Causes Of The Great Depression Essay -- Great Depression History Econo

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In 1929 the stock market crashed, triggering the worst depression ever in U.S. history, which lasted for about a decade. During the 1920s, the unequal distribution of wealth and the stock market speculation combined to create an unstable economy by the end of the decade. The unequal distribution of the wealth had several outlets. Money was distributed between industry and agriculture within the U.S.; in social classes, between the rich and middle class; and lastly in world markets, between America and Europe. Due to the imbalance of the wealth, the economy became very unstable. The stock market crashed because of the excessive speculation in the 1920’s, which made the stock market artificially high (Galbraith 175). The poor distribution of the wealth, excessive speculation, and the stock market crashes caused the U.S. economy to fail, signaling the start of the Great Depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 1920’s were a time when the American people and the economy were thriving. This period of time was called the â€Å"Roaring Twenties†. Unemployment dropped as low as 3 percent, prices held steady, and the gross national product climbed from $70 billion in 1922 to nearly $100 billion in1929 (EV 525). However, the prosperity of the 1920’s was not shared evenly among the social classes in America. A study conducted by the Brookings Institution stated, â€Å"78 percent of all American families had incomes of less than $3,000. Forty percent had family incomes of less than $1,500. Only 2.3 percent of the population enjoyed incomes of over $10,000. Sixty thousand American families held savings which amounted to the total held by the bottom 25 million families.† (Goldston 26). The 40 percent of Americans at the lowest end of the economic scale received only 12 percent of the national income by 1929 (EV 549). This maldistribution of income b etween the rich and the middle class increased throughout the 1920’s. A major reason for this large and growing gap between the upper class and the working class Americans was that the manufacturing output increased throughout this period. As the production costs fell, wages went up slowly, and prices for goods remained at a constant. The majority of the benefits created by increased productivity fell into the hands of corporate owners. The federal government also helped to make the growing gap between the upper and middle classes. President Calvin ... ...yers were available at any price (EV 549).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This speculation and the resulting stock market crash acted as a trigger to the already unstable U.S. economy. Due to the poor distribution of wealth, the economy of the 1920’s was one very much dependent upon confidence. President Hoover stated, â€Å"†¦the crisis has been isolated to the stock market itself.† (Docs Hoover). The market crash proved this confidence to be wrong. The rich stopped spending on luxury items, and the middle and lower classes stopped using credit in fear of losing their jobs and defaulting on their loans. As a result, industrial production fell by nine percent causing people to lose their jobs and default on loans (Galbraith 42). Industries started to fall apart around the automobile and radio industries. The rich refused to make loans to foreign countries for fear of going bankrupt. Foreigners stopped buying U.S. goods. Banks started to go under, stores closed up. President Hoover did not act in time to stop the count ry from going further into a depression (Docs Hoover). Unemployment had reached 13 million in 1932 (EV 549); the country went quickly downhill. The start of the Great Depression was setting in.

Still a Threat to the United States

The tenth anniversary of the 9/1 1 attacks prompted reflections on the current status of the terrorism threat to the United States. One aspect of an assessment†the threat posed by biological weapons†is especially challenging because of the unique character of these weapons. A prime distinction is the fact that exposure to minute quantities of a biological agent may go unnoticed, yet ultimately be the cause of disease and death.The Incubation period of a microbial agent can be days or weeks; unlike a bombing, knifing, or chemical dispersion, a bioattack might not be ecognized until long after the agent's release. Accordingly, bioterrorism poses distinctive challenges for preparedness, protection, and response. The use of a pathogen for hostile purposes became a consuming concern to the American people soon after 9/1 1 . About a half-dozen letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to Journalists and polltlclans beginning one week after the jetliner attacks.Four letters with spores and threat messages eventually were recovered. All were postmarked Trenton, New Jersey, which meant that they had been processed at the postal distribution center in nearby Hamilton. Two letters were postmarked September 18, one addressed to Tom Brokaw at NBC-TV and another to the editor of the New York Post. The other two letters were stamped October 9 and addressed to Senators Thomas Daschle and Patrick Leahy. As people became infected in September, October and November, local responses revealed gaps in preparedness for a biological attack.For example, the first confirmation of an anthrax case was on October 4, more than two weeks after the initial letters were mailed. Retrospective assessments later indicated that by then nine people had already contracted the disease. Their illness previously had been misidentified because of faulty diagnoses or erroneous laboratory In the end, at least 22 people had become infected, five of whom died. Meanwhile, scores of buildings were belatedly found to be contaminated with spores that had leaked from the letters.At least 30,000 people who were deemed at risk required prophylactic antibiotics. [2] Millions more were fearful, many of them anxious about opening their own mail. Since the anthrax attacks, the U. S. government has spent about $60 billion on biodefense. A large portion of those dollars has gone to biodefense research under he auspices of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The NIAID budget for biodefense research has grown from $200 million in 2001 to an annual average of $1. 6 billion since 2004.United States safer from a bioattack now than at the time of the anthrax attacks? Has the spending been worth it? Key Questions, Discrepant Answers Opinions on these questions differ. While concerned about the danger of backsliding, the authors of an article in Politico now felt â€Å"reassured about our preparedness† for a biological attack. [3] At the same time, an opposing assessment was emblazoned in he title of a New York Times Magazine cover story: â€Å"Ten Years After the Anthrax Attacks, We Are Still Not Ready. [4] A review of biodefense efforts during the past 10 years in Science magazine blandly acknowledged the obvious: â€Å"debate continues over how much safer the country The congressionally chartered Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (WMD Commission) issued a report card in 2010 on efforts to address several of its previous recommendations. The administration's failure to â€Å"enhance the nation's capabilities for rapid response to revent biological attacks from inflicting mass casualties† merited a grade of â€Å"F† (meaning that no action was taken on this recommendation).Almost as bad was the â€Å"D*† given for continuing inadequate oversight of high-containment laboratories. Reasonable arguments can be made to support varied views about these issues , and all conclusions bear a degree of subjectivity. Yet an assessment of several broad critical contentions can offer clarification. The criticisms are largely expressed in the form of five contentions. Contention #1 : Funding for biodefense has meant fewer dollars for other deserving reas such as public health infrastructure and basic science research.In 2005, 758 microbiologists signed a letter to Elias Zerhouni, then director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), objecting to the diversion of funds from public health research to biodefense projects. Zerhouni, Joined by NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, rejected the letter's premise of â€Å"diversion. † An assessment of disputed interpretations suggested that spending on biodefense benefited non-biodefense research as well, but the numbers were so â€Å"convoluted† that a clear determination was elusive. [7] An analysis of the biodefense budget for fiscal year 2012 indicates that only 10% of the proposed $6. bill ion is dedicated exclusively to civilian biodefense. The other 90% is for projects with both biodefense and non-biodefense implications. The non- biodefense goals, according to analysts Crystal Franco and Tara Kirk Sell, include â€Å"advancing other areas of science, public health, healthcare, national security, or international security. â€Å"[8] This tilt toward dual-track benefits has been reflected in past budgets as well. A report in Nature magazine indicated that of the $60 billion pent on biodefense in the past decade, only about $12 billion went for programs have benefited substantially from biodefense projects.Fiscal woes in recent years have in fact resulted in reduced resources for public health and related programs. Economic pressure threatens to shrink biodefense funding as it does funding for much else in the federal budget; however, it is not clear now, nor was it in the past, if fewer dollars for biodefense would necessarily translate into more for public health, basic research, or any other health-related programs. Contention #2: The growing number of facilities for research on select agents specified pathogens and toxins) has heightened chances of an accidental release. Statistics alone make this assertion unassailable.The chances of something going wrong in any enterprise, assuming no change in operational security, increase with the size of the enterprise. As the number of research facilities increases, so does the chance of an accident. A continuing weakness is the lack of clarity about the number of high security laboratories. In 1983, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designated four levels of safety for laboratory work with biological agents. A Biosafety Level-I (BSL-I) laboratory allows for work on relatively innocuous agents and a BSL-4 laboratory on the most dangerous.The two highest containment facilities, BSL-3 and BSL-4, require special security measures including restricted access, negative pressure to prev ent air from flowing out of the room, and protective outerwear for operators. BSL-4 laboratories require additional safeguards such as entry through multiple air-locked rooms and positive pressure outerwear with a segregated air supply. A BSL-4 laboratory is required for work on agents that cause lethal disease for which here is little or no treatment (for example, smallpox and hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola and Marburg).At present, there are 15 such U. S. facilities planned or in operation, triple the number operating in 2001. [10] Other dangerous agents, including the bacteria that cause anthrax and plague, are worked on in BSL-3 laboratories. The number of these laboratories has skyrocketed since 2001, although the actual figures are uncertain. While an estimated 20 BSL-3 facilities were operating before the anthrax attacks, in the decade since the number has grown to between 200 and an astonishing 1,400 or ore. [11] The huge discrepancy is attributable in part to varied method s of calculation.Some assessments have counted all BSL-3 laboratories in an institution as a single BSL-3 facility, while others have designated each laboratory as a separate entity. Furthermore, some laboratories with a BSL-3 designation may lack safety features found in others, such as double doors and a requirement that two persons must be present. No national authority is now empowered to mandate a single system of counting or that even the lowest estimated number of BSL-3 laboratories (200) represents a 10- old increase in the past 10 years, and that safety precautions at some BSL-3 facilities are less rigorous than at others.Contention #3: The growing number of investigators with knowledge about select agents has increased the chances that an unsavory scientist could launch a bioattack. Along with more high containment facilities has come more scientists who handle select agents. Concern about dangerous individuals among them was heightened in 2008 when the FBI named Bruce Ivi ns as the perpetrator of the 2001 anthrax attacks. Ivins was a veteran scientist who for decades had worked on anthrax at the U. S.Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Before charges could be brought he committed suicide, so his guilt or innocence could never be established in a court of law. Still, evidence of his aberrational behavior, including alcoholism, depression, and self-described bouts of paranoia, evidently went unnoticed by his superiors. The Ivins case highlighted questions about the screening of workers with ready access to select agents. The number of those workers Just prior to the anthrax attacks has been estimated at about 700.By 2008, however, the figure had climbed to more han As some have suggested, the greater numbers mean that â€Å"the odds of one of them turning out to be a bad apple has increased. â€Å"[13] Ironically, Ivins was not a newly minted investigator, but a long-respected fgure in the arm y's biodefense program. Days after Ivins' death, a USAMRIID spokesperson acknowledged that officials may have been unaware of his problems because they relied in part on self-reporting. [14] In 2011, a mental health review panel concluded that â€Å"Dr.Ivins had a significant and lengthy history of psychological disturbance and diagnosable mental illness at the time he began working for USAMRIID in The Ivins case has raised concerns that other troubled or nefarious individuals might be working in U. S. laboratories. A recent government-sponsored forum on biosecurity called for periodic behavioral evaluations of personnel with access to select agents that include drug testing, searches for criminal history, and completion by selectees of a security questionnaire. 16] Even while acknowledging the necessity of security measures, the right to privacy and freedom of scientific inquiry must be respected to the extent possible. In any case, behavioral monitoring can never provide absolute protection against the acts of a lever miscreant. Contention #4: Money for biodefense has been misapplied or otherwise failed to produce desired results. Project BioShield was established by congress in 2004 to acquire medical countermeasures against biological, chemical, and radiological vaccines and other drugs that have not necessarily been tested for efficacy on humans.Beyond the loss of time and money, the VaxGen failure was a public embarrassment. It became a symbol of ineptness early in the new program. Other biosecurity programs have also drawn criticism, including a $534 million surveillance project called BioWatch. This program included the placement of air amplers for detection of anthrax spores and other agents in more than 30 major U. S. cities. A committee convened by the National Academy of Sciences concluded in 2010 that the program was faced with â€Å"serious technical and operational challenges. † Others flatly criticized its funding as wasted.

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Introduction How do you deal with your worries? Do you have any ways to solve your problems? We are not taught them neither at school nor on the job. We are supposed to find and figure out them by ourselves. Today I’d like to talk about: first, how serious damages we get from worries. Second, the solution for those of you who suffer from worries, and finally, how much benefit you can get with my suggestion. Need step As you know, worries mean nothing other than harms. For example, worries cause stresses and diseases. It is said if we could remove worries, 70% of sick people would completely recover from the disease.And the most significant factor of suicides is also â€Å"worries†. Human relationships, work environments†¦, there are lots of worries. I think everybody lives with certain worries more or less. Satisfaction Step But don’t worry. I have a solution. I have a book called â€Å"How to Stop Worrying and Start Living†, by Dale Carnegie. Althoug h it was written over 30 years ago, what he said hasn’t been out of date at all. Over 80% of reviewers rate this book on 5 star on Amazon. com. Visualization Step I can assure you that you’d enjoy the feeling that your worries are gone away as you read through this book.And it is also famous as a problem solving handbook for business persons. From only one book, you can learn not only the ways to deal with your worries, but also the useful methods of problem-solving. How amazing!! This is the reason why successful business persons around the world read this book continuously. Closing Now, I’d like to ask you, would you like to live a life with worries or without worries? If you choose a worry-free life, what are you waiting for? From the moment you start reading â€Å"How to Stop Worrying and Start Living†, you can â€Å"stop worrying and start living†. Thank you.

Proctor and Gamble Business Plan

Subject: Entrepreneurship Company name: Proctor & Gamble Team name: TBA Sources: http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=PG, http://subscriber. hoovers. com/H/company360/history. html? companyId=11211000000000, www. pg. com, http://blog. marketingdoctor. tv/2008/06/06/dr-tantillos-30second-how-to. aspx Weekly stock prices: 2/4 Mon 75. 26 2/5 Tue 75. 70 1 – Who founded your company? Where? When? Why did the person start the company? What was the original product?What are the products or services your company offers today? William Procter, a candle maker, and James Gamble, a soap maker, founded the company called The Procter & Gamble Company, also known as P&G, on October 31, 1837. They merged their own small businesses and initially settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. Alexander Norris, their father- in- law, persuaded them to be a business partner to each other. Therefore, they created the company and during the American Civil War, they provided the Union Army with soaps and candles. In 1880s, they marketed a new soap, called Ivory, and since then, they have extended their businesses. Today they operate in 6 sections: Beauty, Grooming, Health Care, Fabric Care and Home Care, Snacks & Pet Care segment and Baby Care and Family Care. They have Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pantene, SK-II, Wella, Braun, Fusion, Gillette, Mach3, Ace, Febreze and Downy brand names and so on. 2- What was the original form of ownership? Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, or Corporation?Has the company changed its form of ownership over the years? Why did it change? It was originally a company based on partnership. However, William Arnett Procter, William Procter's grandson introduced the profit sharing program in 1887 by giving workers shares in the company to prevent strike. 3 – Was the founder of your company an Entrepreneur? Justify your answer. The founders of P;G are deserved to be defined as Entrepreneurs. Entrepreneur itself eans that someone who is adventurous businessman strugg ling to make business more profitable, creates new things and likes to challenge. These aspects are also shown in William Procter and James Gamble. They were not satisfied with their position, instead expanded their businesses, took over other companies running a risk and prospered through the technology switchover. 4 – When your company was founded was it local, regional, national, international, or multinational?What is your company today? Justify your answer It was totally local. At first it just provided the North Army with soaps and candles, but after the American Civil War, they got fame from soldiers all over the world and established another corporation in New Castle, England in 1930. Since then, it has enlarged their field of business all around the world and nowadays it has been regarded as multinational company because of their marketing strategies and the background of faculties.

Online library Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Online library - Essay Example My experience with it has been impressive. I did try searching some topics using the Summon engine, and learnt a few critical issues when it comes to utilizing the engine. First, I did search a broad topic, which unleashed over one million results. However, on using parenthesis, the results were reduced to ones that are more relevant. Other steps involved were refining the topics, and specifying the research content material to utilize. Narrowing down the topic did grant an opportunity to fine-tune results granting access to relevant resources (Majumdar, 2012). In essence, the Summon does provide an easy model to filter out the search content. One can be in a position in the search for multiple formats and content at a go. One can filter out books, articles, journals, videos, and other databases. Most significantly, University of Hull Summon Tutorial provides a simple and fast search engine from the library databases. It delivers contents from intensive disciplines. The Summon is easy to use, while the screen results are easy to understand. From the utilization and utility of the system, two lessons were clearly valid: it is important to filter out the information using the keywords to acquire relevant information. Secondly, utilization of simple language is critical to get back authentic information (Insinna,

Descartes epistemology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Descartes epistemology - Essay Example These ones are often the forerunners of methodology of modern science. It seems that Descartes' epistemology is one of the most significant systems which made (of course, along with other thinkers) philosophic background for modern science, skeptical and highly rational. Both the rise of modern science and the rediscovery of skepticism were key influences on Descartes' epistemology (Stroll; Newman). While Descartes believed that humans were capable of knowledge and certainty and that modern science was developing the superstructure of knowledge, he thought that skepticism presented a legitimate challenge that needed an answer. Thus, the rational cognition was Descartes' answer, but with the number of stipulations. Descartes considered the supposition that all of one's beliefs are false. But Descartes claimed that it is not possible for all of one's beliefs to be false, for anyone who has false beliefs is thinking and knows that he is thinking, and if the person is thinking, then that person exists (Garza). Also, it was obvious that nonexistent things cannot think. So, "Cogito, ergo sum", i.e. "I think; therefore, I am".

Dissertation in Science Education Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

In Science Education - Dissertation Example Example of the nature of the structuring that makes it possible for in-depth science research knowledge to be impacted includes the intensiveness of the program. For instance some teachers are brought up close with Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR) laboratories, which are facilitated by specialized laboratory managers, faculty and former students for as long as six weeks without a break (Cook et al, 2000). Normally, such mathematics and science teachers do not get the opportunity of having dedicated times with laboratory experiences with the standard of the CCMR Shared Experimental Facilities. Another relevant component of the RET program that is set to make it very easy for shared experiences to impact deep into teachers attending the program is the fact that the programs are structured such that participants work together as team. In effect, basic concepts that could prove difficult in their understanding are easily shared among team members for practical resolution. Ind eed, for the fact that the structure of the program is intense and focused on problem solving skills, set out by trained and skilled facility managers Sadler et al (2009) have noted that it has always been possible and easier for teachers attending the RET programs to have the kind of experiences that the programs require them to have. But it is important to note that the essence and idea behind the RET programs does not end with the mere acquisition of knowledge on research experiments for teachers. Rather, the major target of the program is the student, meaning that after teachers gain the experiences from the program, they should be in a position to passing these on to their students (Polloway, Patton and Serna, 2008). As teachers, it has always been expected that there will be the use of learner-centered and other creative approaches to teaching that make absorption of concepts taught easier for learners. However, some key factors have often inhibited this noble vision. Subseque ntly, students, who are the target products of the RET programs have not benefited fully from the programs (Rao, 2009). 1.3 Purpose of the Study Based on the background given and the problem identified earlier, the researcher seeks to use this proposal to clearly identify and spell out the factors that aid in the successful implementation of science and engineering practices into the regular classroom experience of teachers. Furthermore, ways by which teachers can be supported in their classroom after completion of any RET program to make implementation of experiences and subsequently improvement of student learning possible, shall also be outlined. 2.0 Background Literature 2.1 Measuring success of RET programs in Learners Several researchers in the area of science and mathematics education have studied the need to making the learner the end product of teachers’ success with the RET program. In this, a number of debates and arguments have come up was to why the focus on the systematic structure of the