Should be universal health care covarage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should be universal health care covarage - Essay Example This universal health care is determined in three critical ways including: what services are covered, who is covered and how much cost is covered. The question arises, â€Å"should be universal health care coverage?† has a long heated debate. It is no more a secret that health care costs are far greater than any other costs and are also spiraling out of control I various countries. Countries are now spending more per person on health care as compared to housing and food. Insurance premiums are also increasing on a much faster pace than inflation. This in turn prevents economic growth and less money is left with businesses to hire more or raise the amount of workers. The following debate would now discuss whether a complete takeover by government of health care should be undertaken or not. A national database that is centralized should be developed which makes treatment and diagnosis easier and efficient for doctors. Doctors usually maintain their own record of patients in thei r offices. This is also one of the reasons why we have to fill out a lengthy form which has health records, whenever we visit a new doctor. This has several problems. For instance, it is wasteful in terms of both money and time. Secondly, patients may forget, lie or may not be able to describe problems precisely of the past. Whereas doctors require precise information to undertake a proper diagnosis of the patient. Therefore, a national system that is centralized would help us to do analysis of the data that once seemed impossible. This will further lead to increased diagnosis efficiency and medical advances. The main argument that arises because of the database that is centralized, is that some insurance providers may not provide coverage if they find some previous medical issues. By providing universal health care coverage, healing the patient would be more concentrated by medical professionals rather than on malpractice liability and insurance procedures etc. Doctors also need to practice medicine that is defensive in order to avoid getting sued. There are physicians that are also found to be leaving this profession as they have to handle all types of non-medical issues. A health system that is universal would also allow various nurses, doctors and other medical professionals to focus specifically on patients and matters relating to them that are most important. Our health care also has one of the biggest drawbacks, i.e. patients with a current or past medical condition like asthma or cancer are not able to gain health coverage in an affordable range. On the contrary, in case of universal health care, people are already healthy and those who take personal care will also be liable to pay for those who are obese and do smoking. It is because universal health care means that costs will be divided on all citizens regardless of their need for medical care and health. Those who have a proper diet plan, do not drink, do not smoke and do regular exercise have fewer health problems. Therefore universal health care should not be given as healthy people then question as to why they should be punished when they are already living their life in a healthy way. Health care systems that are universal vary from one government to the other and their involvement in providing health and care insurance. Universal health ca

Lovecraft's argument or postion to Paradox of Horror Essay

Lovecraft's argument or postion to Paradox of Horror - Essay Example And this is the point where I will start my argument. Someone can and many people go around looking for scary things not because they are forced but because they find excitement in the horror part of art. Many people get scared but still continue to love the art of horror and the scary nature of the horror art. Someone can seek for a scary thing or disgusting thing for entertainment. Since the times of the Romans, scary acts have been used for entertainment. This can be seen from the way that criminals were killed. Some of the criminals were set out and a lion left to eat them as a large crowd watched and celebrated. This shows that there is a sense of excitement in humans when they get scared over something. Most of the people who seek horror in art mainly do so because of its entertainment nature. Therefore I can say that the above saying that no one can seek out for a scary or disgusting thing is wrong. People can seek out scary things and movies because of their entertainment nat ure. Someone can also seek horror and scary art scenes so as to remove stress. Stress has been known to disturb man since creation. Many people forget about their stress when they see something that is scary. This is because when they see the disgusting part of the art, they forget about their problems and start to feel for the situation that is making them scared. At this point their stress goes away and they become relieved for some time. Therefore someone can use horror to remove stress that they have. This clearly disapproves Lovecraft’s idea that no one can seek for any disgusting or scary thing. Many people look for scary things to remove stress and this is a better argument to prove that Lovecraft statement is wrong. People also seek scary art so as to take a lesson from the art. When people see how someone suffers, they get the lesson not to what the victim did to undergo such suffering. Some people just love learning lessons about something and so when they get to se e how someone has suffered, they get thee reason of his/her suffering and take it as a lesson so that next time they don’t do the same mistakes as the ones done by the person who suffers in the horror act. Apart from the educative nature of horror acting, there are people who love horror simply because of its scary nature. When they experience the scary part of the horror, they get some excitement that makes them feel better. Horror is like part of their life so when arguing this, these people should not be left out of the debate. This group of people help to prove that there are people out there who go for horror acting because they want to and not because they are forced. If we say that people don’t look for scary acts because they like it then it means that everyone who participate in the production and anyone who enjoys horror movies or act do so because they are under some obligation or that they do that because of circumstances that they can’t avoid and if given a chance they can do the acting or watching of the horror movies. This is an invalid argument since almost everyone who watches horror movies do so because they love it and not because someone has told them to watch it. Many people would argue that maybe their love for horror movies come due to the influence of the people around them and the environmental

Analysis Of Wagyu Beef In Australia Economics Essay

Analysis Of Wagyu Beef In Australia Economics Essay This paper presents the strategic adviser specializing internationalization recommendation to company which pursue to grow their businesses overseas. First of all, this paper explains the business problem of this case that is the basis of expanding the business to the global market. Second, analyze the Wagyu beef with the consumer behavior in the US. And then present the policy and legalization in the US for Australian exporter. Next section is the basis and information of the ABC Company that needs to expand the business to the US. After that, the table presents the trend of value in the US and trend of import beef to the US. Moreover, this paper confirms the channel to expand the product, SWOT analysis, and PESTEL Framework. Lastly, this paper illustrates the approaches that can expand the product to international market. Introduction Nowadays, the beef market in Australia is limited because there are over suppliers in the market. Australia is the second largest farming to produce beef in the world, therefore many companies in Australia try to expand market share to international market. The US market is interested to export the product. There are three principle reasons to attract the exporter such as the number of people in the market, customer behavior and the culture and tradition. However, many companies get the failure from global business because they have the shortage knowledge in the cross culture and customer behavior. This paper analyzes the environment to expand the business to the US. The Business Problem ABC Company is the company that produces Wagyu, which is the premium beef. Australian beef market is growing to be the largest agriculture in 2009. Information from Australian Natural Resources Atlas confirms that Australia use the space to make the cattle farm approximately 220 million hectares that is the most area to spent in the agriculture industry. Therefore there are over suppliers in Australia. People in the country have many choices to choose beef in the domestic market. Moreover, beef market in Australia has the high competitive, so many cattle farmers try to find the markets that still have the power to purchase product. However, the companies have the good relationship with the customers because the companies produce the quality of product in order to make the loyalty of customers and repeat to purchase product with the companies. Market in the Australia has over suppliers and the limit customers, therefore the companies need to expand its product to the US that the large st market to consume beef. The beef market in the US is increasing to consume beef and the largest market in the world. Furthermore, most of people in the US eat beef that is the main food, so the number of beef is the second of all kind of meat. Indeed, the companies have more power to produce Wagyu beef, but the requirement in Australia has the limit because there are number of people in Australia approximately 22 million people that less than the US about 290 million people. The companies can expand the product in 10 times of the people in the domestic market. The companies should learn about the culture, legalization, behavior of the consumers, environment and more. Before the companies invest to expand business to there. However, this is the opportunity to extend the product to the large country.The US is the worlds richest market and Australias second biggest export purpose with a nine per cent share of Australias export market. The US is Australias only biggest market and ass et partner. Australia is the 14th biggest export endpoint for the US and the eighth biggest foreign investor in the USA. Analysis Wagyu Beef in Australia Wagyu or Kobe beef is the famous beef in the Japan. Wagyu has the good feather such as inherent marbling ability, softer fats enhancing meat flavor, high nutrition, finer meat texture, back fat not excessive.The beef industries produce and develop beef products for domestic and export markets especially the US market. Australia is one of the biggest exporters of beef in the world, trade that is very appreciated to its economy.Beef cattle production is extentthrough the country, and carried out under sodifferentsituations. While beef is a top farming export earner, there is increasing interest in other meat product such as pork, game such as deer, goat and buffalo (Australian Government, 2009). For Australian beef is guaranteed the quality by customers in Japan that the original country to produce Wagyu beef. Australia Wagyu Association is the organization that improves the quality of Wagyu beef to the global standard. Likewise, this organazation gives the knowledge to the farmers tha t the factor to produce the quality product. The good quality beef will get the good feed in all of their life. The food of them is the importance factor to build the good health for them and create the strong point to the product from Australia. Many countries accept the product from Australia USA business and economy and trade policy and custom regulation Kidane (2003) mentions that the United States is frequently established as one of the leader of destinations for foreign direct investment. Unquestionably, the legalization systems strengths point contributes to this case. The United States is the first country partial self-government on the base of morals. The legalization system in the US contains of three measures: executive, legislative, and judicial. It has been showed essentially that this construction can guarantee the legalization systems effective process. Some of characteristic features should be disturbed by the global investors. Anevaluation from the World Bank difficult 181 countries shows the United States ranks third for luxury of doing business overall, first with esteem to employing workers, and sixth in terms of enforcing contracts. In addition, the high quality of the U.S. legalization system overall is protected by the open investment policy, which is based on the standard of national management specifically, that international investors should not be preserved differently from domestic investors. Although no system is impeccable in all esteems, the United States is justifiably satisfied of the overall high quality of its legalization system and the level of international investment subject to its protection. Basic customer profile There are many kinds of consumer behaviors because the people in the US come from several countries. They have the difference ages, genders, races, regions, and incomes. Moreover, income levels in totally difference in the social that the factor to define the customer level in the company market. The target of ABC Company is the high income because the Wagyu beef has the high price and high quality. In terms of age and gender, there are the difference kinds of beef to eat as the number of consuming consist of male teenager had over 50 pounds per person in the ground beef. Moreover, there are the men ages between 20 and 39 old having about 30.35 pounds love to eat stake beef. Overall in female eat beef approximately 56.23 pounds per person. In stake category, there were only 3.96 pounds per person that means the female do not prefer to eat stake. The conclusion of statistic with the people in the US is the men love to eat beef more than the female approximately two times of total beef in the US market. On the part of geographic and income, residents of the Midwest expended the highest beef of any section, consuming at 72.92 pounds per capita. In the other word, American in the Northeast had the least beef, only 62.53 pounds per person (allbusiness.com, 2009). Value of U.S. beef industry statistics for last five years in The US Year Value of U.S. beef industry 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 $70 billion $71 billion $71 billion $74 billion $76 billion Year U.S. cattle imports 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 1.371 million head 1.816 million head 2.289 million head 2.495 million head 2.284 million head Follow this table (United Department of agriculture, 2009) there was a continue increasing in the consumer beef in the US. Then, the customers has expanded in this country, ABC Company can the import the product to support the needs in this market by using the appropriate strategy to present the product. In the part of quality, the company has the strength point to compete because the company develops and control cattle farm follow the law of Australia that guarantees the quality from the customer around the world. Moreover, the company has many experiences to make the business success in the Australia. In the other hands, the company does not have the experience in global market that has difference culture and customer behaviors. Firstly, the farmers in the US have the efficiency to produce the beef. Furthermore, they do not have the tariffs about the policy and legal system. The government supports the farmers in the country. However, ABC Company still has the premium product that has the niche market that is people love the premium beef for good healthy. Second, beef from Japan is the original country for Wagyu beef or Kobe beef. However, Japan has the limited areas to produce the product. Therefore, Most of Wagyu beef is imported from Australia because the quality of beef is quit same with beef in Japan. This point is the strong point to guarantee the beef that produce in Australia. Marketing and distribution channel to reach customers ABC Company should find the company that is the premium restaurant to make a joint venture. Joint venture means a prescribed contract joining together two or more groups for the objective of performing a specific business task. All of the groups accept to share in the benefit and damages of the enterprise (investword.com, 2009).This approach will help the company to distribute its product in the US. Moreover, joint venture is short term strategy in order to open the new market. First time in other market has high risk about the culture, and consumer behaviors. This way, the company reduces risk because the partner company has the knowledge and experience in this market. ABC Company should make the presentation only part of product and the belief to the target groups. Besides the partner company has the channel to distribute the products; therefore the company just adds the capacity to distribute the product and the ways to keep the quality of product to the customers. SWOT analysis Strengths Firstly the research to develop the quality of product is the Australian Natural Resources Atlas. From the research, Wagyu beef which produce in Australia is accepted in the several countries and push Australia to be the second exporter in the world. Secondly, Wagyu beef that produce in Australia has the good quality for healthy because the fat in beef is softer fats enhancing meat flavor, high nutrition, finer meat texture, back fat not excessive. It is the best beef quality and reduces the risk of fat excessive. Lastly, ABC Company has long term experience in domestic market; hence the company has the knowledge in requirement of product and the standard of quality. Weakness First, ABC Company does not have the experience in the US market that has the difference customer behaviors from Australia. Moreover, the culture in purchasing, distribution is totally difference from Australia. No one knows the ABC brand that popular in Australia; the company has to make the advertising to present the product to the customer in the US. Then geographic factor, the company has the import cost that add in the product. Besides, when the company has the problems in the other country, it cannot solve the problem immediately because of geographic concern. Opportunity The US is the largest market to consume beef; there is the number of people more than people in Australia approximately 290 million people or 10 times of Australian people. And the import policy for Australia exports product not too much conditions. The US beef market continues grow for the exporter. The customer in US considers the quality of beef in the first priority and concern about the customer healthy. Wagyu can response in the healthy topics of the customer behavior. Threats The domestic farmers are growing to compete with the exporter. The number of local farmer is increasing from supporting of government. In the part of price, the price of beef in the local is lower than the beef from Australia. That factor makes the weak point to Australian exporter. However, the target group of the company is the groups that love the high quality beef, so the price is not the main factor to make a decision. PESTEL Framework Political in the US concentrate in the free trade market, so ABC Company can get the competitive advantage. From this point, the law does not prevent the foreign company to invest in the US. The readjustment of American global free trade agreement device has an important consequence on the development of world economic incorporation. Economic part, as the worlds largest trading nation, the United States of America is the worlds principal importer. In 2008, the total U.S. trade shortage was $695.9 billion, which contains $2.5 trillion in imports (Willis, 2009). The US has a growing number of agriculture imported products from Australia, who appears to increase more chances in trades between the US and Australia. Australian beef is one of the most competitive beef products in the world. Social, American had beef for a long time both of the Native American and the people in the city. Many restaurants have the beef that is the main thing in cooking such as hamburger that the popular food uses ground beef in the main category. In term of kind of beef, most of people love to eat the beef that soft with the marbling that has the red meat switch a bit fat. Wagyu beef or Kobe beef has the quality both meat and fat color and especially for taste. Technology, Australia Wagyu Association is established in order to reaction a real demand and need for quality figures that improves from the marbling bulgy in the Japanese heredities. As the result, the company uses the information to make the good quality product. Environmental, most of people in the US eat beef approximately 70 pounds per person. Also there was a rapid increasing in the percentage of importer beef to the US from 1.38 billion pounds to 2.64 billion pounds between 2007 and 2009. From this information, ABC Company has the occasion to extend the market to the US; there are many demands in this market and the power to chase the premium beef. Legal, the US tries to support the farmers in domestic. As the result, the price of beef in the US decreases, so the competitive advantage of the foreign producer is falling because the foreign farmer has transportation cost and custom cost. Conclusions and recommendations ABC Company needs to expand the product to the international market because of the over suppliers in the domestic market. Therefore, the US market that still has the power to purchase the product is the target for ABC Company. However, the company should have the quality of product to attract the customers. The price of product should be defined by comparing with the competitors in the market. Moreover, the strategy to distribute the product is the importance factor to keep the quality and make the difference from other rivals. Promotion is the factor to create the competitive advantage to the company. In the first period, the company should reduce the price and make the advertising to present the product in the market and find the target in the luxury restaurant and premium market.

Exploring the Horror of Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay

Exploring the Horror of Heart of Darkness "The horror, the horror!" Kurtz exclaims prior to his last breath of life on earth. In those final moments, Kurtz was able to say something so true about the whole mess of human life. A life dominated by the fittest, perceived differently through each human eye, and full of judgement lacking understanding of all sides. The various ways the world is viewed causes many problems amongst its people. Whether they are about racism, wealth, or even common sense, conflicts are still subject to arouse. Why? The answer to this is not yet clear because of its complexity and endless variables. Yet what is clear is that it ties into two other aspects-prejudice and social Darwinism or survival of the fittest. Perception is the seed from which those two aspects grow. Throughout `Heart of Darkness', its readers are given a taste of the many different perceptions belonging to the characters. As the Belgian doctor examines Marlow before his long journey to the Congo, he questions Marlow of his sanity and predicts the trip will have an effect on him mentally. Marlow eventually becomes insane to some of the readers, while the others argue the opposite. Depending on how Marlow's actions were perceived determined their overall view of him. Racism was also argued through Marlow's actions. A shade of skin seemed to somehow be viewed as a factor that determined a person or that person's individual rank in a sense. It was as though Marlow always looked down at the dark colored Africans and preferred to communicate only with whites of his own "kind." For instance at the beginning of the novella, Marlow finds a group of Native Africans chained together.... ...arkness" has a deeper meaning about life and how humans react with it. Perception causes human beings to view things differently from one another, which leads to misunderstandings and unnecessary quarreling. Misunderstandings mixed in with fear of the unknown cause prejudice to arouse and people to disregard and treat others with disrespect and inequality. The inequality of people in society is marked by Social Darwinism, in which only the fittest and most accepted survive, leaving no possibility for those who are different to thrive. The darkness of the world is truly a deeper shade of black containing the fears, nightmares, and misunderstandings of its people. A never-ending pathway is thus created for inequality amongst people who should be working side by side, forgetting their differences, and helping to make the world a better place.

David Milgaard

l Saskatoon man failed by the Canadian justice system The potential of an innocent person wrongfully being arrested, convicted, and punished has always been a risk and a fear on our justice system. As the justice system is handled by humans, it is bound to make mistakes and such errors can lead to circumstances in which an innocent is found guilty; this is called a miscarriage of justice. Miscarriage of justice means the failure of a judicial system or court in the administration of justice, especially when an innocent is convicted in a crime.An example would be the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard involving the rape and murder of Gail Miller back in 1969. The Canadian justice system failed tremendously wasted millions of dollars and lost the public confidence of the system. More importantly, this even took away two decades of one man’s life. The factors of social perception of deviance, the influence of the media, and the misconception of investigating police and prosecu tion played a substantial role in the resulting miscarriage of justice.The Canadian justice system did indeed fail David Milgaard because there was not enough valid evidence to hold him as guilty in the time since his conviction. Media of all types were a part of this miscarriage of justice as there was misinformation and facts that was being spread around about David Milgaard. There is no valid reason why media sources had to target Milgaard in the eye of the nation and say false information to the rest of the country. All the media was doing was putting fear into the heads of people who lived in Saskatoon.Even the police were pressured knowing that the public wanted a killer to go in to jail. The police already thought it was Milgaard, who was the one that did the raping and killing of Miller but in May of 1969, Saskatoon police were getting desperate to find Miller’s murderer. It had already been four months since the time that she was murdered and since Milgaard had a bad history, it seemed perfect to police to look at him as the suspect. At the time when Miller was murdered, there were a number of other women who were raped throughout Saskatoon.In a coincidence, one of Miller’s neighbours had been sexually assaulted right after Milgaard was arrested there were newspapers that mentioned Miller’s murderer was possibly responsible for up to 3 other rapes in that community that could potentially been Larry Fisher. This was just one way that the media picked on Milgaard, and the fact that the media wanted to push some fear into the community. In the community that Gail was living in, there were posters that were posted publicly. All the posters would have a picture of Miller and just above that it would say â€Å"MURDERER†.It was just a matter of time where everything and everyone seemed to be pointing to one person, David Milgaard. Everything started to go downhill once Milgaard was arrested. The media was the main force behind thi s case. The media know the in and outs of finding unique events and they try to make it like it is an everyday occurrence. The media was feeding on the fact that the community that Miller was murdered in was a quiet community. There were no crimes of this size that was made in that particular community until the day Miller was murdered.Because of this the media made it look like Milgaard a serial rapist. Since all the pressure was on Milgaard, both the community and everyone else in the country wanted him to be locked up in jail. At the time of Milgaard’s arrest, he was only 16 years-old, but at the time of the trial, Milgaard was 17 years-old. Milgaard was tried as an adult. Since Milgaard was tried as an adult, this helped by comforting people’s concerns. In Milgaard’s conviction, the Canadian media and society’s image of deviance played a major role.The professional and institutional misconduct was also held responsible for the major injustice that has fell upon Milgaard and his family. There was barely any evidence for police to arrest Milgaard. The main reason why the police arrested Milgaard was because of they thought that they saw characteristics of a crime, so they decided that a crime control approach would be needed. But clearly, there was no characteristic that was shown by Milgaard that proves that he committed a murder in any way.The Saskatoon police started an investigation into Milgaard’s life once Albert Cadrain (a friend of Milgaard’s, who mentioned that Milgaard was the one who committed the murder). The police wanted to find out if there was any motive as to why Miller may have been killed by Milgaard. The police were unsuccessful on realizing Cadrain's claim. The police did recover illustration of truthful facts. Since police had a fixed mind so they decided to neglect the truth. In the present circumstances police figured Milgaard was a clear suspect.Milgaard was a teenager whose appearance looks like a hippie and he was involved in drugs with his friends. According to Melvyn Green, Milgaard was in the â€Å"eye† of public and police. The police decided to neglect the truth. Police had single vision and they ignored to expand on the investigation and follow the facts which they found. So rather than investigating and discovering the true offender who has committed the act, the Saskatoon police singled Milgaard as prime suspect of the murder of Gail Miller After the trial, Milgaard was then put to life in prison for a crime that both he and his family did not do.The Crown attorney did prosecute a case whose goal was totally wrong. During his time in jail, there were multiple times where Milgaard tried to get a new trial, but was rejected. While in jail, Milgaard's mother tried to reopen the case multiple times; it took roughly twelve years for her efforts to pay off. During those 12 years, the case eventually opened and Milgaard was then released from prison after the courts concluded that he was wrongfully convicted. Furthermore, his mother spent some of the 12 years trying to clean Milgaard’s name. By doing so, his record was cleared.David Milgaard was broken down by the Canadian justice system during the time of his conviction due to lack of accurate evidence claiming that he was guilty. After David Milgaard had gotten out of jail, he had lost 23 years of his life. This tragedy could have been prevented if this case was more thoroughly investigated. This is just one of the few cases that prove to show that the Canadian criminal justice system is not perfect. The public’s opinion of Milgaard was heavily swayed by the media, which had a direct impact on his prison sentence.His bad behavior in high school also made him an easy target. These factors had a profound effect on the jury’s position and the witness testimony. In the prosecution of the case, the trial ended in a guilty verdict due to the misconceptions that the Canad ian criminal justice system created around the case. There were three main issues behind the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard, each and every one of these played their own role in the ruling. Work Cited †¢ CBC News. September26, 2008. Joyce Milgaard ‘delighted' by report recommendations. April 29th, 2012. CBC News. Feburary20th, 2004. Alberta judge to head up Milgaard inquiry. April30th, 2012. †¢ Ryerson University. Wrongful Convictions in Canada. April29th,2012. †¢ Adam, Ann, Betty. June15th, 2005. Commission of Inquiry into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard. April27th, 2012. †¢ Michael Wood. November26th, 2011. Milgaard charged with assault, uttering threats. April28th, 2012. †¢ Murderpedia. Larry Fisher. April26th, 2012 †¢ Adam, Ann, Betty. January19, 2005. Commission of Inquiry Into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard. May1st, 2012.

Racial and Ethnic Groups Essay

There are three sociological perspectives of race and ethnicity which are functionalist, conflict, and labeling perspectives. The first one I will discuss is the functionalist perspective. The functionalist perspective emphasizes how the parts of society are structured to maintain its stability. As also described in the reading the functionalist approach is an approach, if an aspect of social life does not contribute to a society’s stability or survival, it will not be passed on from one generation to the next. The functionalist perspective thinks that racial hostility is hard to be admired but the functionalist would point out that it serves some positive functions from the perspective group of the racists as described. In the dominant group there are five functions that racial beliefs have for the dominant group. As described they are the following: 1. A society that practices discrimination fails to use the resources of all individuals. Discrimination limits the search for talent and leadership to the dominant group. 2. Discrimination aggravates social problems such as poverty, delinquency, and crime and places the financial burden of alleviating these problems on the dominant group. 3. Society must invest a good deal of time and money to defend the barriers that prevent the full participation of all members. 4. Racial prejudice and discrimination undercut goodwill and friendly diplomatic relations between nations. They also negatively affect efforts to increase global trade. 5. Social change is inhibited because change may assist a subordinate group. 6. Discrimination promotes disrespect for law enforcement and for the peaceful settlement of disputes. The second perspective is the conflict perspective which is the perspective assumes that the social structure is best understood in terms of conflict or tension between competing groups. As described in the reading society is a struggle between the privileged (the dominant group) and the exploited (the subordinate group). There is competition that takes groups between groups with unequal amounts of political and economic powers. A difference is that functionalists are not necessarily in favor of inequality; their approach is helps to understand why such systems persist as described. The subordinate group is criticized for its low status. The dominant group is responsible for subordination which is often ignored. The third approach is the labeling approach. The labeling theory which is described in the reading is a concept introduced by sociologist Howard Becker, is an attempt to explain why certain people are viewed as deviant and other engaging in the same behavior are not. As said in the reading a crucial aspect of the relationship between dominant and subordinate groups is the prerogative of the dominant group to define society’s values. Minorities are believed to have the lack of ability to perform in important positions where subordinate group are locked into society’s inferior jobs. I feel that I can agree with the labeling perspective the most. The reason for this is that it still exists in today’s society. Companies are required to provide equal opportunity employment and cannot discriminate against religion, race, or age. We know that this is still not true. You see that most police officers and firefighters are still mostly men. You still see large amounts of families have stay at home mothers. Another example would believe that if a child is bad in school that it has to be his or her parents that make them that way. I believe that it truly is still an issue among individuals. Part II I choose African Americans and the creation of migration and the consequence of segregation. Migration is defined as a general term that describes any transfer of population. Segregation is described the physical separation of two groups, often imposed on a subordinate group by the dominant group. According to Wikipedia I choose The Great Migration. As described it was the movement of 2 million African American out of the Southern United States to the Midwest, Northeast, and West from 1910 to 1930. They migrated to escape racism and seek employment opportunities in industrial cities. When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1863 less than eight percent of the African American population lived in the northeastern or Midwestern U. S. As described, â€Å"Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population grew by about 40% in Northern states, mostly in the major cities. Cities such as Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Cleveland had some of the biggest increases in the early part of the century. Because changes were concentrated in cities, urban tensions rose as African Americans and new or recent European immigrants, both groups chiefly from rural societies, competed for jobs and housing with the white ethnic working class. Tensions were often most severe between ethnic Irish, defending their positions, and recent immigrants and blacks. † â€Å"African Americans moved as individuals or small family groups. There was no government assistance, but often northern industries, such as the railroads, meatpacking and stockyards, recruited people. The primary factor for migration was the racial climate and widespread violence of lynching in the South. In the North, they could find better schools and adult men could vote (joined by women after 1920). Burgeoning industries meant there were job opportunities. † (Wikipedia, 2010) This in turn caused African Americans to feel segregated and felt they had to be among other African Americans do to how they are treated. There were many fights and riots among different cultural groups due to segregation. Such as the example of African Americans who could not sit in the front of the bus because of their race. In today’s society this is ethnically not acceptable. References: Wikipedia. (2010, October 15). Wikipedia. org. Retrieved October 23, 2010, from Wikipedia: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American).

Action Research Plan- Vocational transition in Special Education

Action Research Plan- Vocational transition in Special Education Free Online Research Papers Studies and research have supported the need for instruction in vocational classes in order to increase success in employment and transition goals (Okolo Sitlington, 1986). In addition, students with learning disabilities characteristically encounter a number obstacles in mastering goals which lead to post- secondary achievement (Fairweather Shaver,1990). To address these annual and multi-year goals, smaller, more specific benchmark goals must be established. Successful mastery of these vocational and transitional academic goals greatly increases the student’s success in the long-term goals. In recent years transition goals have become a major priority of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, OSERS (Will, 1984). One alternative to hands-on vocational classes is the introduction of vocational academic classes that provide instruction in the functional skills needed to be successful in a post- secondary environment. In order to provide instruction in these specific areas, time must be taken in the resource setting to address the specific learning needs of students with learning disabilities. Transition and vocational goals, which may range from remediation of academics for a student looking to transition to an educational setting to vocational goals for students transitioning to a work place setting, can be specifically addressed in the resource setting. The increase in time spent on direct instruction of these skills should increase the level of functioning in the areas of focus. Appropriately developed IEP goals should now, as mandated by law, address transition that also relate directly to the successful transition of the student to their post- secondary placement (United States Department of Education, 1987). This action research plan is designed to evaluate the direct effects of introduction of vocational academics classes in the resource setting to the mastery of benchmark and annual IEP goals. Related Literature Dr. Wagner and Dr. Blackorby refer to the National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students in order to track and argue that special education students in high schools without appropriate transition planning and programming are much less likely to successfully compete in the work force. They identified a number of ideas that may offer a better planning strategy for disabled students in transition planning. Included in these discussions were course offerings, the need for more vocational training, and the dual nature of taking more general education course. In addressing the last point it was found that one indicator of success was a greater number of general education course, but that in contrast, the higher number of regular education course a disabled student took, the higher the chances of receiving poor grades. This was identified as the primary reason students were dropping out. (Wagner Blackorby 1996) Dr. Cynthia Okolo and Dr. Patricia Sitlington identify the needs of students with learning disabilities as they are related to vocational training and the current trends in special and general education, which are not meeting those needs. They review pertinent studies about students with learning disabilities and their characteristics. They identify the skills needed in order to be successful in the vocational setting. They specifically address those needs that are characteristically lacking in this population. These areas of weakness addressed are academic as well as social skills (Okolo Sitlington, 1986). The current tends and practices in Special education as well as vocational education are reviewed and their strengths and weaknesses are addressed. Okolo and Sitlington recommend that special education practices and vocational practices that should be utilized and include six major areas of concentration and implementation: occupational awareness, exploration, and basic work experience; in-depth career/ vocational assessment; instruction in job-related academic skills; instruction in job-related interpersonal skills; support services to other disciplines in the vocational programming; and post-school placement and follow up (Okolo Sitlington, 1986). They also contend that with these guiding principles and ideas, special educators and vocational educators need to shift focus to the aforementioned areas to best address the weakness in this population’s vocational success. Esther Minskoff and Sherry DeMoss review and examine the characteristics of learning disabled students as they are related to the academic needs of vocational education programs and how the Trade-Related Academic Competencies (TRAC) program can be used to task analyze skills needed in vocational classes. They first contrast the characteristics often exhibited by students with Mild, Moderate, and Severe Learning Disabilities. The authors then identify the attributes of Special Education and Vocational program integrations that best benefit the students success. Finally they identify the TRAC model and its methodology. This includes identifying how the TRAC is used for standard vocational classes as well as giving guidelines for using the model to developing TRAC list for other classes (Minskoff DeMoss, 1993). A number of studies regarding transition identify the obstacles that students with a learning disability face as well as offer support for the need of vocational and academics working in conjunction to increase the student’s success. A 1989 study identified different factors related to the ability of students with and without identified handicaps to gain and remain employed after graduating from high school. (Hasazi, Johnson, Hasazi, Gordon, Hull, 1989). A sample of 133 students was chosen from nine Vermont school districts. The sample was comprised of 67 students with handicaps and 66 students without. These students graduated, dropped out, or left school due to age requirements without graduating. The year of exit from high school for these students was the 1984-1985 school year. The school districts were chosen based on demographic characteristics and included four rural and four urban schools. After identifying the students with handicaps, there were attempts made to contact and recruit these students. This resulted in the participation of 43 students in 1986 and 54 in 1987. Identified based on Vermont state definitions, this group included students labeled as learning disabled, emotionally disturbed, and mildly mentally retarded. The services provided to these students were mainly provided in the resource room. The students without handicaps were identified from students on a vocational track who had graduated, dropped out before graduation, or left prior to graduation due to age requirements. Every one of the 66 students in 1986 were located and participated and 61 of the students in 1987 were contacted and agreed to continue participation. The characteristics of demographics included community size (Rural, Urban, and Metro), Gender, Manner of Exit (Graduated, Left, Dropped), and Age at Exit (15-22). The collection of data included two procedures. There was an initial review of school records and telephone interviews of each student. In the event that a student could not be contacted, an informant was interviewed. Information gathered from the records review included program placement, year of exit, manner of exit, gender, and age at exit. Information gathered form the interview included vocational training since exit, current employment, employment history, use of social services, and living status. Employment history was made up of job descriptions and length of employment. Living status indicated where and with whom the student was currently residing. These areas of data were recorded and labeled for data analysis in the following means. Hourly wage was broken into full time ( > 37.5 hrs/ wk), part time (21-37 hrr/wk) , and unemployed. The study exempted those students who were unemployed from a number of the analyses. Those employed were divided up by amount of wages into three categories: less than $3.45 per hour (min wage), $3.46- $5.00 per hour, and greater than $5.00 per hour. The jobs were also then classified into skilled and unskilled labor. The fringe benefits were categorized into two groups, those who received none and those who received one or more fringe benefit. The date recorded which related to the means of obtaining the jobs were broken into tow groups: â€Å"self/family/friend network† and those that were assisted by a service or institution. Living status included the groups living independently and those living dependently (family and staff). The data collected was analyzed in two ways, parametrically or non-parametrically. This was determined by the nature of the data. There was consideration given to those statistics involving the students from both studies. These analyses were not shown to have any significant variance. It was noted that there were only 3 female students identified with learning disabilities disallowed for a â€Å"meaningful analysis of both gender and handicapping condition.† (Hasazi, S., Johnson, Hasazi, Gordon, Hull, 1989) The final data and analysis from this study indicated that students with handicaps had a higher rate of unemployment, fewer fringe benefits, earned lower wages, worked fewer hours, and held less skilled jobs than the similar students without handicaps (Hasazi, Johnson, Hasazi, Gordon, Hull, 1989). There was a smaller percentage gap between students who were and were not employed than those employed full time versus those employed part time. There was some positive correlation as well between those students who held jobs during high school obtaining a higher level of employment after high school regardless of whether they were identified as handicapped or not. There were also findings indicating that the students in both groups who had taken a vocational course in high school were significantly more likely to be employed following exit from high school. A 1990 study examined potential barriers to postsecondary education for students with disabilities. Preliminary results from the National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students were explained as they relate to students with disabilities participating in postsecondary education programs. Implications regarding policy and practices that may emerge were then discussed (Fairweather Shaver, 1990). The National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (National Transition Study) is a study over a five-year span examining the progress of a sampling of students from special education programs following their exits from secondary education to early adulthood. The study was guided by the following research questions: What are the characteristics of special education students leaving high school? What level of participation in postsecondary programs is achieved by youth with disabilities? For students with disabilities, what relationships exist between student demographic characteristics and participation in post-secondary programs? A sampling of students in each of the eleven federally recognized handicapping conditions was selected. These conditions are learning disabled, emotionally disturbed/ behavioral disorder, mentally retarded, speech impaired, orthopedic ally impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, blind, deaf- blind, other health impaired, and multiple handicapped. A sample of 626 districts was selected from 13,180 school districts nation-wide, which served grades 7 and higher. These districts were â€Å"stratified by geographic region, enrollment, and community wealth† (Fairweather Shaver, 1990). The breakdown of this sample includes 450 districts originally selected, 25 schools specializing in blind and deaf education, and 176 districts supplemented due to difficulty in obtaining proper agreements. There were 303 schools that agreed to participate in the study. From these districts rosters were obtained of students aged 13 and older who were in grades 7 through 12 as well as 13 years and older in th e 1985-1986 school year. By dividing this group by handicapping a condition, a sample of 12, 648 special education students were selected. Of these, a list of 10,458 students was developed based on the ability to establish contact with the students. A smaller sample of 6,877 youth participated in the survey, which is a 65.8 percent response rate. The final criteria established were that the students were to have exited high school at the time of the interview and at least 17 years of age in their year of exit. The means by which they exited were established as graduating, dropping out, reaching an age limit, being expelled, or permanently withdrawing. This narrowed the sample to 1,639 youth. Out of this group, information was available for 1,242 respondents. These are the students making up the studies sample. Telephone interviews were conducted with the parents or guardians of the respondents in the fall of 1987. In order to establish a comparative group of non-disabled youth, results, the interview questions were similar to the High School and beyond survey of non-disabled youth from 1980. These items included demographic characteristics as well as participation and achievement in postsecondary programs. The weighted percentages for study variables were calculated, and two-tailed tests of differences between proportions were determined. There was also comparative data from the HSB examined regarding postsecondary participation of non-handicapped youth. For this comparison there was also a two-tailed test performed to look for differences between the groups The primary finding was that the National Transition Study was reported by informants as the HSB study was self reported. The final data and analysis from this study indicated that students with handicaps, socio-economically, are considerably more disadvantaged than their non-disabled peers. It was also found that â€Å"involvements in postsecondary education for youth with disabilities who exit high school is dramatically lower that for handicapped youths.† (Fairweather Shaver, 1990) In addition, non-disabled youths are three times more likely to go to a community college and ten times more likely to take classes at a 4-year university than their peers with disabilities. It is also noted that youth with disabilities are more likely to participate in a 2-year rather than 4- Year College. The study also indicates that youth with disabilities who graduate from high school are much less likely to become involved in postsecondary education but equally as likely to participate in a postsecondary vocational school. A 1981 study evaluated the vocational, social, and school adjustment of a group of learning disabled children over an extended time period. The subjects studied were 12 males and 9 females who had all received special education services for specific learning disabilities from the Laboratory School for Specific Learning Disabilities (LSSLD) at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee between the years of 1961-1969. These subjects had received services for at least a year, and a maximum of seven years with the average being 2.6 years of service. The follow up interview occurred from 10-19 years after they had first attended the program. Al subjects were white and from middle class families. They also all resided in a suburb of the greater Milwaukee area (Fafard Haubrich, 1981). From the Fall of 1978 through Fall 1979, the former students and their parents were interviewed by either of the authors in their homes. IN a majority the subjects and parents were interviewed together, but at times phone interviews were conducted. The survey was a 20-question interview that focused on four types of information; demographics, school adjustment, vocational adjustment, and social adjustment. Direct question format was used to elicit the maximum amount of information from the individuals and parents. Rewording and prompting were noted if a subject did not seem to fully understand the questioning. The questions about demographics were asked simultaneously to both subject and parents and then the questions about adjustment were given to them separately. The demographics were analyzed and divided into categories of: a. graduation, b. drivers license, c. residence, and, d. type of special services received in school. The three other areas studied, school adjustment, social adjustment, and vocational areas are all described in terms of the subject and parents perceptions. Demographically, applied to graduation, 12 students had completed a secondary program, 6 were in programs at the time, and three had dropped out. There were four also enrolled in college programs. Applicable to driver’s license, all twenty-three subjects were eligible for their license. 11 had attained them, 6 had not, and 4 were not eligible. Residential status in the demographics survey indicated that seventeen subjects lived at their parent’s home, while four were living independently from their parents. The final demographic, the amount of special services provided, were broken into the following categories. Four reported no further services. Ten reported they received regular education services with speech and language services. Six reported enrollment in a Learning Disabilities Resource program. Two more were enrolled in a program for the mentally retarded. One subject received services in a residential setting for students with learning disabilities. The subjects all reported academic and social activities as either successful or difficult. The major subject areas most frequently identified as successful were math science, and art. The areas most often identified as successful were English, math reading, and PE. It should be noted that there was a crossover in the area of math as successful and difficult. This was in part due to a large number of males reporting it as difficult and females reporting it as successful. For the area of vocational adjustment, subjects and parents reported on the areas of part time and full time employment, types of jobs, job training, and post-high school and career information. Social adjustment examined information from the surveys regarding: a. types of social activities, b. most and least preferred social activities, c. making friends, and d. setting of social activities. These areas were found to be tough to quantify as the answers were extremely varied. The authors first qualify the discussion of results due to the small sample size, limited demographics, and the aptitude the sample showed for continuing on in education with little continued educational support. Also the interview limitations due to the time elapsed may skew the results. After qualifying the statements it was noted that there was a large group, excluding the college bound that indicated a further need for service and support. The examination of school adjustment indicated that the areas of Language arts and reading were a continued area of need. More surprisingly was the support for a need to look that exclusion of learning disabled students from physical education programs. Vocationally, the lack of counseling and training in the specific areas stood out. This provides earlier studies that indicated these students were in need of further vocational education and training to be successful. There was a strong desire indicated to want to work, but there was a lower rate of employment if there were no specific vocational opportunities offered. This caused a great deal of identified stress for subjects and parents. There were a number of findings reported in the social adjustment area. There was a great deal of avoidance of these issues and discussion of social situations. Secondly, it was in this area that there was a differing opinion between parents and subjects. Parents expressed a concern for lack of interaction outside the family that was not identified by the subjects themselves. Rojewski examined the results from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88) to determine the differences in occupational aspirations and career choices between disabled and non disabled adolescents. Also a comparison was made of the differences in the same choice patterns and aspirations between males and females. Rojewski utilized the NELS:88 to identify trends and differences based on the student questionnaires and indications about the student’s choices and aspirations over 4 years of the study (Rojewski 1996). The National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students (National Transition Study) is a study over a five-year span examining the progress of a sampling of students from special education programs through their exits from secondary education. Rojewski compiled a sample from this database. A sampling of students were selected from the database of students from the NELS:88. A sample of 1,051 schools were chosen who had 8th grade students in 1988. Twenty-four students were chosen at random from each school. This provided a group of greater than 24,000 students. The students were then disregarded if they had not participated in the first follow up survey (10th grade). After this process, the students were divided into groups of student with learning disabilities and without learning disabilities. This resulted in the selection of 12,542 total students, 405 adolescents with learning disabilities and 12,137 non-disabled peers. The study identifies an inherent threat to the validity of the results. School-identified samples rather than research- identified samples may produce a bias. This may be due to the behaviors that most often are identified in learning disabled students and the lack of a consistent definition between schools for a student with a learning disability. After reviewing demographic, achievement scores, and adolescent personality markers, it was determined that the selection process was successful in identifying the learning disabled population. The areas reviewed in the survey were problems with academic skills and performance, analysis of self-concept and locus of control, and the measurement of occupational aspirations. The academic achievement was broken into math and reading scores. In reading and Math, there was a considerable difference in the cores with non-disabled students scoring higher on the assessment tool. In reading, disabled females scored higher than their disabled male counterparts while the opposite is true for the Math scores. In Math, the disabled males scored higher. In examining the survey regarding self-concept and locus of control, females with a learning disability held a lower self- concept than all other adolescents. In contrast to that non- disabled males held the highest self- concept scores. For locus of control, grade 8 and 10 males and females with disabilities were more external in their locus of control. The group who reported a higher internal locus of control were tenth grade females without a disability. Background information was collected from a student questionnaire. Te areas addressed were gender, race, and locale of the student, socioeconomic status, self-concept, and locus of control. The results regarding socioeconomic status were delineated into four quartiles and examined five different variables. These are family income, parents’ education level, and parent occupations. To assess achievement levels in reading and math, scores from standardized testing were reviewed. The areas of reading and math were the only areas addressed and were used for descriptive purposes only. Career aspirations and career-choices were examined using occupational questions on the surveys. The students were asked to choice jobs they expected to be doing at the age of 30. The categories presented at the base survey numbered 14. This was expanded to 17 in the follow up surveys in order to better specify areas of interest. The results collected were placed into groups according to high, moderate, and low levels of education, prestige, and status. The data included a general description of the aspirations, a determination that the gender and disability of the student plays on the aspiration, and the change between follow ups on the aspirations. It was determined that these results supported the idea that there are differences in the impact of disabilities, as well as gender, on career aspirations. More to point, female in the eighth grade are more likely you be indecisive about future occupations that any other adolescents. They also are least likely to aspire to moderate- prestige occupations. This is the opposite to the non-disabled females of that grade who aspire to high- prestige occupations. Eighth grade males, similarly aspire to high- prestige occupations with more than 50% of the disabled males in this grade aspiring to moderate- prestige jobs. This trend held true to the tenth grade follow up results. Indications in this study also showed a great deal of indecision for disabled students with a more decisive path for their non-disabled peers. This, and the level of their aspirations have a positive correlation. The study indicates the significant impact disabilities have on the level of career aspirations. The primary concerns about this trend are that the students are being required to make this choice as early as eighth grade and that this is the crucial period in their vocational development. Dr. Henrey Reiff and Dr. Sharon deFur, reviewed literature which examines historical information regarding transition policy and legislation, post-secondary outcomes currently in use, and transition planning services available to lend proof to their statement that these students can benefit greatly from better developed transition services. The author’s contention is that requirement for transition planning and services and the legislation now in place the support it allows for a greater probability of success for students with disabilities. Through study of legislative mandates the article outlines the requirements of special education in providing a concise transition plan to disabled students. In identifying desirable outcomes, the article provides a framework for developing transition services for a number of routes. Finally, this article outlines the need for comprehensive and in depth assessment of the students needs in developing the most appropriate transition plan ava ilable. In a related study, Dr. Jay Rojewski, reviewed and examined the major themes from Bandura’s 1982 explanation of how chance influences individual life paths. He contrasts these with the characteristics, personal and social, often attributed to persons with learning disabilities. Rojewski first provides an overview of theoretical perspectives of career behavior including psychological theories and sociological theories. The author contends that psychological theories under represent minority groups including individuals with disabilities. In addressing the role of chance in career development, Dr. Rojewski defines chance and provides evidence of its influences on career behavior. The author proposes that the following determinants, personal and social, raise the intensity of chance on the career development of youth with disabilities; social skills difficulties, planfulness, problem solving, locus of control, self-esteem/ self concept, severity of disability, peer group influenc es, parental influences, cultural influences and school/ teacher influences. Dr. Wagner and Dr. Blackorby refer to the National Longitudinal Transition Study of Special Education Students in order to track and argue that special education students in high schools without appropriate transition planning and programming are much less likely to successfully compete in the work force. They identified a number of ideas that may offer a better planning strategy for disabled students in transition planning. Included in these discussions were course offerings, the need for more vocational training, and the dual nature of taking more general education course. In addressing the last point it was found that one indicator of success was a greater number of general education course, but that in contrast, the higher number of regular education course a disabled student took, the higher the chances of receiving poor grades. This was identified as the primary reason students were dropping out. Research Question Can direct instruction in the academics of vocational training in a resource setting increase the level of mastery for transition and vocational goals for students with learning disabilities? Previous research supports the fact that students with learning disabilities are finding greater success in this area with increased time in vocational education classes. There is also ample proof that, due to the learning obstacles they face, these same students benefit a great deal from direct instruction in a resource setting. Based around these concepts, providing direct instruction in the academics of vocation in the resource setting should increase the level of mastery related to the IEP goals related to transition and vocation. To answer this question, quarterly progress monitoring in these areas must be assessed in relative terms. There is not just the question of full mastery, but improvement in relationship to where the student’s level of proficiency was to begin with. If the st udents improve in their ability to complete tasks and exhibit an increase in the skill set needed to successfully transition, their level of mastery has increased. Methods and Procedures Sample The sample should consist of students qualifying for a learning disability under Department of Defense guidelines in grades 9-12. These students are identified from the population receiving services at Fort Campbell High School. The criteria for qualifying for learning disabled include any students who are at or below the 10th percentile on a standard achievement test. These students can be identified from records review in their special education files. A review of records will identify prior mastery levels applicable to transition and vocation. There are 84 students receiving special education services in Fort Campbell High School. Forty six of these students currently are identified as having a learning disability. Due to the transient nature of this population, these numbers can fluctuate over time. To increase the scope of the study, Fort Knox also is included in the Department of Defense Schools System district. Procedure Prior to establishing IEP goals, an appropriate curriculum must be developed and implemented. This curriculum should encompass all aspect of vocational academics and include transferable skills training in the subject areas of Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies. There needs to be flexibility in the delivery of this direct instruction based on the level of proficiency in these areas exhibited by the students. Providing instruction in the resource setting will allow this curriculum to be delivered in a flexible setting with accommodations and modifications needed. This curriculum should be in place and accessible prior to the year and developed in conjunction with the school’s vocational department. These individuals should also be a part of the Site- Based Case Study Committee’s (SBCSC) development of the IEP goals. The study of the effects of introduction of vocational academic curriculum classes in the resource setting on transition and vocational goals should include the establishment and monitoring of appropriate IEP goals. These goals, derived by the SBCSC, should be appropriate to the post-secondary goals and career track of the individual students. These goals can be geared toward transition to an academic or vocational setting. Department of Defense Education Activity manual has established goals to address the areas of career and work skills in the secondary setting. These include but are not limited to: Employment: These student will demonstrate skills for getting along with others in the work place The student will demonstrate skills for getting along with supervisors. The student will develop awareness for the world of work. The student will demonstrate career and/ or employment skills. The student will understand the knowledge requirements of his/ her preferred occupation. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the job process. Post- Secondary The student will identify educational skills in the workplace. The student will demonstrate entrance requirements for appropriate post-secondary community programs. The student will organize a work site. The student will demonstrate knowledge of how to succeed in a post-secondary program. Academic goals related to a transition curriculum, related to core subject areas include but are not limited to the following: Language arts The student will apply written language skills in functional writing activities. Identify the five main parts of a business letter. Write a resume. Write functional notes, messages, shopping lists, task lists, directions, and assignments. Mathematics The student will make reasonable estimations. The student will demonstrate an understanding of money concepts. The student will understand the basics of graphs, statistics, and graphs. The student will understand time concepts. Reading The student will demonstrate an understanding of functional documents. The student will demonstrate an understanding of consumer information. The student will apply reading skills needed for independent employment. With these goals and any individualized IEP goals developed by the SBCSC, a curriculum encompassing the required academic skills should be developed from all available resources in the content areas. Academic setting may include but are not limited to college, trade schools, or other schooling options. Vocational settings may be a work place or vocational courses and work training programs. This should occur within the first 10 days of the school year. The vocational academics are to be delivered dependant upon the development of the student’s class schedule. Because Department of Defense Dependant Schools (DODDS) operate on a block schedule, implementation should be 90 minutes every other day or one class period. This will provide the student with an average of two and a half class periods a week of direct instruction in the area of vocational academics. This instruction ill be provided by the special education staff and any support staff assigned to that department. This class should be identified as direct special education provided in the resource setting by special education staff reflective on the service page of the IEP. Progress on transition and vocational goals should be checked and documented at each grade reporting period. DODDS special education policy provides for quarterly progress reports to be provided in each report card period as well as during the annual review of the IEP. Each nine week period, with the completion of the grading period, each case managing special education is charged with documenting progress on all IEP goals. For the purpose of consistency in this study, the special education teacher for the vocational academics class should closely evaluate the progress made by each student in the class. The progress is ranked on a five tier ranking system and assigned the following numerical values; 1. No Progress, 2. Little Progress, 3. Some (moderate) Progress, 4. Partially Mastered, and 5. Mastered. The completion of the study should occur with a review of the IEP transition/ vocational goals in a SBCSC meeting in the last two weeks of the school year. Upon completion and collection of the progress reports, each goal should be reviewed and the progress evaluated. In this process, the SBCSC should look at how much the student progressed, if the goals were mastered, if the goals remain appropriate, if the time allowed for mastery was appropriate, and whether r not the goals remain aligned with the student’s goals and aspirations. Time Schedule Implementation of the study should begin and end with a SBCSC of the IEP goals. The development of these goals will occur within the first ten schooldays, Aug6- 17. The vocational academics class will be provided by the special education department in 90 minute intervals every other day on the block schedule. The time of day will be dependant on the scheduling of all classes in the school day. Each 9-week instructional period will mark the data collection point with the evaluation and recording of the student’s progress. For the 2007-08 school year in the DODDS system these dates are 12/ 05/ 07, 12/ 21/ 07, 03/ 14/08, 05/ 09/08. A fifth progress report will occur dependant on the date of the student’s annual review of their IEP. The last data collection point will occur in conjunction with the final grading period on 12 /05/ 07. This will mark the completion of the data collection and at this time the data will be reviewed and analyzed to identify relative gains, losses in the level of goal mastery. Data Collection Data Collection will occur at five times throughout the school year. Four of these collection points will be at a 9 week interval and take place in conjunction with the monitoring and documentation of school- mandated quarterly progress reports. The dates for these collection points are October 5, December 21, March 14, and May 9. A fifth collection point will occur at the student’s annual IEP review. Because each student’s annual review occurs a different times of the year, this fifth collection point will be dependant on the individual IEP. The data collected will be in the form of the aforementioned numerical ranking from the special education teacher providing instruction in the vocational academic class. This ranking 1-5 is recorded on the IEP goals sheet in the student’s special education file. Because of the small size of this sample, these results may not be replicable in other environments. The rating scale, filled out by the special education provider w ill be compiled by the teacher conducting and monitoring the study. Data Analysis The data will be evaluated for value added and it’s relativity to the student’s previous levels of performance. Through a records review of progress on prior transition goals, each benchmark and annual goal will be reviewed and evaluated. On each goal, with implementation of the direct instruction in the resource setting, mastery of transition goals should see a marked increase. Mastery of these goals, using the established ranking system, should all receive a ranking of 3 or above. This will indicate that the student’s are making moderate progress on all transition/vocational goals. By applying a value added system, we are able to also see the amount of increase seen in each student in relationship to their individual starting points. References Fafard, M..B., Haubrich, P.A. (1981). Vocational and social adjustment of learning disabled young adults: A follow-up study. Learning Disabled Quarterly, Vol.4, (No. 2), 122-130. Retrieved June 29, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Fairweather, J.S., Shaver, D.M.. (1990). A troubled future?: Participation in postsecondary education by youth with disabilities. The Journal of Higher Education, Vol.61, (No. 3), 332-348. Retrieved June 13, 2007 from JSTOR at jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Hasazi, S., Johnson, R., Hasazi, J., Gordon, L., Hull, M. (1989). Employment of youth with and without handicaps following high school: outcomes and correlates. The Journal of Special Education, Vol.23, (No. 3), 243-255. Retrieved June 9, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Heller, T. , Miller, A.B. , Hsieh, K. (1999). Impact of a consumer-directed family support program on adults with developmental disabilities and their family caregivers. Family Relations, Vol.48, (No. 4), 419-427. Retrieved June 19, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Minskoff, E.H. DeMoss, S. (1993). Facilitating successful transition : Using the TRAC model to assess and develop academic skills needed for vocational competence. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.16, (No. 3), 161-170. Retrieved June 23, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Okolo, C. M. Sitlington, P. (Spring 1986). The role of special education in LD adolescents’ transition from school to workl. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.9, (No. 2), 141-155. Retrieved July 6, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Reiff, H., deFur, S. (Autumn, 1992). Transition for youth with learning disabilities: focus on developing independence. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.15, (No. 4), 237-249. Retrieved June 11, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Rojewski, J.W., (Spring 1996). Ocupational Aspirations and early career-choice patterns of adolescents with and without disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.19, (No. 2), 99-116. Retrieved July 3, 2007 from JSTOR at jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Rojewski, J.W. (Autumn, 1999). The role of chance in the career development of individuals with learning disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol.22, (No. 4), 267-278. Retrieved June 13, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. U.S. Department of Education (1987). Ninth annual report to congress on the implementation of the education of the handicapped act. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education Programs, Division of Innovation and Development. Wagner, M.H.., Blackorby, J. (1996). Transition from high school to work or college: How special education students fare. The Future of Children, Vol.6, (No. 1), 103-120. Retrieved June 29, 2007 from JSTOR at http://0-www.jstor.org.library.acaweb.org/. Will, M. (1984). Bridges from school to working life. Washington, DC: Office of Special Education and Rehailitative Services. Research Papers on Action Research Plan- Vocational transition in Special EducationStandardized TestingThe Project Managment Office SystemInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesResearch Process Part OnePETSTEL analysis of IndiaBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Hockey GameAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaOpen Architechture a white paperLifes What Ifs

The Economic Performance of the UAE

The Economic Performance of the UAE The aim of this paper was to analyze the economic performance of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In particular, the paper focused on the effect of the decline in economic growth rate in 2012 and the fiscal policy that can be implemented to boost economic growth. The IMF predicted a reduction in economic growth of the country from 4.9% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012. The country’s limited capacity to increase oil production is one of the factors that were expected to cause the decline in economic growth.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Economic Performance of the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The findings of this paper indicate that the reduction of economic growth rate would reduce the country’s real output and increase unemployment in the long-run. Consequently, the government should implement an expansionary fiscal policy in order to stimulate economic growth. Moreover, the gover nment should focus on controlling the inflation and the crowding-out effect associated with expansionary fiscal policy. Summary of the Article According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the expansion rate of the economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was expected to reduce from 4.9% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012. The reduction was attributed to the country’s inability to increase its oil production. Nonetheless, the economy was expected to maintain its recovery. The 2009-2010 Dubai debt crisis adversely affected the country’s property industry. Consequently, Dubai World, which is a state-owned corporation, had to restructure its debts that were worth twenty five billion dollars. Nonetheless, the country was able to survive the crisis due to favorable oil prices and improved trade with Asia. According to the IMF, the uncertainty of the performance of the world economy was a threat to UAE’s forecasted growth. Concisely, continued decline in the performance o f the world economy would limit the ability of UAE’s state-owned corporations to replace their maturing debts with new ones. Despite the efforts made to restructure the debts, most state-owned corporations still required high refinancing. The IMF also believed that the government’s decision to consolidate fiscal policy was right. Explanation of the Article based on AD-AS Model The economy of the UAE as described in the article can be explained in the framework of the aggregate demand (AD) and aggregate supply (AS) model. The model is made of up of three curves namely, the â€Å"aggregate demand curve (AD), the short run aggregate supply curve (SAS) and the long run supply curve (LAS)† (Rossana 81). Figure 1 shows the short run equilibrium of the economy of the UAE. Aggregate demand includes consumption by private economic entities, investments, government expenditure, and net exports (Chamberlin, Linda and Yueh 241). In this regard, the factors that will cause a shift in the AD curve of UAE’s economy include foreign income, income distribution, and fiscal policy, as well as, anticipations concerning future output and prices.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Foreign income refers to the income earned in UAE’s major trading partners such as the United States of America, Europe, and Asian countries. According to the article, the recovery of the global economy is uncertain. This implies that foreign income will reduce if the global economy continues to deteriorate. Thus, the demand for UAE’s exports such as oil will reduce. As a result, the earnings of UAE’s exporting firms will decrease. This partly explains why the state-linked firms will not be able to rollover their debts if the performance of the global economy worsens. Overall, the decline in foreign income will cause the AD curve to shift to the left from AD0 to AD1, thereby reducing real output from Y0 to Y1. Following IMF’s prediction of economic decline, producers expect demand for their products to reduce in future. Thus, they will reduce investments and production in order to avoid the losses associated with high variable costs and low demand (Rossana 126). Similarly, consumers will associate the expected economic decline with reduced future earnings. Thus, they are likely to reduce consumption in order to save for the future. Consequently, the AD curve will shift to the left from AD0 to AD1, whereas real output will reduce from Y0 to Y1. As firms reduce investments and production in response to the expected economic decline, the â€Å"distribution of income from profit earners to wage earners is likely to worsen† (Minford and Peel 329). Generally, wage earners allocate a larger portion of their income to consumption than profit earners. Thus, allocation of income in favor of profit earners rather th an wage earners will move the AD curve to the left. Finally, the government’s plan to consolidate fiscal policy is likely to involve a reduction in public expenditure. This will lower aggregate demand, thereby shifting the AD curve to the left. The SAS illustrates the response of prices and real output to changes in aggregate demand in the short run (Romer 415). UAE’s short run supply curve will shift due to changes in productivity. The expected economic decline will lead to reduced productivity, thereby shifting the SAS curve in figure 2 to the left from SAS0 to SAS1.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on The Economic Performance of the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, real output will reduce from Y0 to Y1. If the global economy continues to deteriorate, the prices of UAE’s exports will decline. This will discourage production among exporters, thereby reducing aggr egate supply. Thus, the SAS curve will shift to the left. The expected decline in economic growth will cause the aggregate supply curve and the aggregate demand curve to shift to the left. These shifts are associated with a reduction in real output from Y0 to Y1. As a result, the short run equilibrium of the country’s economy will shift from E0 to E1. Description of the Economic Situation of the Market The expected decline in economic growth will affect both the goods and factor markets. In the goods market, the economic decline can have positive effects for consumers. This is because inflation usually declines when economic growth reduces (Rossana 112). Concisely, economic decline reduces demand for goods and services. Thus, producers and sellers are likely to reduce the prices of their products in order to stimulate demand and to clear their stock of manufactured goods, thereby reducing inflation. In this case, the consumers will have a higher purchasing power than they had before the reduction of the prices. On the contrary, the price reductions will affect the producers negatively. This is because it will reduce their profit margins. In addition, some producers might sell their goods at a loss. The expected economic decline will also affect prices in the factor market. As profits reduce, companies are likely to implement cost-cutting measures such as reducing their workforce. Moreover, companies are likely to reduce their investments in new equipment or borrowing in order to expand their operations (Minford and Peel 215). In this regard, factor prices will fall. For example, wage rates are likely to reduce as companies layoff their employees. Similarly, interest rates, which is the cost of financial capital is likely to reduce as demand for loans declines. The reduction in factor prices will benefit producers by lowering their costs of production. Nonetheless, it will negatively affect suppliers of factors of production. For example, low wage rates will reduce workers’ disposable income and purchasing power. The Right Fiscal Policy Fiscal policy refers to the use of â€Å"government expenditure, taxation, and borrowing to influence the level of aggregate demand, output, and jobs in an economy† (Chamberlin, Linda and Yueh 197). Fiscal policy enables the government to influence the pattern of expenditure and income distribution in its economy.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Thus, Keynesians believe that fiscal policy has a great impact on consumption, productivity, and job creation in an economy that has an excess capacity. Thus, the government of the UAE should implement an expansionary fiscal policy in order to prevent a recession. An expansionary fiscal policy refers to â€Å"the increase in government expenditure and or a decrease in taxes that usually results into an increase in budget deficit or a reduction in budget surplus† (Chamberlin, Linda and Yueh 210). Justification for Implementing Expansionary Fiscal Policy An expansionary fiscal policy should be implemented because it will enable the government to reverse the economic decline. Concisely, the policy will spur economic growth by stimulating consumption and demand. The unemployment rate in the UAE increased from 3% in 2008 to 4.2% in 2012 (Nyarko 4-15). On the contrary, the country’s inflation rate was as low as 0.7% in 2012. The increase in unemployment rate, low inflation, and the expected reduction in GDP growth suggest that the economy is operating below its potential output. The government can push the country’s real output back to its near potential level by implementing an expansionary fiscal policy that involves an increase in public spending. Government â€Å"expenditure is one of the components of aggregate demand† (Rossana 47). Thus increasing it will result into an increase in aggregate demand. Figure 3 shows the effect of an expansionary fiscal policy on real output. According to figure 3, a rise in aggregate demand due to an increase in spending by the government will move the AD curve to the right from AD0 to AD1. Consequently, the country’s real output will increase from Y0 to Yp. In this case, Yp is the potential output. As the economy moves towards its potential output, the rate of GDP growth is likely to increase. How the Expansionary Fiscal Policy will affect the Economy First, the policy will lead to increased e conomic growth, thereby improving earnings in the private and public sector. Concisely, firms are likely to increase investments and to employ more people in order to increase their production in response to the expected increase in aggregate demand (Rossana 233). In this regard, increased productivity will raise firm profits and the incomes earned by workers. The government can also create employment through the expansionary fiscal policy. For example, it can create thousands of jobs in the construction industry by constructing new roads and schools. Second, an expansionary fiscal policy is likely to be inflationary. Figure 3 shows that prices will increase from P0 to P1 as real output increases after the implementation of the expansionary fiscal policy. A sharp increase in inflation is not desirable because it will reverse the benefits of the economic growth. Concisely, a high inflation reduces consumers’ purchasing power. Thus, aggregate demand will reduce if wages are not raised in response to the increase in inflation (Minford and Peel 316). Similarly, a high inflation will raise the prices of inputs, thereby increasing production costs. If the producers are able to pass the high costs of production to consumers, the prices of various goods and services will increase, thereby reducing demand. However, producers will have to absorb the high costs of production if they cannot share them with the consumers. In this case, firm profits will reduce in response to the high production costs. Nonetheless, the inflationary effect is not likely to be severe because the country’s inflation in 2012 was less than 1% (World Bank). Countries can increase their economic growth rate and create employment as long as they maintain a single digit inflation rate (Rossana 102). Thus, the inflation associated with the expansionary fiscal policy is not likely to be detrimental if it is less than 10%. Third, the expansionary fiscal policy is likely to increase UAEâ⠂¬â„¢s public debt if it is financed through borrowing. In 2012, the country’s public debt as a percentage of its GDP was 40%. Thus, the country is likely to fall into a debt trap if it continues to increase its public debt. A debt trap is a situation in which the government has to borrow in order to pay the interests charged on its existing debts. Countries that have fallen into debt traps often have poor credit ratings due to their limited ability to repay their loans. Thus, a low credit rating will limit the country’s ability to access capital from foreign lenders such as the IMF. High public debt is also not desirable because it involves a redistribution of income from taxpayers to holders of government debt securities (Romer 516). In this regard, it is likely to redistribute income from low-income earners who pay taxes to the rich who invest in government bonds. This is because the interests on government bonds are paid through taxes. Fourth, an expansionary fisca l policy is likely to have a crowding-out effect in the economy if it is implemented through a large deficit spending. In this case, the government will have to borrow a large amount of financial capital from the public in order to implement the policy. Conceptually, the government will be competing with private firms for capital. Consequently, interest rates will increase, thereby limiting the ability of private firms to access credit through the financial and capital markets. The government will have to increase taxes in order to repay the funds borrowed from the public. High taxes in the medium run will reduce consumers’ disposable income (Minford and Peel 117). The resulting reduction in consumption and demand, as well as, limited access to capital will lead to reduced investments. Thus, economic growth will decline. The Fiscal Policy Tools The tools that should be used to implement expansionary fiscal policy are increased government spending and tax cuts. Increased gover nment expenditure can be implemented in the following was. First, the government can increase its transfer payments. This involves increasing expenditure on social security programs such as unemployment benefit, state pension, and grants to students. Transfer payments ensure that every citizen has access to some minimum regular income (Minford and Peel 391). Transfer payments will improve the purchasing power of the poor, thereby increasing aggregate demand and economic growth. Second, the government can expand its current budget on recurrent expenditure. This involves increasing expenditure on public goods such as education and health care. In this regard, the government can increase employment in the education and health sector by hiring more teachers and nurses respectively. Additionally, the government can improve the salaries of workers in the sectors that provide public goods. Provision of public goods also involves expenditure on consumables such as stationery. Thus, aggregat e demand is likely to increase as the government increases its expenditure on public goods. This will lead to improved economic growth. Finally, government expenditure can be increased through capital spending. This involves increasing investments on infrastructure such roads, schools, and hospitals. Capital spending has a great effect on aggregate demand and supply because it stimulates high consumption. For example, construction of new roads will increase demand in the industries that supply construction materials. In addition, construction projects usually create thousands of employment opportunities. This will help the country to address the problem of persistent unemployment. Taxes can be direct or indirect. Direct taxes are charged on employment income and profits. Indirect taxes are levied on spending. They include value added tax (VAT) and excise duties on goods such as petrol. Most residents of the UAE do not pay personal income tax. Nonetheless, corporate tax is charged in most of the emirates. For example, nearly all companies in Dubai pay taxes on their earnings. In Dubai, corporate tax can be as high as 55% (Nyarko 4-15). Generally, most emirates levy corporate taxes on foreign oil companies, petrochemical firms, and foreign banks. These companies pay up to 55% of their operating profits as income tax to the government. Even though most residents of the UAE are exempted from income tax, they usually pay several indirect taxes. For example, municipal taxes of between 5% and 10% are usually levied on revenue generated from entertainment services, hotel operations, and commercial premises (Nyarko 4-15). In addition, most imported goods are subject to an import duty of up to 5%. Thus, the government can still implement the expansionary fiscal policy by reducing indirect taxes that are levied on consumption. For example, a reduction of taxes on entertainment and hotel rooms can lower the cost of staying in hotels. Consequently, hotel occupancy will inc rease, thereby raising the income of hotel owners and securing jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry. In addition, the government can reduce the corporate taxes that are paid by foreign oil and bank companies in order to improve their earnings. Lower taxes will enable these companies to allocate a better part of their earnings to investments rather than paying taxes. This will increase their productivity, thereby promoting economic growth. Impact of the Fiscal Policy Tools in the Economy Increased Government Expenditure Increased government spending will benefit the economy in the following ways. First, capital spending will lead to an increase in the total assets of the state. In particular, it will lead to expansion of the infrastructure that is necessary for the growth of businesses in the country. For example, the expansion of roads and railway systems will improve efficiency in transportation. The resulting reduction in the cost of transportation will reduce the overall cos t of producing goods and services in the economy. According to figure 4, a reduction in the cost of production shifts the aggregate supply curve downwards, thereby increasing real output from Y1 to Y2. This shows that investments on infrastructure that support economic activities will lead to high economic growth. Furthermore, foreign direct investments are likely to increase if capital spending is used to expand the country’s infrastructure. For example, more airlines are likely to operate form Dubai if its airport is expanded. This will create more jobs and spur economic growth through increased consumption. Second, provision of public goods and services such as education and health care will have positive supply-side effects in the economy by improving the quality of the country’s human capital. For example, funding higher education through grants to students will enable more people to improve their technical skills. People with high academic qualifications are like ly to be highly productive because they have the knowledge and skills that are necessary for achieving innovation (Al-Khateeb, Darrat and Elkhal 297-306). Similarly, spending on youth apprenticeship programs will enable fresh graduates to gain adequate job experience, thereby improving their employability. Concisely, it will enable the government to improve the competitiveness of the youth in the job market in order to reduce unemployment in the country. Similarly, expenditure in the health care sector will improve the health status of the citizens, thereby improving their productivity. Third, expanding social safety net programs is an effective way of improving the incomes of the poorest people in the country. By 2012, nearly 10% of the population of the United Arab Emirates was living in poverty (World Bank). Improving the income of the population living in poverty through transfer payments will boost consumption. The resulting increase in demand for goods and services will encour age producers to increase their output through new investments. Transfer payments are also a means of income and wealth redistribution in the economy. This is because transfer payment programs are financed through taxes, which are often paid by the rich. The benefit of redistributing income from the rich to the poor is that it enhances equality in the economy. Additionally, reducing income disparity reduces the chances of social unrests, which can hinder productivity and economic growth. Tax Cuts Tax cuts will affect the economy in the following ways. To begin with, reducing corporate tax will enhance investment in the economy. The oil and gas sector contributes approximately 31.3% of the GDP of the United Arab Emirates (Nyarko 4-15). Nonetheless, companies in this industry, especially, the foreign ones pay nearly 55% of their operating profits as taxes. This reduces the amount of funds that firms in the industry can allocate to investments and expansion. According to the article, r educed production in the oil and gas industry is one the factors that were expected to slow the country’s economic growth. However, productivity in the industry can be improved by lowering taxes in order to enable firms to allocate a large portion of their earnings to investments. For instance, firms in the industry can focus on oil exploration, thereby increasing the country’s oil and gas output. Any small increase in productivity in the oil and gas industry is likely to have a great multiplier effect in the economy. This is because the industry employs thousands of people and supplies oil, which is the main source of energy for production in the country. Lowering taxes is also likely to attract foreign direct investments in the country. Foreign investors often invest in countries that provide tax incentives so that they can improve their earnings. An increase in foreign direct investments will have a powerful demand-side effect in the economy. Concisely, the consumpt ions associated with new investments by foreign investors will increase the demand for various goods and services in the economy. The increase in demand will encourage producers to increase their output, thereby increasing the country’s GDP (Rossana 88). Finally, reducing the level of compulsory pension contribution will improve the purchasing power of the citizens. Concisely, a reduction of the compulsory contributions will enable the citizens to have a high disposable income, which will enable them to purchase more goods and services. Impact on Macroeconomic Indicators The article highlights three important macroeconomic factors, which have implications for the country. These include the expected reduction in GDP growth, planned fiscal consolidation, and uncertain performance of the world economy and financial markets. These factors will affect the country’s unemployment and output in the following ways. Output The forecasted reduction in economic growth means that t he country’s output (measured by GDP) expanded at a slower rate in 2012 than in the previous year. Expectations concerning future decline in economic activity usually influence production decisions. Producers and investors associate a reduction in the rate of economic growth with a decline in profits or corporate earnings (Romer 477). Thus, they are likely to reduce their output in response to the expected decline in demand as the economy slows down. In this regard, expectations of a decline in future earnings will lower the country’s output. The country’s output is also likely to decline if the global economic environment continues to deteriorate. Concisely, poor performance of the world economy will reduce the demand for the country’s main exports such as oil. Thus, UAE’s exporters will reduce their output in response to the low demand for their products. Similarly, uncertainty in the global financial environment will limit the ability of UAEâ₠¬â„¢s firms to access credit from foreign markets. This will limit investments and reduce the country’s output. Fiscal consolidation involves implementing strategies that enable the government to reduce its budget deficit and overall public debt (Rossana 121). Thus, fiscal consolidation involves a reduction in public spending by the government. Reducing government expenditure is essentially a contractionary fiscal policy. According to figure 5, a reduction in government spending will cause a shift in the aggregate demand curve to the left, thereby reducing real output from Y0 to Y1. Thus, fiscal consolidation is likely to reduce the country’s output. Unemployment Unemployment is a lagging macroeconomic indicator because it usually takes time to respond to a change in GDP growth. Thus, the country’s unemployment rate may not change significantly in the short run as the economy slows down. Reducing the workforce in response to falling demand and hiring new employe es as economic activity improves usually involves high costs. Thus, firms are likely to retain their employees in the short run even if the rate of GDP growth is reducing. In this case, the unemployment rate may not increase by a big margin. Okun’s law suggests a negative long run relationship between unemployment and GDP growth (Chamberlin, Linda and Yueh 245). Thus, if the country’s economic decline persists for a long time, unemployment rate will increase. This is because firms will opt to reduce their workforce in order to avoid high fixed costs. According to Okun’s law, the rate at which new jobs are created depends on the rate of GDP growth. Thus, a reduction in the growth of the country’s GDP will slow the rate at which new jobs are created. Hence, the problem of high unemployment will persist. Conclusion The IMF expected the rate of GDP growth in the UAE to decline from 4.9% in 2011 to 2.3% in 2012. This decline was attributed to the countryâ€⠄¢s limited capacity to increase oil production and uncertain global economic environment. The country’s government can stimulate economic growth by implementing an expansionary fiscal policy. In particular, it should increase public spending and reduce taxes. An expansionary fiscal policy is appropriate because the country has a low inflation rate, whereas its unemployment rate is high. Additionally, the policy will stimulate demand, thereby increasing the rate of GDP growth. Nonetheless, an expansionary fiscal policy is likely to be inflationary. Moreover, it can crowd-out investments in the private sector and increase public debt if it is financed through large-scale borrowing. In this regard, the government should also implement policies that will prevent high inflation and the crowding-out effect. Appendix Figure 1: AD-AS Model (shift in AD curve) Figure 2: AD-AS Model (shift in SAS curve) Figure 3: Effect of expansionary fiscal policy Figure 4: Effect of reduced prod uction costs Figure 5: effect of fiscal consolidation Al-Khateeb, Faisal, Ali Darrat and Khaled Elkhal. The UAE Growth Surge: Have Information Technology and Human Capital Contributed? Studies in Economics adn Finance 24.4 (2007): 297-306. Print. Chamberlin, Graeme, Linda Linda and Yi-Chuang Yueh. Macroeconomics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006. Print. Minford, Patrick and David Peel. Advanced Macroeconomics. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002. Print. Nyarko, Yaw. The United Arab Emirates. Business. New York: UNU-WIDER, 2013. Print. Romer, David. Advanced Macroeconomics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Print. Rossana, Robert. Macroeconomics. London: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. World Bank. UAE Economic Indicators. World Bank Group, 31 Dec. 2012. Web.