An Overview of Economic Stagflation in the 1970s

The term stagflation—an economic condition of both continuing inflation and stagnant business activity (i.e. recession), together with an increasing unemployment rate—described the new economic malaise in the 1970s pretty accurately. Stagflation in the 1970s Inflation seemed to feed on itself. People began to expect continued increases in the price of goods, so they bought more. This increased demand pushed up prices, leading to demands for higher wages, which pushed prices higher still in a continuing upward spiral. Labor contracts increasingly came to include automatic cost-of-living clauses, and the government began to peg some payments, such as those for Social Security, to the Consumer Price Index, the best-known gauge of inflation. While these practices helped workers and retirees cope with inflation, they perpetuated inflation. The governments ever-rising need for funds swelled the budget deficit and led to greater government borrowing, which in turn pushed up interest rates and increased costs for businesses and consumers even further. With energy costs and interest rates high, business investment languished and unemployment rose to uncomfortable levels. President Jimmy Carters Reaction In desperation, President Jimmy Carter (1977 to 1981) tried to combat economic weakness and unemployment by increasing government spending, and he established voluntary wage and price guidelines to control inflation. Both were largely unsuccessful. A perhaps more successful but less dramatic attack on inflation involved the deregulation of numerous industries, including airlines, trucking, and railroads. These industries had been tightly regulated, with the government controlling routes and fares. Support for deregulation continued beyond the Carter administration. In the 1980s, the government relaxed controls on bank interest rates and long-distance telephone service, and in the 1990s it moved to ease regulation of local telephone service. The War Against Inflation The most important element in the war against inflation was the Federal Reserve Board, which clamped down hard on the money supply beginning in 1979. By refusing to supply all the money an inflation-ravaged economy wanted, the Fed caused interest rates to rise. As a result, consumer spending and business borrowing slowed abruptly. The economy soon fell into a deep recession  rather than recovering from all aspects of the stagflation that had been present. Source This article is adapted from the book Outline of the U.S. Economy by Conte and Carr and has been adapted with permission from the U.S. Department of State.

Pauls Case by Willa Cather - 912 Words

Some say money changes you, some say money changes the people around and others say money changes everyone. In Willa Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case†, Paul is a teenage misfit who lives in a Pittsburgh neighborhood. The love of money is put on such a high pedestal that it consumes Paul and the way which he lives. Everything he does is influenced by his desire for wealth. His love for theater and art becomes an addiction and drive him to steal money and retreat to New York. Here, Paul experiences the â€Å"fast life† as he dines and shops expensively. Paul then realizes he is the victim of his own demise and takes his own life. Paul’s obsession with theater, luxury and the dystopian society he lives in are the reasons for his isolation and loss of life. Willa Cather provides insights to how Paul wants to feel important in his life instead of being an outsider in society. In his job, Paul works as an usher in Carnegie Hall. The narrator states,†As th e house filled, he grew more and more vivacious and animated, and the color came to his cheeks and lips. It was very much as though this were a great reception and Paul were the host.† (Cather 13). The narrator shows the reader how Paul feels more important as he helps people in the theater. It is as if the sight of people filling the room and needing Paul’s help breathes life into Paul. Author E.K. Brown writes, â€Å"He felt the pull of New York...to feel himself in the center of â€Å"the plot of all dreams†...†(Brown 1). Brown uses thisShow MoreRelatedPauls Case by Willa Cather Essay622 Words   |  3 PagesPauls Case by Willa Cather Willa Cather was born near Winchester, Virginia in 1873. At age ten, she moved with her family to Nebraska where most of her stories were set. In 1913, she began an extensive writing career which included many short stories and several novels. In her stories, she depicted the lives of prairie farmers on the great plains. She glorified them over the city dwellers. In 1922, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel One of Ours. She left behind a heritage forRead More Materialism in Pauls Case by Willa Cather Essay782 Words   |  4 Pages In Pauls Case, Willa Cather manages to apply the emotions, feelings, troubles, and thoughts of modern society, allowing the reader to relate to the story. By incorporating the same heavy burdens that bother and aggravate people in their daily lives, Willa explores the pain and treatment unwanted people experience. Obviously, nobody wants to feel rejection or alienation from the world, but instead they desire to encounter acceptance and agreement with the worlds standards. In the story, theRead More Analysis of Paul’s Case by Willa Cather Essay2549 Words   |  11 Pages According to many readers of Paul’s Case, this is a short story that shows affection, passion, and most of all enthusiasm. Willa Cather seems to base her stories off of daily life and events that she thought progressed in many lives. Her passion for writing showed in her literature giving a visualization on what people think doesn’t occur in the regular life of a person. Also throughout Willa Cather’s short stories she gave examples upon her childhood and her time spent in a small town sheRead More Analysis of Pauls Case by Willa Cather Essay1072 Words   |  5 PagesAnalysis of Pauls Case by Willa Cather Willa Cather’s â€Å"Paul’s Case† is a story about a young 16 year-old man, Paul, who is motherless and alienated. Paul’s lack of maternal care has led to his alienation. He searches for the aesthetics in life that that he doesn’t get from his yellow wallpaper in his house and his detached, overpowering father figure in his life. Paul doesn’t have any interests in school and his only happiness is in working at Carnegie Hall and dreams of one-day living the luxuriousRead MoreEssay on Paul’s Case: A Study in Temperament by Willa Cather616 Words   |  3 Pagesthat you did not feel you belonged in. That is the story of Paul in â€Å"Paul’s Case,† written by Willa Cather. He lived in a suburban home where everyone seemed the same and there was a feeling of despair. Paul, who was a young man, felt that his father, teachers and classmates misunderstood him and therefore were unworthy of his company. In the story there are many symbolic elements. Flowers, for instance, symbolize Paul’s personality and life. The parallel between the boy and the flowers isRead More Pauls Case by Willa Cather - Socrates’ Perspective of the Courageous Paul1052 Words   |  5 PagesPauls Case by Willa Cather - Socrates’ Perspective of the Courageous Paul In Pauls Case by Willa Cather, Paul becomes aware of the fact that his life is not exactly what could be called liveable. His physical home leaves something to be desired, his teachers clearly dislike him, and his father is not the model father. Paul feels that these things are unjust and detrimental to his life. Due to the unjust things in his life, he decides to rid himself of themRead MoreFree Will or Determined Analyse of â€Å"Paul’s Case† Written by Willa Cather995 Words   |  4 Pagesfree will or determined analyse of â€Å"Paul’s case† written by Willa Cather Pauls casewas a story written by the famous female writer/ journalist Willa Cather, the story explores the life of an idealistic young boy named Paul who hates his impoverished life. Paul strongly believes that he was meant to be born in a rich family instead of a mid-class home. He tries to escape from the impoverished environment of which he live in and only approaches either rich, or famous people .Sadly, in the endRead Mores Desire To Escape Society In Pauls Case By Willa Cather944 Words   |  4 PagesPaul’s Case Essay The topic of an individual’s desire to escape society is essential to understanding the human condition. Some suggest that when an individual does not fit within their community, they must seek acceptance elsewhere. However, others, believe that an individual must adapt and conform to those around them. In the short story â€Å"Paul’s Case† by Willa Cather, where Paul struggles with fitting in among the people of Cordelia Street. Initially, he attempts to escape the monotonousRead More Willa Cathers Short Story Pauls Case Essay956 Words   |  4 PagesWilla Cathers Short Story Pauls Case   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Willa Cather’s short story Paul’s Case we learn of a young man who is fighting what he fears most: to be as common and plain as his world around him. How others perceive Paul only encourages him to fulfill his dream of escaping his monotonous lifestyle. Paul feels he is drowning in his everyday environment and his only breath of air is his savior: the theater.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Paul has very little interest in his class studies. This leaves him open toRead More Use of Symbols in Pauls Case Essay838 Words   |  4 Pageshave different ideas of what is actually being said. One of the many symbols in â€Å"Paul’s Case† is flower’s. From violets to carnations, the flowers Paul talks about are ones of many meanings. The flowers represent a continual motif, expressing Paul’s character. The narrator expresses the teacher’s views towards Paul’s flowers, â€Å"†¦his whole attitude was symbolized by his shrug and his flippantly red carnation†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cather). Paul wears the flowers to symbolize his beauty for things. Living in a grey world

Characterization Of The Lottery, And The Rocking Horse...

1 Running head: CHARACTERIZATION OF STORIES Characterization in â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† CHARACTERIZATION OF STORIES 2 Thesis Statement The essay is based upon,†The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson and â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† written by D.H.Lawrence. The element of which that is in focus and discussed in this essay is the characterization. The Characterization in the two short stories is contrasted by discussing their emotions, attitudes, behaviors, qualities and motivations. CHARACTERIZATION OF STORIES 3 Characterization in â€Å"The Lottery† and â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† 1. Introduction 2. â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson 2.1. Who are the characters? 2.2. Qualities, emotions and attitudes 2.3. Motivation 3. â€Å"The Rocking-Horse winner† by D.H.Lawrence 3.1.1. Characters in the story 3.1.2. Personality of the characters 3.1.3. Motivation 4. Contrast in the characters 5.Show MoreRelatedFiction Essay1012 Words   |  5 Pagessomewhat tragic short stories is that of D.H. Lawrence’s, â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† and Shirley Jackson’s, â€Å"The Lottery†. With the classic theme of â€Å"luck† and what that means in each story, we see two very different meanings as these two stories unfold. In â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner†, we see the protagonist, Paul, who endlessly searches and somewhat attains luck in his search for his mother’s monetary desire. Within the lines of â€Å"The Lottery†, however, we see a quaint satirical setting of towns’ folkRead More The Rocking Horse Winner and The Lottery Essay838 Words   |  4 PagesIn both â€Å"The Rocking Horse Winner† by D.H. Lawrence and â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson, the authors take critical aim at two staples of mainstream values, materialism and tradition respectively. Both authors approach these themes throug h several different literary devices such as personification and symbolism; however, it is the authors use of characterization that most develop their themes. Well be taking a look at the parallel passages in the stories that advance their themes particularly whenRead MoreEssay on Eng 102 Short Story735 Words   |  3 Pagesshort stories to compare and contrast in your essay: †¢ â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson †¢ â€Å"The Destructors† by Graham Greene †¢ â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† by D.H. Lawrence †¢ â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne †¢ â€Å"The Child by Tiger† by Thomas Wolfe †¢ â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell    Also, make at least one of these elements of fiction the focus of your essay: †¢ Conflict/Plot/Structure †¢ Characterization †¢ Setting †¢ Theme/Authors’ Purposes †¢ Point of View †¢ Tone/Style/Irony/Symbol/Imagery Read MoreENG 102 fiction essay instruction768 Words   |  4 Pagesthe following short stories to compare and contrast in your essay: â€Å"The Lottery† by Shirley Jackson â€Å"The Destructors† by Graham Greene â€Å"The Rocking-Horse Winner† by D.H. Lawrence â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† by Nathaniel Hawthorne â€Å"The Child by Tiger† by Thomas Wolfe â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell Also, make at least 1 of these elements of fiction the focus of your essay: Conflict/Plot/Structure Characterization Setting Theme/Authors’ Purposes Point of View Tone/Style/Irony/Symbol/Imagery Read MoreMedia Magic Making Class Invisible2198 Words   |  9 PagesJune) Newburgh (14 June) Countee Cullen: A Reniassance Man (14 June) Death In The Hours (14 June) Antigone (14 June) The Art Of Persuasion (14 June) Compare And Contrast (13 June) Sonnys Blues (13 June) Social Order In Jackson#039;S Lottery (13 June) Mop Top (13 June) What Is The Primary Cause For MacbethS Descent Into Wickedness? (13 June) Narratve Essay (13 June) Outline: Infomative Essay (13 June) Whitman (13 June) à Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã… ¡Salvationà Ã‚ ²Ãƒ Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ãƒâ€˜Ã…“ By Langston Hughes (13 June) Read MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 PagesChristmas, and so on. 8.11 Psychographic and lifestyle segmentation The fourth and increasingly popular basis of consumer segmentation stems from work by Riesman et al. (1950), which led to the identification of three distinct types of social characterization and behaviour: 1 Tradition-directed behaviour, which changes little over time and, as a result, is easy to predict and use as a basis for segmentation 2 Other directedness, in which the individual attempts to fit in and adapt to the behaviour

Employment Relations Employees and Labors

Question: Discuss about the Employment Relations for Employees and Labors. Answer: Introduction Employees and labors are one of the integral parts of any business as the success and failure of any business organization vastly depends on the performance of them. One can see the existence of various employment related issues in an organization. Here comes the part of the employment relation or employee relation or labor relation. Thus, the function of employee relation is to consult, facilitate and develop effective strategies to resolve various employee relation issues in an organization (Zukauskas Vveinhardt, 2015). Employee and labor relation helps the management of a business organization in various manners like to develop, maintain and improve the employee relation with the help of communication strategies, performance management, processing grievance and in many other ways. There are various employees relation issues are there almost in every country (Fossum, 2014). However, it has been observed that Singapore has been the centre of attraction for recent years by the contr oversial closing of the plants of various multinational companies and the large number of employee layoffs. It can be clearly understood that this issue is not good for the health of Singapore economy as the businesses are the backbone of any economy (Hendrix, Hayes Kumar, 2012). Employee Relation Issues in Singapore There are various incidents of wind up of businesses and employee lay off are going on in Singapore. Now-a-days, this is a growing concern for various parties in Singapore like the government, the employees and the businesses. In order to get the clear picture of the situation and to find out the solution strategies, it is important to discuss some of those major plant closure and employee layoff issues. Some wind ups and layoffs of some major multinational companies in Singapore are discussed below: Coca-Cola: As per the latest news in Business Times Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages, commonly known as CCSB, is going to shut down its manufacturing operations in the bottling plant of Tuas, Singapore (www.businesstimes.com.sg 2016). According to Stephen Lusk, chief executive of Coca-Cola, Singapore plant will be compromised so that CCSB can focus on more on the high value added services like new technologies, innovation and research. This step of the company will cause on the loss of job for more than 200 employees in Singapore. (Carpenter Ng, 2013). Seagate: Seagate is another multinational company in Singapore that is planning to close one of its hard drives manufacturing facility in Singapore. There are around 4000 employees in the plant and ads per the company, 2000 among them is going to lose their job in this process. There are two reasons behind this closure. One is the effects of economic recession and another reason is the missteps taken by the management of the organization. (www.eetimes.com 2016). Tate Lyle: Tate and Lyle are going to close down their plant in Singapore. As per the company, the reason behind this close down is supply not demand. There is enough demand in the market, but the Singapore plant is not able to maintain the supply as per the demand. The profit has been reduced to 16 million pound in 2015 as compared to 62 million pound in the year 2014. Motorola: Back in the year 2009, Motorola shut down the cell phone manufacturing plant in Singapore. The plant used to manufacture high end cell phones, mobile phones and many others. The initial was taken to cut the cost of around $ 500 million. At the time of the closure, Motorola has 2500 employees in that plant and the closure of the company cut the job of 700 employees from that plant (Pyzdek Keller, 2014). Barclays: Barclays is another company that is planning to cut the jobs of one hundred employees in Singapore form its IT operation department. The reason behind this employee layoff is cut of cost from the bank (Heinemann, 2015). IBM: One of the shocking news is that IBM is also planning to terminate some of the employees from its operation in Singapore. IBM has a reputation about the process of fire and hire. The company denied commenting further in this matter but they have confirmed that they are going to terminate some employees for sure. IBM cuts the jobs of the employees irrespective of the fact that how many years they are serving for the company (McNeill, 2015). There is other many companies that either plan to cut the jobs of the employees or planning to do so. Global bank Standard Chartered has terminated some of the employees in Singapore while they cut around 15000 jobs globally. As per HSBC, the company has announced that they will freeze the salaries of the employees and in this process more than 3000 employees of Singapore will be affected. In order to reduce the cost pressure, Resorts World Sentosa cut the jobs of a lot of employees in February in Singapore.It can be seen that so many renowned companies lay off employees in Singapore and the list is growing continuously (vulcanpost.com 2016). There are some reasons behind this growing issue in Singapore. As per the statistics, the majority of the employee layoffs happen in the service sector in this year and the number is 2500. Manufacturing and construction sector are the next after service sector accounts for 1800 and 300 layoffs respectively. The main reason is the economic slowdown in Singapore. Due to economic slowdown, most of the companies in Singapore are facing loss and their production is not up to the mark. On the other hand, the costs are rising continuously. In this situation, the companies are left with two situations. That is they either have to close the business operations in Singapore or they have to terminate a large number of employees to cut down the costs. Some of the companies are taking the first step and some of them are taking the second (Jumah, Morales-Rodriguez Llorns-Rivera, 2015). From the above discussion its can be seen that there are many renowned multinational that closing their business operations in Singapore due to the above discussed reasons. This is the kind of problem that is affecting the economy of the country as well as the working people of it. It is not desirable that the current situation stays like that. All the parties involved in this problem must involve in finding the solution to revive the situation. They should handle this situation with utmost attention and need to find the way out from this universal problem. One of the ways to handle this situation is the co-ordination among the businesses, the labors, the society and the government. There are many ways that a business can come out from this business closure and employee layoffs puzzle. Some of the strategies are discussed below to prevent the plant closure in Singapore. It is advised to the business that they should target the correct market for their business. One of the reasons of the plant closure in Singapore is the section of wrong market by the business organizations. There are various benefits of selecting the right market like it prevents the wastage money for lost causes. On the other hand, the selection of right market will maximize the profitability of the firms and the companies can get a clear view about the market position. The unique selling propositions or the USBs of the business need to be strong enough for the companies so that people only choose the products of that business at the time of purchasing. This process will give the organization a competitive edge over its competitors. Diversification of the marketing channels is another way to prevent the plant closure form Singapore. The companies put themselves in a great risk at the time of choosing only one marketing channel. It is recommended that the companies should select more than one marketing channels to avoid risk in this highly competitive market. For example, a company should select both online and offline marketing campaign for their business activities (Hameed Khan, 2014). Every business organization has a message to give to the customers. The business organizations should make it clear that they are successful to convey the right message to the customers. It can be happened with the business organizations that they are running out of cash or the cash flow of the company is not sufficient. In this kind of situations, companies need to have some campaigns ready to create instant cash flows. This process reduced the possibility of making loss to the business organizations. The business organizations need to take steps to expand their business on a regular basis. In todays highly competitive market, expansion is necessary to retain the palace in the competition. On the other hand, expansion increases the profitability of the business organizations (Contu, Palpacuer Balas, 2013). These are some of the steps that the business organizations should take to avoid the shutdown of the plants in Singapore. On the other hand, employee layoff is another issue in Singapore. The main reason for the employee layoff is the reduction of costs of the business. However, there are various other reasons. The businesses also face some issues due to employee layoffs like lose of institutional knowledge, disruption in work relationships and the increase in burden on the remaining employees. To handle this employee layoff issue, some steps are recommended below: The complexity in the structure of the organization is one of the reasons for employee layoffs. Extra level of organizational structure increases the possibility of employee layoffs. Thus, it is recommended that the companies should have simple structure with a few layers for their businesses (Cascio, 2015). It has been seen that the companies often value the customers more than the employees of the organization. It has to be remembered that the employees are the life of a business that helps to retain the customers. Thus, employees need to be given utmost attention. The wage structure for the employees should be reasonable based on the economic condition (Weiss, 2014). The government of a country is like the backbone of that country. Every policies, rules and regulations about the business of a country is made by the government. Hence, it is expected that the government should include themselves to resolve this situation. The government needs to develop and implement some employment relationship friendly effective strategies in order to prevent shut downs and employee layoffs. The government should take strategies so that more job opportunities can be created in Singapore. The initiative of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) can be set as example. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) have been urging the small and medium for the enhancement of their business models so that more job opportunities can be raised (Gelman et al., 2015). As per the Singapore Retailers Association of Vice Presidents, several retailers are closing down the less profitable business stores and release their employees. Loan facilities have been arranged for them so that they do not have to close their businesses. It will decrease the rate of layoffs of employees (Baraldi et al., 2015). These are example of the ways by which the government can resolve the issues of plant closure and employee layoffs. Conclusion Shutdown of various renowned plants and employee layoffs are the two growing issues in Singapore. Economic slowdown and various other issues are responsible for this shutdowns and layoffs. It can be seen there are various renowned companies like Coca-cola, Seagate, IBM, Barclays and many others are there that have either shut down the plants in Singapore or are planning to do so. This is the high time for the companies to develop and implement strategies to eradicate these issues. Various recommendations to prevent the shutdown of plants and employee layoffs are discussed like to increase marketing diversities, decrease the layers in the business and others. One of the most important aspects is that the government of the country has a significant role to play in these issues as they are the one that create rules and regulations for the countries. It is the duty of the government to develop business friendly strategies to promote business. Thus, it is recommended the inclusion of gove rnment to resolve these issues. References Baraldi, P., Di Maio, F., Rigamonti, M., Zio, E., Seraoui, R. (2015). Clustering for unsupervised fault diagnosis in nuclear turbine shut-down transients.Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing,58, 160-178. Carpenter, K., Ng, W. K. (2013). Singapore's Chemicals Industry: Engineering an Island.Chemical Engineering Progress,109(4), 56-60. Cascio, W. F. (2015). Alternatives to Downsizing: Efforts in Responsible Restructuring.EPRN. Contu, A., Palpacuer, F., Balas, N. (2013). Multinational corporations politics and resistance to plant shutdowns: A comparative case study in the south of France.Human relations,66(3), 363-384. Fossum, J. A. (2014).Labor relations. Mcgraw Hill Higher Educat. Gelman, M., Kariv, S., Shapiro, M. D., Silverman, D., Tadelis, S. (2015).How individuals smooth spending: Evidence from the 2013 government shutdown using account data(No. w21025). National Bureau of Economic Research. Hameed, A., Khan, F. (2014). A framework to estimate the risk-based shutdown interval for a processing plant.Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries,32, 18-29. Heinemann, F. (2015).Corporate Accelerators: A Study on Prevalence, Sponsorship, and Strategy(Doctoral dissertation, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY). Hendrix, J. A., Hayes, D. C., Kumar, P. D. (2012).Public relations cases. Cengage Learning. Jumah, A. H., Morales-Rodriguez, D., Llorns-Rivera, A. (2015). Economic Incentives and Determinants to Attract FDI. InLabor Markets and Multinational Enterprises in Puerto Rico(pp. 25-32). Springer International Publishing. McNeill, D. (2015). Global firms and smart technologies: IBM and the reduction of cities.Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers,40(4), 562-574. Pyzdek, T., Keller, P. A. (2014).The six sigma handbook(p. 25). McGraw-Hill Education. Ramchandani, N. (2016).Coca-Cola Singapore Beverages to shut Tuas plant; commits US$100m investment.The Business Times. Retrieved 10 November 2016, from https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/coca-cola-singapore-beverages-to-shut-tuas-plant-commits-us100m-investment Seagate lays off 1,600 in Singapore; more cuts possible | EE Times. (2016).EETimes. Retrieved 10 November 2016, from https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1122557 Weiss, A. (2014).Efficiency wages: Models of unemployment, layoffs, and wage dispersion. Princeton University Press. Yap, J. (2016).Singapore Downturn? Here's The List Of Companies Cutting Jobs Over The Past Few Months.Vulcan Post. Retrieved 10 November 2016, from https://vulcanpost.com/534241/list-of-companies-cutting-jobs/ Zukauskas, P., Vveinhardt, J. (2015). Diagnosis of mobbing as discrimination in employee relations.Engineering Economics,64(4).