The Bretton Woods System Essay Example for Free

The Bretton Woods System Essay The Bretton Woods System (BWS) was implemented in 1946 under the Bretton Woods Agreement, each government obliged to maintain a fixed exchange rate for its currency vis-Ã  -vis the dollar or gold. As one ounce of gold was set equal to $35, fixing a currency’s gold price was equivalent to setting its exchange rate relative to the dollar. The fixed exchange rates were maintained by official intervention in the foreign exchange markets. This intervention was about purchases and sales of dollars by foreign central banks against their own currencies whenever the supply and demand conditions in the market deviate from the agreed on par values. Any dollars acquired by the monetary authorities in the process of an intervention could then be exchanged for gold at the U.S Treasury. In principle, the stability of exchange rates removed uncertainty from international trade and investment transactions. Normally, if a country followed its own policies leading to a higher inflation rate than its trading partners would experience a balance of payments deficit as its good became more expensive, which means its exports will decrease. A deficit has consequences, an increase in the supply of the deficit country’s currency on the foreign exchange markets. The excess supply would demoralize the exchange value of the currency of that country, forcing its authorities to intervene. The nation would be required to buy with its reserves the excess supply of its own currency, in order to reduce the domestic money supply. In addition, as the country’s reserves were depleted, the authorities would be forced to change economic policies to eliminate the source of deficit. The reduction in the money supply and the adoption of restrictive policies would reduce the country’s inflation. Basically, Bretton Woods was a fixed exchange rate system in name only. With 21 major industrial countries, only the U.S and Japan had no change in par value between 1946 and 1971. From the 21 countries, 12 devalued their currencies more than 30% against the dollar, four had revaluations, and four others were floating their currencies till the end of the system. On mid-1971, the president Richard Nixon was obliged to devalue the dollar to deal with America’s emerging trade deficit. The two reasons for the collapse of (BWS) are, inflation in U.S, they financed the escalating war in Vietnam, so they were printing money instead of raising taxes. Another reason is that West Germany, Japan, and Switzerland refused to accept the inflation because a new fixed exchange rate with the dollar will be imposed on them. Thus, the dollar depreciated sharply relative to the currencies of those three countries.

Morgan Spurlock?s Super Size Me Essay examples -- Obesity Crisis Ameri

Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me After watching Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me it became even clearer to me that there is an obesity crisis in this country. While this was not news to me; I was surprised by Dr. Satcher, the former U.S. Surgeon General, stating that 'left unabated obesity will surpass smoking as the number one preventable cause of death in this country.' Morgan Spurlock focused his attention on McDonalds in his documentary, but I think to simply blame the fast food companies grossly simplifies the issue. The obesity crises in this country is a lifestyle issue, big food corporations may be partially to blame, but lifestyle is something that is culturally decided not solely foisted upon us by the corporate world. The obesity problem in this country has gotten worse, a lot worse, and the surge in obesity can be tied directly to fast food. I was appalled by the fact that since 1980 the number of people either fat of obese has doubled, and in that time frame there are twice as many overweight children and three times as many overweight adolescents. Looking strictly at the numbers, it is very easy to find a direct correlation between the number of overweight or obese individuals and the number of fast food establishments. However these fast food outlets are not created in a vacuum, they are servicing a demand. Each day one in four Americans visits a fast food restaurant. Our culture has evolved to one of immediate gratification, we want it convenient, and we want it now. The fast food industry has simply seized that cultural demand and has taken advantage of it all the way to the bank. I think we have a cultural weakness that looks for someone to blame for our problems and McDonalds certainly mak es a nice target. I think Super Size Me poses a very interesting question in asking if fat is the next tobacco. It is clear that obesity is a very serious health issue but to me the real concern is whether we should consider unhealthy food items such as fat and sugar the same way we consider drugs and alcohol. According to Kelly Browning PhD of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, ?we live in a toxic environment of unhealthy food.? Morgan reacts to his first super size meal as his body would physically react to an overdose of toxic matter and he throws up. His body had in essence no tolerance for the fat and sugar and other processed... ...oft drinks, or candy. Parents like me trying to give their children a healthy example are overwhelmed just as the 5-a-Day campaign?s $2 Million advertising media budget is overwhelmed by McDonald?s $1.4 Billion media budget. Morgan Spurlock jokingly suggests fighting fast food?s impact on his child by punching the child in the face every time they pass a fast food restaurant to attach a negative association to fast food. Instead I plan to show Super Size Me to my child when he is old enough to understand it, as should all responsible parents. The obesity crisis has been muddled over a concern about the line between corporate and personal responsibility. More than 60% of Americans get no form of exercise whatsoever and at the same time we super size everything. The fast food chains are not forcing us to super size and consume these mass quantities, they are simply responding to the market. Just as we as a society are slowly recognizing the dangers of smoking, we must recognize the dangers of a high fat, high sugar diet that is paired with a sedentary lifestyle. Culturally we need to step up to the plate and see that there is a huge problem and then see what we can do about it.

Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Essay

Throughout the novel the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Yunior tells the story of oscars family that is allegedly cursed by the Fuku. The dominican family that roots back to when Trujillo was in power has been tragical effected by the Fuku. The main character Oscar is an awkward Dominican that balms his failures on the curse of the Fuku. The curse started back in the Dominican republic when the oppressive dictator Trujillo convicted oscars grandfather Abelard who was a respected doctor for conspiracy. When oscars grandfather was put in jail he was tortured and beaten, this was the origin of the curse for the Wao’s. Like a gene the curse has been passed down the family to oscar. The author Junot Diaz uses the motif of the Fuku to illustrate how bani allows her awful past to dramatically affect her and children. Everyone that lived in the dominican was in some way negatively effected by Trujillo. Oscar Wao was a living example of the fuku and how not only Trujillo effected the dominican people of his time but even the people two generations later. For example (p.5)â€Å"wether I believe in what many have described as the great american doom is not really the point. You live as long as I did in the heart of Fuku country, you hear these kinds of tales all the time everybody in san domingo has a Fuku story knocking around in their family.† Yunior is expressing the fact that even if you are not a believer of the Fuku curse if you are dominican there is a good chance it has affected you or your family. When oscars mother was left an orphan she was put through unbelievably awful circumstances much like her fathers. This time in Bani’s life effect who she became and how she parented Oscar.(78)â€Å"From 1951 on, â€Å"hija† and â€Å"madre† running their famous bakery near the plaza central and keeping their fading, airless house in tip-top shape. (before 1951, our orphan girl had lived with another foster family, monsterous people if the rumors are to be believed, a dark period of her life neither she nor her madre ever referenced. Their very own pagina en blanco). This quotation refers to how oscars mother was effected by the Fuku. The reason she was an orphan was because Trujillo killed her parents. The events of her childhood were a direct result of Trujillo but Bani had the power to put the past in the past and parent Oscar the right way, because Bani did not do this the Fuku lives on. Many times in the book a Wao has been injured almost to the point of death. Once was when Oscar attempted suicide. Oscars Suicide attempt was not just because he lost the first girl he has ever loved it was also because of how Oscar had almost no self esteem. Even his own mother would belittle him from a young age. The suicide attempt went wrong and Oscar survived to live another day. (p.191) â€Å"Except that this one of the garden dividers that they planted shrubs on and he hit the freshly tilled loam and not the concrete.† Because he hit the fresh loam he survived with many harsh injures instead of plummeting to his death as planned. This was an incident in Oscar Wao’s life that was a result of his failures like his failure to love or be loved. This failure stems back to how his mother raised him with very tough love because of the her childhood. The novel clearly illustrated how the Fuku has effected all Dominican people even if they had immigrated off the island. To me this novel is not about dominican people and there history it is about how only one man effected millions of lives not only in one point it time but for generations to come. Junot Diaz shows the reader how we all have the power to stop horrible things like the Fuku from effecting the next generation but you must have the power to leave the past in the past.

Erikson s Theory Of Young Adulthood - 1159 Words

Young Adulthood While I was in college, I met my now husband. I was in my young adult years at this point of my life. In Erikson’s theory one is emerging in relationships due to positive or living an exclusive life due to negative outcomes of life bestowed by Wong, Hall, Justice, and Herndez (2015). When I turned 20 I got pregnant, eventually, I had to quit school or work. I quit school, I was working to pay for school nevertheless a baby is on the way. We got married and eventually we got an apartment. I waited to have the baby and find a job in the town he lived near. He is in the military wan stationed at Fort Bragg. I had the baby and few months after she was born I got a job near the town he was stationed. We got an apartment while we were on a waiting list to move on post. When my daughter was five months old we found out she had a heart murmur. This was one of the most trying times of my adulthood. I found myself to be so wound up and afraid. One day, I said God I cannot take this anymore, I put this in your hands if you want to take her from me now take her, I will make sure she is loved every day of her life. I even thanked him for giving her to us, and not someone who would not love and appreciate as we do. I then said if you take her from me, I pray you give me the strength to handle it. I must admit that was a strong prayer for a new mom at 20; I meant ever word of it. I remember big weight was lifted off my entire body; I felt at more ease andShow MoreRelatedThe Conflict Of Adolescence And Early Adulthood1037 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction What is adulthood? Adulthood can be defined as a stage of being self-sufficient, or it can be defined by demographic transitions such as marriage, parenthood or financial independence. In the United States, one is legally considered an adult at the age of 18, regardless of any cognitive or demographic factors. 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