, the strategy of engagement of China was pursued through the policy of Nordpolitik and Globalization (segyehwa) which implied mutual economic prosperity as a means of expanding diplomatic ties with former adversaries as well as assuming a leading role for South Korea in international organizations and the continued expansion of program multi-directional diplomacy (i.e. using meetings of multilateral bodies such as APEC, ASEAN, non-governmental track-two diplomacy, high-level military excha nges). The second method of engagement has been sports diplomacy participating in athletic competitions hosted by each country provided a useful means by to express good will and interest in expanding the economic cooperation (Seoul 1988 Olympics, Beijing Asian Games 1990). What was the benchmark of success of South Koreas engagement strategy? The key was not only engaging China, but also the terms of policy toward North Korea. The following measure could be used: (A) Failure Chinese support of North Korea (B) Minimal Success 1.5 Korea policy; formal support of North Korea and de-facto recognition of South Korea (C) Moderate Success equidistance between North and South Korea (D) Very Successful discourage North Korean provocation and aggression (E) Most Successful China supports only South Korea Cha argues that the outcome of South Koreas engagement falls in the middle range (B to D). For example, Chinese behavior on the North Korean nuclear issue in 1993-94, when Beijing sided with the US and South Korea on many aspects (such as opposing North Korea to renege Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and abide to non-nuclear Peninsula), however, at the same time Beijing expressed strong opposition against any acts of coercion against the North. It persistently pressed for dialogue and negotiona as the only acceptable means of settling the dispute, and opposed any U.S. led sanctions thought the UN Security Council. A more successful outcome was the redefined Chinese behavior on UN admission of the two Koreas in 1991, in which Chinese accepted dual membership of the two Koreas in the UN. Arguing that South Korean engagement of China has been sustained, comprehensive and moderately successful, the next question is how this new relationship will affect security on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the broader region? Salient issues include the impact of the Asian financial crisis, the dynamics of second U.S.-North Korea nuclear crisis, the effect of Bejing-Seoul dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tente on South Koreas alliance with Washington, and the future challenges that could be posed by Korean unification. (1) The impact of the Asian Financial Crisis didnt affect China-South Korean relations thus far. In-fact, in 2003 China has surpassed the U.S. as South Koreas largest trading partner (2) Sino-South Korean relations have important implications in understanding current relations between North and South Korea. Under Kim Dae Jung, South Korea initiated Sunshine Policy that rests on Seouls assurances of no-isolation, no destabilization, and no absorption. The Sunshine Policy is in many ways similar to the engagement strategy toward China, both in form and potential success. In particular, it is consistent (despite Norths provocations) and designed to elicit cooperation from the opposing state. However, there are also differences- regarding intentions; for cooperation to emerge, the opposing state has to be engageable. North Koreas behavior does not suggest she is open to an improvement of relations. Second, there are differences in South Koreas capabilities of early 1990s and late 1990s, in particular, in the early 1990s South Korea that engaged China did so from a position of relative strength and prosperity; however, in the late 1990s, the Asian financial crisis put South Korean position to a relative weakness., because conciliatory gestures are more likely to be interpreted as appeasement rather than engagement. Hence success to engagement of North Korea is not likely. (3) Looking beyond the immediate North Korean nuclear problem, Korean unification raises a plethora of new factors that would test the resilience of China-South Korea engagement. The absence of the North Korean buffer would give rise to a situation in which two powers with different regimes share a contiguous border. Another future challenges is on the economic front the rising China may hange its trade needs and increase competition with Korea. A final potential conflict between a united Korea and China centers on nationalism, and the two-million ethnic Korean living in Chinese Jilin province, which a unified Korea might claim. In the final analysis, the dramatic transformation of Chin-South Korean relations in the 1990s represents the most successful case of engaging China in East Asia. The lessons stemming from this engagement include: (1) consistency- a policy can only be successful if it is applied consistently and deliberately, (2) engagement requires will and domestic political support to sustain the policy even in the face of little reciprocity by the other state; (3) engagement applied from a position of strength conveys credibility, but applied from a position of weakness connotes appeasement. For the foreseeable future, the burden of managing the confrontation on the Korean Peninsula falls even more on the new China-South Korea dà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½tente and the continuing U.S.-South Korea Alliance. My Observation: Victor Cha offers a plausible analysis of the South Koreas engagement strategy and the factors that have significantly improved Sino-South Korean relations, nonetheless, I would argue that he underestimated the historical factors that bind China and South Korea together, which might have accelerated the rapprochement on both sides. Traditionally, Korea has fallen under the Chinese sphere of influence, with Korea belonging to the first-tier state of the Sino-centered worldview. In this context, another traditional binding element is the continuing anti-Japanese sentiments and mistrust in both Koreas and China that target Japanese sense of irresponsibility and demand apology for its war atrocities. Taken together, I would argue that these factors also facilitated the relatively rapid transformation of the relations, on a personal level between Korean and Chinese officials. In the context of enhancing peace and security on the Korean Peninsula, positive Sino-South Korean relations certainly play an important role. Both states are aware of this factor, and share similar interests. However, Beijing seems to be in a dilemma, it desperately does not want to face a collapse of North Korea nor does it want to see a nuclear North Korea. Hence, Chinas actions in the foreign policy arena are still bound to the minimum necessary level to ensure stability. Ironically, while the Chinese officials have been claiming that they are making efforts to persuade North Korea to enter multilateral dialogue and negotiation, they also claim that North Korea doesnt listen as it used to. In this regard, my question is: How much leverage does China have over North Korea? 🙂 1 From the ROK perspective, during the Cold War China was part of the communist bloc, a patron of revolutionary regimes in Asia, and thus one of the primary threats to South Koreas survival. Chinas intervention in the Korean War in 1950, in conjunction with the July 1961 Friendship Treaty between China and North Korea with its automatic intervention clause cemented South Koreas perceptions of China as a threat. At the same time, Chinas hostility toward South Korea was equally intense. South Korea was the fascist axis of the iron triangle that included U.S. imperialism, and Japanese militarism.

Forming a regional trade agreement advantages and disadvantages

Forming a regional trade agreement advantages and disadvantages Since World Trade Organization (WTO) was established in 1995, the number of its membership has increased to 153 countries by 2010. Recently, a phenomenon is observed. As countries pursue trade liberalization under the multilateral standard of WTO, more and more regional economic integration are conducted. Many members in WTO sign new regional trading Arrangements (RTAs) to deepen each regional trade reaction. Because positions and demand for different trade issue are often diverse to the regional member countries, the negotiations become more and more difficult. Consequently, the trend of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreement rises gradually. Besides, due to the bitter competition in the global market, countries also exert to obtain trade partners. Countries found thorough forming regional trade agreements could be an easy way to enhance trade reaction with their close trade partners. According to RTA database offered by WTO (2010), 371 RTAs related to WTO have been announc ed and 193 of them were in force by 31 July 2010Figure 1 shows the evolution of the average number of RTA partners for the current members of the World Trade Organization (WTO): the average WTO member now has agreements with more than 15 countries. Therefore, regional economic integration has become one of the main trends in the present global economic development. In recent years, the global economic system expands gradually by the reaction between the forces of regionalization and globalization. The following offer a general historical data of regional integrations. First, the trend of Regional Integration can be traced back to the 1950s. The 1950s saw European Communities (EC), the most important and representative regional integration case, was established. Then in the 1960s, numerous regional integrations were conducted by Africa, Latin America and other developing countries. Continually, United State is considered to be the main thrust of regional economic cooperation during the mid 1980s and the1990s. During this period, except for lasting the free trade agreement with Canada and Israel, also United State promoted to arrange North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). Meanwhile, In Europe, the target of expansion and cross-regional cooperation are approached by European Union (EU). On the side of the expansion, Greece, Spain and Portugal were subsumed in the 1980s and the steps were followed by Sweden, Finland and Austria during the 1990s. Then, in the 2000s, Czech Republic and other eleven countr ies also attended European Union and four more countries, for instance, Turkey, are candidate to join. A growth in membership in European Union is expected. On the other hand, the aspect of cross-regional economic integration is also approached. To ensure the market share and position in America area, European Union urged to conduct free trade agreements with Mexico and MERCOSUR. As a result, the free trade agreement was announced with Mexico in 2000 and became the first free trade agreement conducted with Latin American Countries. Compared with Europe and America area, it is entirely reasonable to make the analogy in East Asia. One of the representative regional integrations in East Asia is ASEAN. ASEAN, namely Association of South East Asian Nations, was established in 1967, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand five countries. The original motivation of ASEAN is to prevent the spread of communism and to improve the regional trade reaction and cooperation. Since its establishment, there has been 40 year of its history. On 8 Jan 1984, the membership increased to six with the join of Brunei, and these six countries are called the founding members of ASEAN. Then they were followed by Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia in the 1990s so that current membership expands to 10 countries. The communism prevailed when the time ASEAN was formed. As a consequence, the political purpose was more than economic one in that period so there was no free trade agreement until 1992 the founding membe rs signed ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). A gradually tariff reduction in member countries, which is called Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT), was planed to be achieved before 2008. As in 1999 the thirteenth meeting of the ASEAN Free Trade Area decided CEPT should be achieved earlier and decided non-tariff among members instead of the initial target. Then AFTA was in force with the founding countries of ASEAN in 2003 and non-tariff in all members was planed to be reached by 2015. Above is the development of ASEAN free trade agreement. Next, a difficult position of Taiwan will be introduced. Asian financial Crisis happened in 1997 and conduced the willingness of East Asia countries to cooperate. Since 1999, those important trade partners of Taiwan in Asia have committed to access the forming of free trade agreement. For example, Japan and Singapore signed Japan-Singapore in 2002 and in force in the same year. Also after AFTA was conducted, China, South Korea and Japan, three large economy countries in East Asia, had pursued to sign FTAs with ASEAN. In December 1999, ASEAN announced to impose cooperation in their economic with China, Japan, and South Korea, which is called ASEAN+3. According to Picture I, it reveals the ASEAN+3 member countries on the world map: the dark ink represents the members and, comparatively, Taiwan is circled to be pointed out. An interesting discovery is found: although being a country located in East Asia, Taiwan is excluded from ASE AN+3. Due to some political problem, Taiwan has just signed 5 free trade agreements with other countries and none of them are Asia countries. Table 1 see the export trade amount of Taiwan with ASEAN+3 countries. The export amount occupied 66% of total Taiwan export so that if ASEAN+3 non-tariff target is achieved (in fact ASEAN and China free trade agreement has progressed on 1 Jan 2010), Taiwan would face a difficult trade position. Therefore, to avoid being isolated away by other trade partners and to deepen the cooperation with them, accessing advantages and disadvantages of forming a regional trade agreement become necessary. To analyze those advantages and disadvantages of forming a RTA, an understanding in regional trade agreements is important. Also, to know whether any limit exist to forming a RTA, a good way is to review the international trade criteria given by GATT and WTO. Hence, in the discussion, a two-phase study was designed to explore the advantages and disadvantages of forming regional trade agreements. First of all, there are three branches in the former phase. In the first branch, to realize what regional trade agreement is, the paper examines the theories of regionalism and all types of regional economics integrations. It is worthy to understand regional trade agreement from its original intention and distinguish those differences. Second branch provides an overview of the organizations, which aim for improving international trade. For example, a comparison between World Trade Organization, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), Europe Union and Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN) will be made to clarify their objectives of the establishment. We will see a conflict between the globalization and the regionalization. Last branch reveals two forces which against each others, namely trade creation and trade diversion. These two forces determine the gain or loss of a regional economic integration. In the second part of the study, an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages will be offered, based on the knowledge provided in the first part of the studies. The remainder of this paper is divided into four sections. The next section of the article is a review of the literature; addressing both empirical and theoretical aspects of regionalism, worldwide trade organizations, trade creation and trade diversion. Section III describes the development of regionalism and provides empirical economic integration to support that. Using the background provided in the section III, section IV analyses the advantages and disadvantages of forming regional trade agreement. In the end of the paper, section V concludes. Trade Creation and Trade Diversion Trade economists have being going the effort on whether the formation of a regional trade agreement will lead member countries to be better off. A common concept to analyze gain or loss of a RTA was given by Viner. In his crucial work, The Customs Union Issue, two forces, which decide whether a RTA better off the member countries, were well indicated, namely trade creation and trade diversion. Viner noted that preferential agreement member countries would have lower tariff barrier than non-members due to the preferential tariff and therefore trade creation effect and trade diversion effect are produced. Trade creation effect is generated because the bloc members increased each others intra-bloc import and export when a preferential tariff reduction or removal is induced, and consequently bilateral trade amount increases. In addition, the low-efficiency production in domestic provider would be replaced by high-efficiency providers in other bloc countries so that home countries can con sume this product with lower social cost. In contract, Trade diversion might be happened when a preferential treat is offered in member countries. Originally home country imports products form those high-production efficiency countries; however, due to the preferential tariff home town might import products from those low-production efficiency countries so that the social cost to consume this product rise and decrease domestic social welfare. Trade creation is a positive effect to domestic social welfare and trade diversion is negative. If trade creation effect is greater than trade diversion effect, home social welfare increase. Conversely, it would be harmful if trade diversion is greater. In The Customs Union Issue, Viner made a crucial conclusion that the formation of customs union has no certain welfare effect to members welfare due to these two trade forces. Accordingly, economists doubt whether we can prevent trade diversion as forming an RTA. Ohyama , Kemp and Wan proved customs union improve the welfare of members as given a fixed trade amount between members and non-members. On the contrast, if a change in nonmember trade amount would lead an uncertain welfare effect. Even Kemp and Wan theoretically showed that members improve their welfare completely in the fixed trade amount with outsider, that sounds once given an unchanging treat to outsider, the world must be better off. It implies through a negotiated optimal tariff we can create economic benefit and prevent being hurt from trade diversion; however, many empirical observations reveal that countries usually choose the trade policies which results trade diversion when they forming a RTA, namely RTAs benefit members and worse off nonmembers. The implication is Kemp-Wan result might not be the trade equilibrium. In fact, there exist other factors influencing the trade outcome of RTAs. The formation of an RTA related to political, economic and regional factors, the external tariff might be influenced not only economically but also politically. For example, lobbying might cause a distortion in government optimal external tariff adjustment. Thus, as we analyze the trade effect we better to account those factors in. In these few decades, economists focus on these two trade effects in RTAs and question whether RTAs generate more trade diversion or trade creation. Is RTA more trade diverting? Freund and Ornelas noted in principle RTAs can generate either net trade creation or net trade diversion, we must remember that participation in any RTA is a political decision. Thus only some types of agreements will be formed, depending on the objectives of governments. Except for the intension to maximize the social welfare, the decision whether to take RTAs might be influenced by specific-interest groups. Some literatures indicate domestic political factor might be a better way to explain FTA phenomenon. Grossman and Helpman reckoned domestic powerful specific-interest group usually lobby their government with huge money and resources to conduct RTAs which advantage them. Milner offered a similar viewpoint as well. He considered those export-oriented companies usually push government to enter a preferential trade agreement (PTA) to enlarge the bloc market which disadvantage outside companies. The powerful domestic companies have influences to the government election outcome so th at the relationship between lobbying and election outcome is another factor to be taken to examine the influence on RTAs. Above sounds RTA generates more trade diversion due to non-trade effects, but it still needs evidences Empirics of trade creation and trade diversion Unfortunately, the estimation of trade diversion is not an easy work. As above mentioned, the estimation has to account into both trade and non-trade factors which influence RTA outcome, therefore, a gravity equation is used to help this issue. The equation provides a theoretical way to examine whether a RTA generates more trade creation or trade diversion. The concept of natural trading partners were first proposed by Wonnacott and Lutz . They pointed that the agreements, which are conducted with those geographically close countries and similar culture countries, are likely to attain more trade creation. Tinbergen and Poyhonen successively used gravity model in international trade analysis and used it to research world trade flow and size. Tinbergen hence pointed bilateral trade flow and bilateral economic size have a positive relationship and have a oppose relationship with their geographical distance. Frankel applied gravity model to examine the natural trade partner hypothesis. He analyses the trade flow effect in different regional integrations by using different dummy variables like culture, whether they have common border or same languages etc. He reckoned gravity model is the best instrument to judge trade creation effect and trade diversion effect. Frankel used the data between 1965 and 1992 to examine the regional effect. When two countries belong to the same regional integration, then regional dummy effect is 1; therefore 0. The estimated correlation coefficient represents how many trade flows can be attributed to specific regional trade effect. The empirical result revealed the correlation coefficient in each variable was all significant. He found two-country GNP coefficient is less than 1. That means trade amount will not rise proportionally when the economic size of both countries increase 1. Also the distance coefficient is negative, that represents the trade decrease with an increase in distance. The distance result is similar to the result of Tinbergen. Frankel also found the same language and the same border has a positive influence to trade flow. For each regional variable, the outcome shows the regional trade effect is significant in Europe Union, MERCOSUR, Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relationship, and Andean Group, yet not significant in NAFTA. Frankel provided evidence for natural trade partners hypothesis by using gravity equation. Clausing used HS-10 digit import data of United State to access CUSFTA. She found due to the agreement signed in 1994 the import of the US from Canada had increased 26 percentage. the import from Canada increased half amount since 1989 to 1994 and Clausing attributed it to tariff reduction decision in CUSFTA. She found that trade creation are more general than trade diversion in most of cases. Furthermore, RTAs increase bilateral trade between members . Their research points there is no significant trade reduction between members and non-members be found. Other studies also examined the impact of regional integration to trade effect. For Europe Union, Kreinin pointed the establishment and east-expansion of EU would cause little trade diversion and huge trade creation. A distinct evidence was provided by Chang and Winer . They found the formation of MERCOSUR do hurt non-members but as Calvo-Pardo et al. pointed, MERCOSUR is a customs union (CU), which is different from CUSTA, NAFTA those FTAs. According to the literatures above, we found in most cases RTAs except MERCOSUR are likely to trade creating more than trade diverting. As well, if countries, which are natural partners, sign an RTA, it would benefit them. That is because the similar culture, for example, language, may reduce transaction cost. Consequently, the trade creation effect has more opportunity to be greater than trade diversion. That gives the incentive of government to negotiate an RTA with their close countries. Adjustment in External Tariffs Another issue trade economist cared is optimal external tariffs after forming a RTA. The original Vinerian assessments of trade creation and trade diversion are normally constraint to the policies fixed. However, there is at least a trade policy those RTA members would use: external tariff policy. Kennan and Riezman (1990) were the first to examine the optimal external tariffs after RTA was formed and they found the formations of RTAs are usually with external tariff reduction. Also, the same result was in several literatures. To avoid the welfare costs of trade diversion, optimal external tariffs seem to be lower in RTAs. Kennan and Riezman pointed there is coordination of common external tariff under CU. Unlike CU, FTA members have authority to set their external tariff unilaterally. Kennan and Riezman use this key different chrematistic between CU and FTA to see the external tariff adjustment outcome after the formation of RTAs. Another issue we will discuss in this section is the influence of lobbying to the formation of a RTA. In section II we reviewed those structural characteristics, which lead to more trade creation or trade diversion, of RTA members. Intuitively, bloc countries are willing to attain more trade creation and to reduce more trade diversion so that they can achieve the objective of social welfare maximizing, yet as mentioned in Section II the formation of RTAs are not only economically, more important, also politically. There are some incentives bloc countries hold to adjust their specific product external tariff rate so that they can achieve their objectives (no matter what that is). Thus, this section will introduce those incentives that members are likely to alter their external tariff and the reaction to members external tariff under the formation of RTAs, which is what we concerned. That will help us to figure out whether the political force would lead distortion among the RTA formati on. Incentives to alter external tariffs in RTAs with empirics The incentives to alter external tariffs in RTAs can be clarified generally in three main parts: the incentive due to CU, due to FTA and due to domestic producer influence. We will discuss them in the following content. The external tariff policy adjustment might be influenced by different types of RTAs. In CU their external tariff are coordinated by all members, on contrast, FTA members have more authorities on their own external tariff. Thus, the motivation in different types of RTAs might be different. Firstly, we examine the incentive to alter external tariff rate of CU members. According to Kenan and Riezman , the equilibrium external tariffs are also observed being higher than FTAs. They concluded two points. One is a custom union allows its members to internalize their tariff externality when bloc members import the same product. Another, a customs union makes several countries into one larger one and enlarges their market power. Similarly, the analysis of Bond, et al. also clarified the external tariff in an FTA would be lower in a CU due to the lack of external tariff coordination. Preferential margin is the differences between external tariff and preferential tariff rate. Higher external tariff leads to higher preferential margin. Also, the higher the preferential margin is, the larger the discrimination and trade diversion effect are. Therefore, inter-bloc countries benefit more from the CU agreement due to the discrimination effect. As what Kennan and Riezman found, Richardson indicated there is an intention of external tariffs to be reduced under FTA. The phenomenon is called the tariff complementary effect. Relative to customs union, there is neither large market power nor external tariff coordination effect under FTAs. Even so, motivations to alter external policies still exist. A simple way to think is that: trade creation is created due to the preferential tariff among the FTA members and trade diversion is generated simultaneously. An effective trade policy against trade diversion that government holds is external tariff policies. Hence, if a preferential trade agreement comes with a reduction of external tariff, it would enhance both the total welfare in the world and reduce a hurting on non-members. However, an issue is whether the external tariff should be removed under a FTA. Bond, et al. reckoned the implication of the lack of external policy coordination is that the optimal external tariff for an FTA should be positive. Logically, a principle is that external tariff for outsider should no less than preferential tariff for insider so that the agreement would not be meaningless. As what have mentioned in Chapter 2, there are some non-trade factors also affect the trade effects. The one which is broadly discussed is the effect of lobbying to external tariff in a RTA. When political motivations are concluded in, the net trade effect will become ambiguous. Empirics of external tariff adjustment in RTAs With protection, are RTAs more trade diverting? The impact of regionalism on multilateralism Kyle and Robert examined whether exceptions from MFN for the purpose of forming preferential agreements can lead to lower external tariffs, and thereby to a more efficient tariff structure unter the multilateral agreement. imply that the formation of the FTA benefits ROW. These findings differ from those that arise under a CU where typically there is a smaller external tariff reduction (or even an increase). This occurs because CU members jointly choose the external tariff to maximize union welfare, thus internalizing the positive tariff externality that exists whenever two countries import the same good from ROW. With the objective function that we consider, a CU will always be preferred to an FTA for symmetric member countries because of its more favorable market power effects25. Thus, while this model does not provide a positive theory of FTA formation, it does point out how international distributional effects differ between FTAs and CUs. It also suggests that, in the short run, FTAs are more appealing from a world welfare perspective because they imply relatively less aggressive tariff setting for their members.

CIS Snapshot :: essays research papers

..::CIS Snapshot::.. When I think of CIS one thing always comes to mind. My first day. No, not my first day this year. The day I’m referring to was the first time I ever came to CIS last year. Near completion of the Danish â€Å"Folke Skole† you have to choose and apply to various â€Å"Gymnasiums† much like applying for university after high school in the states. One of the schools I wanted to attend was CIS. I asked my supervisor if she couldn’t arrange a day where I could go to CIS and see what the IB programme was all about. She said she would try and the next day I got a letter from her telling me the date and time when I would have to go to CIS. When I first arrived at CIS, I was a little overwhelmed at the size. It isn’t a very big school but its layout was a little difficult and I had a hard time finding my way around until I finally ask a student where a Mrs. Richardson was. He, of course, didn’t know. After about 10 minutes of wandering around the halls I finally find the office and they tell me her office was downstairs. I find her at last and she seemed confused why I was there. Apparently she thought I wasn’t due until the week after. I was beginning to have some doubts about the organisational skills of the school. She looks around the halls and pulls the first student she can find to the side and asks if she doesn’t mind showing me around. She nods and tells me to follow her quickly as she was late for class. So my first class at CIS was art. I thought this was going to be fun as I always liked art but after the first mind numbing hour I realised that this wasn’t cut out for me. Th e class itself was fine and the teacher was a fun guy but I had nothing to do other than just watch the other students make their brilliant masterpieces of art. There was one high point and that was when the art teacher told the class that he read an article about a homicidal doctor who would stick ice picks up people’s noses. Fun. After two hours we were finally allowed to go. â€Å"Now what† I thought. Well apparently nothing.

Analysis of Scenes 4-5 of The Glass Menagerie :: Glass Menagerie essays

Analysis of Scenes 4-5 of The Glass Menagerie "Tom Fishes in his pockets for his door key, removing a motley assortment of articles in the search, including a shower of movie ticket stubs and an empty bottle. At last he finds the key, but just as he is about to insert it, it slips from his fingers. He strikes a match and crouches below the door." Tom is a character that is constantly looking for individuality and adventure. Unfortunately, his everyday life cannot provide those for him. The apartment building he lives in is comparable to a bee hive. Every member's identity is lost not intentionally, but because it is second in importance to labor. He wants time to retire in thought every now and then and express himself somehow. All this labor supresses his creative nature whose persistency will eventually win over his practical side. In this scene, we see Tom searching for a key in his pocket. The contents of his pocket, one can argue, are filled with ways to escape his everyday life. The movies he attends are like therapy sessions that are crucial to his health. The empty bottle suggests that he was drinking that night. Tom abuses alcohol to alleviate some of the pain caused by other people abusing him. The key he is looking for cannot be found readily; not because it fell through the crack, but because he cannot escape his fait. Circumstances incarcerate him in and endless cycle of work, abuse, and supression of thought. There is no apparent way out of such a predicament, but Tom has to keep looking for the key. "Tom: You know it don't take much intelligence to get yourself into a nailed-up coffin, Laura. But who in hell ever got himself out of one without removing one nail?" Tom openly admits to Laura that he is very unhappy with his life. Laura has been known to cry because Tom feels trapped in the appartment, but Amanda dismissed it as nonsense. She thinks it is a trivial matter, and that Tom should stop thinking about himself so much. What she doesn't realize is that she is the one always thinking about herself.

Changing World Lasting Values Essay

You hear many tales nowadays — that the world is absurd, that everything has changed, that old moral values have died. This is all non-sense, for if you look for reality beneath the clutter of words which hide it, you will rediscover the eternal man. True values were not invented for the pleasure of senile moralists. They exist because without them, neither society nor happiness could survive. Here, then, are a few rules as old as civilization itself which remain true despite the advances of science and technology. The first is that man must live for something other than himself. The man who meditates ceaselessly about himself finds a thousand reasons to be unhappy. He has notaccomplished everything he wanted to or should have done; he has not gotten everything he thought he deserved; he has not been loved as he dreamed of being loved- But if he lives for ideals outside of himself — for his faith or his country, for his friends, his wife and family, he miraculously forgets all his petty worries. In trying to make others happy, he also makes himself happy. The veritable inner world is the veritable outer world. â€Å" The second rule is that man must act. â€Å"The joy of the soul is inaction. † Instead of lamenting the absurdity of the world, let us try to transform our own little corner. It is not impossible. We cannot change the whole universe, but who hopes to do that? Our objective is much more simple: to do our job and do it well, to become a master at it. Each one works in his own field. I write books, the carpenter assembles my bookshelves, the policeman directs traffic, the engineer, constructs, the minister governs. All of them, kept busy at work which they know how to do well, are happy. This is so true that when people have leisure time, they keep busy with apparently useless activities such as games and sports. As for useful action, we know from experience that it is effective: an active mayor makes a city prosperous; an active priest brings vitality to a parish. â€Å"Happy are those in whose eyes men look for order. † The third rule is that one must believe in the power of the will. It is not true that the future is predetermined- A great man can change the course of history. Any man who has the courage and the will can change his own future. Naturally, none of us is all- powerful. Each man’s freedom has its limits. Freedom lies between the border of the possible and the will. It is beyond my power to prevent war, but I can perform an act which, multiplied by millions, will be effective. It is not possible for me to win a battle, but it is up to me to be a courageous soldier. Since this limitation of the will is dependent on what one dares, one must not worry about his limitation; but do the best he can. Finally, the fourth, and most precious of all values, is faithfulness, Faithfulness to promises, contracts, to others, and to oneself. One must be among those who can be counted upon. Faithfulness is not an easy virtue. Thousand of temptations are thrown across our paths. â€Å"Faithfulness in marriage,† said Bernard Shaw, is no more natural to man than the cage to the tiger. † Undoubtedly, faithfulness is â€Å"natural. † It is born of a voluntary decision, constantly renewed, which helps us to rise above our natures. But it gives us the lasting joy of being at peace with ourselves. I may forego an immediate pleasure to assure myself the great joy in the future of looking at my past without shame, but with pride. Every society in which citizens live for naught but fleeting pleasures, where men no longer trust each other, and whose members let themselves go is doomed. When Rome let go and ceased to set store by the values which made her great, she perished. When France clung to eternal values she was saved. Modern technology may change one’s modes of action, but they change neither its values, the reasons for it, nor the duty of faithfulness. Thus it was in the beginning and so it will always be.