Capitalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Capitalism - Essay Example Trading, banking and the production of certain goods was done on a capitalistic basis and thrived in and amongst the Ancient Greek city-states. During the era of Roman supremacy, capitalist methods developed further. The Roman government protected trade, interest rates came down and the standard of living improved. With the collapse of the Roman Empire capitalism practically disappeared. After a long period of stagnation, a revival of trade began and commercial and capitalist activity gradually increased as early as the 11th century. The Crusades contributed significantly to this revival due to the large scale movement of men and supplies from Europe to the Holy Land. This transport enriched merchants and ship-owners of several Italian cities. Italy, especially Venice, became the leader of this revival of commerce, industry and capitalism. Besides Italy, the Hanseatic League in northern Europe, and numerous other regions, such as the Netherlands, also shared in the revival of capital ism by the end of the 15th century. At this point further development was hindered by three obstacles; 1. The expense of overland travel, 2. An inadequate supply of gold and silver to serve as a medium of exchange and, 3. The restrictive practices of the guilds. All of these obstacles were to be overcome within the next centuries. The rise of the modern nation state was also closely associated with the rise of the modern capitalistic economy. The royal monarchs who created the national states after the Middle Ages made great use of the rising middle class in overcoming the feudal nobility. The strength of this middle class lay was in its wealth gained through capitalistic enterprises. It was the great voyages of discovery made by mariners in the late 15th and early 16th centuries that opened up the era of capitalist economy on a scale more vast than anything dreamed of began the era of the global economy. So great was this expansion and so significant were the changes it

Glass Roses Essay Example for Free

Glass Roses Essay What does a child have to go through to have the courage to live his life for himself? The Glass Roses by Alden Nowlan highlights the conflicts within the main character, Stephen, a fifteen-year-old scrawny teenager working with his father in the woods. He has been brought up in an environment where there is a predetermined set idea of what It means to be a mam The protagonist either has to follow in the footsteps of his father or pursue his desires to embrace others and show compassion. The friendships he develops and the ideas he grasps from his so called outcast partner named Leka teach him more about growing up then his father ever did. But what really troubles Stephen is mustering up enough courage to change what the preconceived notion of what being a man really means and if those around him are willing to accept what being a man means to him. A glass rose can be seen as a fragile replica of what a real rose actually is. Glass needs to be handled with care, it is weak and is not given the same admiration and appreciation as the ones we find in nature. Although this Is completely up to the person, ltx safe to say that I speak for the majority of people. Earlier in the story Leka has nightmares and twists and turns in bed as the night goes on and Stephen always is there to wake him up. Stephen is the only one to do so among all the men. This shows that he Is undoubtedly the most caring of the group, and showing any kind of emotion isnt something his father would approve of. I believe that he truly cares for others but must only do so openly a man. Theres a part in the story where Leka and Stephen are getting along and begin to regularly speak softly to one another at bed time. Stephen wants to be just like his father but doesnt want to change in order to do so. Its clear that he has soft side, Men did not tell one another fairy tales about cathedrals. But his father and the men at the bunkhouse need never know. This line makes me think about Stephen as having a split personality, one being an aspiring prodigy of his father, the other being a completely different individual yearning to be himself. It appears as if he has to act a certain way and if he acts any different, he forces himself back into that narrow mentality. I feel sorry for him and the fact that hes struggling so much to find himself while having the expectations of his father watching over him and breathing down his neck as he lives his life. All this makes him panic in the face of decision and a hesitant Stephen always turns back to his fathers notion of a man when in doubt. I always had friends in my age group so my parents werent really concerned about older kids taking advantage of me. I also have learned that parents can always see things in others that we may not see for ourselves in our younger ages. Towards the end of the story, Stephens father pulls him aside and speaks to him seriously about his concerns of Leka. He mentions the touchy gestures he uses when he speaks such as pat and poke, things that Stephen never really picked up on. Once again it makes e think of the homosexuality hidden in the friendship they have and maybe that is why they outcast Leka. Them Wops and Bohunks and Polacks has gotta lotta funny ideas. They aint our kinda people. You gotta watch them in this line he hints to his son that Lekas intentions may not completely be friendly. Having to be told about one of his own friends is the same as questioning his own decisions, kind of like questioning his manliness. Just make that Polack keep his hands off you. IVe seen fellers like him before. As much as it is fatherly to look out for your son, it makes Stephen feel like less of a man. All this talk gets into his head, I know this because I know if my father was this concerned about one of my friends it would definitely about waking Leka during his nightmares. The story ends and personally I believe that Stephen has decided to take the risk of becoming a man outside of the beliefs of his father and co-workers. Hes brought it upon himself to define what it means to grow up for himself, his own choices give detail to his character and knows that nobody but himself needs to be satisfied in order for him to live his life. The final decision of waking up Leka shows me that he hasnt changed and trusts his own intuition.

Does Austerity Work?

Does Austerity Work? Critically evaluate claims that austerity is the most effective strategy to counter a recession. Austerity is one of the most controversial economic policies, not only because there is an ongoing debate between academics and policy makers about its effectiveness and consequences, but also because it effects the life of millions and have caused many political and social turmoil when implemented. The advocate of this policy argues that it is the most effective and even more; it is the solution regardless of the structure of the economy and the cause of the economic downturn or recession. I will argue that this is not true, and that there are other policy designs that proved effective and delivered good results with less social cost in term of unemployment, social disturbances and welfare reduction. Austerity measures were recommended by policy makers in advanced economies as well as international organizations such as the IMF and the Word Bank. They were prescribed as a remedy in many economics situations and contexts in the developing countries, for example: Latin America sovereign debt crisis and the Asian crisis, furthermore in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007 and the great rescission that followed austerity policies were implemented or advocated in developed economies like UK, USA and part of the debt troubled EU countries referred to as PIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain) (Blyth, 2013). But it is important to first define what is meant by austerity and what is the underlying economic theory behind it. Usually when economists or policy makers refer to austerity they generally mean the reduction in the structural deficit in the government budget regardless of its effect on the business cycle, and it is also refers to the policy of reducing the size of the public sector in general (Room, 2015). This can be done through lowering the government expenditure (like social and welfare benefits, spending on infrastructure and healthcare, lowering wages, etc.). The underlying economic reasoning behind austerity policy is that high level of public debt is a burden on the future generations because any debt should be paid in the future from budget surpluses raised form tax payers. It also cause higher level of interest rate (due to higher demand by government) which in turn discourage private investment. Accordingly austerity policy by reducing the government expenditure will re duce the public debt, consequently increase confidence in the economy, reduce interest rates and consequently stimulate private investment spending and the economy. A common theme in austerity policy is the believe that government intervention itself through fiscal policy is the source of economic imbalances and it associate crisis with bad public finance management and reckless spending behavior (Wren-Lewis, 2016). The advocate of austerity say that the national economy cannot grow out of debt. Some scholars argue that if the ratio of debt to gross domestic product (GDP) is reach 90% for advanced economies, or 60% for emerging economies, the debt will slow down economic growth (Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). In this situation, the economy can easily experience financial crises because the investor confidence will fall, and this will make foreign direct investment become less (Konzelmann, 2014; Reinhart and Rogoff, 2010). Another connected idea is that high level of debt means that the government needs to take capital resources from the community to pay for it, and this will also slow the growth of the economy. The national economies with high debt therefore likely to raise interest rates to encourage demand for government bonds, and this will make it more expensive for the public to borrow money. The result of this expense is low consumption and growth, so the economy will steadily decline (Boccia , 2013). The high interest rates also make the currency become more valuable, which means that exports slow down because they become more expensive for international market, and this will also slow down the economy (Patillo et al., 2002). The advocate of austerity therefore argue that high levels of debt will cause the economy to slow down, and say that cutting debt, which austerity does, is the best way to help countries with high debt to achieve growth (Blyth, 2013). There are ample of evidence contradicting the argument that the austerity is always a solution to recession. An analysis of the performance and consequences of such policies suggest that austerity policy in practice led in many instances to worsening the recession and budget deficit mainly due to its blind application and its tendency to ignore the different economic structure for each country, in fact it worsen the symptoms that it designed to cure (Haltom and Lubik, 2013). Lets look at the experience of Spain with austerity. Before the 2007 financial crisis Spain had enjoyed robust economy with long period of growth led by the real estate sector, the budget was actually in surplus at around 2.5% of the GDP. When the crisis of 2007 hit Spain economic vulnerabilities; mainly uncompetitive private sector and the over reliance on real estate sector and excessive borrowing by the private sector. The crisis resulted in lower demand and hence lower tax collection and budget deficit. Furth ermore deterioration in bank assets quality and solvency problem surfaced (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In 2010 Spain like many other troubled EU countries implemented the austerity formula i.e. cut spending. This solution was based on misinterpretation of the crisis cause in Spain (and southern Europe in general) that the crisis is caused by the mismanaged public finances, so not surprisingly was the result, instead of the expansionary austerity Spain got stuck of a vicious circle of lower demand (driven by lower government spending), lower tax collection (revenues), higher unemployment and further deterioration of the financial sector health (Dellepiane and Hardiman, 2012). In fact this was the situation of all the EU countries that implemented austerities, as we can show from the economic performance of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain (PIIGS) since 2008. For all these countries, austerity made their debt increase, not decline, and economic activity slowed down (Blyth, 2013). In Greece, the ration of debt to GDP grew from 106% to 170% from 2007 to 2012, even though there w as much austerity cuts. The same case happened on Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain. The economist Paul Krugman pointed out that the idea of austerity collapsed under the empirical results of the policy of austerity, and he refers to the academic and research body that supported austerity did not stand scrutiny and turned out to be based on dubious statistical methods and sometimes outright mistakes (Krugman, 2015). In similar way, Simon Wren-Lewis (2016) observed that the austerity in Europe was unnecessary outcome of the fiscal contraction. In other words, the European countries could have successfully run a gradual fiscal consolidation accompanied with expansionary monetary policy by the ECB to offset the contractionary effect of the fiscal policy. However in case of Europe in 2010 the interest rates was already at zero and there was no room for expansionary monetary policy (a situation also referred to as liquidity trap), so postponing fiscal consolidation would not just delay austerity but avoid it all together (Wren-Lewis, 2016). It is therefore very clear that austerity cannot be a solution for recessions, but the question is then what can be the cure. If we go back in the recent history of the economic theory and policy we can establish that there have been examples of an alternative economic policy to austerity that has successfully dealt with recessions and restored the economic activity to the growth path. This policy was the Keynesian economic that prevailed for a period of 30 years from the world war II till late 1970s. Keynes model of how the economy works are based on the idea that when there is economic downturn and since business expectation in the recession are low because of the uncertainty only the government has can restore confidence to the economy and the policy recommendation is to increase government spending (expansionary fiscal policy) to boost he general level of economic activity, increase demand and compensate for the lower private demand (Burton, 2016). This is the very opposite of th e idea of austerity, and many economists now argue the same thing. Paul Krugman (2012) is a famous example of this argument. Krugman rejects the idea of austerity, and argues that to help the economy come out of the recession it is necessary for the government to increase debt. The foundation of this argument is the nature of debt. Krugman (2012) says that the economist must consider public debt and private debt as two separate things, rather than just the same. His reason for this idea is that, first, private debt needs to be recompensed, but this is not the issue with government debt. For the governments, it is just necessary to make sure that there is enough tax to cover debts. Another difference is that in private debt the money is owed to someone else, but government debt is money that the government owes to itself and to the country, such as pensions and other requirements (Krugman 2012). If these differences are considered, it becomes clear that in a situation of high personal debt, a good solution is for the government to take on higher debt to help boost the economic activity (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012). Krugman and Eggertsson (2012) argue that fiscal expenditure must be used to maintain employment, productivity and earnings at the time that private debt is decreased, because this will keep the tax earnings up and permit the government to decrease its own debt when the recession is over. Beside, increased financial expansion will work better in a situation where interest rates are lower, because there will be lower crowding out of private business (Krugman and Eggertsson, 2012: 1490). In such situations, financial stimulus will therefore boost economic activity and give good growth to GDP, while decreases in public spending will have the opposite effect, slowing growth and bringing GDP down (Holland and Portes, 2012). In this essay, I have shown the foundation of the idea of austerity and explained why the economists who believe it say that it is the solution for the situation of a recession. The advocate of austerity argues that high public debt makes it more expensive to obtain a loan, and this causes the economy to slow. Furthermore, it also causes currency inflation, which causes exports to become more expensive and slows economic activity. FDI also slows down, and all these factors together mean that the economy cannot achieve any development. The solution of austerity is therefore to cut public spending to bring down the public debt. However, the empirical evidence of the effects of austerity measures show that it is not a useful policy to achieve these ends. In countries such as Greece, Spain and others where austerity has been used, austerity has caused the opposite of these results: ratio of debt to GDP gets higher and higher, unemployment rises, economic growth slows, and the recession b ecomes worse. The reason for this fail of austerity to solve the problem is because the advocate of austerity does not differentiate between public debt and private debt, as Krugman (2012) argues. In the recession, if the government takes on more debt through implementing fiscal stimulus, it can stimulate economic activity by allowing people to spend and take loans. This will increase the circulation of capital, which will have many positive effects in bringing about growth. Then, when the private debt level is high and the economy is more active, the government can reduce its financial stimulus to bring down its debt. In both theoretically and empirically, it is clear that austerity cannot solve the problems that cause recession, and it therefore necessary to consider the alternatives. References Dauderstà ¤dt, M. ed., 2013. Alternatives to Austerity: Progressive Growth Strategies for Europe. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. Krugman, P., 2015. The austerity delusion. The Guardian, 29. Room, G., 2015. Alternatives to Austerity. Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath. (IPR Spotlight) Haltom, R.C. and Lubik, T.A., 2013. Is Fiscal Austerity Good for the Economy?. Richmond Fed Economic Brief, (Sept), pp.1-5. http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_dialogue/@actrav/documents/publication/wcms_158927.pdf Wren-Lewis, S., 2016. A general theory of austerity. BSG Working Paper Series, University of Oxford. Blyth, M., 2013. Austerity: The history of a dangerous idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Dellepiane Avellaneda, Sebastian and Hardiman, Niamh (2012) The New Politics of Austerity : Fiscal Responses to Crisis in Ireland and Spain. Working paper. UCD Geary Institute, Dublin. Burton, M., 2016. Is Austerity Necessary?. In The Politics of Austerity (pp. 189-204). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Reinhart, Carmen and Kenneth Rogoff. 2010. Growth in a time of debt. The American Economic Review100(2): 573-578. Konzelmann, Suzanne J. 2014. The Political Economics of Austerity. Cambridge Journal of Economics38(4): 701-741. Boccia, Romina. 2013. How the United States High Debt Will Weaken the Economy and Hurt Americans. Backgrounder 2768: 1-8. Pattillo, C.A., Poirson, H. and Ricci, L.A., 2002. External debt and growth (No. 2002-2069). International Monetary Fund. Krugman, Paul. 2012. Nobody Understands Debt. The New York Times: The Opinion Pages. Accessed 28 October 2014. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/02/opinion/krugman-nobody-understands-debt.html?_r=1 Krugman, Paul and Gauti Eggertsson. 2012, Debt, Deleveraging, and the Liquidity Trap: a Fisher-Minsky-Koo approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 127(3): 1469-1518. Holland, Dawn and Jonathan Portes. 2012. Self-Defeating Austerity? National Institute Economic Review 222(222): 4-10.

Chronic Bladder Disorder :: Journalism Medical Medicine Papers

Chronic Bladder Disorder There are few telltale signs of what Shelly Gregory copes with on a daily basis. On closer observation, one may notice the odd way she holds the right side of her abdomen when she walks or the way she tilts her body to the side when she sits on a chair for too long. To people around her, Gregory, a 35-year-old mother of two daughters, may pass as healthy. But only those in her inner circle, including her husband and children, truly understand the pain she has to endure. â€Å"When I’m having a really bad day, it feels like there is glass in my bladder and it’s bleeding and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,† Gregory said. â€Å"It hurts so much that it makes me think that my heart is going to explode.† Gregory is one of the more than 700,000 people in the U.S. – 90 percent of them women –who is battling interstitial cystitis, a chronic disorder characterized by inflammation of the bladder that causes urinary frequency and urgency and pelvic pain. There has been relatively little advancement made on this condition since the first written reference to interstitial cystitis was made in 1836. More than a century later, there are still few clear answers to what causes this multifaceted disease or how to treat it effectively. According to epidemiological studies conducted in 1997, the disease typically afflicts white, educated women in their early to mid-40s. The spectrum of symptom severity, however, can vary from person to person. Some people experience the urge to urinate (up to 70 times per day), while others endure bladder pressure or, in severe cases, unremitting bladder pain. When doctors perform a cystoscopy – a procedure that involves inserting a thin scope inside the bladder – on certain interstitial cystitis patients they can see evidence of the disease: mucosal hemorrhaging or Hunner’s ulcers that bleed when the bladder is filled beyond capacity. People with IC have small capacity bladders that hold less than 300 ml, or approximately 1 cup. Gregory said her bladder pain started in 1992 when she developed a blood clot after giving birth to her daughter. Five years later she found out that interstitial cystitis, not the blood clot, was the culprit. Dr. Robert Moldwin, a national expert on interstitial cystitis and director of the Interstitial Cystitis Center at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Hyde Park, N.Y., said despite its prevalence, doctors often misdiagnose interstitial cystitis because patients can perceive pain in one or more areas of the pelvis.

Contribution of an engineer to develop a country Essay

We all know sri lanka is an island , It is called as â€Å"Pearl of the indian ocean†, as well as a sri lankan we should have a proud, I have it, because we are the lucky people with everything even with less economy in the world (proud ancient, temperate climate, curious nature,†¦.. etc.), I think even location of the sri lanka is also special. i could find it from a very early article of an English web site. (gravity strength around sri lanka, such as scientific things and other things connecting with Buddhism and other religions) I here doesn’t mention it, because here my objective is, discuss about the Contribution of engineer to economic development of Sri Lanka. It is good chance for now, because it has been finished very dangerous ethnic conflict in the world. So there is a responsibility to an engineer, develop the economy of sri lanka straightly, because we are borrowers to our motherland, we have used free education since over 12 years. So we should do ma ximum to our motherland, this is our country, our mother†¦.. before discuss about it ,we should know about ancient sri lanka and economy around it. For that I decide to break my topic to parts. (i) Who is an engineer (ii) Achievements in engineering field in ancient sri lanka (iii) Engineering education in sri lanka (iv) Potential of engineers in spearheading the economic progress of sri lanka (v) Analyze/appreciate the contribution of sri lankan engineers in recent mega projects (i) Who is an engineer Engineers solve problems and making new things work more efficiently and effectively. They apply the theories and principles of science and mathematics to research and develop economical solutions to technical problems. Their work is the link between social needs and applications. Engineers are design products, design plans, and supervise construction of buildings and ensure their safety and stability against hazards, design highways, bridges, railways and transit systems, irrigation canals, design dams, design ports, harbours as well as develop and implement improved ways to extract, process, and use of raw materials; develop new materials that improve product and take advantage of advances in technology, and electricity for supplying a nation’s power needs and such as many of etc.  Now can you see? With such a wide and vast environment of their activities, it is not difficult to understand what is the title â€Å"Engineer† . So it has been become word of Engineering , one of the most misunderstand word. Now, lot of engineering students have dream to be a software engineer. It is one of the vast subject or valuable academic course/ module in the world . everyone run behind a rabbit. They consider about only salary, not their talents, As a result of this, there are plenty of engineers who do not know the exact meaning of engineering. That itself reflect the tragedy of technical education in the country. If you look at a doctor or accountant, you can see what they try to do. But an engineer, what is he suppose to do? That is important when we do this subject. It is affected to develop economy and technical researches of a country. The key tasks of engineering are Ananalysis and Design. Mathematics and logical thinking plays key supportive role in those two tasks together with inventive skills. So I hope you get a clear understanding of what engineering and what engineers are suppose to do in the society. In the next topic we discuss about engineering of ancient sri lanka. (i) Achievements in engineering field in ancient sri lanka Engineering was a key component to the development of a great civilization, that is why it is produced unthinkable structure in our minds today. concrete is major components of construction materials. However, such large structures in ancient sri lanka that were engineered needed only nature items. (stone, woods†¦) ,they are still remained. One of the biggest engineering achievements of this era was the water system. aqueduct lines that start from lakes carried two hundred million gallons of water into whole Rajarata area. The science of the aqueducts was use very small scattered slope changes. Because of gravity, the water would flow downward all the way to whole area from sources. Stones were used to change way of aqueduct lines. As well as Bisokotuwa is special creation of sri lankan ancient engineers. Bisokotuwa is located inside the Dam. The water from the reservoir flows into the Bisokotuwa with very high pressure through strong tubes made of stone, which the high pressure water flows in. While the water  is forced to move upwards inside the Bisokotuwa, the pressure reduces. Then the water exits the Bisokotuwa to a second Bisokotuwa, where the same process is repeated further reducing the water pressure. Finally the water, unbelievably disciplined and calm, flows out through a larger tube to the outside of the Dam . This was an outstanding idea, which was based on mathematics. Such were the skills, and the talents of the Sinhalese engineers. We have had great knowledge about the water pressure. Sinhalese had the World’s Best Irrigation network. And also building construction was a great engineering in ancient sri lanka. When we consider about pagodas , they have been built very strongly, that means they have used suitable height according to area of pagoda. that is to say ,the have had great knowledge about mathematics such that trigonometry, circumference and area, and effect of wind resistance. As well as they have used suitable materials that sustain for heat of the sun, rain such as external effects. As well as Parakramabahu Palace, This is a majestic palace build by king Parakramabahu with have 1000 chambers, Today you can see the massive walls , half of the main stairway which led to upper floors. Inside the building you can see parts of melted brick walls caused by intense heat when this was set fire by Tamil invaders at the end of Polonnaruwa era. Around the main palace there are remains of more buildings where the ministers, solders and servants lived. Large holes in the wall probably held massive wooden structures that formed the floor of the upper levels. This is a great achievement by sri lankan ancient engineers. (iii).Engineering Education in Sri Lanka There are 3 main engineering universities in Sri Lanka, they are Moratuwa,Peradeniya and Ruhuna Universities. Moratuwa university is main engineering universityof sri lanka among 3 of them. In Moratuwa there are Electronic and Telecommunication, Computer Science, Civil, Electrical, Chemical and Material engineering degree courses in there. All courses are conducted in English. There is a learning methods in engineering education. That is the way to derive an perfect engineer. There are lot of sources (such as books, internet , †¦.) to self-studies. In University Moratuwa there is a big library with all facilities such as internet and online databases.  And also they have chance to do practical and test experiments. And Lecturers give some points go through subject contents. Actually when we consider about current situation of engineering students , they look like run behind a rabbit. They don’t give first place to what their talents, they are trying to enter most demand ed field. So it has been become most comparative situation in University of Moratuwa. As well as should mentionhere there are very talent students there. (iv)Potential of engineers in spearheading the economic progress of sri lanka There is a great reliance on technology to solve environmental problems around the world today with an almost universal reluctance by governments and those who advise them to make the social and political changes that would be necessary to reduce growth in production and consumption.Technology is not independent of society either in its shaping or its effects. In the data of human experience, our tools need to interact with every component of our existence: physically, environmentally, educationally, psychologically, socio-economically, politically and spiritually in order to be fully relevant to human needs. Sustainable economic development is the challenge of meeting human needs for natural resources, induce trials products, energy, food transportation, shelter and effective waste management while conserving and protecting environmental for future human and capital development when they are fully harnessed to create jobs and generate income for the government for the purpose of economic development and transformation of society to the glory of God. To enable engineers fully be part of the economic development, there should be broadening and strengthening the education of engineers and finding innovative ways to achieve needed economic development in all areas while conserving and preserving natural resources. Economics can be defined in many ways; following are some of the definitions. Economics is the human Science which studies the relationship between scarce resources and their various uses which compete for these resources.Economics is the study of how people choose to allocate limi ted resources to satisfy their unlimited wants. Economics is the study of how society decide what to produce, how to produce and whom to produce. Purpose of studying economics by engineers is  to learn how not to be deceived by economists. Economic development is the development of economic wealth of countries or regions for the well-being of their inhabitants.The economic development process supposes that the legal and institutional adjustments are made to give incentives for innovation and for investments so as to develop an efficient production and distribution for goods and services. Economic development is a sustainable increase in living standards that implies increased per capita income, better education and health as well as environmental protection. Development is economics on a social level that has evolved into a professional industry of highly specialized practitioners normally working in public private partnership that are sanctioned and many times at least partially funded by local, regional and state/ provincial t ax dollars. These economic development corporations function as individual entities and in some cases as departments of local governments. Their role is to seek out new economic opportunity and retain their existing business wealth. There is intensive competition between communities, states and nations for new economic projects. The creation and retention struggle is further intensified by the use of many variations of economic incentives to the potential business. These incentives vary greatly and can be highly controversial. The measurement of success within this industry is normal job creation, economic growth and increased or retained tax base. Sustainable economic development can only occur as a result of the creation of a world wide caring community. A Community of people who are working together for common ends and to meet the basic needs of all our people. The concept of sustainable economic development is central to the achievement of these key goals. It can be taught of in terms of policies and programs designed to meet their own needs. The achievement of sustainable economic development requires a new and different approach to policy making and its implementation. The Government is looking for greater integration and co-ordination of policy making and its implementation across the public sector an d across social economic and environmental policy portfolios. It is also looking for an approach characterized by greater partnership between central government, local government, economic entities, private industry and other community groups. Engineers must lead this new industrial economic revolution.There is some excellent leadership by professional organizations such as the  institute of electrical and electronic engineers(IEEE), world engineering partnership for sustainable development (WEPSD), world federation of engineering organization (WFED), Nigeria society of engineers (NSE), American society of civil engineers (ASCE), and world business council for sustainable development (WBCSD), among others to make sustainable economic development high priority in engineering and business both in practice and in the education of future engineers. They are promoting codes of practice education, mentoring programs, and policy changes that will encourage the engineering profession to lead this economic revelation. The engineering courses being studied in higher institution of learning should also include borrowed courses that bother on acquiring business knowledge and skills at the first and at the second year level in order for the engineers to be able to relate their engineering practice to the business reality on ground in order to contribute fully to the economic development of their respective nations. That’s one way the engineers can be fully integrated into the running of the countries of their origin. Designing a sustainable future requires a paradigm shift towards a systematic perspective which encompasses the complex interdependence of individual, social, cultural, spiritual, economic and political activities and the biosphere.The engineers of the future must be much more interdisciplinary – the lines between the traditional engineering disciples must be much more fluid. Engineers will have to join forces with biologist, chemist, meteorologist, economics, planners, political scientists, ethicists, religionists and community leaders in unprecedented ways to lead the society on a sustainable economic path. Since it is likely that we will double the amount of housing and building construction in the twenty-first century (and buildings utilize a tremendous amount of materials and energy) it is imperative that civil engineers team up with architects, planners and other engineers to revolutionize construction. I believe that there is a special role for civil/environmental engin eers in the future. Rather than being engineers that primarily design technologies to control or remediate pollution, I believe the environmental engineers will be interdisciplinary, system specialists who will bring together, coordinate and manage the entire specialist to solve complex environmental problems and promote sustainable development. Moreover, all engineers must play a much stronger role in the  public policy process to provide the right incentives for industry and others to move on sustainable path so that engineers can be encouraged and supported to design sustainable technology for the purpose of economic development that benefits society in a holistic way now and in future. As Don Roberts advocates, we must become better informed of the interdependence of environmental, economic, health and social issues, inform others and become leaders, otherwise the agenda will be set by others who neither know the benefits nor the limit of technology in a sustainable modern society. Such a shift in the thinking, values, and actions of all individuals and institution worldwide calls for a long term societal effort to make environmental and sustainable concerns a control theme in all education, particularly for engineers, economists and business people. If we are to achieve a sustainable future, institutions of higher lea rning must provide the awareness, knowledge, skills, and values that equip individuals to pursue life goals in a manner that sustains human and non-human well-being. This is critical since higher education prepares most of the professionals, who develop, manage, teach and influence society’s institutions. The organization of seminars and workshops by professional engineering organizations like IEEE and NSE will go a long way in educating their engineer members on their role in contributing effectively to national economic development. Several prominent engineering schools such as Georgia Technology are making important strides by making sustainable technology a core mission and MIT with its program in Environmental Education and Research (PEER). Despite these effort and those of a number of Colleges and Universities which have active environmental studies programs and train graduate professionals, education and research about the interdependence of and a sustainable relationship between human and the rest of the environment is not a priority in higher education. Sustainable economic development relies on technological change to achieve its aim but will governments take the tough steps that are required to force radical technological innovation rather than the technological fixes that have been evident to date? Such measures would require a long-term economic cost while industry will readjust. It would appear that so long as sustainable development is restricted to minimal low-cost adjustment that do not require value changes, institutional changes or any sort of radical cultural adjustment, the  environment will continue to be degraded unless sustainable change occurs, the present generation may not be able to pass on an equivalent stock of environment goods to the next generation. First, the rates of loss of animal and plant species, arable land, water quality, tropical forest and cultural heritage are especially serious. Second, perhaps more widely recognized is the fact that we will not pass on to future generation, the ozone-layer or global climate system that the current generation inherited. A third factor that contributes overwhelmingly to the anxieties about the first two is the prospective impact of continuing population growth and the environmental consequences if rising standa rds of material income around the world produce the same sorts of consumption patterns that are characteristic of the current industrialized countries. Even if people put their faith in the ability of human ingenuity in the form of technology to be able to preserve their life styles and ensure an ever increasing level of consumption for technological systems rather than continue to apply technological fixes that are seldom satisfactory in the long term, technological optimum does not escape the need for fundamental social change and a shift in priorities. That was the mistake many in the Appropriate Technology movement made. It takes more than the existence of appropriate or clean technologies to ensure full sustainable economic development. Engineers have a leading role in planning, designing, building and ensuring a sustainable future. Engineers provide the bridge between science and society. In this role, engineers must actively promote and participate in multidisciplinary teams with other professionals, such as: ecologists, economists, medical doctors, and sociologists, to effectively address the issues and challenges of sustain able economic development because engineers working on a global scale will help promote public recognition of the engineers and understanding of the needs and opportunities in today’s fast developing world in order to ensure the engineers’ role in a sustainable economic development in it. (v).Analyze/appreciate the contribution of sri lankan engineers in recent mega projects A megaproject is an extremely large-scale investment project. Megaprojects include bridges, tunnels, highways, railways, airports, seaports, power plants, dams, wastewater projects, Special Economic Zones, oil and natural gas extraction projects, public buildings, information technology systems, aerospace projects,  weapons systems and, more recently, large-scale mixed use waterfront redevelopments; however, the most common megaprojects are in the categories of hydroelectric facilities, nuclear power plants and large public transportation projects. In Sri Lanka recently we have built 2 International Cricket Stadiums that located Pallekale and Hambanthota. That is a great mega project that can earn huge income. And also Hambanthota harbour and Hambanthota Airport are also big projects. Nowadays it is going on road development programme. These are some projects of in Sri Lanka. They can contribute to sri lankan economy straightly. So there are many ways to contribute to economy development of sri lanka to an engineer after ethnic coflict.

Christmas Plays and Holiday Favorites

Christmas Plays and Holiday Favorites Whether you are looking for a play to attend or directing a Christmas pageant at your local church, a festival of lights celebration, or a school winter production starring mitten-clad kindergarten kids, there are some good  plays out there to fit your needs.  An Internet search for Christmas Plays for Youth, in fact, turns up a wide variety of scripts for purchase as well as scripts for free. Holiday Favorites Over the years, Hollywood has produced countless holiday movies and television specials, many of which have been so beloved (and profitable) that amateur and professional theaters have adapted them for the stage. Some of the more popular holiday classics include: A Miracle on 34th StreetA Christmas StoryIt’s a Wonderful LifeMadeline’s Christmas Some people love to watch and re-watch the same holiday stories, but if you are up for something new, take a look at the next two titles. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever The Best Christmas Pageant Everbegan as a novel by Barbara Robinson. In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, it goes by the title  The Worst Kids in the World.  Those kids are the Herdmans and they cause nothing but trouble for the adult organizers of the annual Christmas Pageant. The  book is filled with raucous, funny, outrageous characters - most of whom happen to be kids. So, it is not surprising that did not take long for this story to be adapt for the stage. Samuel French offers the script as a one-act play that runs approximately 60 minutes.  There are 27 or more roles and the play can be done completely with young performers, but it is really great when adults play the adults and kids play the kids. Heres a link to a video of the full movie version of  The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. If you want to see and hear the script for a stage production, click here.   ​The  Last Night of Ballyhoo This play by Alfred Uhry is suitable for older students to perform or discuss. It takes place over the Christmas season in 1939, but the characters are from a Jewish family in the South that actually has a Christmas tree in their home. Read more about  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹The  Last Night of Ballyhoo  here. The  Favorite Holiday Favorite: A Christmas Carol There have been hundreds of adaptations of this Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. I confess, that I have seen so many different productions, television movies, and cartoon-versions that I have almost gotten tired of the story. Almost. The thing about A Christmas Carol is that the narrative is so tightly crafted, Dickens’ prose so smooth, and the end result of Scrooge’s transformation so heartwarming, that it is  easy to understand why Hollywood and regional theaters repeatedly keep the material in the holiday festivities. Wikipedia has an enormous list of the many incarnations of A Christmas Carol. However, the  last time I checked, they left out the important early adaptations, written during Charles Dickens’ lifetime. For example, there’s no mention of C. Z. Barnett’s adaptation: A Christmas Carol or The Miser’s Warning. This two-act play was performed a mere two months after the publication of Dickens’ holiday novel. In fact, it was the only adaptation sanctioned by the author. (This is amusing since Barnett’s take does not add a great deal of sensationalism to the text to appeal to its Victorian audiences). Archive.org offers a wonderfully presentation of the first edition of Barnett’s version. Plays for Young Audiences offers a PDF of a script of  A Christmas Carol! Being a purist, however, I’m more interested a faithful adaptation of A Christmas Carol. such as Patrick Stewart’s famous one-man show in which he simply reads from the text – and brilliantly performs each character. Care to try performing it yourself? Visit our Classic Literature Guide site and read the original Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, unabridged in all its holiday glory.