Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Kohlbergs Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg outlined one of the best-known theories addressing the development of morality in childhood. Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, which include three levels and six stages, expanded on and revised the ideas of Jean Piaget’s previous work on the subject. Key Takeaways: Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg was inspired by Jean Piaget’s work on moral judgment to create a stage theory of moral development in childhood.The theory includes three levels and six stages of moral thinking. Each level includes two stages. The levels are called preconventional morality, conventional morality, and postconventional morality.Since it was initially proposed, Kohlberg’s theory has been criticized for overemphasizing a Western male perspective on moral reasoning. Origins Jean Piagets two-stage theory of moral judgment marked a divide between the way children younger than 10 and those 10 and older think about morality. While younger children looked at rules as fixed and based their moral judgments on consequences, older children’s perspectives were more flexible and their judgments were based on intentions. However, intellectual development doesn’t end when Piaget’s stages of moral judgment ended, making it likely that moral development continued as well. Because of this, Kohlberg felt Piaget’s work was incomplete. He sought to study a range of children and adolescents in order to determine if there were stages that went beyond those proposed by Piaget. Kohlberg’s Research Method Kohlberg utilized Piaget’s method of interviewing children about moral dilemmas in his research. He would present each child with a series of such dilemmas and ask them their thoughts on each one to determine the reasoning behind their thinking. For example, one of the moral dilemmas Kohlberg presented was the following: â€Å"In Europe, a woman was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her†¦ The druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together about†¦ half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said: ‘No, I discovered the drug and I’m going to make money from it.’ So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife.† After explaining this dilemma to his participants, Kohlberg would ask, â€Å"Should the husband have done that?† He then continued with a series of additional questions that would help him understand why the child thought Heinz was right or wrong to do what he did. After collecting his data, Kohlberg classified the responses into stages of moral development. Kohlberg interviewed 72 boys in suburban Chicago for his study. The boys were 10, 13, or 16 years old. Each interview was approximately two hours long and Kohlberg  presented each participant with 10 moral dilemmas during that time. Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development Kohlberg’s research yielded three levels of moral development. Each level consisted of two stages, leading to six stages in total. People pass through each stage sequentially with the thinking at the new stage replacing the thinking at the previous stage. Not everyone reached the highest stages in Kohlbergs theory. In fact, Kohlberg believed that many didn’t move past his third and fourth stages. Level 1: Preconventional Morality At the lowest level of moral development individuals haven’t yet internalized a sense of morality. Moral standards are dictated by adults and the consequences of breaking the rules. Children nine years old and younger tend to fall into this category. Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation. Children believe the rules are fixed and must be obeyed to the letter. Morality is external to the self.Stage 2: Individualism and Exchange. Children begin to realize that the rules aren’t absolute. Different people have different perspectives and therefore there isn’t just one correct point of view. Level 2: Conventional Morality A majority of adolescents and adults fall into the middle level of conventional morality. At this level, people start to internalize moral standards but not necessarily to question them. These standards are based on the social norms of the groups a person is part of. Stage 3: Good Interpersonal Relationships. Morality arises from living up to the standards of a given group, such as ones family or community, and being a good group member.Stage 4: Maintaining the Social Order. The individual becomes more aware of the rules of society on a broader scale. As a result, they become concerned with obeying laws and maintaining the social order. Level 3: Postconventional Morality If individuals reach the highest level of moral development, they start to question if what they see around them is good. In this case, morality stems from self-defined principles. Kohlberg suggested that only 10-15% of the population was able to achieve this level because of the abstract reasoning it required. Stage 5: Social Contract and Individual Rights. Society should function as a social contract where the goal of each individual is to improve society as a whole. In this context, morality and individual rights like life and liberty may take precedence over specific laws.Stage 6: Universal Principles. People develop their own principles of morality even if they conflict with society’s laws. These principles must be applied to every individual equally. Critiques Since Kohlberg initially proposed his theory, many criticisms have been leveled against it. One of the key issues other scholars take with the theory centers on the sample used to create it. Kohlberg focused on boys in a specific United States city. As a result, his theory has been accused of being biased towards men in Western cultures. Western individualist cultures may have different moral philosophies than other cultures. For example, individualist cultures emphasize personal rights and freedoms, while collectivist cultures emphasize what’s best for the community as a whole. Kohlberg’s theory does not take these cultural differences into account. In addition, critics like Carol Gilligan have maintained that Kohlberg’s theory conflates morality with an understanding of rules and justice, while overlooking concerns such as compassion and care. Gilligan believed the emphasis on impartially judging conflicts between competing parties overlooked the female perspective on morality, which tended to be contextual and derived from an ethics of compassion and concern for other people. Kohlberg’s methods were also criticized. The dilemmas he used weren’t always applicable to children at the age of 16 and under. For example, the Heinz dilemma presented above might not be relatable to children who had never been married. Had Kohlberg focused on dilemmas more reflective of his subjects lives, his results may have been different. Also, Kohlberg never examined if moral reasoning actually reflected moral behavior. Therefore, it’s not clear if his subjects’ actions fell in line with their ability to think morally. Sources Cherry, Kendra. â€Å"Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.† Verywell Mind, 13 March 2019. https://www.verywellmind.com/kohlbergs-theory-of-moral-developmet-2795071Crain, William. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 5th ed., Pearson Prentice Hall. 2005.Kohlberg, Lawrence. â€Å"The Development of Children’s Orientation Toward a Moral Order: I. Sequence in the Development of Moral Thought.† Vita Humana, vol. 6, no. 1-2, 1963, pp. 11-33. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1964-05739-001McLeod, Saul. â€Å"Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development.† Simply Psychology, 24 October 2013. https://www.simplypsychology.org/kohlberg.html

Saturday, November 23, 2019

How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors

How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors How to Punctuate Descriptions of Colors By Mark Nichol Use of hyphens and commas in phrases that include names of colors is the cause of some confusion among writers. Here’s a discussion of when to insert or omit these punctuation marks when referring to colors. As with most other phrasal adjectives, pairs of words that together describe the color of an object should be hyphenated: A suit that is dark blue (referring to degree of saturation) is a dark-blue suit, and a suit that is blue gray (identifying a combination of colors) is a blue-gray suit. (Note, too, that a modifying phrase referring to color, like most phrasal adjectives, is not hyphenated when it follows rather than precedes the noun it modifies.) The previous rule applies not only to combinations of colors but to degrees (â€Å"greenish-blue dress,† â€Å"a dress that is greenish blue†) or comparisons (â€Å"snow-white fabric,† â€Å"fabric that is snow white†) of color. Remember, too, that light has two distinct meanings: A light green package is a green package that doesn’t weigh much; a light-green package is a package that is a light shade of green. When the adjective or phrasal adjective follows the noun or noun phrase, and no hyphenation occurs, the distinction is still clear: The first description is of a green package that is light, and the second is of a package that is light green. When the name of a color is one of two or more adjectives preceding a noun, whether and which of the adjectives are separated by commas depends on whether they are coordinate adjectives or not whether they each modify the noun, rather than one modifying a phrase consisting of an adjective and a noun. For example, in â€Å"a tall, green pole,† a comma separates the two adjectives because they are coordinate, or equivalent. To test this fact, either replace the comma with and (â€Å"a tall and green pole†) or reverse the order of the adjectives (â€Å"a green, tall pole†). If these changes make sense (even though the original syntax is better), the adjectives are coordinate, meaning that they both refer to the pole, and the comma is required. In â€Å"a weathered green pole,† by contrast, the adjectives are noncoordinate: Weathered and green do not each modify pole; weathered modifies â€Å"green pole,† so no comma is necessary. Various references to combinations of two or more colors are also distinguished by the use or omission of hyphens. For example, â€Å"She has only black and white shoes† means that all of the person’s shoes are either black or white, but â€Å"She has only black-and-white shoes† means that the person’s shoe collection consists only of shoes in which each pair is black and white. â€Å"Yellow, pink, and red flowers† refers to flowers colored yellow, pink, or red, whereas â€Å"yellow-pink-and-red flowers† denotes tricolored flowers. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Slang Terms for MoneyWhenever vs. When Ever50 Musical Terms Used in Nonmusical Senses

Thursday, November 21, 2019

What do you understand by the term racism Using examples from one of Essay

What do you understand by the term racism Using examples from one of the areas of policy we have covered, explain the existence of racism in contemporary Brita - Essay Example People in the same race may be very different from each other in terms of appearance and even genes, even more different than someone who is not in the same race. Therefore, dividing people into races makes no sense biologically. (Weston T, 2008) What exactly is Racism? Many people equate this with mistreatment of minorities while some equate this prejudice and stereotyping. It is not that easy to be defined because racism is not a thing. It has no mass and it can have subjective opinions. A lot of different definitions of racism have been given by a lot of different people. For the ease of understanding, we will be using the following definition of Racism throughout this paper. Racism and the theory of evolution have a connection. People justify racism by saying that according to the theory of evolution, the strongest continue to exist. Hence any group that has a advantage over another group has a right to dominate and completely eradicate the weaker faction. Therefore the week cliques get removed from the gene-pool, which makes the species strong and more powerful as a whole. In short, they say that by practising racism, they remove the weak from the society and this in turn benefits the world as a whole. These people either misinterpret the true theory of evolution or use it to justify what their actions. Evolution does not lead to racism - ignorance, fear and bigotry do. (Barnett, A., 1998) What they don’t realise is that racism only creates frustration among the weaker groups and by practising this, the third generation of human rights are breached. The trend in racism has changed dramatically since the 9/11 attacks on the world trade centre. At first it was more of racial discrimination. Now racism is more about religion. Muslims all over the world are now looked down upon and the world has now experienced something called ‘Islamophobia.’ As Kevin Smith said, Access to healthcare should be a right, not

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Black Americans Supported the Confederate Army Essay

Black Americans Supported the Confederate Army - Essay Example This section uses primary books and articles to explore the Black Americans’ support of the Confederate Army. America’s history of civil war is to a large part built by the African-Americans, who to a large extent were involved in the war. The Commonwealth Virginia, based on slavery, the black Americans featured a lot in the civil wars. Some of them were recruited into the Confederate army, pushing their counterparts to support the Confederate army. The black-Americans were inspired by the civil wars, an event that led to their deaths, such as that of Heyward Shepherd, in the civil wars. It is worth noting that the black-Americans involvement in the war and support of the Confederate Army was a way of seeking liberation1. The attacks carried out by the black-Americans in the army were for liberation, which they were very much determined to achieve. Heyward’s death in the liberation attacks was highly honored by the other Negroes. He was honored as a hero, and a monument erected in his honor by the sons of the Confederate and the daughters of the Confederacy2. The other reason for the Black-Americans’ support of the Confederate army was out of their working relationship with the military. A few of the Black-Americans worked in the army. They mainly worked as cooks, general labors, and teamsters. This drove the other large population, not in the army to support their fellow Negros working in the Confederate Army. They were concerned about each other’s welfare and had all the right intentions for their fellow black people.3   Right from the beginning, black men were allowed into the Confederate Army. They served in the Confederate Army with dedication so as to protect their families and communities.4   The civil war, however, weakened the lives of the Black-Americans in various ways.  

Sunday, November 17, 2019

African Americans in the Civil War Essay Example for Free

African Americans in the Civil War Essay The role African Americans played in the outcome, and the road to the outcome of the Civil War was immense. The fact that the south had slaves and the north did not played an enormous role in the issues. The north wanted to abolish slavery, and the south did not and after the war started this became one of the main reasons for the Civil War. Since most African Americans could not read or write, this made them an easy target, for slavery, against the dominant white man. Once the slaves got to America they started to realize how much trouble they were actually in. The north and the south had a problem brewing, and that was due to the slave uprisings and the run a ways. African Americans played an enormous role in the outcome of the Civil War because of the part they took in it. The civil war, which took place from 1861 to the 1920s, the African American community made tremendous strides toward them becoming apart of America and equals in America. Since they had been controlled by the power of the whites for so long, their independence was extremely unfamiliar to them, with their new emancipation. Since they were so uncertain, they debated about the most effect way to go about actually receiving the rights they deserved. They did not just want to be inferior Negros. Some African Americans thought the actual approach would be to go along with the submissive status the whites held them to, so they could earn their respect until fairness pervaded. Others were more wishful with their thinking and thought the military would make whites surrender and give blacks their basic rights. Those who were still they are thought that no progress would ever come. These blacks decided that it was essential to escape the shackles and cruel attitudes toward blacks. The civil war initially began to save the Union. At the start of the war slave masters were terribly scared that the slaves would run to join the Union and help the war efforts. To subsidize the problem, most owner enforced harsh restrictions on their slaves. Some owners even moved their whole plantations inland to avoid any contact with the outside northerners. This did not stop the slaves one bit though, this just caused more slave to flee to the north. The slaves that did decide to stay just demanded more freedom from their masters. Some would say the ones that stayed even gained more power; this forced their masters to give them offerings in exchange for work. The issues of emancipation and military service were intertwined from almost the beginning of the war. News from Fort Sumter made African Americans rush to enlist in military units. They were all turned away since there was a law dating from 1792 that kept African Americans from joining the U. S. army. In Boston disappointed African Americans met and passed a resolution that requested the Government to modify its laws to permit them to enlist. Then Lincoln’s Second Confiscation Act was passed. The act stated that, Confederates who did not surrender with in sixty days of the acts passage were to be punished by having their slaves freed. The Militia Act was also passed. This act stated African Americans were allowed to fight in the war. These two acts together thoroughly punished rebel slaveholders. The African Americans that enlisted both fought in the front lines and worked behind the scenes labor jobs. All these rights that the African Americans were receiving inspired them to return home and free their families and friends. Some of them even started living in the plantations that they used to be slaves of. They took them over and began their own cropping. Some of the other plantations had been left to older disabled white woman, when the men had left for the Confederate army. All of this led to the separation of slave labor in the south After trying terribly hard to keep the issue of slavery out of the war, the North decided to start enlisting African Americans to help them fight in the war. The Fifty-Fourth regiment was created by the Union Army, and was the only all black unit. This Union in particular contributed to the war efforts of the North and showed a new found power among blacks. The regiment started when John Andrew sent a request to the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, to create a volunteer regiment of African Americans (3). African Americans from all over the country joined. To help recruit even further they called for help from African American leaders like, Frederick Douglas and William Wells Brown. In just two months over one thousand African Americans, one from at least every state, had enlisted in the regiment. The leader of the regiment would not be black though, they wanted the superior officer to have some certain credentials. The job description posted read: â€Å"Young Man of Military Experience Of firm antislavery principles, ambitious, Superior to the vulgar contempt of color Having Faith in the capacity of colored men for military purpose† (2) The man picked for the job was Robert Shaw. The African American regiment and their captain set off for Beaufort, South Carolina on May 28, 1863 (1). They were to attack Fort Wagner, which was a vital key to Charleston. They only way to storm the fort was to go through loads and loads of Confederates. The sheer size of the Confederates to the Fifty- Fourth regiment was an obstacle in itself. The regiment knew the amount of obstacles they would have to overcome to achieve a victory and yet they kept marching. Shaw and a few men marched to the top of the parapet, and there Shaw was shot and killed. Though this was almost a complete disaster for the regiment they had set a path for future African American soldiers. Frederick Douglas said, Once let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U. S. , let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship. One thousand seventy-nine African Americans had served in the Civil War. They served in both the U. S. Army and about two thousand served in the Navy. By the time the war was over, forty thousand had died in battle and thirty thousand had died of disease and infection. African American soldiers performed all the jobs needed to run an army. They also served as carpenters, chaplains, cooks, guards, laborers, nurses, scouts, spies, steamboat pilots, surgeons, and teamsters (4). There were nearly 80 black commissioned officers (4). Harriet Tubman was the most famous spy; she served for the 2nd South Carolina Volunteers. Tubman decided to help the Union Army because she wanted freedom for all of the people who were forced into slavery, not just the few she could help by herself. And she convinced many other brave African Americans to join her as spies, even at the risk of being hanged if they were caught (4). Among Harriet Tubman were many other African American women who served as nurses, spies and scouts. Although, no women were allowed to formally join the army. When black troops were captured by the confederate soldiers, they faced harsher punishments than the white troops. In 1863 the Confederate Congress threatened to punish officers of African American troops and enslave the African Americans, if they were captured. As a result of this, President Lincoln issued General Order 233, which threatened payback on Confederate prisoners of war, if they mistreated African American troops. This order did scare the Confederates a little, but African American soldiers were still treated harsher than whites. In one of the worst examples of this abuse, Confederate soldiers shot to death black Union soldiers, captures at Fort Pillow, TN, in 1864(). Confederate General Nathan B. Forrest witnessed it all and did nothing to stop it. The President, Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. This proclamation eventually led to the freedom of all slaves. The document officially made free all bondsmen in the areas of the Confederacy that were still in rebellion. Slavery although was not abolished in the Border States, Tennessee, or the Union occupied areas of Louisiana and Virginia. The proclamation only affected the states in rebellion, so after the efforts it didn’t actually free any slaves. On the other hand, it did strengthen the Northern war efforts, because they knew they were fighting for a cause. Over five hundred thousand slaves had escaped to the North by the end of the civil war. Many of the escapees joined the Union Army, which tremendously increased its power. As a result of the Emancipation Proclamation, the thirteenth Amendment was created. The Amendment created on December 18, 1865, legally freed all slaves still in bondage. The final step the Emancipation Proclamation was to depress England and France from arriving to the war on the side of the South. England and France wanted to enter the war on the South side, because the South had supplied them both with cotton and tobacco. England and Frances stance changed when they heard that the war had changed to a fight over slavery. Both nations were opposed to slavery, so ended up giving their support to the Union. That led to the winning of the fight for freedom. Juneteenth was the day created to celebrate the emancipation, when the slaves heard about it that midsummer. The holiday is still celebrated today. Abraham Lincoln said, A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not expect the house to fall, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. (3) African Americans along with the rest of the Union were fighting for this freedom and equality that Abraham Lincoln, was talking about. African American contributions were not limited to the role of working the fields in the south or supplying labor for industry in the north. Many African Americans in both south and north participated in either direct or supporting roles in the military. The War Between the States proved to be a war fought for democracy. The liberation that the slaves had been waiting for, recovered the ideas that founded the United States of America. All men were equal under the law. Since, the African Americans made such a persistent effort the changes were made more quickly. Africans pushed for their own emancipation by resisting their masters and other labor tasks. Although a formal Emancipation Proclamation and Thirteenth Amendment freed blacks in America, it would be a long time before they received all the rights they deserved. The minds of Americans had been so engrained with racism only decades of hard work would lessen this. Works Cited 1) Freeman, Elsie, Wynell Burroughs Schamel, and Jean West. The Fight for Equal Rights: A Recruiting Poster for Black Soldiers in the Civil War. Social Education 56, 2 (February 1992): 118-120. 2) Blacks in the Civil War. †. Colorado College. Web. 3 Mar 2013. http://www2. coloradocollege. edu/Dept/HY/Hy243Ruiz/Research/civilwar. html.

Friday, November 15, 2019

Objectivism in Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and We the Living :: Atlas Shrugged

Objectivism in Atlas Shrugged, Anthem, The Fountainhead, and We the Living  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚   Warning - this paper is not formatted !  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Who Is I? In Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand provides a well-written explanation of objectivism in a monumental novel about those who hold the world on their shoulders. Her characters are a myriad of individuals, ranging from the highest achievement possible: a human, to one of the most horrid creatures on this planet: a once-human imbecile. She gives the reader insight into the psyche of society and the motivations behind our actions. In this novel, Rand’s most righteous characters are those with the most internal conflict. They must shed their conditioning that has been imposed on them by the earth’s people and leave behind what they value as most precious. There is one character that is held higher than the rest. A man of morality, introspection, and enigma, he begins the book and finishes it. So, who is John Galt? John Galt is Rand’s brilliant character that blends imagination and intelligence. Joh n Galt can be described as having the same opinion on life that Henry David Thoreau does. They both believe you shouldn’t carry the world on your shoulders; they realize that in fact by giving things to the needy (Rand would use the word unworthy) you aren’t enabling them to become better people, but merely allowing them o feed off of other’s success. Their opinions differ in that Thoreau had good intentions for all and Galt is only interested in the very best for the competent and likes the idea of leaving saps in the dust. Galt brings Atlas’s people from the earth into their Olympus, Galt’s Gulch. There, these remarkable competent people are able to create their own utopia of industry and live without the weight of the earth’s incompetents. He, like Dagny Taggart, Francisco d’Anconia, and Henry Reardon, is a person of high ideals and standards. He values the dollar because he knows that the dollar is the highest commodity of respect a human can give to another’s ability. The actual sign of the dollar is the symbol of its country’s initials: for the United States, â€Å"the only country in history where wealth was not acquired by looting, but by production, not by force, but by trade†¦ The symbol of man’s right to his own mind, to his work, to his life, to his happiness, to himself† (Atlas Shrugged, 637).

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Are monopolies necessarily less efficient than perfect competition Essay

This essay will look at efficiency between both a monopoly and a perfect competition, and whether a monopoly is necessarily less efficient than perfect competition. Using diagrams and equations reflecting the optimal choice of output, marginal revenue and marginal cost for monopolies, I will explain how efficiency is affected by low levels of production. At the same time monopolies can increase efficiency due to their ability in price discrimination, they price people differently and therefore people pay what they truly believe the good is worth. There needs to be a clear description of the differences between monopoly and perfect competition as well as efficiency; an analysis of deadweight loss and natural monopoly is also important with regards to the monopolies efficiency. Therefore even though a competitive economy is efficient and a monopoly suffers from certain inefficient levels of production it is not necessarily less efficient than perfect competition. A monopoly is a single supplier within a market that chooses to produce at any point on the market demand curve; they appear when other firms find it unprofitable or impossible to enter a market. The market becomes affected by high barriers to entry, which are split into technical and legal barriers. Technical barriers are created when the production of a good produces decreasing marginal and average costs over a wide range of output levels; in this situation, large scale firms are low cost producers. Another technical barrier to monopolies is their ability to discover a low cost production technique and having ownership over productive resources therefore preventing the formation of other firms. Legal barriers occur when a monopoly is created by the government as a matter of law, there is the creation of a patent that allows the one firm to use the basic technology for a product. Varian describes how monopolies arise within his writings, he states that monopolies develop when the minimum efficient scale is large relative to the size of the market, then the industry becomes a candidate for regulation or other forms of government intervention. A second way a monopoly may arise is when a number of different firms in an industry collude and restrict output in order to raise prices and therefore increase their profits. This form of industry is referred to as a cartel (Varian, 1996, p. 418-419). From this we can see that if demand is large relative to the MES (minimum efficient scale) a competitive market will arise, if it is small, a monopoly structure is possible. This is influences by both the technological level and economic policy influencing the size of the market. Before we analyse the efficiency of monopolies in comparison to perfect competition, it is necessary to set the basis of measurement for both the monopolies and perfectly competitive firms. This is set out in the First Theorem of Welfare Economics; which explains the relationship between perfect competition and the efficient allocation of resources. Attaining a Pareto efficient allocation of resources requires that the rate of trade off between any two goods should be the same for all economic agents. In a perfectly competitive economy, the ratio of the price of one good to another provides the common rate of trade off to which all agents will adjust. Because all agents face the same prices, all trade off rates will be equalised and an efficient allocation will be achieved (Snyder and Nicholson, 2005, p. 471). Varian however states that the First Theorem of Welfare Economics says nothing about the distribution of economic benefits; market equilibrium might not be a â€Å"just† allocation (Varian, 1996, p. 510-511). Therefore in essence the Theorem states that a competitive economy is efficient, if a monopolist behaves non-competitively then he is behaving inefficiently. It is seen that monopolies create a Pareto inefficient level of production, relative to perfect competition; monopoly involves a loss of consumer surplus for demanders. Some of this is transferred into monopoly profits, whereas some of the loss in consumer surplus represents a deadweight loss of overall economic welfare. Snyder and Nicholson describe Pareto efficient allocation as an allocation of resources, where it is not possible through further reallocations to make one person better off without making someone else worse off (Snyder and Nicholson, 2005, p. 467). Varian further explains that a competitive industry operates where price equals marginal cost, while a monopolised industry operates where price is greater than marginal cost; therefore a higher price creates a lower output (Varian, 1996, p.411-412). [pic] From the diagram above we can see that if we get the firm to behave as a competitor and take the market price as being set exogenously. Then we would have (Pc, Yc) for competitive price and output. If the firm recognised its influence on the market price and chose its level of output so as to maximise profits, we would see monopoly price and output (Pm, Ym). Since P(y) is greater than MC(y) for all the output levels between Ym and Yc, there is a whole range of output where people are willing to pay more for a unit of output than it costs to produce it. Clearly there is potential for Pareto improvement (Varian, 1996, p. 412-413). A measure of efficiency can be produced by analysing the total surplus for a given market; this is seen by subtracting the total cost from gross consumption benefits. The higher the level of total surplus the more efficient production becomes. If perfect competition leads to an efficient output level and a monopoly leads to less output then perfect competition, it must therefore be less efficient since the monopolist produces less than the total surplus maximising level of output. Areas B and C represent the deadweight loss of a monopoly. As we move from the monopoly level of output to the competitive level of output we â€Å"sum up† the distances between the demand curve and the marginal cost curve to generate the value of the lost output due to the monopoly behaviour (Varian, 1996, p. 414-415). The loss arises because consumer gain from increasing output is larger then marginal cost but monopolies are not able to produce more. The output produced by a monopoly may not be the only thing brought up into question; quality is also an important factor regarding the efficiency of a monopoly. Whether a monopoly produces a higher or lower quality good than would be produced under competition depends on demand and the firm’s costs. The difference between the quality choice of a competitive industry and the monopolist is that the monopolist looks at the marginal valuation of one more unit of quality assuming that output is at its profit maximising level. The competitive industry looks at the marginal value of quality averaged across all output levels. Even if they were to both opt for the same output level, their quality preferences may be different. John Jewkes gives an explanation of the grounds upon which a single producer monopoly would defend its cause. The case was raised by the British Oxygen Company Ltd, which produced four points for its protection. The monopoly itself was achieved purely as a result of efficiency; the monopoly supply within the industry is more efficient than any other arrangement. With capital equipment being extremely costly and transport charges high, there would either be a duplication of equipment keeping costs up or there would be many local monopolies catering for local markets. The company had kept its prices and profits without exploiting its monopoly position, as well as keeping a strong record in research and technical progress. In this case the commission discovered that the monopoly was using its position to charge higher prices, however they accepted that there might be technical advantages in the creation of monopolies (Jewkes, 1958, p. 16-17). It seems as though there will need to be a form of regulation so as to create monopolies which keep to the efficient level of production. Technically all the regulator has to do is set price equal to marginal cost, and profit maximisation will do the rest. However, this analysis leaves out the fact that it may be that the monopolist would make negative profits at such a price. [pic] Here the minimum point of the average cost curve is to the right of the demand curve, and the intersection of demand and marginal cost lies underneath the average cost curve. Even though the level of output Ymc is efficient, it is not profitable. The natural monopolist will be unable to cover its costs and therefore run out of business. If the government was to regulate it then a point such as (Pac, Yac) would be a natural operating position. Here the firm is selling its product at the average cost of production, so it covers its costs, but it is producing too little output relative to the efficient level of output. The government may interfere and operate the natural monopoly, they let it operate where price equals marginal cost and provide a subsidy to keep the firm in operation; however it may be viewed that subsidies represent inefficiency (Varian, 1996, p. 416-418). Governments often choose to regulate natural monopolies which can affect the behaviour of regulated firms and may not necessarily lead to an efficient outcome. The idea that competitive pressures produce maximum technical efficiency may not necessarily be true; competition does not guarantee that inefficiency will not arise. The assumptions that surround perfect competition and their production of maximum technical efficiency include; firms maximising profits, they have complete knowledge of available techniques and associated costs and that there is free entry. The first two assumptions apply to monopolies and perfect competition, the final assumption states that free entry guarantees maximum technical efficiency. However at best free entry guarantees a higher level of efficiency; this is because it eliminates inefficient firms. It is not a suitable explanation for superior efficiency, since there may be other sources of efficiency, including scale economies which favour monopolies (Schwartzman, 1973, p. 759-762). There can be greater efficiency from a monopoly if we were to take price discrimination into account. Price discrimination is the practise whereby different buyers are charged different prices for the same good. It is a practise which cannot prevail in a competitive market because of arbitrage: those offered lower prices would resell to those offered higher prices and so a seller would not gain from discrimination. Its existence therefore suggests imperfections of competition (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 274). A monopoly engages in price discrimination if it is able to sell otherwise identical units of output at different prices. If the firm is able to identify and separate each buyer, they may be able to charge each buyer the maximum price they would be willing to pay for each good; this is referred to as perfect or first degree price discrimination which extracts all consumer surpluses and creates no deadweight loss. In first degree price discrimination the monopolist can extract all the consumer surplus of each buyer. Total output of the good is at the level at which each buyer pays a price equal to marginal cost; thus we have the â€Å"competitive outcome†. Monopoly does not distort the allocation of resources, and so we have a Pareto efficient outcome, with the monopolist receiving all the gains from trade. Any objection to monopoly would therefore have to be on the grounds of equity, fairness of the income distribution rather than efficiency (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 276). It is evident that price discrimination produces a more efficient outcome since buyers are paying the amount which they believe the good is worth. If one buyer wants the good more then another then he should be willing to pay more for it. It is extremely difficult for a monopoly to separate each individual buyer; a less stringent requirement would be to assume that the monopoly can separate its buyers into a few identifiable markets. This third degree price discrimination requires the monopoly to know the price elasticity’s of demand for each market, and set price according to the inverse elasticity rule. MC= (a) (b) We let ei and ej be the price elasticity’s of demand in the respective sub markets, equation (b) therefore comes out of a re-arrangement of equation (a). If ei=ej, then clearly there will be no discrimination, but there will be as long as the elasticity’s are unequal at the profit maximising point. We can see that in maximising profit the monopolist will always set a higher price in the market with the lower elasticity of demand (Gravelle and Rees, 1992, p. 274-275). All the monopolist needs to know is the price elasticity of demand for each market and set price according to the inverse elasticity rule. In conclusion it is evident that monopolies create inefficiency due to the low output levels which they produce at. A monopoly produces at a level where price is greater then marginal cost and therefore its output is reduced, in comparison to perfect competition where price is equal to marginal cost. Taking regulation into account still means that a monopoly is inefficient since it is being supported by subsidies from the government. However perfect competition is not necessarily more efficient then a monopoly firm, when looking at the basic assumptions of perfect competition in terms of efficiency, we can see that a difference arises due to free entry within the market. It is easy to assume that just because there is free entry it means that firms are forced to reach their highest point of efficiency, there is an increase however the maximum is not guaranteed. At the same time if a monopoly price discriminates it can achieve strong levels of efficiency. Therefore a monopolist is not necessarily less efficient than firms within perfect competition. C B Pm Pc Ym Yc MR Demand MC Output Price AC MC Demand Output Price Pac Pmc Yac Ymc Losses to the firm from marginal cost pricing [pic] [pic].

Sunday, November 10, 2019

The tremendous growth experienced

In Nigerian tertiary Institutions In the last two decade without a corresponding increase In bed space had resulted In acute shortage of rooms in the hostel thereby overstretching the capacity of the existing structures they were originally meant for. Hostel accommodation Is one of the essential factors in every learning environment. In Nigeria most Institution of higher learning are owned by the government as such accommodation cannot be adequately provided to cater for the highly populated Institutions, Inadequacy andInsufficient hostel accommodation has led to overcrowding In rooms and some students living outside campus which In turn affect their learning. Built-operate- Transfer (BOOT) emerged as one of the tool In helping to address the situation which becomes a burden to government. BOOT is a type of project delivery that involves different parties whom each contribute in order to see the success of the project. It is a private agreement to build and operate in a public infras tructure project.The consortia then secure their own finance to sponsor the project. The consortium then own, maintains and manage the facility for an agreed concessionary period and recover their investment through charges or toll free. After the concessionary period, the consortia transfer the ownership and operation of the project to the government or relevant authority. This study takes Federal College of education (Technical) Biochip as a case study.Government Ministries, such as Federal Ministry of Education who govern the affairs of the school were consulted. Questionnaire and verbal interview were employed in data collection. After the analysis it was found that construction of hostels under BOOT is yielding a positive impact. The findings should serve as a good baseline for the government in solving the accommodation problem and overcrowding in the higher institution of learning in Nigeria.Therefore there is need for the government to give more support to Public Private Par tnership sector so that accommodation problem will be solved. By Amnion The tremendous growth experienced in Nigerian tertiary institutions in the last two aced without a corresponding increase in bed space had resulted in acute structures they were originally meant for.Hostel accommodation is one of the essential factors in every learning environment. In Nigeria most institution of higher adequately provided to cater for the highly populated institutions, inadequacy and insufficient hostel accommodation has led to overcrowding in rooms and some students living outside campus which in turn affect their learning. Built-operate- Transfer (BOOT) emerged as one of the tool in helping to address the situation which

Friday, November 8, 2019

Canvas and Canvass - Commonly Confused Words

Canvas and Canvass - Commonly Confused Words The words canvas and canvass  are  homophones: they sound alike but have different meanings.The noun canvas refers to a closely woven cloth used for such things as tents, sails, and oil paintings. The verb canvass means to look over carefully or to solicit votes, orders, or opinions. As a noun, canvass means the act of estimating an outcome or gathering support for a vote. Examples Ella pressed the knife as hard as she could against the thick canvas of the sail.From morning to night the young candidate for mayor went from door to door to canvass the voters.The campaign included six automobiles loaded with good speakers for a two-day personal canvass. Practice (a) The instructor must _____ the students to find a time when most can leave the campus for several hours.(b) In the middle of the 1500s, Titian began painting on rough _____ rather than on smooth wooden panels. Answers to Practice Exercises (a) The instructor must  canvass  the students to find a time when most can leave the campus for several hours.(b) In the middle of the 1500s, Titian began painting on rough  canvas  rather than on smooth wooden panels.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Signs You Are a Chemistry Major

Signs You Are a Chemistry Major If you are a chemistry major, you already know youre special. Yet, can people sense  you are a chemistry major before you tell them? Yes! Here are the signs that set you apart from other students. You get annoyed when someone tells you they dont want chemicals in their food (shampoo, cleaners, etc.) because you know everything is a chemical.The dark circles under your eyes from lack of sleep are from pulling all-nighters to write up lab reports  and work chemistry problems rather than from partying.You often smell like a signature scent from the lab that no one mistakes for designer perfume. If you work in certain labs, even your breath reeks of  an organic solvent.You not only know what Avogadros number is, but can state it with 5  significant figures. You also realize Avogadro isnt the one who came up with the number that bears his name, although he did describe a gas law. You own a lab coat, wear it even when it isnt necessary, and like the interesting  way it smells. Despite the lab coat, most of your pants have holes in them from acid burns. Your shoes and possibly your lab notebooks also bear these marks.  Theres a good chance you have some scars from chemical burns, too.You make the Best. Coffee. Ever. Every time. Your cupboard contains lab glassware in addition to the usual kitchen utensils. You didnt borrow it from the lab, did you?You know the difference between borosilicate glass, flint glass, and leaded  crystal (and why its not really crystal). You know what color will be produced by burning pretty much  every metal salt  known to mankind. When someone refers to a mole, you think of the unit, not the burrowing mammal.If asked, you could provide detailed instructions for 10 ways to make it go boom. You likely have pictures of key examples on your cell phone. Your lawn may have a few dead spots from outdoor experiments.When asked if something is organic, you consider whether it contains carbon and hydrogen, not whether it was grown without pesticides.You can pronounce the name of every ingredient on product packaging, know its purpose, and may be able to draw its structure.You know, without looking, what color Chemistry Cat is. If you have a cat, you  consider dressing it up like C hemistry Cat for Halloween. You have multiple copies of the periodic table, although you could state the names of at least the first 20 elements in order and possibly their atomic weights. The periodic table may be the wallpaper on your phone and computer.You rarely get to wear sandals or flip flops. When you do wear them, youre conscious of spilling liquids on your feet.If you need vision correction, you wear glasses, because you cant wear contacts in the lab. You may even own a pair of prescription safety glasses.You own or want to wear a bow tie.No matter how well things are going, you can always find some type of  error.You dont sniff perfume or even food the same way as others. You use your ​hand to wave a small amount of the odor toward your nose. Its a dead giveaway you took a chemistry lab. You May Also Like College  Chemistry Major Courses 10 Careers in ChemistryHigh School Courses To Major in Chemistry

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Air transport Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 14500 words

Air transport Management - Essay Example The increased ease of travel across the World has enabled rapid globalization, which has resulted in great development on different spheres that include education, healthcare services, technology, and infrastructure development, among others (Weinstein, 2005). The downside of increased global travel is that there has been an increased spread of certain vices across the World such as prostitution, drug trafficking, and even global travel. Moreover, there has also been an increase in the spread of infectious diseases from their point of source i.e. where the first diagnosis was made to other areas that had previously no reported cases of such infections (Sattenspiel & Lloyd, 2009). This particular study focuses on the aspect of infectious diseases spreading from one region to another as a result of increased global travel. The study will narrow its focus on the role of airports as point of transit that enable the entry and departure of infected persons into and outside a particular region or country. The focus on airports is justified based on the fact that it is the most popular point of exit for travelers going to regions that are far beyond the border and it is also the most popular point of entry for travelers coming from far locations (Cliff & Smallman-Raynor, 2013). Because of the crucial role played by airports, there have been numerous security checks that have been put in place to ensure that there is no entry of person with infectious diseases and persons who can threaten the health of the population because of lack of immunization on certain infectious diseases (Biden, 2001). However, it is important to note that the thoroughness of checks is depend ent on the standards imposed on each individual airport, for example, certain airports do not require passengers to produce immunization certificate of infectious diseases such as polio while in other airports, passengers entering the country undergo a thorough medical check-up that is conducted by

Friday, November 1, 2019

Simien National Park - Ethiopia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Simien National Park - Ethiopia - Essay Example At the end of the paper the possible losses, recommendation and conclusion is covered. The Simien National Park is a Natural World Heritage Site. It has been added to the list of World Heritage in Danger in 1996. There were two main reasons of adding this site to the list i.e. heavy settlement and Walia ibex population decline. It is spread over the area of 13,600ha. â€Å"In northern Ethiopia on the Amhara plateau in the western Simen Mountains, 120km north-east of Gondar. Location: 13 ° 11N, 38 ° 04E. The town of Adi Arkay lies to the north, Debark, on the Gondar-Asmara highway, to the south-west and Deresge to the south east.† (The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Website) The park has jagged mountain peaks, deep valleys and precipices. This park has approximately five to ten species of endemism, seasonal Highland biome and four different types of floral vegetation due to geographic variations. The four different floristic vegetations are as follows: Afromontane forest has variety of flora and fauna. The two wet seasons of this park and its typical geographic characteristics adds to the variety of plants and vegetations. Xeromorphic adaptations are common on the high attitudes. Rare species like Walia ibex, Gelada Baboon, Simien wolf and various other species of animals and birds are natural habitants of this park. There are twenty-one species of mammals recorded for this region. Seven species of mammals are listed as endemic species. There are sixty-three species of birds including twelve endemic species. This National Park is not only important for its biodiversity, but also important for its cultural heritage. According to Hurni (1986 as cited on UNEP Website)This region has various features of 18th and 19th centuries. Kirwan (1972 as cited on UNEP Website) claims that cultivators for at least of two thousand years have inhabited Simien region. Population living within the National Park is highly depended on its natural resources.